James H. Fetzer: Questions that Minnesotans should applaud (Loonytoon Alert)

startribune.com ^ | 06/15/03 | James H. Fetzer

[What Is Ain't]

DULUTH -- The controversy generated by Thomas Bieter's proposed lawsuit against me and the Weekly Reader here in Duluth for publishing a series on the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone seems to have missed the point. In those columns, I lay out the evidence, much of which is in the public record, that has led me to the belief that this was an assassination and that the White House may have been involved.

[Paleo Conservative]

Another looney tunes conspiracy theorist.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wellstone was not "pulling ahead," nor was he flying in good weather. This guy is a university professor ?

[OpusatFR]

The weather? I can't recall the event completely but wasn't there an ice storm at the time it went down? That wouldn't be a factor? I've had flights cancelled because of icing.

[roderick]

And here I thought I saw all of the "The Twilight Zone" reruns.

[MNlurker]

The weather up in N MN that day was not great and they think it iced up (which is a pretty safe bet). It wasn't foggy and I can't see any other reason the plane would come up so short of the airfield. There were two pilots, so falling asleep isn't a viable option either.

These Wellstone people are fricking nuts. Most of them still have their Wellstone signs up with flowers draped on them and you get a letter to the editor every week from some nut calling for us all to remember him...maybe memorialize him.

Great way to really show off how nuts they are...

[Ten Megaton Solution]

Don't you find the timing of this crash just the least suspicious: a week before the election, just as Wellstone was pulling away? With control of the Senate at stake?

Where was this guy when the Democrats bumped off Mel Carnahan to enable the engagement of the "Pity the Poor Widow" campaign?

[shrinkermd]

The first step for a successful conspiracy theory is the same strategm used in developing a paranoid delusion. That is, what is done is to come to a conspiracy conclusion and then posit that "there is no substantial proof to the contrary" and that there are hints and suggestions that the theory has a factual basis.

With this leap to paranoia one has a situation where one faces a conspiracy and one cannot prove it false since logically one cannot disprove a negative.

The psychological pay-off is immense. First, the conspiracy theorist looks very smart since he sees things beyond the ordinary just like a "depth psychologist." Second, those that ascribe to the conspiracy join a select group or an elite group who soon develop almost religious fervor by their exclusive owning of this special class. Then, thirdly, and paradoxically the pay-off includes making everything real simple. All one has to do with this conspiracy is blame President Bush. With other conspiracy theories you can find someone else, but in all instances complex and hard to understand issues are reflexly attributed to one or small number of miscreants.

[45Auto]

This guy is a little short of a full deck. I really think that Wellstone committed suicide, just like Vince Foster. /reality suspension off.

[Victor K]

Correct. The weather was freezing drizzle with low cloud ceiling. The pilot was flying on a couple hours of sleep the morning of the crash. According to the MPLS paper, other co-pilots who'd flown with him in recent days, weeks and months had made repeated remarks to him and those he worked for that he should consider retiring, because of his very marginal flying skills.

Just a week or so before, he'd inadvertently flipped a switch on take-off of another flight with Wellstone that would have caused the plane to stall and likely crash hadn't a different co-pilot with more experience caught the error and corrected his mistake.

The co-pilot was also reported by the same paper to have had very limited experience and marginal skills at landing planes. But this co-pilot like flying with the pilot, because he let him fly the planes much of the time.

The investigation into the crash showed the plane was traveling only 85 knots (the speed at which such a plane can stall), when it should have been traveling over 120 knots.

Everything about this shows any rational person that it was a tragic accident, most likely caused by pilot error combined with poor weather.

But leave it up to some of those wacky liberal conspiracy theorists to come with some wacky right wing conspiracy to blame. Of course, the liberals points of view seldom are based upon the facts or reason.

[tkathy]

This tenured professor is a full blown nut case.

[highpockets]

I am absolutely positive that the DNC is trying to destroy America. I believe their goal is destroy the family, then take control of the government and then eliminate the consition and then make Hitlery Queen for life.

Call me crazy but it is a conspiracy I tell ya.

[DesertWalker]

Check James Lileks essay on this guy today on his website. Yes, he is a nutcase (that's what Lileks called him) and he is a "professor". The last sentence in Lileks' essay is classic.
http://www.lileks.com

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I recall another King Air-size airplane going in over the same area of N. Minnesota in 1987-88. I think it was a Northwest biz jet that iced up.
The Iron Range is not a good place to drive to, let along fly into, when the wx is bad.

[presidio9]

Don't you find the timing of this crash just the least suspicious: a week before the election, just as Wellstone was pulling away?

Wait. Wellstone was "pulling away" now?