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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   14598 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 24, 2026

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That part is not open for debate.

This is a space centered around debate, and I don't appreciate that attempted consensus-building

Some questions of fact are open for debate. Some are not, and it isn't "consensus-building" to say so. No one would accuse me of "consensus-building" if I said it wasn't open for debate that JFK was assassinated in Dallas in November '63, or that two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in September '01.

JFK faked his own death and changed his name to Tupac, he’s still alive in the Illuminati hotel in Cuba.

No one would accuse me of "consensus-building" if I said it wasn't open for debate that JFK was assassinated in Dallas in November '63, or that two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in September '01.

Ah, never met a JFK conspiracist or a 9/11 Truther, have you?

never met a JFK conspiracist

Well, I certainly haven't met one who seriously claimed that no one assassinated JFK. But I suppose such a person must exist.

In any case, I suppose strictly speaking it would be "consensus-building" to claim that it's not up for debate that two planes crashed into the Twin Towers and that the buildings were not destroyed by explosives. But I view that as "consensus-building" on a par with the claim that "it's not open for debate that heliocentrism is true".

It is not "consensus-building" in the way we apply that rule. Using rhetorical devices like "It's beyond debate" are, perhaps, a little questionable (because literally everything will be debated by someone) but it's not meant to prohibit an assumption of common knowledge. It's meant to prohibit making an argument from the assumption that your opinion is a settled matter.

JFK conspiracy theorists- a group which includes a majority of Americans- pretty much believe that LBJ/Israel/the KGB/ancient Egyptian deities/the mafia/the KKK killed him. The ‘actually still alive’ niche in American conspiracy lore is reserved for rappers.

On the other hand, there’s plenty of 9/11 truthers claiming thé buildings were never hit by a plane, with explanations ranging from ‘magic’ to convoluted ideas about Air Force stunt pilots and nanothermite.

The ‘actually still alive’ niche in American conspiracy lore is reserved for rappers.

And Elvis

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