Reading The Tea Leaves

Last night, I did a quick post on a conspiracy theory that Rick Santelli's rant was a plant to start a movement.

Apparently, the Playboy blog has since taken their post down. Kevin Binversie, the author of Lakeshore Laments, felt that this was a good gotcha moment.

But from reading his post, it appears that the source's main problem wasn't whether the allegations against Santelli or the conspiracy theory in itself was true. Rather, it seemed that the source's concern was more centered on being labeled as part of any conspiracy theory.

Also of note is that Open Left had also picked up on the story and fleshed it out a little more than the linked-to site from yesterday.

So, is the entire conspiracy theory onto something, or is it just the rantings of some overzealous bloggers? You're guess is as good as mine. Which could explain why my original post was title "Was The Tea Party Already In The Bag?", which most readers would recognize as a question, and not a definitive statement.

But then Binversie has a commendable amount of snark with this:

So to see “capper” go off on this isn’t new, he’s always been of the belief conservatives can’t organize intelligently and there can’t be such thing as ‘coincidence’ in politics. It must be a cynical existance[sic] he lives.

There are a couple of problems with this post. One is that I do believe that conservatives can organize intelligently, if not always honestly. On whether or not I am cynical, well, I probably am to a certain degree. Who wouldn't be, after eight years of Bush/Cheney and six years of Walker?

But if this whole thing turns out to be a farce, so what? I do love conspiracy theories, and have posted on them before. The extremes that people go to, on either side of the political spectrum, can be fun to watch from time to time.

And it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong about something. I am only human. And it's not like Binversie hasn't been wrong about things before, either. But unlike that other Kevin, I won't be deleting the posts.

Would Rove Murder To Cover Voter Fraud?

Oh, how I love a good conspiracy theory!

While trying to catch up on some other things, I stumbled across a story that caught my interest.

Mike Connell was a GOP operative and IT specialist that worked closely with none other than Karl Rove. Apparently, from what I've read, Mr. Connell was the person who was responsible for the creation of the parallel email system used by the Bush administration, most notably in the political firing of several U.S. Attorneys. Interestingly enough, this is the same server was used to tabulate the election results in Ohio during the 2004 elections.

Mr. Connell was subpoenaed to testify in a court hearing in Ohio regarding possible shenanigans. After being forced to give a deposition, Mr. Connell claimed that Rove was threatening him and telling him he needed to take the fall in any charges. People took these threats so seriously that the Ohio Attorney General was asked to intervene and give protection to Connell and his family.

In what I am sure is pure coincidence *cough, cough*, Connell, an experienced pilot, died when his plane mysteriously crashed three miles from the airport.

Now, I am not accusing Rove or anyone else of murder. Nor am I saying definitively that there is some kind of conspiracy going on here. I am just pointing out that these are an amazing set of events, if they are indeed coincidental.