[skinster]

Wake me up if you ever get within a country mile of reality.

This is funny coming from someone who still believes in Russiagate.

[late]

This is funny coming from someone who still believes in Russiagate.

Thanks for proving my point.

[skinster]

[Potemkin]

I think this is a general problem with American culture - whether they’re on the Left or on the Right, Americans love a good conspiracy theory. Anything to avoid having to actually think about politics. And the more obscure and convoluted the theory, the better. After all, the less evidence there is for it, the more shadowy and sinister the conspirators must be. And it feeds on itself - the conspiracy theorists on one side themselves become the conspiracy for the other side. This ‘Russiagate’ thing started out as just another conspiracy theory, but then it gathered momentum and itself became a conspiracy to oust a sitting, democratically elected President based on the flimsiest of evidence. It’s a positive feedback loop. The result is that American politics is a total shit-fest of kooks and paranoia. It’s totally dysfunctional, and has been for generations now.

[wat0n]

I think this is a general problem with American culture - whether they’re on the Left or on the Right, Americans love a good conspiracy theory. Anything to avoid having to actually think about politics. And the more obscure and convoluted the theory, the better. After all, the less evidence there is for it, the more shadowy and sinister the conspirators must be. And it feeds on itself - the conspiracy theorists on one side themselves become the conspiracy for the other side. This ‘Russiagate’ thing started out as just another conspiracy theory, but then it gathered momentum and itself became a conspiracy to oust a sitting, democratically elected President based on the flimsiest of evidence. It’s a positive feedback loop. The result is that American politics is a total shit-fest of kooks and paranoia. It’s totally dysfunctional, and has been for generations now.

It's been like that since forever. As early as 1964, there were some saying this:

https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the ... -politics/

[Potemkin]

It's been like that since forever. As early as 1964, there were some saying this:

https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the ... -politics/

Indeed. And it’s just got worse since then. One would have thought the end of the Cold War would have put a damper on it, but no, but a bit of it. It seems to be deeply entrenched in the American political psyche.

[wat0n]

Indeed. And it’s just got worse since then. One would have thought the end of the Cold War would have put a damper on it, but no, but a bit of it. It seems to be deeply entrenched in the American political psyche.

Hasn't been in the human political psyche? Americans are hardly the only ones keen on conspiracy theories.

[Potemkin]

Hasn't been in the human political psyche? Americans are hardly the only ones keen on conspiracy theories.

They are worse than most, as the article you linked to points out. Some cultures, for whatever reason, seem to unleash the paranoia which is a natural part of the human psyche. Most don’t. America seems to be particularly prone to it, probably because of the long tradition of anti-intellectualism in American society - it was founded as a self-consciously egalitarian society, very unlike Europe at the time. And if you refuse to think about politics, then what else is left for you except to believe in conspiracy theories?

[late]

After all, the less evidence there is for it...

Mueller Report.

"However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion"[10][11][12] but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts.[13][14][15] It also identifies myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies,[16] about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations.[4] Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American".[17]"

The part I found most interesting was the attempt to set up backchannel communications with the Russians that the CIA couldn't bug...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_report