The Day the Conspiracy Theory was Born and Why it Seems Sane Now

Something is wrong with us. Something is very, very wrong with us.

Bill Murray as John Winger in the movie, "Stripes."

It is easy to remember what the weather was like in Oklahoma City on Friday, November 22, 1963. Practically everything about that day is. When it comes to November 24th of the same year things are a bit fuzzier.

Despite not remembering how cold, calm, gray, or clear it was, it had to have been pretty decent out, because I do remember walking the block and a half from my parent's house to the Methodist Church I attended without an overcoat. I also remember the gist of the minister's sermon. He said, like everyone else in the nation, his immediate reaction to the murder of President John F. Kennedy was to execute the perpetrator at once. However, he went on to say, no matter how shocked and angry we might be, as Americans, we should remember the accused man, Lee Harvey Oswald had not been convicted of anything yet and was therefore innocent, no matter how damning the evidence. He also told the congregation, that as Christians we should forgive and pray for him.

The church was packed that morning. The silence of the crowd was as stony as their demeanor.

Before I got home, my eight year old brother Ed--who would grow up to be a print journalist--met me half way there and told me Oswald had himself been shot. His eyes were wide, "We saw it on TV," he said.

I didn't know it then, but it was at that moment America jumped into the deep end of the conspiracy pool. It is a body of darkness which has grown to breathtaking proportions. So much so it has become a vital resource for politicians and media outlets, while it has swallowed the common sense of millions like a Grouper does a Sardine.

There were conspiracies before the death of JFK of course. We know at least one was true. John Wilkes Booth really did plot with associates to not only assassinate Abraham Lincoln, but also William Seward, Andrew Johnson, and a couple of others. Lincoln was killed, Seward was severely wounded, and every one else escaped because the remaining members of the cabal either chickened out, or got drunk.

When it came to Kennedy the circumstances and the aftermath were just too tempting to believe something else wasn't going on.. There is no way, many reasoned, a goof like Oswald could pull off the shooting by himself. In fact he was such a loser another thread went, he had to have been framed.

Now, over half a century later, depending on who you read, or what TV special, or movie you see, John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination was carried out by--pick one, or more--disgruntled CIA operatives, the mob, Cubans (either flavor), or, even Lyndon Baines Johnson. 

Little did we know any of those possibilities would seem absolutely sane compared to the shit we've come to deal with in the first two decades of the 21st century.

Indeed, from missing airliners being held at remote naval bases in the Indian Ocean, to vast pedophile rings headquartered in the basements of pizza parlors millions have gone around the proverbial bend.

It would be easy to blame a lot of this insanity on the rise of the internet and social media, so I will.

Let's face it, there has always been be loons who will believe anything, but they were isolated, off in corners jabbering to themselves. Thanks to the internet they're now all connected, feeding off each other, affirming their most cracked assertions among each other. Person A says this. Person B repeats it. Person C not only tells person D, but cites person B as his, or her source, who in turn cites person A.

Along with the internet has come cable TV networks and politicians more than willing to exploit the worst fears and alternate realities out there. Suddenly supporting and intensifying any outlandish nonsense became profitable and politically advantageous.

Just ask the outgoing President of the United States.

Yes, Donald Trump not only plays to the conspiracies, he is more than willing to create his own. A recent poll shows over 75% of republicans believe the 2020 presidential election was rigged. This despite a number of swing states being controlled by fellow republicans. To Trump and his cult that doesn't matter. According to El Don, who has sown these seeds for years, hundreds of thousands of devious individuals participated in a nationwide effort to thwart democracy by hacking voting machines, sending in fake ballots, and forging signatures on others.

In addition none of those involved in the criminal enterprise are talking. Not a single one will break this left wing code of omerta. And they are all aided and abetted by the media, including the treasonously complicit Fox News.

It would be nice to say this national hysteria will end once Trump is gone. We know that won't be the case though. We, as a republic, have reached the conspiracy theory tipping point. 

Think not? As these words are being written there are huge numbers of progressives on social media who claim the only way Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham won their senate races was, you guessed it, the results in their states were rigged.

