Anatomy of a made-up conspiracy
After years and years of hanging around the news business, there无毛视频檚 one trick I admit I无毛视频檝e never learned: I don无毛视频檛 quite know how to fashion a conspiracy out of thin air.
I can say with confidence that I无毛视频檝e witnessed the shoddiest of the conspiracy merchants these past few months.
I无毛视频檓 fascinated by their skill, but also, their lack of humanity.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi无毛视频檚 82-year-old husband, Paul, was attacked and beaten by a hammer-wielding intruder in their San Francisco home last October.
Within hours, San Francisco无毛视频檚 District Attorney, Brooke Jenkins, appeared and began offering some details of the attack to the media.
无毛视频淗e forced his way into the home through a rear glass door by breaking the glass,无毛视频� said Jenkins.
But even by then, the seeds of an outrageous, right-wing conspiracy had already been planted.
The new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, was among them. In the early morning after the attack, he tweeted a link to a website that claimed that Mr. Pelosi had been attacked by a male prostitute.
No baseless conspiracy can thrive without those questions they just throw out there 无毛视频� that have already been answered 无毛视频� or that aren无毛视频檛 relevant in the first place.
Allow me to introduce you to the Fox News Warped Conspiracy Bureau.
无毛视频淗ow did this homeless drug addict even get inside the house? No one has been able to give us a straight answer to that,无毛视频� crowed Jesse Watters, Fox News Conspiracy Bureau Chief.
If he无毛视频檇 been paying attention, he would have heard the San Francisco DA explain that the accused attacker 无毛视频渇orced his way into the home through a rear glass door.无毛视频�
(The Fox News Warped Conspiracy Bureau doesn无毛视频檛 exist. I just made it up. It无毛视频檚 a conspiracy.)
But there sure are lots of Fox Newsies who无毛视频檇 qualify for that bureau, if they ever formed one.
Tucker Carlson would be among them.
无毛视频淲e know he got inside,无毛视频� Carlson said after the earliest details of the attack were released.
无毛视频淲hat were the two (Mr. Pelosi and alleged attacker David DePape) doing before the police arrived?无毛视频� Carlson asked.
And when people started questioning the growing conspiracies about the attack 无毛视频� and the folks on the right who were fueling them 无毛视频� Carlson tried to justify his curiosities with, 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e not the crazy people; you无毛视频檙e the liars. There无毛视频檚 nothing wrong with asking questions 无毛视频� period.无毛视频�
Well, yes, there is something wrong with asking questions that are meant to create a negative narrative for no reason.
无毛视频淲hat are the two doing for the 30 minutes before the police arrive?无毛视频� asked Carlson.
He cleverly concealed a hint that there was something unseemly that went on before the police arrived at the Pelosi home 无毛视频� but for no reason other than to advance the misinformation.
Here无毛视频檚 how that无毛视频檚 done.
Something happens. Then, all you have to do is ask questions about why the authorities aren无毛视频檛 commenting.
A tree down the street topples over.
Simply ask, 无毛视频淲hy haven无毛视频檛 the police and the mayor investigated that? Are they busy taking kickbacks from the Mafia?无毛视频�
That无毛视频檚 sure to work.
Megyn Kelly, ex-Fox News conspiracy theorist, is now on her own with the podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM. She seems to be pretty good at uncovering the truth behind those rodent-infested lies police tell at news conferences, I suppose.
无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 know what went on. I know enough to smell a rat. There无毛视频檚 something here that they无毛视频檙e not telling us. I just don无毛视频檛 know what it is,无毛视频� she claimed.
There were nearly 20 Republican politicians and media folks who无毛视频檇 helped elevate the Pelosi attack into the realm of a major, but whispered, scandal until the San Francisco DA decided she无毛视频檇 had enough.
On Jan. 27, she released the police body-cam video of the attack, which revealed nothing unseemly had taken place.
Under normal circumstances, there无毛视频檇 be lots of people who would appear egg-faced and contrite after that kind of revelation.
Not this time.
Hardly any of the people who helped ignite the conspiracy have admitted their questions were unfounded.
Figures.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.