Conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen on the internet.  Since 9/11, it seems more people are buying into them then ever before.  During the Bush administration, I spent considerable time in forums inhabited with liberal conspiracy theorists who pointed to every manner of  hypotheses on how the U.S. government was behind the crashing of planes into the WTC towers and the Pentagon.  While I still feel we can't expect the entire truth from government, I've never been one to give credence to unproven theories on anything.  Why? Until I can see concrete proof before my eyes, I'll always be a die hard skeptic.  Hell, half of what I do consider real, tangible truth I find myself questioning a great deal of the time.  I'd rather not cloud my head with wild tales that could cause me to lose any more sleep than I already do.  Reality takes a big enough toll as it is.

Strange, isn't it, how so many conservatives who were quick to label any liberal a "whack job" for believing 9/11 was an inside job are suddenly sucking up conspiracy theories with the force of an industrial vacuum cleaner.   The whole "death panel" scenario had me shaking my head with absolute amazement.  Frothing at the mouth, screaming how the Obama administration was out to coerce elderly Americans into ending their lives to help reduce health care costs certainly isn't going to lend credence to their campaign against an ideology to which they are vehemently opposed.   Ideologues are funny creatures, sometimes.  Research and confirmation of facts be damned.  If it suits their agenda, it's viable ammunition.  

If you asked me if I thought the government was capable of heinous crimes against its people, that would receive an altogether different answer.  Sure, there is no shortage of evidence that governments have committed horrific crimes against humanity.  And I would nothing past my own government where a political agenda is concerned -- one that might be viewed by those who support it as noble and just.  Some truly believe that the ends justify the means.  A prime example is a non repentant vice president Cheney who continues to believe utilizing methods of torture in interrogating terrorist suspects was righteous, despite recently declassified documents that seem to indicate it was not particularly effective.

Perhaps my biggest issue with major conspiracy theories the large number of people who who have to be involved -- and the low probability that at least one of them would develop a conscience and speak out, at some point.  Take the moon landing hoax theory, for instance.  How is that nobody, after all these years, decided to do the right thing and tell the true story?  Fear of death, maybe?  Perhaps, but many people have placed their lives on the line for a lot less.  No, keeping the lid on a conspiracy theory of that magnitude just isn't terribly feasible.   

Yes, the truth is out there -- somewhere.  Odds are it isn't nearly as fantastic as the conspiracy theorists would like us to believe.  Then again, maybe it is.  I'm not committing to anything until I see it in irrefutable black and white.  And even then I probably won't believe it.