"Treason doth never prosper," wrote an English poet. "What's the reason?" "For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
The above quote from the Oliver Stone film JFK describes eloquently the problematics involved in empiricism and its relation to conspiracy theory. It also describes a simple version of story-telling and viewpoint, and if we succumb to relativism then we are lost. The "conspiracy theory" has to serve the empiricist (a term I do not take lightly but is useful) as it reaffirms his version of history or reality. The conquest of monotheism fought a bloody battle to prove there was only one God, not many, and that drove the formation of modern deity, religion. God (in His creative capacity and law giving relationship with power) became manifest. Literally and a potent political force. The unification of Judaism in Israel was a coalition of Gods into one.
Which is a round-about way of appraising Voodoo Histories - David Aaaronovitch's new book. It's the thinking man's conspiracy theory basher, the usual targets are here - JFK, Diana, Christ (for Christ's sake!), the always odd Zionist conspiracy and so on and you are left with the blinding conclusion that DA NC, generally left-thinking men who backed the wrong horse are creating a set of CT nutjob strawman to deflect their own embarrassment re calls on the invasion of Iraq and the perpetually self-satisfying toxicity that fueled the Euston Manifesto whilst averting its evident scapegoating.
All that said, Aaronovitch is genuinely interested in sources and evaluating them .......The "truth" behind JFK's death can never be solved but as the par excellence of conspiracy theories it should not be circled in by the vultures ready to seize its form ("Loose Change" brigade) nor be tarnished, as a whole, by virtue of its "conspiracy theory" nature. Oh, what the hell watch..."Mystery of the Urinal Deuce here, to your right, when you hit this http://allsp.com/s.php?season=10
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Interestingly Zachary Sklar co-wrote the screenplay for Stone's movie and he's writing a treatment for one on Paul Robeson.Aaronovitch's book is a classic "I-won't-eat-humble-pie" about my drift to Blair neo-cons because I'm actually fucked off that liberal interventionism is a non-pragmatic dogma. Or, in other words, I want to distance myself from the decent left cos i fucked up. So, to divert attention I'll hit out on conspiracy theorists in the hope that a scattergun approach can cover the lies I accepted in my approach.
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