Yeah, that's what we've become. It makes you wish someone had taped Oswald pulling the trigger. Or at least he lived long enough to either admit, or deny it.

11-24-20

Alina Fitzpatrick Nine Years Later

Nine years ago 17 year old Alina Fitzpatrick had someone drop her off near the intersection of NW 24th and Western Avenue in Oklahoma City. It was nearly 10pm, but it was also a Friday evening so there wasn't any worry about getting to school the next morning. Not that it mattered. Her physical presence wasn't needed at Putnam City North High School. She had stopped attending classes there and had enrolled in the Putnam City School District's, "Virtual High School," program. The reason given the media for the change was that she was being bullied. To this day the district denies it has any record of such a thing occurring.

There were other oddities. It was reported she felt that she was being followed. Friends told investigators and the press she had changed her cell phone number because of a string of anonymous calls which were disturbing. The phone, which was turned off shortly after she got out of the car, has never been found. 

According to a witness young Ms. Fitzpatrick was going to visit somebody in an apartment complex near the intersection, although she was vague about exactly who that person was. That moment was the last time people who weren't involved with her death saw her alive.

Less than a week later, on Wednesday, November 9th her nude body was found dumped in an empty lot on the far northeast side of town. She had been physically abused. Her body was covered with bruises and abrasions which the ME determined happened near her time of death. In addition there was a gag in her mouth. There were also drugs in her system.

The local media noted her discovery and death, but the coverage of her brutal demise was muted by the horror of another murder. 19 year old Carina Saunders' dismembered and beheaded body had been found less than three weeks earlier.  

Indeed, it seemed the metro area simply couldn't handle two gruesome crimes at the same time. Especially when the suburban Bethany police who were in charge of the Saunders' investigation were more than willing tell anyone who would listen exactly who they suspected of the crime, their motive, and the method they used to perpetrate it.

Who knows, perhaps it was for the best. After all, at least the suspects, if there ever were any, in the murder of Alina Fitzpatrick, unlike those in Saunders' case, didn't know exactly what the city cops were doing.

The door slammer was when the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner, Chai S. Choy issued his final autopsy report. It found none of the bodily injuries suffered by Alina Fitzpatrick were severe enough to cause her death. However, the 0.96 micrograms of meth per milliliter of blood in her heart might have been. Choy ruled her death, "suspicious," rather than a homicide. 

A conversation with a print investigative reporter later revealed the police, "had little hope," of solving the mystery of Alina Fitzpatrick's death. He also said their investigation, for all practical purposes, halted as soon as the ME report noted the probability of an overdose.

In other words the obvious foul play didn't matter, The possible OD gave them an easy out to move on to other crimes.

Alina Y. Fitzpatrick was buried on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011. If she was alive today she would be 26 years old. The whole world would still be ahead of her. 

Tragically though sometimes evil wins. Even worse, sometimes it wins because no one wants to be bothered with it.

11-19-20 

The Many Headed Hydra Thwarts Trump, the Organic Maga March, Lawyers Jump Ship, and a Shadow President

If you are Donald Trump, or one of his cult the roller coaster ride of the election has ended badly. The car you were in went off the rails and after a fleeting moment where you kissed the sky on that Tuesday night gravity took over with a terrible vengeance.

Nearly two weeks later, however, reality hasn't set in. Indeed, the attacks on the election system have come in waves. There was mass voter fraud, ballots arriving after election day, despite their postmarks were illegal, republican observers were banned from counting sites, forged ballots were smuggled in by TV crews and catering trucks, dead people voted, the Dominion voting machines changed hundreds of millions of votes from Trump to Biden, or just deleted them, military ballots went missing, but the ones that didn't were invalid.

Indeed the conspiracy to thwart Donald J. Trump and his millions of devotees is a many headed Hydra with roots both in the deep state and media. Even Fox News was complicit, therefore had to be metaphorically stripped of its insignia, put up against a wall, and shot for disloyalty. The proof being the network called a Joe Biden victory in Arizona before anyone else did.

