To the editor:

This letter is occasioned by some of what is in the comments under my previous letter.

The Leftist referred to is Professor Mark Crispin Miller, who was targeted “for proposing that students consider more than one point of view on the subject of masks,” and who tells his story on Episode 1760 of the Tom Woods Show. Through the kind service of the excellent people in the library system, I now have at hand a book mentioned in that episode, “Conspiracy Theory in America” by Lance deHaven-Smith.

The book explains that our founding fathers were watchful people who were conspiracy theorists through and through in a good sense. “Those who now dismiss conspiracy theories as groundless paranoia have apparently forgotten that the United States was founded on a conspiracy theory. The Declaration of Independence claimed that ‘a history of repeated injuries and usurpations’ by King George proved the king was plotting to establish ‘an absolute tyranny over these states.’ … The Founders considered political power a corrupting influence that makes political conspiracies against the people’s interests and liberties almost inevitable.” (p. 7)

Chapter 4, entitled “The Conspiracy-Theory Conspiracy,” explains what happened in the late 1960s in the wake of widespread doubts about the official version of the JFK assassination. “Thus the conspiracy-theory label has become a powerful smear that, in the name of reason, civility, and democracy, preempts public discourse, reinforces rather than resolves disagreements, and undermines popular vigilance against abuses of power. Put in place in 1967 by the CIA, the term continues to be a destructive force in American politics.” (p. 131)

Listen to the beginning of Episode 1768 for a report on the overwhelmingly favorable response of listeners to the episode with Prof. Miller.

R.E. Wehrwein

New Ulm