View Full Version : Top Five Political Conspiracy Theories
For all the theorists out there... ;)
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Top Five Political Conspiracy Theories
The 'birther' allegation that President Obama wasn't born in the US is nothing new. America has a long tradition of political accusations gaining traction.
Tracey D. Samuelson, CSM, 4 Aug 2009
The recent chatter over the Birther’s Movement and President Obama’s birthplace has a long way to go before it can be considered one of the top political conspiracy theories out there. Here are several that endure year after year, often despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
1. JFK’s assassination: Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone
Many people still question the death of the 35th president on a sunny afternoon in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Was it really Lee Harvey Oswald? If so, did he act alone? Under whose direction? Were the FBI or CIA involved? There are endless questions posed about that day, and as many different theories about how to answer them.
2. The American government was behind 9/11
According to 911Truth.org, the collapse of the Twin Towers wasn’t caused by Al Qaeda or foreign terrorists, but rather “elements within the US government and covert policy apparatus must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the attacks for these to have happened in the way that they did.”
3. The government hushed up what really crashed in Roswell, NM
Something crashed in the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947. But what? Some conspiracy theorists maintain it was an alien space ship and that the US military covered up the discovery of the crash site and alien bodies. The enduring theory has turned the small town of Roswell into a circus of alien paraphernalia shops and a tourist destination for seekers of the paranormal.
4. The CIA created AIDS
Most people and scientists believe that the AIDS virus was transferred from monkeys to humans in the 1930s. But a small group maintains that the virus was man-made, manufactured by the US government or the CIA and specifically used to target African-Americans and homosexuals. Others believe the US created AIDS as a bioweapon, but that it spiraled out of control.
5. The moon landing was a hoax
We’ve all seen the grainy video of Neil Armstrong taking his historic steps on the moon, planting the American flag, and declaring, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But some say it was all staged so that the US could beat Cold-War-Rival Russia in the Space Race.
Ye Olde Conspiracy Theories
For conspiracy theories that date back to the founding of the Republic, including His Royal Highness King John Adams and Confederate turncoat Mary Todd Lincoln, check out this essay on The Daily Beast:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-27/presidential-conspiracies/
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/08/04/top-five-political-conspiracy-theories/
Defender968
08-06-2009, 18:14
Well I have to say on the first one I would tend to buy in, I've been to the Book repository and seen the videos and to me it looks like he was hit from the back then the front, that coupled with the distance, the angle, and Oswalds reportedly mediocre shooting skills just make me think it was a 2 man job, far from conclusive I know, just my .02. As for the rest, well they're pure rubbish if you ask me.
Sending the thread further in perhaps too narrow a direction but:
I have always gotten a big kick out of JFK conspiracy theories and the hubris that accompanies them. Saw this some time last year and found it to be a pretty even, balanced look at the bigger picture. I tend to agree with the conclusion reached by the filmmakers.
http://www.oswaldsghost.com/Site/Oswalds_Ghost_.html
Going deeper down the rabbit hole of wild speculation has proven more entertaining still. The books "American Tabloid", and the sequel, "The Cold Six Thousand" by James Ellroy are probably the best fictional take on the Kennedy assassination I have encountered. While I wouldn't call either of these books firmly grounded in reality, they are great reads. Although I guess this belongs in The Library, I would strongly recommend them to anyone with a taste for conspiracy theory and two-fisted action.
HowardCohodas
08-06-2009, 22:08
Well I have to say on the first one I would tend to buy in, I've been to the Book repository and seen the videos and to me it looks like he was hit from the back then the front, that coupled with the distance, the angle, and Oswalds reportedly mediocre shooting skills just make me think it was a 2 man job, far from conclusive I know, just my .02. As for the rest, well they're pure rubbish if you ask me.
In the article How a high-speed bullet damages an organ (http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/scientific_topics/wound_ballistics/How_a_high-speed.html), Dr. Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Chief Medical Examiner and Director of the Regional Crime Laboratory, County of Bexar, San Antonio, Texas writes about the JFK head shot.
