When was the last time a tragedy wasn't milked for all the political juice it could possibly be? I can't think of one in recent history. Agreed, but don't you think the accusations are more and more, well, crazy? Just look that number of people who thought that a plane never hit the Pentagon, or that the military shot down the plain that crashed in PA on 09/11/01, or that levees in NO were blown up, or any of the other comments made in regards to Katrina? Read the book "Bushwhacked" by Molly Ivins and you'll get the idea.
And no, It is not just for Bush hating Libs. When Micheal Rivero was a poster on FR, he came replete with a suitcase full of conspiracy theories, some of them downright kooky.
Of course they are crazy. We are currently in an era where people function on pure emotional distress 24 hours a day. You have to keep upping the dosage if you want to get the expected amount of outrage from your junkies.
It's a great deal easier to manipulate a mans emotions than it is to reason him into your camp. And yes, both camps do it, for the simple reason it IS easier. The only down side is you have to ratchet the rhetoric up higher and higher with each episode or you start losing your audience.
Rational people see the tactic for what it is. Rational people aren't the ones targeted however.