Hide your grandparents! : BCE sending 68 year old grandpas to war!

[FORD]

Ala. Doctor Reactivated for Iraq War at 68

Mon Jul 19, 7:19 PM ET


DECATUR, Ala. - At 68, many people are slowing down. Not John Wicks: He's going to Iraq. Wicks, a psychiatrist, has been called out of military retirement by the Army to fill a shortage of mental health experts needed to help soldiers cope with combat. He could be gone as long as a year.



The Army hasn't told Wicks what his exact assignment in Iraq is, or where in the country it will send him.

"I believe that the morale in general is not that good since the scandal at that prison," he said, referring to the allegations of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. "When morale is high, you have fewer of these kinds of problems. And when morale is low you have more."

Wicks, who is beginning a week of training in Texas, will have the rank of colonel. His previous military experience includes two years active duty with the Marines and 18 years in the Alabama National Guard.

Wicks is a veteran of the U.S. war with Iraq in 1991, but his wife said things are different this time.

"In Desert Storm, he was in the 109th Evacuation Hospital and they had drilled together for years," said Jan Wicks. "He felt good about going with this team that he knew. He doesn't have that support this time."

Wicks figures he will be among the oldest U.S. soldiers in the Iraq war. Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for the Army at the Pentagon, said she has no way of knowing if Wicks would be the oldest. She said she had heard of one other doctor who was 68 and went to Iraq.

Wicks' latest assignment started with a postcard the Army sent last fall that explained the need for specialists and asked if he felt he was fit to serve.

"I stuck the thing in my pocket and carried it around for several weeks agonizing on how I should respond," he told The Decatur Daily in a story Sunday. "The truth is I consider myself fit to serve, so that's how I marked it and sent it back."

"My wife said 'You'll never hear from them.' Well, it was no time at all till I heard from them," Wicks said.

Wicks said recruiters initially hinted he could go to Europe or a stateside base to relieve a younger psychiatrist who would go to Iraq. The Army even gave him three choices should that scenario play out, and Dr. Wicks chose Italy, Germany and England.

"Well, I now wonder if this was just to get me hooked. Because there's no way I'm going to Italy or any of these places," he said. "I'm going to Iraq."

[Sgt Schultz]

Yeah, I mean it's akin to how Hitler put Panzerfausts in the hands of the elderly and children of Berlin becasue they were so desperate for troops! Right? Nice try, but this guy isn't going into combat. He's a psychiatrist. If the U.S. military didn't provide mental health services to its soldiers I'm sure we'd be hearing the screaming from the left.

[JCOOK]

Good call S.S.-- When isaw this thread ialready knew where it was going. Even you freakos can do better than that.

[FORD]

Obviously, you guys don't see the big picture here.

Naturally, the BCE will not use the word "draft" in an election year. Not even Junior is that dumb, and KKKarl Rove certainly isn't.

But when you are calling up senior citizens, putting Guard and Reserves in combat (untrained for it) and extending your actual combat troops to far longer than their contracted tour of duty, then that is essentially, a DRAFT, in that it's no longer a volunteer force by any stretch of the imagination..

And this doesn't even begin to consider what happens if the BCE launch further invasions, as they seem to be making a fraudulent case for doing in Iran right now, even as we speak. How do they cover that one?

It's time to force the BCE to admit they have plans for a draft on the table and that it will be enacted before the first week of November is over if (God Forbid) Junior is elected.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by FORD
Obviously, you guys don't see the big picture here.

Naturally, the BCE will not use the word "draft" in an election year. Not even Junior is that dumb, and KKKarl Rove certainly isn't.

But when you are calling up senior citizens, putting Guard and Reserves in combat (untrained for it) and extending your actual combat troops to far longer than their contracted tour of duty, then that is essentially, a DRAFT, in that it's no longer a volunteer force by any stretch of the imagination..

And this doesn't even begin to consider what happens if the BCE launch further invasions, as they seem to be making a fraudulent case for doing in Iran right now, even as we speak. How do they cover that one?

It's time to force the BCE to admit they have plans for a draft on the table and that it will be enacted before the first week of November is over if (God Forbid) Junior is elected.

Your ass is NEXT!!! :gun:

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by FORD
Obviously, you guys don't see the big picture here.



That's because we don't suffer from paranoid schizophrenia as you do...

Your "big picture" is vastly different fron a normal, healthy human bieng...

Take your medicine, buddy.. It's going to be allright...


:elvis:

[FORD]

Originally posted by ELVIS
That's because we don't suffer from paranoid schizophrenia as you do...

Your "big picture" is vastly different fron a normal, healthy human bieng...

Take your medicine, buddy.. It's going to be allright...



So now anyone opposing the BCE agenda is "insane", huh?

