Reply #34: a virtual conspiracy: CLINTON'S FOES SPREAD RUMORS, ALLEGATIONS, SPECULATIONS AND LIES

[L. Coyote]

The anatomy of a virtual conspiracy
UNABLE TO DEFEAT HIM AT THE POLLS, PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FOES USE THE PRESS TO SPREAD RUMORS, ALLEGATIONS, SPECULATIONS AND LIES.
BY PETER J. OGNIBENE
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/05/18news.html


The first lady is right, as Salon and others have suggested: There is a conspiracy to bring down President Clinton. But this is no ordinary conspiracy. Not a tiny cabal like the one that met in Mary Surratt's boardinghouse to plot the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nor the scenario of a wigged-out novelist or film director. It is something quite different -- indeed, unprecedented in our history -- a "virtual conspiracy." ....

A virtual conspiracy starts in the open and requires publicity to flourish and gain adherents. Virtual conspirators test-fly stratagems, tactics and rumors. They do not meet in secret until they have discerned what will advance their undertaking and what will not. Moreover, by making their initial moves in the open, they attract others to their cause and to one another.

Instantaneous communication is critical to a virtual conspiracy. So, too, is freedom of expression. Though there are laws against making false accusations, virtual conspirators who channel charges, allegations and rumors through the press or spread them on the Internet gain the protection of the First Amendment. Most thrusts fail, but some wound, making the hated target more vulnerable the next time around.

Sound far-fetched? Consider: ............