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Nowhere did I say that the late Dan Smoot did not subscribe to any conspiracy theory. However, it is also clear Smoot never endorsed the "Insiders" conspiracy theory developed primarily by Gary Allen and Robert Welch from 1964 through 1970, roughly the period from Welch's "More Stately Mansions" speech to Allen's mass market paperback, None Dare Call It Conspiracy. Dan Smoot certainly recognized the existence of a power elite controlling much of American foreign and domestic policy, as witnessed by his 1962 book, The Invisible Government. He may even have believed that Eisenhower was a Soviet agent or dupe, as Welch did. But even were this so, that does not prove that Smoot subscribed to Insiders theory, which is the existence of an elite, made up of men of different ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds, who controlled both the Western democracies and international Communism.

If you were to review Smoot's writings in the predecessor publications to The New American, you would find little reference to the Insiders theory. OTOH, Gary Allen, along with, to varying degrees, Susan Huck, Alan Stang, and Medford Evans, supported the theory, as evidenced by their writings. I don't believe Robert Welch demanded 100% conformity with his views in either his publications or his employees. However, he did expect that they at least not contradict Birch Society beliefs in their public statements. Revilo Oliver made no secret of his severe anti-Semitism and white supremacies, especially after the early 1960s. Oliver was dismissed from the Birch Society and its publications. In contrast, Gary Allen kept his atheist and libertarian views under wraps in his public writings. Allen was not exiled.

Conspiracy theory, whether about the Insiders, the theorists who point to the Masons, Jews, or Jesuits as a worldwide cabal, the Marxist view of ruling class conspiracy, LaRouche's theories about bankers and old European royal families, or any other variant or combination of the above, is valid insofar as it accurately explains past events and can predict future events. As such, these conspiracy theories (or for that matter the belief that most human events occur by accident) must undergo the same tests that Einstein's theory of relativity, Darwin's theory of evolution, Mandel's theory of heredity, or Keynes' theory of deficit spending in times of recession do. If the theory works and comports with the known facts, it is a valid supposition; if it doesn't so work or agree, it should be rejected.

No one, not the Birchers, the LaRouchians, the leftists, etc., can claim that "The Bible says it, I believe it, the matter is settled," or, "Rome has spoken, the matter is ended."