Sounds like you're already programmed to accept Junior's 21st century rewrite of the "Final Solution".

[ELVIS]

Hehehehehe!


:D

[JCOOK]

Hey Ford: What would it take-- Terrorists coming to your house kicking your fucking door down tying you up and shoving a "dirty bomb" up your ass to make you believe that there a whole bunch of people in this world that hate you---not for any reason other than you are different from them.and they wont' ever --ever stop until they kill us or we kill them.PERIOD! You cant' reason with them or be nice them.
I want Bush or whomever to kill as many of them as possible!

[FORD]

Originally posted by JCOOK
Hey Ford: What would it take-- Terrorists coming to your house kicking your fucking door down tying you up and shoving a "dirty bomb" up your ass to make you believe that there a whole bunch of people in this world that hate you---not for any reason other than you are different from them.and they wont' ever --ever stop until they kill us or we kill them.PERIOD! You cant' reason with them or be nice them.
I want Bush or whomever to kill as many of them as possible!

And you believe this WHY, exactly? Because PNAC sold you a bullshit story about a tribe of cavemen who were able to stand down the US Airforce and NORAD all at the same time, and who simultaneously appeared out of thin air in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and will soon appear in whatever other country either 1) has a natural resource Ken Lay wants to profit off of or 2) Israel doesn't like.

REALITY CHECK ASSHOLE...

If we have no enemies, the defense contractors lose money. The Pentagon budget loses money. And without an over inflated Pentagon budget, the illegal operations of our so called "intelligence" agencies can't siphon the money from the defense waste.

This was all too easy when the Soviet Union was around, even though the Cuban Missile Crisis was probably the only time there was really a serious danger of nuclear annhilation, the Russians were real and there was no question you could point to the Kremlin and say "Hey, there's a Commie who hates America"

Guess what? An enemy didn't exist after the USSR bit the dust. Saddam Hussein played the role for a few months in 1990-1991, but nobody with a FUCKING BRAIN took him as a threat to this country then or now, so that was short lived. And so during the 90's, America prospered. Except the BCE's friends in the warmonger industry. Their numbers went way down.

An enemy didn't exist, so one had to be created. Why not take a small band of Muslim lunatics (created by the CIA as a tool against the Russians, no less) and exaggerate their existence into a world wide terrorist army?

Sounds completely ridiculous?

Then why the fuck do you believe it?

[JCOOK]

Oh I forgot youre' the one that believes Bush bombed the WTC and and all those tapes of OBL taking credit for terrorist actions were created by the BCE. Hell you probably think there is no such person as OBL,or if there is he must work for the BCE. Do you relly believe that the U.S.has no one that hates us and would love to see us utterly destroyed.Iguess all that video I see on tv of people burning the flag and screaming death to America, they all work for the BCE.

[Sgt Schultz]

Originally posted by FORD
Obviously, you guys don't see the big picture here.

Naturally, the BCE will not use the word "draft" in an election year. Not even Junior is that dumb, and KKKarl Rove certainly isn't.

But when you are calling up senior citizens, putting Guard and Reserves in combat (untrained for it) and extending your actual combat troops to far longer than their contracted tour of duty, then that is essentially, a DRAFT, in that it's no longer a volunteer force by any stretch of the imagination..

And this doesn't even begin to consider what happens if the BCE launch further invasions, as they seem to be making a fraudulent case for doing in Iran right now, even as we speak. How do they cover that one?

It's time to force the BCE to admit they have plans for a draft on the table and that it will be enacted before the first week of November is over if (God Forbid) Junior is elected.

Just for argument’s sake let’s say that there IS a draft (although that is EXTREMELY unlikely) because of the ongoing war on terrorism. So what? Isn’t that what the draft is for? If we go into Iran and need more then so be it. Don’t worry about it, we aren’t going into Iran.

Calling up Senior Citizens – get off this bogus claim. The guy in the story you cited was ASKED and he said OK. Just because someone is in the Guard or Reserves it does not mean they are not trained for combat. Everyone in the military knows, because it is IN their contract, that tours can be extended. It is a 100% volunteer force.

[DLR'sCock]

If Bush wins, there will be a draft....

[FORD]

Originally posted by JCOOK
Oh I forgot youre' the one that believes Bush bombed the WTC and and all those tapes of OBL taking credit for terrorist actions were created by the BCE. Hell you probably think there is no such person as OBL,or if there is he must work for the BCE.

Yes, yes, and yes.

9-11-01 was an inside job. Logic dictates it could NOT be otherwise. Too many things had to take place within a 2 hour window of time to be coordinated from a cave in Afghanistan using carrier pigeons.

