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In reply to the discussion: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy believed President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy. [View all]Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)The complete scanned instructions are archived as pdf.file (54 pages). Here is a bit more information about these instructions.
Recently Kevin Ryan has examined the effect these instructions had on the language of leading newspapers, but perhaps even more telling and fascinating to listen to are the personal experiences of early conspiracy researcher
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=3167&relPageId=1
http://mtracy9.tripod.com/cia_instructions.htm
In the 45 years before the CIA memo came out, the phrase conspiracy theory appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times only 50 times, or about once per year. In the 45 years after the CIA memo, the phrase appeared 2,630 times, or about once per week.
Before the CIA memo came out, the Washington Post and New York Times had never used the phrase conspiracy theorist. After the CIA memo came out, these two newspapers have used that phrase 1,118 times. Of course, in these uses the phrase is always delivered in a context in which conspiracy theorists were made to seem less intelligent and less rationale than people who uncritically accept official explanations for major events.
President George W. Bush and his colleagues often used the phrase conspiracy theory in attempts to deter questioning about their activities. When questioned by reporters about an emerging scandal in September 2000, Bush said the idea that his presidential campaign was flashing subliminal messages in advertisements was absurd, and he added that conspiracy theories abound in Americas politics.[14]
When in 1994, Bushs former company Harken Energy was linked to the fraudulent Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) through several investors, Bushs spokeswoman, Karen Hughes, shut down the inquiry by telling the Associated Press We have no response to silly conspiracy theories.
http://digwithin.net/2012/05/30/another-911-conspiracy/
James Corbett made an interesting podcast about how the term conspiracy theorist is used for stereotyping and ridicule and serves as a thoughtstopper and helps to silence dissident voices (ca. 50 min podcast).
http://www.corbettreport.com/episode-050-the-c-word/