Implications for the physics of JFK’s head shot
Note how the bullet interacts with the head in two stages. In the first stage, the bullet passes rapidly through, leaving an expanding temporary cavity in its wake. The separate events of this first stage are (1) the bullet enters the skull by drilling a small entrance hole; (2) some brain matter is ejected backward out this hole (tail splash); (3) the bullet, beginning to tumble, passes through the brain; and (4) the bullet leaves the skull by blasting a large exit hole. Note how each of these four events transfers forward momentum from the bullet to the head (the first movement of the head).
In the second stage (after the bullet has left the skull), brain matter continues moving radially outward from the path of the bullet until the head bursts from the accumulated pressure, which can reach 100 to 200 atmospheres. Brain matter is ejected out all available openings, the largest of which will usually be the exit wound or an expanded version of it, with its size depending on how large the internal pressures became. As brain matter is ejected through the enlarged exit wound, it exerts a recoil force in the opposite direction, or backward. If this force is strong enough relative to other forces being experienced by the head at that time (which is well after the hit), the head may actually move backward (the so-called "jet effect"). If the recoil force is small relative to those other forces (such as neuromuscular reactions), the head may more in some other direction, with its motion being only modified by the jet effect.
Thus we expect a bursting head to show at least two separate movements. The first must be in the direction of the bullet, the second probably opposite to it. (Specifics of any movements beyond the first are difficult or impossible to predict, however.) In fact, JFK’s head did move twice—first briefly forward (the "snap"), then backward (the "lurch"). The quick forward motion proves that the killing shot came from the rear. The rearward motion was likely some combination of jet effect and a neuromuscular stiffening of the back muscles, which together straightened him up and threw him backward.
Could the rearward lurch have been the result of a second bullet, from the front, as implied in JFK? No, for several reasons:
There was only one set of wounds to the head, a tiny entrance wound in the rear and a larger exit wound on the right side/rear.
There is only one pattern of lead fragments in the head—a cone fanning out from the rear entrance wound to the side exit wound.
There was no second diffuse cloud of tissue and large fragments, as created by the first hit.
There was no damage to the left hemisphere of JFK’s brain, as would be required by a shot coming from the knoll, which was really to JFK’s right rather than to his front.
The rearward lurch was an entirely different kind of movement from the forward snap. The lurch began in the right shoulder and arm and involved the head only later. It did not look at all like the snap.
Because the lurch involved the whole upper torso, it required more energy than the snap. Many weapons did not have enough energy. Thus JFK’s head was hit by only one bullet, from the rear.
This should be interesting...:munchin
By the Associated Press
KVLY-TV
updated 11:49 p.m. ET, Tues., Aug 4, 2009
Jesse Ventura is returning to television this fall with a new cable show built around conspiracy theories. Minnesota's seldom seen former governor will host "Conspiracy Theories with Jesse Ventura'' on cable's truTV, a Turner Broadcasting System channel. A truTV news release issued Monday says the channel has ordered seven episodes. The first is due to air in late fall.
The ex-wrestler left office after a single term. He splits his time between Minnesota and Mexico, and he flirted with a run for U.S. Senate last year. Ventura hosted an MSNBC show in 2003 that was canceled after a two-month run.
The new show suits his penchant for expressing alternative theories, including on the John F. Kennedy assassination and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32288379/ns/local_news-fargo_nd/
Longstreet
08-07-2009, 14:01
I'm surprised the consipiracy theory about President Roosevelt knowing the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor was not on that list. Anyway, this is the conspiracy theory that makes me wonder. It is not political, but extremely convincing.
