EDITORIAL: Tough times for conspiracy theorists

Editor’s note: This editorial originally ran in fellow CNHI paper the Enid News & Eagle.

The government was finally going to have to come clean after draining the swamp of deep-state socialists, and the newest administration was not going to cover for any more of these demonic cabals secretly controlling the country.

“Im so proud of my friend Lee Zeldin and President Donald Trump for their commitment to finally shatter the Deep State Omerta regarding the diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities, our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty,” Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted to social media.

The EPA, thought RFK, was finally going to reveal the dangerous “chemtrails” of which he and many others believe are part of a conspiracy for aircraft to dump toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.

Last week, the EPA did put a new page up on its site, https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and- engines/Contrails. It debunks the theories and explains that “contrails” are in fact condensation.

“This page provides information on contrails — the long, thin clouds that form behind aircraft at high altitudes — and how they form,” the introduction reads. “This page also provides information on terms that are often inaccurately used as alleged synonyms of contrails, such as ‘chemtrails’ and geoengineering.”

Oh, for shame.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for some folks.

Followed by a lack of transparency and explanation into any perceived revelations on an “Epstein client list” from the Department of Justice, though misguided, people who thought they were going to see justice served, are now outraged.

Trump was getting tired of it, lashing out that the people still pestering him about Epstein were “weaklings” being duped by Democrats.

While it may seem far-fetched to many, it’s not all that hard to believe there are people who cling to some kind of boogeyman for an explanation when the truth is perhaps not as comfortable nor convenient. But the large difference between now and, say, 30 years ago, is that these likeminded individuals have platforms to find each other in larger groups and their efforts can have impacts in the real world.

So many examples spring to mind, from the “pizzagate” shooting, to the QAnon-sparked #Savethechildren rallies, reluctance to immunize children, and more recently and locally, a man who sought to destroy an Oklahoma City weather radar station.

Politicians were happy enough to campaign on behalf of these conspiracies, but it remains to be seen if the tactic will work in future elections.