The tape of "Osama" bragging about 9-11 exceeding "his" expectations was a total fabrication starring an actor/CIA agent who was both shorter and rounder than Bin Laden with an entirely different facial structure.

Osama Bin Laden definitely DOES exist, and he definitely DOES, or DID, work for the BCE. That much is established fact.

[ELVIS]

You need fresh air...

[FORD]

Originally posted by ELVIS
You need fresh air...

Well, the air quality in my office is questionable, but that's beside the point.

America is facing the greatest threat in its history and it's not a handful of Muslim fanatics in caves, but a family crime syndicate which has committed act after act of treason for 70 years and counting.

[ELVIS]

THERE IS NO WAY 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB YOU IDIOT!

YOUR STATEMENTS ARE FOOLISH!

THERE IS NO VAST CONSPIRACY AS YOU LIKE TO THINK!

YOUR AGENDA IS TOTAL BULLSHIT!

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

:D



:elvis:

[FORD]

Switch to decaf, Greg :rolleyes:

[ELVIS]

I don't touch caffiene or any drug...

Didn't you see I put a smily face in that post ??

[FORD]

No caffeine? Are you a Mormon now?

[diamondD]

Originally posted by FORD
Yes, yes, and yes.

9-11-01 was an inside job. Logic dictates it could NOT be otherwise. Too many things had to take place within a 2 hour window of time to be coordinated from a cave in Afghanistan using carrier pigeons.

The tape of "Osama" bragging about 9-11 exceeding "his" expectations was a total fabrication starring an actor/CIA agent who was both shorter and rounder than Bin Laden with an entirely different facial structure.

Osama Bin Laden definitely DOES exist, and he definitely DOES, or DID, work for the BCE. That much is established fact.


I see FORD's on a mission to take his crown back from Keeyth. ;)

[tobinentinc]

Ford, I can see why you think that BCE is evil and caused the attacks on america. First of all you are a liberal democrat. This being said also means you are in essence a socialist. And in being a socialist you are against this american form of government and anyone who keeps it the way it was intended. I'm sure you believe that the Constitution is a "living document" and can be changed according to how you fee or see it.
Are you truly kidding yourself when you that the U.S. has had no enemies since the demise of the USSR?? Let's think of all of the Communist nations still around today. Cuba, not that it's a big threat, but we still have that embargo. North Korea, well what's already been said has been said. And don't forget what Mr. Clinton did to help China gain wmds. Don't forget the first attack on world trade center in the 90's, and the Oklahoma City Bombing. Yes it was an american. But an american who was brain washed by the taliban.

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by FORD
No caffeine? Are you a Mormon now?


I lied. I love diet Vanilla Coke!


:D

[John Ashcroft]

Originally posted by FORD
Obviously, you guys don't see the big picture here.

...But when you are calling up senior citizens, putting Guard and Reserves in combat (untrained for it) and extending your actual combat troops to far longer than their contracted tour of duty, then that is essentially, a DRAFT, in that it's no longer a volunteer force by any stretch of the imagination...

And what do you know of Guard and Reserve training? Please ellaborate so I can once again have the pleasure of stomping your argument into the dirt... :D

And ours is most definitely still a volunteer force. The day they squeeze your ass into a uniform is the day I'll admit we no longer have a volunteer fighting force. Until then, shaddup.

[FORD]

Originally posted by tobinentinc
Ford, I can see why you think that BCE is evil and caused the attacks on america.

There's no question that they did. Osama Bin Laden has been associated with the BCE since the 60's, and Al Qaeda grew out of the group which was created by Poppy's CIA. So the only question is the degree of active involvement by the current BCE.

First of all you are a liberal democrat. This being said also means you are in essence a socialist.

Wrong, but not surprising from someone whose entire worldview comes from media brainwashing.

And in being a socialist you are against this american form of government and anyone who keeps it the way it was intended.

The "form of government" we have at the moment is NOT the way the constitution intended, and has not been so since the Supreme Court appointed the Idiot Son of an Asshole.

I'm sure you believe that the Constitution is a "living document" and can be changed according to how you fee or see it.

As opposed to right wingers who want to amend it to comply with their irrational fears of homosexuals.

Are you truly kidding yourself when you that the U.S. has had no enemies since the demise of the USSR?? Let's think of all of the Communist nations still around today. Cuba, not that it's a big threat, but we still have that embargo.

And Cuba's about as much of a threat to the United States as Iraq was :rolleyes:

North Korea, well what's already been said has been said.

Except for the fact that they resumed their nuclear weapons program after Junior provoked them. Using nuclear reactors provided to them by none other than Donald Rumsfeld, in the late 90's. Which would ba after PNAC specifically named North Korea in their list of countries they wanted to invade. Of course, NK is also run by an Idiot Son of an Asshole. This one possibly slightly more psychotic than Junior.

