The Irrational Rationality of Conservative Conspiracism.
Washington Post, Sep 27, 2018: President Trump is prone to conspiratorial thinking.
The examples tumble forth. Trump began his political career with the accusation that Barack Obama was a secret immigrant, having doctored his birth certificate as well as his biography. For his supporters, he has made MS-13 synonymous with illegal immigration, claiming that the tiny gang is attempting to infiltrate America and commit mass murder. Trump has also turned the name Hillary Clinton into the equivalent of a conniving plot for his followers. Trump proclaims climate change a scientific “hoax,” perhaps manufactured by the Chinese. And in his latest conspiratorial flight, the president accused Democrats of falsifying the number of Puerto Ricans killed by Hurricane Maria.
In recent days, the broader conservative movement has shown a predilection for the same. To defend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh against sexual assault allegations, Republicans have coalesced around objecting to accusations on the grounds of what Kellyanne Conway has called “a vast left-wing conspiracy.” Or, as Trump termed it, “a con job.”
It is tempting to think of these conspiracies as a rejection of reason, part of the faith- or instinct-based anti-intellectualism of Trump and the right more broadly. And yet such a characterization misses the very nature of political conspiracy. For conspiracism does not reject rational thought, but actually metastasizes reason itself. Conspiracies are based on vast trails of evidence. But facts become filtered to eliminate anything that would cast doubt about theory. Evidence often begets more evidence, but, maddeningly, there is never enough for definitive proof. Conspiracy theorists must keep digging to fully uncover the plot.
Ironically, such mad thinking tips not to the random but the rational, even hyper-rational. Conspiracy theories are often scrupulously documented, listed and sourced, every effect matched to a cause. This detailed evidence is then combined into a deluded framework, often laid out with hyper-charts, lists and even lists of lists…