04254nam 2200673Ia 450 991082549450332120200520144314.00-292-74911-210.7560/743793(CKB)2550000001039590(EBL)3443664(SSID)ssj0000874530(PQKBManifestationID)12368986(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000874530(PQKBWorkID)10886681(PQKB)11404011(MiAaPQ)EBC3443664(Au-PeEL)EBL3443664(CaPaEBR)ebr10683921(OCoLC)846990278(DE-B1597)586900(DE-B1597)9780292749115(EXLCZ)99255000000103959020121127d2013 ub 0engur|n|---|||||txtccrConspiracy theory in America /Lance deHaven-Smith1st ed.Austin University of Texas Press20131 online resource (273 p.)Discovering AmericaDescription based upon print version of record.0-292-74379-3 Includes bibliographical references and index.""List of Illustrations and Tables""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction: High-Crime Blind""; ""1. The Conspiracy-Theory Label""; ""2. The American Tradition of Conspiracy Belief""; ""3. Conspiracy Denial in the Social Sciences""; ""4. The Conspiracy-Theory Conspiracy""; ""5. State Crimes against Democracy""; ""6. Restoring American Democracy""; ""Appendix: CIA Dispatch #1035-960""; ""Tables""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""Ever since the Warren Commission concluded that a lone gunman assassinated President John F. Kennedy, people who doubt that finding have been widely dismissed as conspiracy theorists, despite credible evidence that right-wing elements in the CIA, FBI, and Secret Service—and possibly even senior government officials—were also involved. Why has suspicion of criminal wrongdoing at the highest levels of government been rejected out-of-hand as paranoid thinking akin to superstition? Conspiracy Theory in America investigates how the Founders’ hard-nosed realism about the likelihood of elite political misconduct—articulated in the Declaration of Independence—has been replaced by today’s blanket condemnation of conspiracy beliefs as ludicrous by definition. Lance deHaven-Smith reveals that the term “conspiracy theory” entered the American lexicon of political speech to deflect criticism of the Warren Commission and traces it back to a CIA propaganda campaign to discredit doubters of the commission’s report. He asks tough questions and connects the dots among five decades’ worth of suspicious events, including the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, the attempted assassinations of George Wallace and Ronald Reagan, the crimes of Watergate, the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal, the disputed presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, the major defense failure of 9/11, and the subsequent anthrax letter attacks. Sure to spark intense debate about the truthfulness and trustworthiness of our government, Conspiracy Theory in America offers a powerful reminder that a suspicious, even radically suspicious, attitude toward government is crucial to maintaining our democracy.Discovering America series.ConspiraciesUnited StatesHistoryConspiracy theoriesUnited StatesHistoryPolitical cultureUnited StatesHistory20th centuryPolitical cultureUnited StatesHistory21st centuryUnited StatesPolitics and government1945-1989United StatesPolitics and government1989-ConspiraciesHistory.Conspiracy theoriesHistory.Political cultureHistoryPolitical cultureHistory364.10973DeHaven-Smith Lance942496MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910825494503321Conspiracy theory in America3923694UNINA