Call me a conspiracy theorist

The world is going to end on Dec. 21, 2012 – I heard all about it in 2007. 

Obama isn’t an American citizen and perhaps is part of a Muslim conspiracy to take down the West – ditto.

The swine flu vaccine is either a drug company ploy or population-controlling killer – I knew everything to know right when swine flu became an issue.

Not to brag or anything, but I’d like to think I was on the ground floor for all the “crackpot” theories that have dominated headlines over the past year, and it’s all because of the long-running AM radio program “Coast To Coast AM.” 

The show has been giving me a 4-hour dose of alternative news and discussion for nearly three years, but when I try to share my thoughts on their topics – alien hybrids, 9/11 as an inside job and how we’re all going to be in FEMA camps by 2020, just to name a few – with other people, they scoff and call me a conspiracy theorist.

Fine, call me whatever you want, unnamed hater. But in a time when it’s pretty obvious that all the major sources of news are compromised – TV folks are more worried about becoming headlines themselves and raising their profile, newspapers are trying to simply stay alive and the internet is still a Wild West of fact or fiction – what’s really the harm in exploring all views, even if they’re inherently or traditionally nutty?

I would never say that I believe everything I hear on “Coast To Coast” or the ancillary things I read based on what I hear, because clearly some of the people who propose theories on the show are masters of hearsay, speculation and circumstantial evidence.

But at this point, I could say the exact same for Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann.
But the connotation that comes with an interest in UFOs, New World Orders and Cryptozology just isn’t fair. There is absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing the truth and attempting to solve the mysteries of our universe, even if the questions aren’t ones that most are comfortable asking.

It’s especially frustrating to be scoffed at even if I can provide evidence and links, as sometimes it feels like the real “conspiracy” is that the governments, churches or whoever the heck is in charge have pushed the idea that all these theories are fundamentally crazy just to keep the truth from the public.

And even worse, these days it seems that the “mainstream” media is willing to suppress alternative news until it’s useful for them. Take the three examples mentioned in the opening of this column. “Coast To Coast” had been covering 2012, the birther movement and swine flu conspiracies long before they came to the forefront, but once CNN or Fox News got hold of them, they seemingly become more verified – except that the mainstream media waters it all down to just the shocking headline.

Thus, I’m fine being a conspiracy theorist. If everyone’s lying, I’d at least rather be lied to by sources posing interesting questions instead of toeing the line between controversy and status quo.