Yesterday Trump promised an, "organic," million Maga march, in Washington D.C. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany took one look at the crowd and immediately pronounced it a million plus of the, "best political base," the world has ever seen. Official estimates put the gathering at between 10 and 20,000. Proving his loyalty to the faithful, The Big Orange Guy did a brief drive-by on the way to one of his golf courses. There is no word on how his round went.

As always he was emboldened by the sight of a large crowd and after he returned to what can nowadays be best described as Ft. Trump, he hit Twitter with terse messages saying things like, "I won."

Judges from Pennsylvania, to Michigan, and Arizona are disagreeing. Meanwhile a vast array of lawyers hired by the Trump campaign to put a stop to the counting, or to continue the counting, depending on where they are began jumping ship. It remains unclear whether the desertions were because of the sheer hopelessness of the situation, or the realization they were going to get stiffed by their client.

This Trump phantasm would be funny in a theater of the absurd sort of way, except millions of Americans actually believe his bullshit. Indeed, if the presidencies Barack Obama and Donald Trump have taught us anything it's that racism in America is alive, well, and growing. So is brute fascism. In fact the only difference between those thousands in Washington yesterday and Hitler's Brown Shirts is the Brown Shirts had a better sense of fashion.

The cold truth is 72,944,072 Americans voted for Donald Trump. It is the second highest number of votes a presidential candidate has ever received. (And another reason Trump insists he had to have won the election) Delusions, lies, and disinformation aside that means a lot of rubes out there have bought into his vile nativism and consider those who haven't socialist sons of bitches.

Joseph R. Biden will be the next President of the United States whether Trump concedes, or not. His first priority appears to be getting COVID-19 under some semblance of control. However he faces a monster struggle, not just with the virus, but nearly half the electorate who hates his guts and will do everything thing they can to foul up the works.

That includes Donald J. Trump, who looks to be setting himself up as some sort of shadow president, filling social media and television with his cracked politics, outrageous lies, and in the worst case outright sedition.

sic vita est

11-15-20  

Parties in the Streets, Conspiracies in Trumpland, and the Nature of the Beast

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye

Lyrics by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer 

Yes, once Pennsylvania was called for Joe Biden Saturday morning making him President Elect, the crowds hit the streets from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. There were impromptu mass block parties in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Philly, and beyond. Refreshingly none of those participating were carrying semi automatic weapons, or wearing military style outfits. 

Not that the Trump people weren't outraged, but they seemed too stunned and cowed by the sheer numbers and the outpouring of joy to challenge the throngs marching and dancing. It wouldn't be until the following day that a smattering of Trump supporters showed up on the steps of a few state capitol buildings to express their displeasure and pledge their support once more to Donald J. Trump. 

They were inspired by their fearless leader who throughout the previous day screamed foul over the results. Trump, who was--where else--on a golf course when the news hit, immediately refused to concede the election. At this moment, on Monday, he and his shameful republican posse are claiming mass voter fraud spread out from Pennsylvania, to Georgia, and west to Nevada.

Of course this inspired the loons on the right fringe to come up with numerous conspiracy theories to explain the President's political demise. One of my favorites contends TV outlets in Pennsylvania smuggled in forged ballots with their camera equipment. Another was some clown howling on social media the results in Georgia were obviously fraudulent because the media was reporting there were more counted votes than people there. In his tirade he had cited the population of Georgia, the former Soviet client state, not the U.S. Georgia.

Indeed, the last 48 hours has begun to resemble an act from some cosmic theater of the absurd. At one point Saturday afternoon Trump wanted the courts to halt the mail in vote tabulation in Pennsylvania while at the same time insisting the mail in vote count should continue in Arizona.

He even sent his ace in the hole, Rudy Giuliani to the greater Philadelphia metroplex to hold a press conference at what he said would be the Four Seasons Hotel. Giuliani and a shady crew held the presser in front of a tiny strip mall which held a Four Seasons Landscaping shop. It was sandwiched in between a crematorium and a porn store. One of the speakers was Daryl Brooks who claimed he was a poll watcher. While it remains unknown if he really was, observers pointed out Mr. Brooks is in fact a convicted sex offender. He did three plus years after exposing himself to a pair of girls in 1998. The victims were eleven and seven years old at the time.

