We’ve always had fringe conspiracy theories floating in the ether, but it seems like now – perhaps because of social media - they are more visible than ever.
Lord knows there have been a million insane conspiracy theories revolving around President Trump and Russia. My personal favorite was the one that claimed the Russian government had been grooming him to be president of the United States since the 1980s. Gotta love those Russians – always playing the long game!
But now we are being constantly bombarded with stories about the death of former DNC staffer Seth Rich.
Look, I get it. The same way that those on the left just cannot accept Hillary Clinton’s defeat and desperately want to cling to some other explanation – even if the Russians were behind the release of DNC/Podesta emails, there is no evidence that stuff did anything to sway votes in PA, Michigan, and Wisconsin – so to, do some elements of the right want their own biases confirmed.
This is what makes “fake news” spread – an eagerness to believe anything that supports your previously held belief.
The problem with the Seth Rich theories is that law enforcement has already debunked them. Not to mention the main source pushing them – the notorious Kim Dotcom – has been shown to be a liar on stuff like this before. If you’ll recall, he famously said he had a way to recover all of Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails, yet somehow, he was never able to make them reappear.
And shame on Sean Hannity for running with this nonsense. I’ve met Sean personally and have found him to be a very nice guy. Many others – including a lot of people who despise Hannity’s politics – would say the same. The majority of people don’t know anything about some of the truly nice things Hannity does for people behind the scenes, and that’s to Sean’s credit, as he doesn’t want any philanthropic stuff he engages in to be about him.
That said, this past election cycle has clearly driven him insane. Whereas he was previously just a right-wing talking head with whom I agreed sometimes and disagreed sometimes, he has now become a full-blown conspiracy loon who gins up crazy stories and repeats White House talking points.
If you know me or have read my writing, you know that I am a supporter of the president. But that doesn’t mean I accept everything he does or says uncritically. And it certainly doesn’t mean spreading ridiculous conspiracy theories just because they suit an agenda.
Being able to think for yourself is a very important tool to have in one’s intellectual arsenal.
Sean Hannity has completely lost that aspect of himself. I realize he was always biased but he has gone into dangerous territory now that he may never come back from.
Sadly, what Hannity is doing here is far worse than the spreading of most conspiracies. Most of those we can just shrug off and laugh at. But this is especially awful because of the pain it is causing Seth Rich’s family, made even more terrible by the fact that they have literally BEGGED Hannity to stop using Rich’s death to further a political agenda.
Thus far, he has ignored their pleas, which is beyond shameful. I’m a father and if one of my children were killed and some television host tried to use that death for a ratings or political ploy, I would be beyond enraged, justifiably so.
So while I know people with far bigger platforms than I have said this already, I say this to Sean Hannity and the rest continuing to spread the Seth Rich conspiracy: please stop. There is a family hurting and you have done enough unnecessary damage already.
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