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UR_CONSPIRACY

                                       July 11, 2004
   

To take the "ur conspiracy"
as an example -- the
conspiracy that put the               Well... at least it put them  
conpiracy theorists on the            in their current place on the 
map:                                  intellectual landscape.       
                                                                    
  The assassination of JFK.                     Maybe that's     
                                                "off of the map".
A lot of energy was put into 
raking over the Warren Commission 
report, studying the frames of 
the Zapruder film, looking over 
the background of Oswald... 
   
I'm not up on the details                           
of these disputes and I        The theorists have a number    
have no conclusion that I      of interesting points, but       
want to present on whether     they don't impress with their
Kennedy was killed by a lone   intellectual rigor.               
assasin, on who might have                                   
been behind a conspiracy to       E.g. what possible reason           
kill Kennedy, and so on.          could Oswald have for    
                                  waiting until the last         The theorists
                                  minute to get off a shot?      version is   
                                                                 that there 
                                        Well: maybe he was       was another 
But the notion that the                 indecisive and           gunman "on 
CIA -- or some faction                  wasted time stalling,    the grassy 
inside the CIA -- might                 then decided to go       knoll", and 
have had a president                    for it at the last       Oswald was 
killed remains                          moment.                  supposed to 
interesting, not because                                         wait for 
it's proven, or even                      Why not?               the car to 
provable, but simply                                             get in range 
because it can be made                                           of both. 
to sound plausible.         To make it sound 
                            plausible to most                    Plausible, 
  The fact that such        people, my                           but Oswald's 
  things seem               experience is                        pause 
  *possible* is             that all you need                    doesn't 
  already a strong          to do is lay out                     prove it. 
  inditement against        a motive: 
  the CIA:                              
                               Kennedy was angry with the          
     Perhaps a free            CIA because he felt       
     country shouldn't         manipulated into the "Bay          
     have a secret             of Pigs" fiasco.  A memo             
     police, eh?               exists where Kennedy said     (I don't know 
                               he wanted to "scatter the     if such a 
                               CIA to the winds".            memo really 
                                                             exists, I've 
                                                             just heard 
                                                             that it does.) 
   A funny attitude:           MOTIVATIONAL_BIND                    
                                            
   It's okay with you for the                    One fellow - not a    
   CIA to be capable of doing                    "theorist", but a     
   anything given a motive?                      debunker -- calls it a
                                                 remark reported in    
     You'll just                                 "The New York Times", 
     cross your                                  April 25, 1966:       
     fingers and                                 "C.I.A.: Maker of     
     hope they'll                                Policy or Tool?"      
     never want to                                       
     do anything                      [ref] 
     bad?                    
                                                  

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