If, like me, you are a little prone to oil your jaded, skeptical and perhaps just a little too gullible opinions on the workings of big government with a nice juicy conspiracy theory or two, I think you will really enjoy this article by Jamie Palmer in the online magazine Quillette.

In My misspent Years of Conspiracism Jamie looks at one of the most popular conspiracy theories of all time, the assassination of JFK.
I well remember sitting totally enthralled through Oliver Stone’s compelling monster of a film (at 206 minutes): ‘JFK’.
After watching this film it was clear to both of us that in all probability, there was a conspiracy here.

There must have been more than one shooter. There was probably a cover up. And the so-called Zapruder film clearly showed that something was amiss here.

And like me, the film left a long lingering perfume on Jamie:

“Stone simply aggravated my pre-existing anti-authoritarian reflex and flattered my adolescent cynicism by confirming what I already suspected—that power is pitiless, self-serving, and corrupt; that the good die young and the wicked prosper; and that those of us clever enough to understand harsh truths like these had a responsibility to expose them. Here, I decided, were profound insights and moral clarity.”

Fast forward to 2003 when Jamie watched BBC documentary called Beyond Conspiracy.
And everything changed.

In the article Jamie methodically walks us through the facts as he now understands them, showing errors in Oliver Stone’s film and other associated conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination.

Deconstructing the conspiracy theory and coming to terms with the evaporation of one of his long-held beliefs. It’s a great read.

Oh, and spoiler alert: Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK.

Conspiracy theories foreclose the possibility of explanation, because they postulate unalterable conclusions in search of evidence instead of following evidence to plausible conclusions. And, for that reason, no countervailing argument, hypothesis, or fact will ever be enough to dissuade committed theorists.

The Magic Bullet:

This short section of the Beyond Conspiracy documentary examines the magic bullet theory using the latest 3D forensic modeling technology and is also well worth watching.