Do people who say they speak "truth to power" ever actually speak "truth to power"?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

It seems 9 times out of 10, people using this phrase are praising some nutjob conspiracy theory or fringe explanation.

[SDuderstadt]

1. Bullseye, SCQ! n/t

[Kind of Blue]

2. Sorry, Y'all wrong place to post.

Thought I was in another forum.

[Odin2005]

3. It's called "delusions of persecution".

It's a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia.

[salvorhardin]

4. Sometimes

The saps from We Are Change try their best to accost the people they think engineered or were part of their imagined cover-up of 9-11. The results are usually rather sad and just illustrate that the word 'truth' doesn't really mean the same as everyone else uses it. Here they confront Richard Ben-Veniste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4R9TkOSEW8

[LeftishBrit]

5. Sometimes. The phrase actually has an honourable history...

but it is often misused as 'supporting conspiracy theories or other out-of-the-mainstream theories, whether on good grounds or not'. With the implication that the only reason why not everyone accepts these theories is because 'power' is 'suppressing' them. Indeed it is sometimes used basically to mean 'saying something that happens to irritate some other anonymous people on a message board': "I am speaking truth to power, and you are trying to SUPPRESS me!"

I was struck a year or two ago by someone commenting on Hugo Chavez: "Chavez speaks truth to power!" Whether one likes or agrees with Chavez or not, surely he cannot be described as 'speaking truth to power' in the original sense. As his country's president, he *is* power.

[Warpy]

6. No, it's exactly the same as claiming to be rich or Christian.

You can be sure the claimant is none of those things. In the latter case, you're wise to check to make sure your own wallet hasn't been lifted as you sprint for an exit.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

7. Indeed

"truth to power" has been reduced to a cliché that its usage is normally restricts to just tinfoilers.

Now behold my 9/11 YouTube video in which lossy video artifacts are "PROOF!"

[salvorhardin]

8. Does your video have mysterious shadows?

Because if it does, I'm pretty sure I could commit to that. Especially if there's dark, foreboding music backing your soundtrack.

[realisticphish]

9. and maybe

a loud noise when you cut to each scene; like a law and order "doink doink" kind of sound

[laconicsax]

10. Did I use it correctly here?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6939415&mesg_id=6939604

:shrug:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Yes! BTW, how long before people start saying it was the flu vaccine that made him murder 12 people

[TZ]

13. Naw he was a mental health professional

It'll be anti-depressants made him do it! Because according to DU, its ALWAYS the medication that makes the rampage shooter go nuts...:banghead:

[laconicsax]

14. Only if the meds have thimerosal

[TZ]

15. No it must be SSRI's!

Because we all know they cause violent behavior. ARRRGH. I knew that wouldn't take long.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

16. There should be a SS&P pool to bet what will get the blame

Because for everyone incident, it is always the fault of those egghead scientists, right?

[laconicsax]

17. Science caused the Holocaust

Hitler was just caught up in scientific dogma.

[jberryhill]

11. More like speaking gibberish to apathy most often.....

[Orrex]

18. Or maybe someone from Ohio's 10th Congressional District