Donald Trump: Crazy Conspiracy Theorist

If you are even slightly inclined to take this notion seriously, you should read this, and also read this.

Conspiracy theorist Jefferson Morley (one of the few conspiracy theorists with a modicum of mainstream credibility) notes:

In the still photo reproduced by the Enquirer the man alleged to be Cruz appears to be handing out pamphlets with Oswald. In the film version, however, he seems to have taken a pamphlet and talks to other passersby, and then vanishes, never to appear again. The man took a pamphlet. There is no visual evidence that he “worked with” Oswald.

One might try to excuse Trump on the grounds that other important political figures have believed in JFK conspiracy theories. Secretary of State John Kerry is one example.

We think all the JFK conspiracy theories are unsupported by evidence, and most are provably bogus. But having doubts about Oswald as the lone gunman is not a bizarre belief, especially for somebody who has been paying only casual attention to the issue.

But Trump has embraced a very marginal theory for which few if any seasoned buffs (including those who believe in a conspiracy) see any evidence. And he has done so on the basis of a report in the National Enquirer.

If he is so incapable of distinguishing reliable and unreliable evidence on this trivial issue, how much confidence can we have in his judgment on vital matters of national security?

Kennedy Assassination Course Offered This Summer

One of our interests (some would say “obsession”) is the Kennedy assassination, and we will be offering the course at Marquette this summer, from July 6 through August 14.

The course description (from the syllabus) is as follows:

The course will examine the question of who killed John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Both the Warren Commission conclusion that a single gunman killed Kennedy, and a variety of conspiracy theories will be critically evaluated.

The single most important objective of the course will be to sharpen students’ analytical skills in the context of evaluating competing theories, with particular emphasis on critical evaluation of evidence, and theorizing in the face of conflicting data.

Of course Marquette students can take the course, but pretty much anybody else who wants to take it can do so as a “non-degree” student.

Indeed, bright high school juniors and seniors often take college courses in the summer. (You don’t have to have taken the ACT, although the admissions office will want to see your transcript.)

Tuition is fairly steep: $1,800 plus. But this is real college credit that will transfer to any institution (although whether it would fit any particular degree program is something you would have to ask about.)

If you are interested, call the Admissions office at Marquette at 414-288-7302, and ask about getting admitted on a “non-degree” basis.

Another Conspiracy Course From English Professor John Boly

We have blogged about Marquette English professor John Boly, who appears to be a heavy-duty conspiracy theorist.

He’s back at it this spring, according to the English Department’s list of courses.

ENGLISH 173: STUDIES IN GENRE:

PROFESSOR JOHN BOLY

• 1001 TUTH 9:35-10:50

DYSTOPIAN FICTION: UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA/HETEROPTOPIA

Is America run by a hidden and arrogant financial elite? Are politicians their sock-puppets? Could illegal and immoral petro-wars be started on false pretexts so a corrupt few can get rich and herd everyone else into a police state? Is corporate owned news a megaphone for CIA propaganda? Are vaccines and other pharmaceutical drugs delivery systems for diseases like cancer and AIDS? Are water supplies deliberately poisoned by eugenicists intent on reducing the population to morons? If questions like these interest you, then try this course. We will study the connections among three closely related genres: utopia (the desirable place), dystopia (the abject hellhole), and heterotopia (the denied or repressed place). The syllabus will include a broad range of works, from Frank Baum’s beloved children’s tale, The Wizard of Oz, to George Orwell’s vision of a global concentration camp, 1984; from Aldous Huxley’s eugenic paradise, Brave New World, to Margaret Atwood’s nightmare society dictated by women-hating fundamentalists, The Handmaid’s Tale; from Kurt Vonnegut’s slapstick black comedies to Kazuo Ishiguro’s elegant psychological thriller, Never Let Me Go. In addition to these fictional works, we will also look at some of the non-fictional narratives that inspired our novelists. These heterotopias, the repressed histories often dismissed as “conspiracy theories,” will give us an opportunity to consider the writings of historians and investigative reporters such as Ida Tarbell, Anthony C. Sutton, Robert Stinnett, and Gary Allen. But the big surprise is that these heterotopians are joined by some unexpected conspiracy theorists: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton. If recent events leave you questioning the official picture of the world, then utopia, dystopia, and heterotopia are the genres for you.

When we blogged about a different (but equally conspiracy-oriented) course of Boly’s this summer, we were not in a particularly mellow mood, and denounced his conspiracy theorizing as indicative of “the corruption of academia generally, and especially the humanities, by attitudes that are fundamentally hostile to sound history and sound social science.”

Looking at this course description, we are inclined to be a bit more mellow, thinking “he’s just an English professor, so getting the empirical truth right is less important than a compelling aesthetic vision” and “he can’t really believe all this stuff, can he?”

In fact, the course looks to us like a real hoot. Indeed, if some student signs up for both Boly’s course and our own course on the Kennedy assassination, they are guaranteed a wild, and we think, very interesting semester.