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/polisci/faculty/rexb/greedo.html
It is a proven fact that bigfoot was the real shooter. He cut a deal with the govt when he crashed at roswell in 1947. JFK was going to expose him and the fact he was in league with the free masons that are really the remander of an ailien race that have populated the world for thousands of years and have been known through the ages by various names such as the Templer knights. Every one clear on that now? :munchin
You sound like Paul Krugman talking about the economy...:cool:
HowardCohodas
08-07-2009, 15:23
35% of Democrats believe that Bush knew about 9/11 in advance. 22% (of all voters)* Believe Bush Knew About 9/11 Attacks in Advance (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/bush_administration/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance )
* Emphasis added - Richard
I have heard some whack jobs that actually believe things as crazy as I wrote. While I made my post tounge and cheek the point is some people come up with some real wierd ideas and actually believe them.
I hope you didn’t take that as a criticism? :D I reference Paul Krugman because he’s an establishment blowhard from the Keynesian school of economics. Somehow this guy gets more accolades about monetary policy than Sir Isaac Newton.
uboat509
08-08-2009, 09:55
I wanted to relay my very favorite conspiracy theorist. This particular "genius" posted on the Daily Kos. What this guy did was prove that the twin towers could not have collapsed the way that we have been told. His method for proving this was pure genius. He took a piece of heavy gauge cattle fence and folded into a square. He then sandwiched this piece of cattle fence between two cinder blocks. Next he poured kerosene on the structure and ignited it. After allowing it to burn for a time he (this is very important) stood on the top cinder block and the structure did not collapse! This proves beyond the barest hint of a doubt that everything we have been told about 9/11 is a lie.
At least it does if you are an idiot without even a rudimentary understanding of engineering or physics.
SFC W
35% of Democrats believe that Bush knew about 9/11 in advance. 22% (of all voters)* Believe Bush Knew About 9/11 Attacks in Advance (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/bush_administration/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance )
* Emphasis added - Richard
Not sure, but a bet that if you put the following Poll in People Magazine, at least 35% of those responding would select 1, 2, or 3.
One Question Idiot Poll
Key
1 = I enthusiastically agree
2 = I agree
3 = I am not sure
4 = I disagree
5 = I enthusiastically disagree
Question:
My next door neighbor is an alien from outer space!
1___ 2___ 3___ 4___ 5___
Blitzzz (RIP)
08-09-2009, 04:45
Just a comment about this statement from Dr. Vincent J M DiMaio posted above.
Item #2 is:
"2. There is only one pattern of lead fragments in the head—a cone fanning out from the rear entrance wound to the side exit wound."
As I recall the Bullet was pristine. Even called the Miracle Bullet. so wheres the lead fragments come from.
My Zwei Centavos
One Question Idiot Poll
Key
1 = I enthusiastically agree
2 = I agree
3 = I am not sure
4 = I disagree
5 = I enthusiastically disagree
My next door neighbor is an alien from outer space! 1___ 2___ 3___ 4___ 5___
I'd have to mark #1 - my next door neighbors are a couple of gay guys from the planet Poofter. ;)
Richard's $.02 :munchin
Dozer523
08-09-2009, 05:52
My next door neighbor is an alien from outer space!
1___ 2___ 3___ 4___ 5___
"Something very strange is coming to Planet 51."
I can barely wait for Thanksgiving:D
http://www.planet51.com/
Just a comment about this statement from Dr. Vincent J M DiMaio posted above.
Item #2 is:
"2. There is only one pattern of lead fragments in the head—a cone fanning out from the rear entrance wound to the side exit wound."
As I recall the Bullet was pristine. Even called the Miracle Bullet. so wheres the lead fragments come from.
My Zwei Centavos
Don't know anything about the 'miracle bullet' but do know from experience (AK round) that even though the round remained basically intact to the eye it still sheds minor fragments thru out the impact area
I've seen Jesse talk about the 911 towers..."When does fire melt steel" etc. On this issue he is a raving idiot and it really spotlights his limited intellectual capability as an individual researching theories, and calls into serious question his vaunted "I'm a demo expert" attitude.
http://screwloosechange.blogspot.com/
This blog, if you check around, has the majority of the official reports done by 2nd/3rd parties on the towers
Controlled fall demo experts,
Structural engineers, etc, etc, and the findings are rather easy to understand based upon the structural aspect of the towers
This also includes the damage to surrounding buildings and their collaps issues.
