Conspiracy-theories and the reality-based community

Booman23 writes an excellent post on the pervasive use of terms such as "conspiracy-theory" to close off legitimate avenues of questioning about the tactices of the Bush administration as well as those of other governments and organizations. This time, people are using the term to ridicule those who see something strange in the new security alert--the first time it has ever gone to red. Remember how it went back to normal right after the 2004 election. Listen to Booman23 speak:

Contrary to many in the blogosphere, I refuse to be a proud member of the reality based community. That phrase is probably the most misinterpreted statement in modern history. What the aide meant was that the neo-cons create history, while we merely study it.

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality--judiciously, as you will--we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

How do they create history? They give the Israelis the go ahead to invade Lebanon at the next provocation. They issue false terror warnings based on old intelligence or the the mad ravings of mental patients. They plant phony stories of terror and WMD in the New York Times. Perhaps they carry out false-flag operations. They act. We witness.

When you predict that something will happen because you have analyzed the enemy's intentions, and then they do pretty much exactly what you predicted at the time you predicted using the methods you predicted, then it is not a conspiracy theory.

We can either be a reality-based community that credulously ignores the past, including the history of 2002, or we can shout down conspiracy theorists for their lack of complete knowledge and corroboration...or we can admit that the administration has lied about terror in the past and are likely do the same, now.

There are real terrorists out there aiming to hurt us. Cheney's policies increases their numbers and passion every day. But we should not succumb to these tactics. We must stand up to them. Otherwise, we "will be left to just study what [they] do."