"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." - Thomas Jefferson
I just heard someone say that the Newtown massacre was a staged event, that none of the children were murdered, that it was all an elaborate attempt by the government to take away guns. I thought to myself, "How many hundreds of individuals would have to be included in that scenario, in order to secretly carry something like that off?" From police to parents to the press. Of course I have heard other conspiracies: that the assault rifle was never used. That the murderer did not have the skill to kill that many people. I mean, heck, those are even tame compared to the paranoid arguments that Obama is organizing a black army to kill whitey (which of course would take millions of dedicated participants who would stay quiet about the nefarious intentions); that the whole Bin Laden raid was a sham and that the SEALs were paid off with millions to keep quiet; etc., etc., etc. One neighbor told me repeatedly, "it could happen." Every time he made a wild assertion (Obama was born in Kenya, things like that), when asked what evidence he had to support them, inevitably it came down to, "well, it could have happened." His basic beliefs: You can't trust anyone. Every cop was out to get you. Every person on welfare was a cheat. Obama is Hitler. Stuff like that. . .and it is making my head hurt. All of it seemed to come down to "I believe it, therefore it is true." I know my neighbor is not the only one harboring this type of craziness, but it is truly bothersome.
I will now go and prepare for the inevitable takeover of the world by suicidal gorilla robots and giant brainiac ants who together plan to use telekinesis to navigate a giant asteroid into Earth and end all life. . .
I mean. . .it could happen.
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