October 2, 2011

I have a conspiracy theory, but I won't tell you what it is...

... because I hope the conspiracy — if it exists — succeeds. Some time next year, I'll tell you what the theory was, as this is a conspiracy that will play out within a limited time frame. Don't try to drag it out of me. I am not in this conspiracy, but I don't want to blow the lid off of it. It's has to do with certain political actors seeming to be pursuing one goal, when actually they seek the opposite.

126 comments:

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Hillary.

Known Unknown said...

Worst post ever.

Meade said...

"Worst post ever."

Ah! Clearly, E.M. Davis is part of the conspiracy.

Automatic_Wing said...

You sound like the narrator guy in Focault's Pendulum. Hopefully they don't find you and drag you away at the end.

Chip S. said...

Oooh, please tell us! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease! Pretty please, With a cherry on top!!

Yeah, I enjoyed 1st grade too.

Irene said...

Manchurian post.

chickelit said...

I call posts like that "hypothesis." It gives me an out if I prove myself wrong. And we should always be trying to prove ourselves wrong.

G Joubert said...

"I have a conspiracy theory, but I won't tell you want it is..."

... because I hope the conspiracy — if it exists — succeeds.


Do you mean to say that if you tell us what it is it might threaten its success?

AllenS said...

I was going to post something, but I won't, because I want you to guess what I was going to say.

Anonymous said...

I, too, have a conspiracy theory. It involves some type of pharmaceutical product unknowingly slipped into the meals fed to the Nebraska football team ...

G Joubert said...

BTW, should be I won't tell you what it is, not "want" it is.

m stone said...

In order to claim success, you'll have to reveal the theory to someone, and clearly establish a record (digital?) of your hypothesis.

Just how will you do that, Ann?

coketown said...

Could you write the post explaining what it is and set Blogger to auto-post it next year? I would be disappointed if you died and took this conspiracy theory with you. It would be like when Stephen King got hit by that van, and everyone was like, "Oh terrible! No we'll never know how his series ends!"

Jason said...

I do that whenever I tell hot young women that I find older women are more emotionally mature and besides... most girls your age don't have the skills or stamina I'm looking for in a sex partner.

AllenS said...

Don't even think about getting me to tell you either.

WV: asuppla

No, that't not it.

xnar said...

The DNC is the source of the shocking meat video?

Fred4Pres said...

Does it involve Fatty McAwesome?

Fred4Pres said...

Worst Conspiracy Theory Ever.

So bad she can't even tell you.

Pat Bay said...

That's it, they got to Althouse!

Kensington said...

Oh, for crying out loud...!

edutcher said...

Damn, where'd I put those thumb screws?

Maybe we can get to her through Meade.

Nah, men are always expendable.

PS She's decided to support Sarah Palin for Senator from WI.

Kensington said...

The only conspiracy theory I'm not prepared to dismiss outright is the one that suggests Obama is deliberately sabotaging the United States economy.

Since that's the only one that's even remotely believable, then that must be the one Althouse believes in.

Thus, Althouse hopes that the US economy is destroyed. That's terrible, Professor. That makes you a bad person.

Chip S. said...

Bud Selig has fixed the MLB playoffs.

It's obvious.

Dad29 said...

certain political actors seeming to be pursuing one goal, when actually they seek the opposite.

Well, you've narrowed it down to only about 300,000 Fed, State, and local political types.

IOW, ALL of 'em.

AllenS said...

Professor, check out "I have a conspiracy theory, but I won't tell you want it is..."

David said...

"It's has to do with certain political actors seeming to be pursuing one goal, when actually they seek the opposite."

That makes it a commonplace matter.

Wince said...

Don't try to drag it out of me.

Tell us, you fucking bitch!

Henry said...

Theo Epstein really really really wants to be the general manager of the Cubs.

I want that one to succeed as well.

J2 said...

If I knew what it was could I make any money on Intrade? Cause I really need some.

Chip S. said...

Follow the trail. The truth is out there.

Rick Perry --> Perry Mason --> the Masons --> the Jews --> the Bilderbergers.

Peter Hoh said...

Conservative Supreme Court justice wants to retire, but doesn't want Obama appointing his replacement. He decides to uphold ACA, believing this will help the GOP nominee win the presidency.

Guildofcannonballs said...

"actors" and "they" indicate the deficit super commitee. Republicans are conspiring to not reach an agreement.

Henry said...

It obviously involves a stalking horse, a clay pigeon, or a tin of red herrings.

My guess is a stalking horse. Answer the question: Which politician who is not running would Althouse like to see win the election?

J2 said...

Oh Peter Hoh. Good theory. Mickey Kaus is always in on these plots.

Michael Haz said...

I agree. It's killing me to keep mum about it.

Peter Hoh said...

HRC realizes that they raised more money before Obama was elected. Under the guise of promoting marriage equity, they will be working to defeat Obama.

MayBee said...

The Occupy Wallstreet protesters appear to be radically anti-Wall Street, but in reality they are acting to make Obama look more centrist.

The payoff Althouse wants is the newly centrist-again Obama will be reelected.

Irene said...

Obama wants the healthcare law to fail.

