Sneering at "Conspiracy Theories" is a Lazy Substitute for Seeking the Truth

[Judi Lynn]

AUGUST 13, 2019
by THOMAS KNAPP

On the morning of August 10, a wealthy sex crimes defendant was reportedly found dead in his cell at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.

“New York City’s chief medical examiner,” the New York Times reported on August 11, “is confident Jeffrey Epstein died by hanging himself in the jail cell where he was being held without bail on sex-trafficking charges, but is awaiting more information before releasing her determination …”

That same day, the Times published an op-ed by Charlie Warzel complaining that “[e]ven on an internet bursting at the seams with conspiracy theories and hyperpartisanship, Saturday marked a new chapter in our post-truth, ‘choose your own reality’ crisis story.”

After three years of continuously beating the drum for its own now-discredited conspiracy theory — that the President of the United States conspired with Vladimir Putin’s regime to rig the 2016 presidential election — the Times doesn’t have much standing to whine about, or sneer at, “conspiracy theories and hyperpartisanship.”

Is Jeffrey Epstein really dead? If so, did he kill himself or was he murdered? If he was murdered, whodunit and why?

Those are legitimate questions. Calling everyone who asks them, or proposes possible answers to them, a “conspiracy theorist” isn’t an argument, it’s intellectual laziness.

More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/13/sneering-at-conspiracy-theories-is-a-lazy-substitute-for-seeking-the-truth/

[mr_lebowski]

1. Somebody remind me of how the 'Trump Russia Conspiracy' in any way belonged to the freaking NYT?

That's a load of bullshit on it's face.

New Yorker, NY Mag, Vanity Fair, Rachel Maddow ... those are fair targets for such an accusation. Not the NYT.

And it's not even close to 'it's own (theory)'. Gimme a break.

And it ain't 'discredited' to begin with. In fact, there WAS collusion, period.

I don't disagree with the overall premise, but this article uses cheap-shot way to go about making that point.

Just sayin'

[stopbush]

2. Exactly. I was going to make the same points.

[2naSalit]

3. Agree...nt

[MicaelS]

4. He's a fucking Libertarian..

So you can discount what he says.

[lagomorph777]

5. I assume "counterpunch" is a RW outlet.

The idea that Trump didn't collude with Putin is ludicrous. He does it in public, over and over again. And what he and his minions have done with Putin and tried to hide, is even worse.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. This times a million!