And don't forget what Mr. Clinton did to help China gain wmds.

Not a damn thing. Another lie from the reich wing media. What happenned was an American private business sold a communications satellite to a Chinese business.

And if American companies doing business in China troubles you, then perhaps you should take it up with George Bush Sr, whose Carlyle Group has billions invested there. Or his brother Prescott Bush Jr, who was the chairman of the "US-China Chamber of Commerce". Amazing what you can find out when you turn off the FAUX News and do the research.

Don't forget the first attack on world trade center in the 90's

You mean the one where President Clinton's administration successfully prosecuted the terrorists responsible. In a real, constitutional trial too, not some secret tribunal.

and the Oklahoma City Bombing. Yes it was an american. But an american who was brain washed by the taliban.

OK, now I KNOW you're on crack. McVeigh had nothing what so ever to do with the Taliban. Brainwashing is highly likely though. I suggest you look into MK Ultra. You'll be hearing a lot about that in the near future. Just a hunch.....

[Phil theStalker]

Hey FORD,

Keep up the lively debate here against these "party"kids here.. people want to be led.. that's why they're fans of a shit band and shit personalities like the Van brothers and their mass marketing to "party" kids corporate buddies.. said same for all their duped celeb wives and pampered kids.. when the water in the big cities is off and they are thirsty and they are hungry they'll understand, only then, but keep up the debate with them. You do good here with them. I don't have the time.

[Sgt Schultz]

“Conspiracy theories are like black holes--they suck in everything that comes their way, regardless of content or origin...Everything you've ever known or experienced, no matter how 'meaningless', once it contacts the conspiratorial universe, is enveloped by and cloaked in sinister significance. Once inside, the vortex gains in size and strength, sucking in everything you touch. (11)”

'Conspiracy Theories' and Clandestine Politics
by Jeffrey M. Bale From Lobster 29
Very few notions generate as much intellectual resistance, hostility, and derision within academic circles as a belief in the historical importance or efficacy of political conspiracies. Even when this belief is expressed in a very cautious manner, limited to specific and restricted contexts, supported by reliable evidence, and hedged about with all sort of qualifications, it still manages to transcend the boundaries of acceptable discourse and violate unspoken academic taboos. The idea that particular groups of people meet together secretly or in private to plan various courses of action, and that some of these plans actually exert a significant influence on particular historical developments, is typically rejected out of hand and assumed to be the figment of a paranoid imagination. The mere mention of the word 'conspiracy' seems to set off an internal alarm bell which causes scholars to close their minds in order to avoid cognitive dissonance and possible unpleasantness, since the popular image of conspiracy both fundamentally challenges the conception most educated, sophisticated people have about how the world operates and reminds them of the horrible persecutions that absurd and unfounded conspiracy theories have precipitated or sustained in the past So strong is this prejudice among academics that even when clear evidence of a plot is inadvertently discovered in the course of their own research, they frequently feel compelled, either out of a sense of embarrassment or a desire to defuse anticipated criticism, to preface their account of it by ostentatiously disclaiming a belief in conspiracies. (1)

They then often attempt to downplay the significance of the plotting they have uncovered. To do otherwise, that is, to make a serious effort to incorporate the documented activities of conspiratorial groups into their general political or historical analyses, would force them to stretch their mental horizons beyond customary bounds and, not infrequently, delve even further into certain sordid and politically sensitive topics. Most academic researchers clearly prefer to ignore the implications of conspiratorial politics altogether rather than deal directly with such controversial matters.

A number of complex cultural and historical factors contribute to this reflexive and unwarranted reaction, , but it is perhaps most often the direct result of a simple failure to distinguish between 'conspiracy theories' in the strict sense of the term, which are essentially elaborate fables even though they may well be based upon a kernel of truth, and the activities of actual clandestine and covert political groups, which are a common feature of modern politics.

For this and other reasons, serious research into genuine conspiratorial networks has at worst been suppressed, as a rule been discouraged, and at best been looked upon with condescension by the academic community. (2) An entire dimension of political history and contemporary politics has thus been consistently neglected. (3)


For decades scholars interested in politics have directed their attention toward explicating and evaluating the merits of various political theories, or toward analyzing the more conventional, formal, and overt aspects of practical politics. Even a cursory examination of standard social science bibliographies reveals that tens of thousands of books and articles have been written about staple subjects such as the structure and functioning of government bureaucracies, voting patterns and electoral results, parliamentary procedures and activities, party organizations and factions, the impact of constitutional provisions or laws, and the like. In marked contrast, only a handful of scholarly publications have been devoted to the general theme of political conspiracies--as opposed to popular anti-conspiracy treatises, which are very numerous, and specific case studies of events in which conspiratorial groups have played some role -- and virtually all of these concern themselves with the deleterious social impact of the 'paranoid style' of thought manifested in classic conspiracy theories rather than the characteristic features of real conspiratorial politics. (4)

