Part of this week's excitement can be found in the Guest Commentary, where Randy Serraglio posits that the Bush administration's version of Sept. 11 may be more fiction than truth. While I am certainly open-minded, at first glance, I think a lot of what Randy believes in this case is, well, highly unlikely. (For example: There's the belief that the World Trade Center could not have been brought down by the planes and the resulting fires--and that some kind of controlled demolition must have been involved. My question: How the heck could someone sneak in explosives to the World Trade Center?)
Ah, conspiracy theories.
They're everywhere, and you just have to love 'em. I particularly love them when they're aimed at me and the Weekly. For example, there are some KXCI "Democracy Initiative" folks (emphasis on some) who have convinced themselves that KXCI had the means to "pressure" us not to cover the community radio station so darned critically, because we have not covered it as much (or as passionately) as the late Chris Limberis once did. They choose to believe that over a more logical explanation--that our Media Watch writers, who can write whatever the heck they want, simply didn't/don't feel the way Limbo did about the situation.
Then there's a recent letter-writer who criticized our endorsement of the Regional Transportation Authority ballot questions. She sent the letter to us late last Friday, some 16 days after our endorsement was announced, and after the Mailbag section of this issue was finished. Her letter had an inaccuracy in it, so I e-mailed her and told her about the mistake, adding that we wouldn't be able to publish her letter until after the May 16 election in any case.
She responded: "As I recall, you didn't run my letter three years ago until after the election either. Just a coincidence?"
My response: "Yes. You got me. We were so awed by your letter to the editor, quaking in fear that it could single-handedly turn the tide, that we could not bear to run it until after the election."
I then let her know I was kidding. But I would not be surprised if that's really what she believes.
Ya gotta love conspiracy theories.
