Paranoia

Cosma Shalizi notes something we've all been thinking, that being sane involves thinking some really crazy things right now. In college, I found myself to the right of many people I dealt with, in part because I had an active bullshit trigger (not saying it was an accurate one, just active). When I hear conspiracy coming from the right wing, it confirms my liberalism, while when they come from the good guys, I get this close to talking about "long haired hippies." The same goes for suggestions that we impeach the president. So it's not a comfortable position I find myself in thinking that there have been unconstitutional secret wiretaps of American citizens, that the government is just disappearing people, or that the Vice President claims to not be part of the Executive branch.

The biggest issue for me is electoral fraud, especially the fact that no one talks about it. Every so often, articles surface discussing the issue, only to be met with silence, as if there is a tacit agreement that we are better off not discussing the possibility. The most high profile place one appeared was in Rolling Stone, though that source doesn't make it sound less kooky.

I would love nothing more than to read something decisively disproving that the 2004 election was swayed by voter fraud. In the long run, it's more comforting to think that 51% of voters embraced an insane administration than to think that 48% did, and the other 3% of the votes were tampered with. If the election was rigged, I want to know, if it's not, I want someone to step up and decisively refute the whispers.