July 19, 2016
Perhaps I was wrong — perhaps Bernie Sanders (and not Donald Trump) was the Manchurian Candidate…
We Americans seem to be naturals at creating fictional narratives to explain how things \”really\” happened. From Abraham Lincoln\’s assassination (and John Wilkes Booth\’s alleged demise) to the vaporizing of all that was American Airlines #77 (which allegedly struck the Pentagon) — US are asked to swallow the story as-given-to-us by-the-powers-that-be hook-line-and-sinker — with no questions asked!
I have been racking-my-brain for years about United Airlines Flight 93, trying to piece together what really happened so I could have a coherent script in my memory banks while engaging in heated discussions with those who toe-the-other-line (those \’official\’ versions). But recent research turned my earlier Flight 93 schema upside down when I \”discovered\” a conspiracy theory that I was heretofore unaware of which suggested that Flight 93 landed safely in Cincinnati on the day it allegedly crashed!? As a sociologist and psychologist my burning question is: What do these fictional narratives (which one is true?!) do to our individual thought processes and our collective consciousnesses?
I\’ve decided that they pretty much fuck-us-up and numb us to experiencing reality in its bare-naked truth. I can\’t untangle conspiracy theories suggesting that the planes that struck the World Trade Center weren\’t even scheduled flights from what might have happened to the passengers of flights 77 and 93!? It makes one want to believe the simple, convenient, \”official\” explanations — otherwise we must further numb ourselves to prevent headaches.
This weekend past (after the Euro Cup was decided), I got to talk to one of the world\’s great Devil\’s Advocates. I hadn\’t talked to Gene in-a-number-of-months and had forgotten how much fun I had challenging his often flimsy belief systems. While Gene loves to pooh-pooh many of my narratives which he terms \”conspiracy theories\” — he does concede that there is a conspiracy every-now-and-then; and, like so many of the \”lone gunman advocates\” — he gets to have his cake and eat it…we seekers of the Truth don\’t really get to do that because we practice Science, not Religion.
We embarked upon our post-game discussion by dialoging about the US Moon landing. Gene believes that Neil Armstrong did step onto the Moon, but only AFTER Buzz Aldrin had been out to set up the cameras! Don\’t laugh at me readers, I never realized this had to happen (because I haven\’t read much about the whole Moon-landing conspiracies). I conceded that we perhaps did land on the Moon — but neither of us could figure out why Buzz Aldrin didn\’t get the credit as first man on the Moon?!
Another question I put to Gene was why we haven\’t yet put a colony on the Moon and have been more interested in going to Mars. Neither of us had an answer to this question — but it certainly should make one think…shouldn\’t it?
The line in Oliver Stone\’s \”JFK\” that always sticks with me is: Quantum physics can demonstrate that an elephant can be supported from not falling off a cliff by tying its tail to a rooted daisy…and these are the fantastical stories that occupy many US minds, and not, the inefficiency of our special forces, homeland security and intelligence agencies: we crash a helicopter trying to rescue the hostages in Iran and another while \”killing\” Osama bin Laden; while our homeland security and FBI don\’t seem to have much-of-a-clue about anything going on (except to \’set-up\’ native wackos and then bust them). But somehow, US are calmed by the supreme efficiency of our security forces as they are depicted on TV and in film.
And while I\’m on a roll — is President Obama half Kenyan; half American; half White; half Black; all White; and/or all Black (as so many people seem to label him)?
Will our heads begin to burst as a consequence? No longer being able to believe what we see or hear?? Having them stuffed full of nonsensical narratives??? Like those exploding heads in \”Kingsmen: The Secret Service\”????