Defender968
08-10-2009, 10:52
In the article How a high-speed bullet damages an organ (http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/scientific_topics/wound_ballistics/How_a_high-speed.html), Dr. Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Chief Medical Examiner and Director of the Regional Crime Laboratory, County of Bexar, San Antonio, Texas writes about the JFK head shot.
I've actually read the jet theory argument before, the problem I have with it is it fails to explain why a huge piece of the presidents head was blown back onto the rear of the limo. As stated in the article the exit whole should be larger than the entry hole. I understand a few argue that was overpressure from the original shot, but again having watched the video and having looked down from the very window Oswald shot from I just don't buy it. I didn't research this article, and he may be quoting from the autopsy I suppose because he couldn't have actually seen the wounds to the Presidents brain as it was conveniently "lost". Now I admit whole heartedly I did not do well in physics, and I am no ballistics expert but from seeing the video, looking down from the book repository, and reviewing many of the facts about Oswald I simply don't buy it, I'm not saying that I'm right and that it's not possible, I simply in my heart/mind don't buy the jet theory or that Oswald was the only shooter.
Also as Blitzzz stated the miracle or magic bullet was not deformed so how were there lead fragments in the head. All in all I’m simply saying there are way to many convenient inconsistencies for me, and my spidy sense :) says there is more to it than simply Oswald and his rifle.
Just my tin foil wearing .02.
I had my doubts about 911 being a fraud from day #1, (there are many reasons for this). I had to quit thinkinig about it because it makes me wanna puke! There are many theories behind this, but I have seen some very interesting stuff lately. Do just a little research before you write it off; it all makes way too much sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO2yT0uBQbM
The Reaper
08-10-2009, 11:22
I had my doubts about 911 being a fraud from day #1, (there are many reasons for this). I had to quit thinkinig about it because it makes me wanna puke! There are many theories behind this, but I have seen some very interesting stuff lately. Do just a little research before you write it off; it all makes way too much sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO2yT0uBQbM
I think you are way too gullible.
Do you doubt that we went to the moon as well?
TR
HowardCohodas
08-10-2009, 11:27
The idea that the JFK bullet was "pristine" was mentioned several times in this thread. An article from the University of Rhode Island may be a worthwhile read. Was the "pristine" bullet really pristine? (http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/issues_and_evidence/single-bullet_theory/Pristine_bullet/Pristine_bullet.html)
There is hardly a topic about the JFK assassination that is more distorted than the nature of CE 399, the nearly whole bullet found on a stretcher in Parkland Hospital. It is often called the "magic bullet" or the "pristine bullet." This essay shows that both these terms are false and highly misleading. The bullet was neither magic nor pristine. In fact, it was significantly distorted.
...
Also part of the same presentation is The Single-Bullet Theory (http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/issues_and_evidence/single-bullet_theory/The_SBT.html)
greenberetTFS
08-10-2009, 11:42
TR,
You don't actually believe we went to the moon do you...... :rolleyes: I mean, come on, that was nothing more than a hollywood staged setup to make you think we were able to do it......... :eek: I'm absolutely convinced the MSM and the government was trying to show Russia we were ahead in space technology and every one bought into it...........:p
Big Teddy :munchin
I think you are way too gullible.
Me and thousands of others? I respect your opinions, knowledge, and experience greatly. Could you please go a little further into my being gullible? I try to be very careful to not believe everything I read, hear or otherwise, (especially from the MSM). I do my own research and try to filter through the piles as much as possible, and form my own opinions based solid info.; if there's such a thing anymore. I wonder if you have ever seen or heard anything from the site below? Is this BS? Cause it seems that these are or were some very trustworthy professionals.
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
Thanks much!!
