03480cam a2200409 i 4500003000800000005001700008007000300025008004100028020002500069035001300094040001800107041000800125042000800133043001200141050002800153082001800181100003300199245005700232250001200289260004800301300003200349490002400381504006400405505029500469520171400764650004202478650004902520650006102569650006102630650004702691650006102738650006102799651005502860651005002915651005602965651004903021BJBSDDR20230404125820.0ta121127s2013    txuad    b   s001 0 eng    a9780292757691 (pbk.)  a17541756  aDLCbengcDLC  aspa  apcc  an-us---14a002 E 839.5bD322c 201300a364.109732231 aDeHaven-Smith, Lance,d1951-10aConspiracy theory in America /cLance deHaven-Smith.  a1st ed. 1aAustin :bUniversity of Texas Press,c2013.  ax, 260 p. :bill. ;c24 cm.0 aDiscovering America  aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 237-246) and index.0 aIntroduction: high-crime blind -- The conspiracy-theory label -- The American tradition of conspiracy belief -- Conspiracy denial in the social sciences -- The conspiracy-theory conspiracy -- State crimes against democracy -- Restoring American democracy -- Appendix: CIA Dispatch 1035-960.  aEver 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realism about the likelihood of elite political misconduct—articulated in the Declaration of Independence—has been replaced by today’s blanket condemnation of conspiracy beliefs as ludicrous by definition.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. 0aConspiracieszUnited StatesxHistory. 0aConspiracy theorieszUnited StatesxHistory. 0aPolitical culturezUnited StatesxHistoryy20th century. 0aPolitical culturezUnited StatesxHistoryy21st century. 4aConspiraciones zEstados UnidosxHistoria. 4aCultura política zEstados UnidosxHistoriaySiglo XX. 4aCultura políticazEstados UnidosxHistoriaySiglo XXI. 0aUnited StatesxPolitics and governmenty1945-1989. 0aUnited StatesxPolitics and governmenty1989- 4aEstados Unidos xPolítica y gobierno y1945-1989. 4aEstados UnidosxPolítica y gobiernoy1989-