Only the academic literature dealing with specialized topics like espionage, covert action, political corruption, terrorism, and revolutionary warfare touches upon clandestine and covert political activities on a more or less regular basis, probably because such activities cannot be avoided when dealing with these topics. But the analyses and information contained therein are rarely incorporated into standard works of history and social science, and much of that specialized literature is itself unsatisfactory. Hence there is an obvious need to place the study of conspiratorial politics on a sound theoretical, methodological, and empirical footing, since ignoring the influence of such politics can lead to severe errors of historical interpretation.

This situation can only be remedied when a clear-cut analytical distinction has been made between classic conspiracy theories and the more limited conspiratorial activities that are a regular feature of politics. 'Conspiracy theories' share a number of distinguishing characteristics, but in all of them the essential element is a belief in the existence of a 'vast, insidious, preternaturally effective international conspiratorial network designed to perpetrate acts of the most fiendish character', acts which aim to 'undermine and destroy a way of life.' (5)

Although this apocalyptic conception is generally regarded nowadays as the fantastic product of a paranoid mindset, in the past it was often accepted as an accurate description of reality by large numbers of people from all social strata, including intellectuals and heads of state. (6) The fact that a belief in sinister, all-powerful conspiratorial forces has not been restricted to small groups of clinical paranoids and mental defectives suggests that it fulfills certain important social functions and psychological needs.(7)

First of all, like many other intellectual constructs, conspiracy theories help to make complex patterns of cause-and-effect in human affairs more comprehensible by means of reductionism and oversimplification. Secondly, they purport to identify the underlying source of misery and injustice in the world, thereby accounting for current crises and upheavals and explaining why bad things are happening to good people or vice versa. Thirdly, by personifying that source they paradoxically help people to reaffirm their own potential ability to control the course of future historical developments. After all, if evil conspirators are consciously causing undesirable changes, the implication is that others, perhaps through the adoption of similar techniques, may also consciously intervene to protect a threatened way of life or otherwise alter the historical process. In short, a belief in conspiracy theories helps people to make sense out of a confusing, inhospitable reality, rationalize their present difficulties, and partially assuage their feelings of powerlessness. In this sense, it is no different than any number of religious, social, or political beliefs, and is deserving of the same serious study.

The image of conspiracies promoted by conspiracy theorists needs to be further illuminated before it can be contrasted with genuine conspiratorial politics. In the first place, conspiracy theorists consider the alleged conspirators to be Evil incarnate. They are not simply people with differing values or run-of-the-mill political opponents, but inhuman, superhuman, and/or anti-human beings who regularly commit abominable acts and are implacably attempting to subvert and destroy everything that is decent and worth preserving in the existing world. Thus, according to John Robison, the Bavarian Illuminati were formed 'for the express purpose of ROOTING OUT ALL THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, AND OVERTURNING ALL THE EXISTING GOVERNMENTS IN EUROPE.' (8)

This grandiose claim is fairly representative, in the sense that most conspiracy theorists view the world in similarly Manichean and apocalyptic terms.

Secondly, conspiracy theorists perceive the conspiratorial group as both monolithic and unerring in the pursuit of its goals. This group is directed from a single conspiratorial centre, acting as a sort of general staff, which plans and coordinates all of its activities down to the last detail. Note, for example, Prince Clemens von Metternich's claim that a 'directing committee' of the radicals from all over Europe had been established in Paris to pursue their insidious plotting against established governments. (9)

Given that presumption, it is no accident that many conspiracy theorists refer to 'the Conspiracy' rather than (lower case)conspiracies or conspiratorial factions, since they perceive no internal divisions among the conspirators. Rather, as a group the conspirators are believed to possess an extraordinary degree of internal solidarity, which produces a corresponding degree of counter solidarity vis-a-vis society at large, and indeed it is this very cohesion and singleness of purpose which enables them to effectively execute their plans to destroy existing institutions, seize power, and eliminate all opposition.

Thirdly, conspiracy theorists believe that the conspiratorial group is omnipresent, at least within its own sphere of operations. While some conspiracy theories postulate a relatively localized group of conspirators, most depict this group as both international in its spatial dimensions and continuous in its temporal dimensions. '[T]he conspirators planned and carried out evil in the past, they are successfully active in the present, and they will triumph in the future if they are not disturbed in their plans by those with information about their sinister designs.'(10)

The conspiratorial group is therefore capable of operating virtually everywhere. As a consequence of this ubiquitousness, anything that occurs which has a broadly negative impact or seems in anyway related to the purported aims of the conspirators can thus be plausibly attributed to them.

