Darrel, you might want to read through this, too:
<<<There is a
conspiracy to bring down
President Clinton. But this is
no ordinary conspiracy. Not a tiny cabal like the
one that met in Mary Surratt's boardinghouse to
plot the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nor the
scenario of a wigged-out novelist or film director. It
is something quite different -- indeed,
unprecedented in our history -- a "virtual
conspiracy."
In a traditional conspiracy, individuals come
together one at a time, each carefully testing the
others, until all are in accord on tactics and target.
Secrecy is essential. When they finally move, they
do so swiftly. All is won or lost in a single act. In
feudal societies, if the group deposed the king and
his barons, his realm and their lands passed to the
chief conspirator and his vassals. Conspirators who
failed paid with their heads.
A virtual conspiracy has the same objective -- to
depose a leader -- but the means are different. A
virtual conspiracy starts in the open and requires
publicity to flourish and gain adherents. Virtual
conspirators test-fly stratagems, tactics and rumors.
They do not meet in secret until they have
discerned what will advance their undertaking and
what will not. Moreover, by making their initial
moves in the open, they attract others to their cause
and to one another.
Instantaneous communication is critical to a virtual
conspiracy. So, too, is freedom of expression.
Though there are laws against making false
accusations, virtual conspirators who channel
charges, allegations and rumors through the press or
spread them on the Internet gain the protection of
the First Amendment. Most thrusts fail, but some
wound, making the hated target more vulnerable
the next time around.
Sound far-fetched?>>>>
Sound familiar?
Lazarre |
