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A Lot of People Are Saying

Page 21

by Nancy L. Rosenblum


  Kelly, John, 73

  Kennedy, John F., 2, 28, 42, 46, 144

  Kennedy, John F., Jr., 133

  Kim, Joon H., 161–62, 164

  Kingston, Jack, 55

  knowledge and expertise: administrative state as instantiation of, 83; birther conspiracy and, 103–6; climate change denial and, 107–12; closed-mindedness as enemy of, 153–54, 163; common sense in relation to, 126–29; conspiracist epistemology and, 43–49, 129–32; disdain for/attacks on, 5–6, 82, 101–21, 171, 173–74; misuse of, 108–9; polarization of, 129–32, 169–70; political evaluation of, 118–19; role of, in democracy, 82–83, 100–101, 114, 117–19; role of trust in, 123–25; skepticism’s role in, 117–20; standards of, 124–25

  Kobach, Kris, 88, 160

  Koch, Charles, 110, 177n3

  Koch, David, 110

  Koch Industries, 110

  Konnikova, Maria, 67

  Krugman, Paul, 102

  Kubrick, Stanley, 4

  Latour, Bruno, 177n4

  legibility, of political processes, 14, 143, 163–64, 175–76, 199n43

  legitimacy, 33. See also delegitimation of democracy

  Levitsky, Steven, 179n25

  lies, 67–69. See also fabulation

  Lifton, Robert Jay, 72

  Limbaugh, Rush, 55

  Maclean, Nancy, 177n3

  MacWilliams, Stefanie, 55

  Madison, James, 60

  Mahler, Jonathan, 10

  malignant normality, 72–74, 163, 173–74

  Manafort, Paul, 68

  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, 55

  Marxism, 86

  McCain, John, 150

  McCarthy, Joseph, 46

  McConnell, Mitch, 76

  McKibben, Bill, 111

  Mexico, 56, 61, 62

  migrant children separations, 179n22

  misinformation, 6, 101, 108–9, 157

  mistrust, 34–35. See also skepticism

  moon walk, 4

  Mounk, Yascha, 167

  muckraking, 29, 93

  Mueller, Robert, 11–12, 36, 133

  Müller, Jan-Werner, 63

  Muslims, 57, 61, 90, 104, 121

  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 4

  National Enquirer (tabloid), 27

  National Institutes of Health, 102

  nationalism, 86

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 111

  National Park Service, 65, 103

  National Public Radio (NPR), 24

  National Security Council, 65

  natural selection, 124

  Nelson, Eric, 23, 29

  new conspiracism: adherents of, 9; appeal of, 38–39; classic vs., 2–3, 19–21, 25, 27–28, 30, 32, 43, 164; collective action absent from, 31–33; common sense as resistance to, 135–38; conservatism in relation to, 95–98; dangers of, 6–7, 49, 71, 77, 141, 168; delegitimation of democracy as goal of, 2–8, 33–36, 71, 73–74, 82, 98–99, 169, 170–72; destructive nature of, 8, 9, 20, 30–31, 64, 122, 129; esoteric character of, 38, 64, 128; evidence lacking in, 3, 25–28, 32, 49, 153; originators of theories in, 54–55 (see also conspiracy entrepreneurs); populism in relation to, 40; psychological impact of, 8–9, 170; Republican Party in relation to, 5, 95, 98; responses to, 14–15, 137–38, 141–65, 175–76; right-wing character of, 49, 95, 98, 148; rise of, 1–2, 167–69; sterility of, 8, 28, 30–31, 35–36, 54; targets of, 4–7, 81; theory absent from, 3, 8, 19, 25, 28–31, 35; timeliness of, 39–41; tools of (see bare assertion; innuendo; ominous questions); Trump as exemplar of, 1, 65, 67; worst-case consequences of, 172–75. See also presidential conspiracism

  New Deal, 96

  New York Times (newspaper), 10, 53, 104, 112

  9/11 Commission report, 20

  9/11 terror attacks, 2, 20, 25, 46, 48, 49, 126, 143–44

  Nixon, Richard, 114

  NPR. See National Public Radio

  Obama, Barack: birther conspiracy about, 6, 26, 42, 51–52, 65, 67, 88, 103–6, 150, 178n10; email hacking imputed to, 11; overturning of American values imputed to, 91; and QAnon conspiracy, 134; unconstitutional actions imputed to, 89–90; on unification of the country, 61; wiretapping imputed to, 3, 48, 50, 73, 105, 177n5

  Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 102

  ominous questions, 27, 38–39, 55

  Operation Jade Helm, 25

  O’Reilly, Bill, 114–15

  Oswald, Lee Harvey, 2, 28, 42

  outsider status, 39

  Paine, Thomas, Common Sense, 135–37

  Pakistan, 10

  Pamuk, Zeynep, 119

  paranoid style, 44–45

  Paris Agreement on climate change, 110–11

  partisan bias, 6, 36–37, 115–16

  partisan penumbra, 95–98, 148, 186n12

  partisan reticence: and climate change denial, 110–11; condemnation of, 150–51; effect of, 56; political pressures as factor in, 105–6; Republican displays of, 71, 102–3, 110–11, 145–46, 148, 152; worst-case scenario involving, 174

  partisanship: as component in politician–people connection, 147–49, 175; conspiracism in relation to, 5, 10–11, 47, 48–49, 149; discipline required of, 152–53; parties’ role in, 85–86

  Paul, Rand, 102–3

  “people are saying” standard, 3, 32, 39, 52, 61, 77, 108, 127–28, 152, 153–54

  Perón, Juan, 167

  Perry, Rick, 96

  Pirro, Jeanine, 36–37

  Pizzagate, 25, 31–32, 42, 52–53, 55, 116, 124–25, 129, 131, 132–33, 169, 177n1

  pluralism: epistemic, 120; political, 82, 84–87, 92, 146; social, 84, 130–31, 146. See also antipluralism

  Podesta, John, 25, 53, 124–25, 129

  polarization. See epistemic polarization; political polarization

  political opposition: disdain for, 5, 89, 171–72; parties’ role in maintaining, 84–86

  political parties, 81–100; delegitimation of, 77, 82, 87–92, 94, 98–101, 171–72; disqualification of, 89; holist opposition to, 86–87; and partisanship, 85–86; pluralism advanced and protected by, 84–86, 146–47; polarization of, 99–100; populism in relation to, 84; Progressives’ opposition to, 93–94; responsibility of, to constituents, 146–48; role of, in democracy, 82–87, 93–94; Trump and, 75–77, 92; vulnerability of, 99

  political polarization, 41, 99–100, 115–16. See also divisiveness, in politics

  Pompeo, Mike, 72

  populism, 40, 62–64, 84, 186n11, 186n12

  powerlessness, feelings of, 56–57

  pragmatism, 94–95

  presidency: power of, 59–60, 61–62, 71, 90, 137, 175; rhetorical character of, 59, 71

  Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, 72, 159–61

  presidential conspiracism, 59–78; arbitrariness of, 137; destructiveness of, 62; distortion of reality in, 65, 67, 69–72; executive power wielded in, 72–74; and malignant normality, 72–74; power of, 59; Trump’s, 65–67

  press: disdain for/attacks on, 6, 66, 73, 112–15, 121, 171; role of, in democracy, 114. See also fake news

  Progressivism, 29–31, 93–94, 96

  proportionality, 46

  Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 57

  public belief in conspiracies, 9, 48, 51, 53, 105, 134, 178n7, 178n10

  Puerto Rico, 102

  Putin, Vladimir, 12, 68

  QAnon conspiracy, 27, 131, 132–35, 195n11

  questions. See ominous questions

  Ratcliffe, John, 150

  Reagan, Ronald, 96, 133

  reality, 122–38; common sense in relation to, 126–29, 135–38; conspiracism’s claim to reveal, 37–38, 46; distortion of, 38, 51–52, 65, 67, 69–72, 135; fabulation and, 132–35; new conspiracism’s assault on, 9, 13–14, 43, 51–52, 64, 101, 122–25, 135; polarized accounts of, 129–32, 169–70; Trump’s version of, 32, 62, 65, 67, 69–72; trust as means of grasping, 123–25

  Reddit, 134

  repetition, of conspiracy theories,
3, 32, 47–48, 52, 77, 114, 135, 157

  Republican Party: anti-government sentiment in, 96; and birther conspiracy, 104; and climate change denial, 107–8, 110–11; failure of, to combat conspiracy theories, 71, 102–3, 110–11, 145–46, 148, 152; and fiscal policy, 97; new conspiracism in relation to, 5, 95, 98; opinion of, on the press, 115; Trump’s relation to, 75–77; voter suppression by, 92

  resentment. See social resentment

  responsibility, absent from new conspiracism, 39, 104–5

  retweeting, 3

  Ritchie, William O., 27

  Roethke, Theodore, 139

  Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 96

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 59

  Rosanvallon, Pierre, 82, 143, 196n1, 199n43

  Rove, Karl, 110

  Rubio, Marco, 91

  Runciman, David, 168

  Russian election meddling and investigation thereof, 11–12, 36–37, 51, 66, 121, 133, 162–63

