Nikolewski: A Nation of Oliver Stones

Rob Nikolewski

Capitol Report New Mexico - In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, a spate of stories have appeared citing people who doubt whether the mastermind of 9/11 is really dead. But the doubters don’t just include bin Laden’s defenders in the Middle East. In a story published by the Santa Fe edition of the Albuquerque Journal (sorry, you need a subscription to read the entire article), a reporter dropped by a social studies class at Santa Fe High School and discovered that seven of the 13 students there “say they think President Obama is hoodwinking the country with the tale of Osama bin Laden’s death in Pakistan.”

Oliver Stone

Seven of out 13. Welcome to Oliver Stone’s America, where millions almost reflexively assume a conspiracy theory is afoot — whether they’re leftwing, rightwing or have no wings at all. I can’t say I was surprised because just a couple days earlier while at the neighborhood dog park, the conversation quickly turned to the bin Laden killing. “I don’t believe it for a minute,” the owner of a rust-colored retriever said with certainty to a group of about five of us. This was a college-educated woman. And the people around her — who could have been the parents of the kids in the Journal article — listened respectfully. I walked away. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Nikolewski: A Nation of Oliver Stones