Welcome to the conspiracy theory superhighway
Bella Counihan March 11, 2011 & Michael Byers Mikiverse Politics Editor-In-Chief
Did you know that Julia Gillard has been accused of treason, making her ineligible for office? That John Howard told Muslims to get out of Australia? Oh, and Lady Gaga is actually a medium of mind control for the Illuminati. Yeah, I read it all on the internet, so it must be true.
The tone of this article is set early with the old cliche about the internet. Note the linking of particular events. You have Brian Shaw mixed in with fundamentalist Christian clips about music and the illuminati with John Howard.
The second two elements are designed to be associated with the first so as to discredit it.
The internet is an absolute gold mine for conspiracy theories. Funny, I would have thought that the corporate media is that goldmine. But in political terms, it can become a platform to promote misinformation and inflated rhetoric, which could be a problem for the notion of democracy. Hmmm....better clamp down on freedoms some more then. On forums, blogs and comments on news sites, there are now ever more ways to share the fear you have with your fellow couch-bound worriers. Lets start with stopping these evil people communicating thoughts and ideas. Especially those that are taking the advertising dollar away from the corporate media.
One man has been on an internet crusade -note the casual dismissal, Brian has manifested his belief in the real world in the Australian court system and continues to do so- to expose a conspiracy of state and federal government, -more dismissive descriptions, he is talking about unlawful behaviour by politicians, lawyers and judges, not conspiracies- along the way accusing Julia Gillard of treason. Brian Shaw, who stood as an independent candidate for the Altona state byelection (Gillard's own home turf), alleges "the Government of Western Australia, without referendum process, removed the State of Western Australia from the Crown of the United Kingdom" and therefore "committed treason". What that quite means is hard to figure out, -not if you do your research- but constitutional expert George Williams, a professor at the University of NSW, told the National Times that he is unaware of any such removal.
This is a sneaky trick. Brian makes the allegation that the W.A government unlawfully removed the crown through a piece of legislation. Legislative changes is not the domain of a Constitutional expert because it isn't a part of the Constitution. Also, Willams, did say that the change had not been made, just that he was "unaware".
Shaw brought a few cases against a wide range of political figures including all members of the WA government and Julia Gillard for this believed breach. He goes on to argue that under Section 44 of the Constitution anyone ''attainted of treason'', which by his definition means accused of treason, is therefore unable to run for any position in parliament, which means Gillard's is ineligible for office.
Professor Williams explains, however, that "attainted" means convicted. He told the National Times "an allegation would not be enough. You would actually have to have a ruling", adding that Shaw's argument has "no foundation." Shaw has since been ruled to be a vexatious litigant -one of the tactics used in the court system to stifle the truth from being revealed- but his theory is still on YouTube, his website and on other blogs and forums arguing the conspiracy.
YouTube has also propagated various other accusations against Julia Gillard, that she is
a dangerous communist, that she belongs to a reptilian race that controls the world and also she is a part of the ''New World Order''.
Here is an attempt to link Brian with David Icke's reptillian philosophies.
Kevin Rudd too, had many conspiracy theories floating around in the online ether. During his prime ministership he too was part of a conspiracy with the New World Order, and another to make Australia a Nazi state.
In America, of course the problem is much more widespread and particularly prevalent since President Barack Obama's administration. -this article is trying to make an accusation that this is 'left-wing' bashing.This is why we are reading the raher devious claim that this all began with Rudd and Obama. Remember Bush? the 9/11 false flag op? neo-cons? Pt. Arthur false flag op? Bali false flag op? All under 'right-wing' politicians. The random 'conspiracy theories' in this article, are not random at all.- There are so many conspiracy theories around the President that there's an entire website devoted to cataloguing them. His religion, his birth certificate, you name it, there's an Obama conspiracy attached to it.
The internet is increasingly how people can consume the kind of news they want and seek the revelations that they feel the mainstream media isn't telling them. Tea Party forums consistently reproduce the same false anti-Muslim speech, variously attributed to John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. The speech was in fact originally an editorial in an American newspaper, which ranted against Muslim migration to that country. But, as ABC's Michael Brissenden explains, even though this is a clear fabrication which only a modicum of googling or research would disqualify, members of the Tea Party continue to believe it.
So what does this all point to? Is the media failing us? Is political discussion so unsatisfactory that people have to believe in something beyond the norm? Or is it the fault of that wild and chaotic internet, which has no checks and balances?
Hmmm maybe we should contol and censor the internet, heaven forbid that people might mae and express their own opinions and news outside of the corporate media umbrella.
There's no conspiracy here, -keep moving people, there's nothing to see here- simply that people will always look for meaning in random events, linking things together that are not actually related by logic or evidence. That the time and effort to actually verify things accurately is too time-consuming and most are willing to believe what their friends say over an unknown ''expert'' or news source. Distrust in authority, trying to be an individual in a sea of convention, these are all factors. The online world simply gives people an ability to communicate these fears, passions and beliefs with each other.
Bella Counihan works at the Canberra press gallery and writes for the National Times.
Follow the National Times on Twitter: @NationalTimesAU
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/welcome-to-the-conspiracy-theory-superhighway-20110310-1bob8.html
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