"..... Could you please go a little further into my being gullible? ...
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
Thanks much!!"
Nuff said
Just a comment about this statement from Dr. Vincent J M DiMaio posted above.
Item #2 is:
"2. There is only one pattern of lead fragments in the head—a cone fanning out from the rear entrance wound to the side exit wound."
As I recall the Bullet was pristine. Even called the Miracle Bullet. so wheres the lead fragments come from.
My Zwei Centavos
Also, isn't JFK's brain missing? :munchin
E. Howard Hunt's confession prior to his death. He states he was involved as a back up "bench warmer" during the JFK assassination.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VQQqxY_PwU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKUalnht32I
The former governor of Minnesota was on NBC's Today show promoting his new book, American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies That the Government Tells Us. Video is here (javascript:vPlayer('35775933','e9c309a2-3d3d-4ca6-8fc1-4e0e580a2cdf')). Story, with excerpts from the book, is here (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35728268/ns/today-today_books/print/1/displaymode/1098/).
Ann Curry seemed weired out by the time the interview was over. Gov. Ventura said he wrote the book so that 100 years from now, people would know that not everyone believed all the lies.
Ann Curry seemed weired out by the time the interview was over. Gov. Ventura said he wrote the book so that 100 years from now, people would know that not everyone believed all the lies.
Perhaps Ann Curry is the head of the Illuminati??
TR,
You don't actually believe we went to the moon do you...... :rolleyes: I mean, come on, that was nothing more than a hollywood staged setup to make you think we were able to do it......... :eek: I'm absolutely convinced the MSM and the government was trying to show Russia we were ahead in space technology and every one bought into it..........
...for those in any doubt, here's the proof (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mouUUWpEec0&feature=related)!
:D
I'm surprised the conspiracy theory about President Roosevelt knowing the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor was not on that list. Holy cats. A Charles Beard/Charles Tansill reference!
Just you wait. It is only a matter of time before Stewie and Brian Griffin stage a production of Tansill's (in)famous book on this topic, Back Door to War.
Surprised TWA flight 800 isn’t among the top 5...
I’ve often entertained the thought that TWA 800 may have actually been taken down by a terrorist missile considering the zirconium, barium, and cerium pellets that were removed from some of the victims bodies during autopsies by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, Dr. Wetli :confused:
The eyewitness highlights are fascinating to read through, especially these two:
http://twa800.com/witnesscd/witness571.pdf
http://twa800.com/witnesscd/Witness649.pdf
Anybody know Major Fred Myer?
http://raylahr.entryhost.com/Videos/web/MajorFredMeyer.html
What did Sandy the Burglar destroy :D
Edited to add:
Can someone translate the following link?
http://twa800.com/alhayat/alhayat.pdf
Expatriate
03-12-2010, 21:23
The credence still given to the concept that somehow Jewish/Zionist groups secretly control and manipulate the affairs of the planet is astounding.
I just finished up writing a paper performing a critical analysis of John Mearsheimer & Stephen Walt's writings on the GWOT (Their central essay on the subject can be found here: http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0040.pdf)
These guys are supposed to be rational, intelligent human beings (Mearsheimer is a professor of Poli Sci at the University of Chicago, Walt a professor of International relations at Harvard) yet in all earnestness seem to honestly believe that the GWOT is being prosecuted under the direction of shadowy Zionist lobbying groups.
The sad thing is that there will be guys on my course who will accept this crap as gospel merely due to it being written by 'academics'.
These guys are supposed to be rational, intelligent human beings (Mearsheimer is a professor of Poli Sci at the University of Chicago, Walt a professor of International relations at Harvard) yet in all earnestness seem to honestly believe that the GWOT is being prosecuted under the direction of shadowy Zionist lobbying groups.
The sad thing is that there will be guys on my course who will accept this crap as gospel merely due to it being written by 'academics'.Rational, intelligent human beings do not become political scientists nor do they specialize in international relations--they study history.