Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America

369 Pages·2001·1.2 MB·English

by  Professor Robert Alan Goldberg

Enemies Within

Enemies
The Culture of Conspiracy in
Within
Modern America
Robert Alan Goldberg
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN & LONDON
Copyright©2001byYaleUniversity.
Allrightsreserved.
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Goldberg,RobertAlan,1949–
Enemieswithin:thecultureofconspiracyinmodernAmerica/RobertA.Goldberg
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-300-09000-5(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Conspiracies—UnitedStates—History.2.UnitedStates—Socialconditions.
3.UnitedStates—Politicsandgovernment. I.Title.
HV6285.G652001
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For Annie

Contents
Preface ix
chapter1. An American Tradition 1
chapter2. The Master Conspiracy 22
chapter3. The Rise of the Antichrist 66
chapter4. The View from the Grassy Knoll 105
chapter5. Jewish Devils and the War on Black America 150
chapter6. The Roswell Incident 189
chapter7. Mainstreaming Conspiracism 232
Notes 261
Bibliography 289
Index 339

Preface
Anexaminationofhistoryrevealsapersistentthread of
convenienttragedylinkedtotheturningpointsofthe
fatesofnations.And,inthesmokeofthefuneralpyre,
notall thefaces arecrying.
OliverStone
—HumptyDumptyWasPushed
BumperSticker,1980s
We live, writes Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter, in an “age of
conspiracism.”1OtherobserversoftheAmericanscene,likeMichael
Kelly, William Safire, and Garry Wills, have similarly recognized
that conspiratorial themes permeate mainstream thinking and
colorthediscourseoncurrentevents.Thescripthasbecomefamil-
iar:Individualsandgroups,actinginsecret,moveandshaperecent
Americanhistory.Drivenbyalustforpowerandwealth,theyprac-
ticedeceit,subterfuge,andevenassassination,sometimesbrazenly
executed. Nothing is random or the matter of coincidence. Institu-
tionalprocess,miscalculation,andchancebendtotheconspirators’
single-mindedwill.Thecryofconspiracyisnoteasilysilenced.Not
onlyisconspiracythinkingdramaticandrigorouslyintegrated,but
it finds occasional grounding in historical evidence.2
There is a hunger for conspiracy news in the United States. Fif-
teenmonthlymagazines,morethantwodozennewsletters,sixpub-
lishinghouses,andhundredsofinternetwebsitesinformtheiniti-
ated and net novices in the workings of the diverse hidden hands
ofsubversionandcover-up.ThetabloidWeeklyWorldNews,available
at the supermarket check-out counter, repeatedly conjures up sto-
ries about the Kennedy assassination, the government capture of
alienspacecraft,andtheevolvingplotoftheAntichrist.Mishapsare
no longer accidents, and websites quickly disseminate conspiracy