Conspiracy Drums Beating Again

Immediately after Bill Clinton became President in 1993, the extreme right wing militia movement, along with certain radio talk show hosts, stepped up what was already simmering as a paranoid conspiracy rant. The claim was that there were certain bad types in positions of authority (tending to be Democrats, of course) who were plotting for a one-world government that was anti-religious, totalitarian and even aiming to severely depopulate the planet. Concentration camps were supposedly being built in various locations, and the evil black helicopters were continually being sighted hovering around doing something insidiously evil (or threatening to). All of this craziness culminated in the tragic terror bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, exactly 14 years ago. The perpetrators of this foul act were militia sympathizers with the typical nutcase conspiracy beliefs. After that, the conspiracy mood dissipated somewhat but resurfaced after 9/11. But that time the Republicans were in the White House and the loony accusations generally came from the fringe left.

Now Democrat Barack Obama is in office and here we go again. New concentration camps are supposedly being built to hold future dissidents. Socialists are supposedly plotting to take over the country. Obama is supposedly going to turn U.S. national sovereignty over to international organizations. But the problem I have the most with this new wave of nonsense is that much of it seems to be coming from the mainstream in the Republican Party, not just fringe societal elements.

So let me get this straight: a solid majority of voters put the Democratic Party into power in 2006 and 2008, creating the scenario where they control the Presidency, Congress, and most state Governorships. All by the elective process. How is that a conspiracy? It seems to me that any conspiracy charges should be laid at the feet of those who would subvert the election results by contesting already-decided elections (like the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat won by Al Franken) and stonewalling legislation and presidential nominees through procedural tactics.