  Saipov, Sayfullo, 161

  Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, 4, 54, 169

  Scalia, Antonin, 27, 65

  scapegoating, 56–58, 61

  Scarborough, Joe, 65

  Schilling, Curt, 134

  scientific method, 124

  Scottish Enlightenment, 135

  September 11, 2001 terror attacks. See 9/11 terror attacks

  skepticism, 13, 100, 116–20, 147. See also mistrust

  Smith-Laing, Tim, 134

  Snyder, Timothy, 37

  social change, 57

  social resentment, 40, 56–58

  Soros, George, 88

  speaking truth to conspiracism, 141–58, 175–76; counterconspiracy campaigns for, 154–55; effectiveness of, 157–58; examples of, 150–51; Jade Helm conspiracy and, 143–46; moral imperative of, 14, 149–53; non-politicians’ responsibility for, 151–52, 176; obstacles to, 141, 153, 155–57; political action accompanying, 158–65; politicians’ failures on, 104, 141, 145–46, 148–53 (see also partisan reticence); transparency as tool in, 141–43, 163

  Spicer, Sean, 69

  Stahl, Lesley, 107

  stealth democracy, 199n9

  Stevens, J. Christopher, 148

  Stone, Roger, 76

  Strzok, Peter, 162–63

  Sunstein, Cass, 154

  Taitz, Orly, 104

  technocracy, 118

  Texas, military exercise conspiracy involving. See Jade Helm conspiracy

  Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth, 199n9

  Todd, Chuck, 103

  totalitarianism, 128–29

  transparency, 141–43, 163–65, 196n1, 199n43

  treason, 87

  tribalism, 50–52, 106, 154

  “true enough” standard, 3, 28, 43, 49–53, 173, 183n24

  Trump, Donald: anti-government sentiments of, 96, 97–98; and climate change, 107–8, 110–11; cognitive capacity of, 125; conspiracism and conspiracy theories, 159–60; conspiracy theories advanced by, 1, 3, 25–26, 27–28, 47, 48, 50, 56, 58, 61, 63, 65, 72–73, 88, 92, 103–8, 112–15, 174; Democrats attacked by, 58, 87, 89; divisiveness propagated by, 60, 61; exclusive claims to authority by, 95, 102, 170–71; grandiose self-image of, 65–66, 70; media favorites of, 54; outcome/action desired by, 32, 94; personal characteristics of, 62, 67; policies of, 76, 186n12; and political parties, 75–77, 92; and populism, 62–64, 186n12; QAnon conspiracy and, 132–34; and Russian election meddling, 11–12, 36; as victim, 63, 65–66. See also presidential conspiracism

  trust, 123–25

  truth-telling. See speaking truth to conspiracism

  Tulis, Jeffrey, 59

  Tuskegee syphilis experiment, 10, 13

  Twitter, 3, 24, 32–33

  unification, of the country, 60–61, 172

  Urbinati, Nadia, 64

  US Constitution, 89, 175

  vaccines, 13, 102–3, 124

  Vermeuele, Adrian, 154

  violence, invocations of, 66, 89, 114, 156

  voter fraud. See election fraud conspiracies

  voter suppression, 91–92, 121, 160

  Washington Post (newspaper), 53, 112

  watchdog function, 6, 10, 102, 161

  Watergate, 10

  Weber, Max, 15

  Wilkes, John, 142

  Will, George, 125

  Williams, C. K., 62

  Wilson, Woodrow, 59

  Winfrey, Oprah, 75

  wiretap conspiracy, 3, 48, 50, 73, 105, 177n5

  Wood, Gordon, 22, 138, 180n8

  Yellen, Janet, 88

  Ziblatt, Daniel, 179n25

  Zollinger, Bryan, 28, 42

  A NOTE ON THE TYPE

  This book has been composed in Adobe Text and Gotham. Adobe Text, designed by Robert Slimbach for Adobe, bridges the gap between fifteenth- and sixteenth-century calligraphic and eighteenth-century Modern styles. Gotham, inspired by New York street signs, was designed by Tobias Frere-Jones for Hoefler & Co.

 

 

 


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