Fourthly, the conspiratorial group is viewed by conspiracy theorists as virtually omnipotent. In the past this group has successfully overthrown empires and nations, corrupted whole societies, and destroyed entire civilizations and cultures, and it is said to be in the process of accomplishing the same thing at this very moment. Its members are secretly working in every nook and cranny of society, and are making use of every subversive technique known to mankind to achieve their nefarious purposes. Nothing appears to be able to stand in their way--unless the warnings of the conspiracy theorists are heeded and acted upon at once. Even then there is no guarantee of ultimate victory against such powerful forces, but a failure to recognize the danger and take immediate countervailing action assures the success of those forces in the near future.

Finally, for conspiracy theorists conspiracies are not simply a regular feature of politics whose importance varies in different historical contexts, but rather the motive force of all historical change and development. The conspiratorial group can and does continually alter the course of history, invariably in negative and destructive ways, through conscious planning and direct intervention. Its members are not buffeted about by structural forces beyond their control and understanding, like everyone else, but are themselves capable of controlling events more or less at will. This supposed ability is usually attributed to some combination of demonic influence or sponsorship, the possession of arcane knowledge, the mastery of devilish techniques, and/or the creation of a preternaturally effective clandestine organization. As a result, unpleasant occurrences which are perceived by others to be the products of coincidence or chance are viewed by conspiracy theorists as further evidence of the secret workings of the conspiratorial group. For them, nothing that happens occurs by accident. Everything is the result of secret plotting in accordance with some sinister design.

This central characteristic of conspiracy theories has been aptly summed up by Donna Kossy in a popular book on fringe ideas:

Conspiracy theories are like black holes--they suck in everything that comes their way, regardless of content or origin...Everything you've ever known or experienced, no matter how 'meaningless', once it contacts the conspiratorial universe, is enveloped by and cloaked in sinister significance. Once inside, the vortex gains in size and strength, sucking in everything you touch. (11)

As an example of this sort of mechanism, one has only to mention the so-called 'umbrella man', a man who opened up an umbrella on a sunny day in Dealey Plaza just as President John F. Kennedy's motorcade was passing. A number of 'conspiracy theorists' have assumed that this man was signalling to the assassins, thus tying a seemingly trivial and inconsequential act into the alleged plot to kill Kennedy. It is precisely this totalistic, all-encompassing quality that distinguishes 'conspiracy theories' from the secret but often mundane political planning that is carried out on a daily basis by all sorts of groups, both within and outside of government. It should, however, be pointed out that even if the 'umbrella man' was wholly innocent of any involvement in a plot, as he almost certainly was, this does not mean that the Warren Commission's reconstruction of the assassination is accurate.

However that may be, real covert politics, although by definition hidden or disguised and often deleterious in their impact, simply do not correspond to the bleak, simplistic image propounded by conspiracy theorists. Far from embodying metaphysical evil, they are perfectly and recognizably human, with all the positive and negative characteristics and potentialities which that implies. At the most basic level, all the efforts of individuals to privately plan and secretly initiate actions for their own perceived mutual benefit --insofar as these are intentionally withheld from outsiders and require the maintenance of secrecy for their success--are conspiracies. Moreover, in contrast to the claims of conspiracy theorists, covert politics are anything but monolithic. At any given point in time, there are dozens if not thousands of competitive political and economic groups engaging in secret planning and activities, and most are doing so in an effort to gain some advantage over their rivals among the others. Such behind-the-scene operations are present on every level, from the mundane efforts of small-scale retailers to gain competitive advantage by being the first to develop new product lines to the crucially important attempts by rival secret services to penetrate and manipulate each other. Sometimes the patterns of these covert rivalries and struggles are relatively stable over time, whereas at other times they appear fluid and kaleidoscopic, as different groups secretly shift alliances and change tactics in accordance with their perceived interests. Even internally, within particular groups operating clandestinely, there are typically bitter disagreements between various factions over the specific courses of action to be adopted. Unanimity of opinioon historical judgements. There is probably no way to prevent this sort of unconscious reaction in the current intellectual climate, but the least that can be expected of serious scholars is that they carefully examine the available evidence before dismissing these matters out of hand.

Footnotes

1. Compare Robin Ramsay, 'Conspiracy, Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracy Research', Lobster 19 (1990), p. 25: 'In intellectually respectable company it is necessary to preface any reference to actual political, economic, military or paramilitary conspiracies with the disclaimer that the speaker "doesn't believe in the conspiracy theory of history (or politics)".'This type of disclaimer quite clearly reveals the speaker's inability to distinguish between bona fide conspiracy theories and actual conspiratorial politics.