Meanwhile republicans in the house and senate are parroting Trump's line of paranoid bullshit word for word. As always they're terrified the Almighty Base will take its revenge at some future date, not realizing once Trump is gone for good that base will begin to wither.

Worse, the traditional Presidential transition schedule has now been disrupted and may continue to be well into December because of Trump's wounded ego. Biden, however is proceeding as he should, organizing, setting policy, and trying to appeal to the patriotism of all Americans, no matter what their party.

As these words are being typed The Big Orange Guy is soliciting on line for donations to his, "election defense fund." As always it is a con. If you read the fine print on the electronic form you will notice at least 40% of your money won't go to sue those rascally democrats, but to pay off the Trump campaign's current debt.

A lot of us expected this sort of behavior from El Don. After all he has rarely, if ever, been told no and no one has ever held him accountable for any of his actions. Now that 75,649,276 million American voters have done just that he simply can't handle it.

In the end, it is the nature of the beast.

11-9-20

The Democrats Pre-Election: Fear, Hubris, and Despair

 Tomorrow is election day and democrats everywhere in this fair land are careening from the depths of fear, to the hubris of predicting a Biden landslide, then back to absolute despair. It is an ugly tableau reaching the sort of hysteria you usually associate with the QAnon wankers.

Much of that fear revolves around the U.S. Postal Service and their ability, or willingness to deliver mail in ballots to election boards in a timely fashion. It has never been a secret Louis DeJoy, the postmaster general is Donald Trump's boy. It's also no secret that since he was appointed in June this year DeJoy has been doing everything he can to gut the postal service's ability to sort and deliver the mail. 

Now there are tales of scads of mailed ballots laying around on the floors of post offices in places like Miami, FL. In the minds of many democrats every one of those undelivered ballots are votes for Joe Biden. In addition in at least two different cities drop off boxes for ballots have been torched. Then in Texas, republicans went to court in an attempt to invalidate over 100,000 drive through votes in Harris County which is home to the state's largest city Houston.

In this age of COVID and the increased need for people to avoid long exposure to strangers at polling places this sort of chicanery is a real and present threat to the democratic process. Especially since The Big Orange Guy is demanding the count be finished by the end of tomorrow--a feat rarely accomplished in places like Florida under the best of circumstances.

Couple that with a marked increase in pre-election violence perpetrated by both Trump supporters and the police perhaps the democratic paranoia isn't misplaced.

On the other edge the, It isn't even going to be close, crowd is beyond giddy. According to them everything is going to fall Biden's way. Screw those polls that show some swing states within the margin of error, or even Biden behind, Big Joe will win every single one of them they say.

The feeling here is, thanks to the traditional amount of electoral banditry committed by Florida's election board, Trump will win there. In addition, although Texas seems on the verge of turning blue that moment is still four years away. Georgia and North Carolina are also probably out of reach. On the other hand Biden looks solid in both Wisconsin and Michigan. Pennsylvania could be iffy, but odds are it will also fall into the Biden column.

All of which brings us to Arizona and Ohio. It will be a long night in those states for both Biden and Trump, however if the former vice president can at least take one of them--preferably Ohio--he will be the next President of the United States.

That is if Trump's nightmare bullshit about not ceding power is just that, bullshit. 

Of course there is no doubt El Don will run to the courts if at the end of tomorrow he leads in say Pennsylvania, but over the next couple of days loses it due to mail in votes not counted on Tuesday. And it doesn't have to be just the Keystone state. He will be suing anywhere there is such a scenario.

As these words are being typed Donald Trump is reportedly putting up an unscalable wall around the White House where he will hold his election night watch party. Both are unprecedented acts and worthy of his pals Kim Jong Un and Vlad Putin. Yesterday he called the mob driving trucks in Texas who tried to force a Biden campaign bus off the road, "patriots." If the election doesn't go his way, the threat of armed violence by his supporters at least feels real.

That in itself is an American tragedy. The last time it happened was after the election of Abraham Lincoln. 

And, in the end, that is Donald Trump's only real accomplishment as President. He has inflamed and divided us so profoundly it has brought us to the brink of post election violence and perhaps a second civil war.

sic vita est

11-2-20