hot from my twitter, via Baratunde Thurston, is this the nation article by leslie savan that makes this very related argument about conspiracy theories, and why i think some are so pervasive. read the entire article, it’s good. take a look how it shows the connection between GOP’s strategy of crypto-racism and the birthers. a sample:

The word Birther itself comes trailing clouds of associative fog. It’s unclear who minted the term, but for the true believers themselves, it can have a positive ring. When I first heard of Birthers I thought maybe they were subscribers to some sub-catechism about the birth of Christ or an offshoot of the anti-abortion movement–pro-life, pro-birth. Which makes sense. The Bircher, er, Birther movement is born from the same psychology that can trace social unease to a single issue–if we could only stop abortion, we could turn the clock back to Father Knows Best; if we could abolish all gun control, we could restore the eye-for-an-eye justice of the Old West; if we could only prove to that Barack Obama was “born in Kenya,” his presidency would go away and White Power would be restored.

Simplifying their world with a complicated assumption filled conspiracy. I am still not sure what irony really is, but i have a feeling this is an ironic situation.

I like how this Leslie Savan and i are on the same wavelength, only different phase.