2. The word 'suppress' is not too strong here. I personally know of at least one case in which a very bright graduate student at a prestigious East Coast university was unceremoniously told by his advisor that if he wanted to write a Ph.D. thesis on an interesting historical example of conspiratorial politics he would have to go elsewhere to do so. He ended up leaving academia altogether and became a professional journalist, in which capacity he has produced a number of interesting books and articles.

3. Complaints about this general academic neglect have often been made by those few scholars who have done research on key aspects of covert and clandestine politics which are directly relevant to this study. See, for example, Gary Marx, 'Thoughts on a Neglected Category of Social Movement Participant: The Agent Provocateur and the Informant', American Journal of Sociology 80:2 (September 1974), especially pp. 402-3. One of the few dissertations dealing directly with this topic, though not in a particularly skilful fashion, is Frederick A. Hoffman, 'Secret Roles and Provocation: Covert Operations in Movements for social Change' (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation: UCLA Sociology Department, 1979). There are, of course, some excellent academic studies which have given due weight to these matters--for example, Nurit Schleifman, Undercover Agents in the Russian Revolutionary Movement: The SR Party, 1902-1914 (Basingstoke: Macmillan/ St. Anthony's College, 1988); and Jean-Paul Brunet, La police de l'ombre: Indicateurs et provocateurs dans la France contemporaine (Paris: Seuil, 1990)--but such studies areunfortunately few and far between.

4. The standard academic treatments of conspiracy theories are Richard Hofstadter, 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics', in Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays (New York: Knopf, 1966), pp. 3-40; Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish World-Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Chico, CA: Scholars, 1981 [1969]); J. M. Roberts, The Mythology of the Secret Societies (London: Secker & Warburg, 1972); Johannes Rogallavon Bieberstein, Die These von der Verschwrung, 1776-1945: Philosophen, Freimaurer, Juden, Liberale und Sozialisten als Verschwrergegen die Sozialordnung (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1976); and Carl F. Graumann and Serge Moscovici, eds., Changing Conceptions of Conspiracy (New York: Springer, 1987). See also the journalistic studies by George Johnson, Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and paranoia in American Politics (Los Angeles: Tarcher, 1983); and Jonathan Vankin, Conspiracies, Cover-Ups, and Crimes: Political Manipulation and Mind Control in America (New York: Paragon House, 1992).

5. See Hofstadter, 'Paranoid Style', pp. 14, 29.

6. Although conspiracy theories have been widely accepted in the most disparate eras and parts of the world, and thus probably have a certain universality as explanatory models, at certain points in time they have taken on an added salience due to particular historical circumstances. Their development and diffusion seems to be broadly correlated with the level of social, economic, and political upheaval or change, though indigenous cultural values and intellectual traditions determine their specific form and condition their level of popularity.

7. As many scholars have pointed out, if such ideas were restricted to clinical paranoids, they would have little or no historical importance. What makes the conspiratorial or paranoid style of thought interesting and historically significant is that it frequently tempts more or less normal people and has often been diffused among broad sections of the population in certain periods. Conspiracy theories are important as collective delusions, delusions which nevertheless reflect real fears and real social problems, rather than as evidence of individual pathologies. See, for example, Hofstadter,'Paranoid Style', pp. 3-4.

8. See his Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies, Collected from Good Authorities (New York: G. Forman, 1798), p. 14. This exhibits yet another characteristic of 'conspiracy theorists'--the tendency to over-dramatize everything by using capital letters with reckless abandon.

9. See his 'Geheime Denkschrift nber die Grundung eines Central-Comites der nordischen Machte in Wien', in Aus Metternichs nachgelassenen Papieren, ed. by Richard Metternich-Winneburg (Vienna: 1881),vol. 1, p. 595, cited in Rogalla von Bieberstein, These von der Verschwrung, pp. 139-40.

10. Dieter Groh, 'Temptation of Conspiracy Theory, Part I', in Changing Conceptions of Conspiracy, p. 3. A classic example of conspiratorial works that view modern revolutionary movements as little more than the latest manifestations of subversive forces with a very long historical pedigree is the influential book by Nesta H. Webster, Secret Societies and Subversive Movements (London: Boswell, 1924). For more on Webster's background, see the biographical study by Richard M. Gilman, Behind World Revolution: The Strange Career of Nesta H. Webster (Ann Arbor: Insight, 1982), of which only one volume has so far appeared.


