Something I've noticed. Conspiracy Theories (and political outrage) are fluid things. By that I mean that they metaphorically act like liquids. Liquids have a fixed volume, and they change their shape to fit the container that they are in. In the same ways, conspiracy theories and political outrage end up having a fixed outcome (explain/explain away something or be angry), but they'll change their form in order to fit the details surrounding the specific outrage/conspiracy they are being used for.
In the age of Trump, liberal conspiracy theories latched onto Russia.
In the age of Bush, conspiracy theories circled around 9/11, with over half of democrats supporting some form of truther conspiracy.
The thing is, that these aren't really all that different. In general they are things designed to appeal to a political group's (in this case liberal/democrat) dislike of the president. The shapes they took were designed to fit the details of the presidency they disliked. You wouldn't see much conspiracy theory around Trump and 9/11 because it wasn't a factor in Trump's presidency. But the thing is, in general, it's not the subject of the conspiracy theory that matters, the conspiracy theory is going to form around what's there.
I've noticed the same thing is true about political outrage. We constantly see mountains made out of molehills, the classic example is Obama's Tan Suit. But it's common everywhere. I like to use the phrase "Outrage looking for a place to happen." You can see it in a couple of the poster's here. TDS, ODS, BDS, etc is rampant. That's because they want to be angry, and they'll justify that anger through anything they can reach at as a means to justify it. While Obama had the tan suit, Trump had koigate. Again though, neither one of these incidents was really outrage-worth, but because the opposition was looking for something to hang outrage on, they made mountains out of things that weren't even molehills.
In the age of Trump, liberal conspiracy theories latched onto Russia.
In the age of Bush, conspiracy theories circled around 9/11, with over half of democrats supporting some form of truther conspiracy.
The thing is, that these aren't really all that different. In general they are things designed to appeal to a political group's (in this case liberal/democrat) dislike of the president. The shapes they took were designed to fit the details of the presidency they disliked. You wouldn't see much conspiracy theory around Trump and 9/11 because it wasn't a factor in Trump's presidency. But the thing is, in general, it's not the subject of the conspiracy theory that matters, the conspiracy theory is going to form around what's there.
I've noticed the same thing is true about political outrage. We constantly see mountains made out of molehills, the classic example is Obama's Tan Suit. But it's common everywhere. I like to use the phrase "Outrage looking for a place to happen." You can see it in a couple of the poster's here. TDS, ODS, BDS, etc is rampant. That's because they want to be angry, and they'll justify that anger through anything they can reach at as a means to justify it. While Obama had the tan suit, Trump had koigate. Again though, neither one of these incidents was really outrage-worth, but because the opposition was looking for something to hang outrage on, they made mountains out of things that weren't even molehills.
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