11. Kooks: A Guide to the Outer Limits of Human Belief (Portland: Feral House, 1994), p. 191.

12. For more on P2, see above all the materials published by the Italian parliamentary commission investigating the organization, which are divided into the majority (Anselmi) report, five dissenting minority reports, and over one hundred thick volumes of attached documents and verbatim testimony before the commission. Compare also Martin Berger, Historia de la loggia masonica P2 (Buenos Aires: El Cid, 1983); Andrea Barbieri et al, L'Italia della P2 (Milan: Mondadori, 1981); Alberto Cecchi, Storia della P2 (Rome: Riuniti, 1985); Roberto Fabiani, I massoni in Italia (Milan: L'Espresso, 1978); Gianfranco Piazzesi, Gelli: La carriere di un eroe di questa Italia (Milan: Garzanti, 1983); Marco Ramat et al, La resistabile ascesa della P2: Poteri occulti e stato democratico (Bari: De Donato, 1983); Renato Risaliti, Licio Gelli, a carte scoperte (Florence: Fernando Brancato, 1991); and Gianni Rossi and Franceso Lombrassa, In nome della 'loggia': Le prove di come lamassoneria segreta ha tentato di impadronarsi dello stato italiano. Iretroscena della P2 (Rome: Napoleone, 1981). Pro P2 works include those of Gelli supporter Pier Carpi, Il caso Gelli: La verita sulla loggia P2 (Bologna: INEI, 1982); and the truly Orwellian work by Gelli himself, La verita (Lugano: Demetra, 1989), which in spite of its title bears little resemblance to the truth.

13. For the AB, see Ivor Wilkins and Hans Strydom, The Super-Afrikaners: Inside the Afrikaner Broederbond (Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 1978); and J.H.P.Serfontein, Brotherhood of Power: An Expose of the Secret Afrikaner Broederbond (Bloomington and London: Indiana University, 1978).Compare also B. M. Schoeman, Die Broederbond in die Afrikaner-politiek (Pretoria: Aktuele, 1982); and Adrien Pelzer, Die Afrikaner-Broederbond: Eerste 50 jaar (Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1979).

14. See his Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), pp. 74-8.

[JCOOK]

Hey Ford: just how far back does this BCE conspiracy stuff go,I know you believe Bush killed JFK but does it go back futher --Wasnt' Lincoln killed by John Wilkes Bush?

[ELVIS]

No, but Prescott Bush bankrolled Hitler...:rolleyes:

[FORD]

Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Boothe

Although he could certainly be described as a right wing reactionary, I haven't seen any evidence linking him to the BCE.

And although Prescott's daddy Samuel Bush made some crooked deals with the railroads and what not, it was Prescott who formally founded the Bush Criminal Empire through money made in the Third Reich.

[JCOOK]

Hey Ford: Who do you think killed off the dinosaurs, I suppose that was the BCE also.

[FORD]

Originally posted by JCOOK
Hey Ford: Who do you think killed off the dinosaurs, I suppose that was the BCE also.

Of course it was! Think about it.... what did the rotting corpses of all those dinosaurs eventually become?

That's right.... OIL!!

[ELVIS]

That makes about as much sense as the rest of your conspiracy theories...

[Pink Spider]

Originally posted by FORD
what did the rotting corpses of all those dinosaurs eventually become?

Barbara Bush Sr.?

[FORD]

Originally posted by Pink Spider
Barbara Bush Sr.?

No, that's the rotting corpse of George Washington. Can't you see the resemblence?

[ELVIS]

You're such a nice girl...

[FORD]

Originally posted by ELVIS
That makes about as much sense as the rest of your conspiracy theories...

Haven't you ever heard the term "fossil fuel"? Where do you think they got that from.

[ELVIS]

Yes FORD...

I meant the part about the BCE killing the Dinosaurs...

[FORD]

Originally posted by ELVIS
Yes FORD...

I meant the part about the BCE killing the Dinosaurs...

Oh.... well that part I haven't worked out yet. But I'm guessing Halliburton has to build a time machine first. Then they might have to locate the first BCE ancestor, caveman Grog W. Bush (whose IQ was probably still higher than Junior's)

[ELVIS]

Is Grog Greg in cave terms ??

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by FORD


9-11-01 was an inside job. Logic dictates it could NOT be otherwise. Too many things had to take place within a 2 hour window of time to be coordinated from a cave in Afghanistan using carrier pigeons.

The tape of "Osama" bragging about 9-11 exceeding "his" expectations was a total fabrication starring an actor/CIA agent who was both shorter and rounder than Bin Laden with an entirely different facial structure.

Osama Bin Laden definitely DOES exist, and he definitely DOES, or DID, work for the BCE. That much is established fact.


Damn, that's classic. Elvis, that's worthy of a sticky! :D :D :D

[tobinentinc]

Ford could you explain to me how the media is right wing?? I am dying to hear your explaination.

[ELVIS]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Damn, that's classic. Elvis, that's worthy of a sticky! :D :D :D

We should put it in our sigs...

[Cathedral]

Ford, you should write fiction novels...You'd be a rich man...