Scott Walker is a socialist.

halojones-fan said...

Palestinian statehood.

The process is:
1) Israel is, in public, strongly against it.
2) Therefore the "opposite of Israel
is always the right position" people are strongly for it.
3) They get it.
4) Someone in Palestine fires a rocket into Israel.
5) Israel declares it an act of war by a sovereign state and invades.

rhhardin said...

Make a file with the conspiracy, md5sum the file, and post the md5sum.

Then when you reveal the file, the md5sum can be checked.

If you're wrong, just forget the whole thing.

Wince said...

Seriously, the conspiracy is the SNL writers secretly support Michele Bachmann.

Carnifex said...

No no no.. she posted "political actors" We should be looking at people like Al Franken, Jeannine Garofolo, Alec Baldwin, and all the other Hollywood lightweights that make you cringe when they open their mouth to support your position.

I figger its got to do with Oliver Stone, the JFK assassination, and Krispy Kreme donuts.

On a side note, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are nice teams but 'Bama is just a monster on steroids. Whoever wins LSU/BAMA might as well be crowned champs.

Anonymous said...

Sarah Palin is going to come out in support of Chris Christie when he decides to run for President. Christie is holding off announcing a run because he wants to block Sarah from running. So, Sarah is teasing at running while Christie is building a coalition of supporters, mainstream Republican supporters, that do not want Sarah to run.

But Christie actually has the bona fides that Palin wants to back: reduce government, fight entrenched corruption, fix the debt. I don't even think she wants the Veep spot on his ticket...though she may want some position to build up her political credentials for a future run.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Saying you know about a conspiracy amongst "political actors", isn't that like putting a big bull's eye on yourself?

And if it isn't, it isn't much of a conspiracy.

David said...

The Obama Administration wants the Supreme Court to strike down the mandate, thereby removing it as a political issue in the election while allowing them to rail at the heartless extremist conservative teabagging court majority denying needed medical care to poor babies.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Does it involve you and Karl Rove and a plate of cheese and your fish-eye lens?

Holmes said...

Man, people are strangely annoyed with this post.

In any event, Ann, they told us not to talk about this one at the meeting.

viator said...

Well, she obviously want us to guess:

Michelle Obama wins the Democrat Party nomination for President of the US just 30 minutes after her husband declined the nomination. Michele goes on to win the Presidency in a close contest becoming the first female US president.

gadfly said...

@Irene:

"Obama wants the healthcare law to fail."

I agree. I was about to posit the same response, when I read Irene's post.

The only way Obama can be reelected is for the Obamacare noose to be removed from around his neck. So when SCOTUS throws out the law, the theory goes that independents will return to his camp and he has cover from the ire of the radical left wing that is his base.

After all, narcissists make decisions only for TEH WON.

wv: tehwon - me, myself and I.

Irene said...

@gadfly, exactly.

He'll also then concurrently be able to take credit for the law and blame his opponents for its failure.

And we all will be better off without it.

Ann Althouse said...

"Bud Selig has fixed the MLB playoffs."

No, but in discussing this theory with Meade, I brought up the concept of throwing a fight (or taking a dive) and Meade talked about the "Black Sox" scandal.

The Crack Emcee said...

Now you're a conspiracy theorist?

This blog keeps getting better and better,...

Bender said...

Actually, Israel has supported, and agreed to, the idea of Palestinian statehood for quite some time. They simply want the Palestinians to likewise support and agreed to the existence of the Jewish state of Israel, which the Palestinians resolutely refuse to do, preferring eternal war instead.

Joe said...

The conspiracy is that Obama is secretly a Romney supporter and it was agreed he would fuck up the economy so Mitt Romney could ride to the rescue.

Anonymous said...

Double Dog silly Ann, skipping around the playground smugly chirping "I've got a secret, I've got a secret" making all the other bored children make wild guesses.

Remember you can only use this once so choose wisely about which 2012 incident to chirp:
"THIS is what I was talking about back in October"

Or, seal the theory in an envelope and have Meade do a Carnac at the appropriate time ... "Name three places to hide a secret". "A blouse, a grouse, an Althouse" Ho Ho Ho

VekTor said...

Ann, I'd like to offer a suggestion.

Write down as much detail as you like explaining the details of this conspiracy theory, with any elaboration you like.

Save the text somewhere safe.

Then, use an MD5 generator to generate a "fingerprint" for your theory, and post that fingerprint to the blog. Folks who are interested in checking back can write down the hash to ensure that it isn't changed later.

There are plenty of free MD5 generators online, like http://www.miraclesalad.com/webtools/md5.php

Then, later on, when you are ready to post the details, people can take that posted text and run it through an MD5 generator themselves, confirming that what you've posted later is a true copy of what you had originally put together, without revisions or edits of any kind.

Just a thought.

Robert Cook said...

"The only conspiracy theory I'm not prepared to dismiss outright is the one that suggests Obama is deliberately sabotaging the United States economy.

"Since that's the only one that's even remotely believable...."


No, it's not.

somefeller said...

The conspiracy: Obama throws the election to Romney, who then appoints Obama to the Supreme Court. And Obama has a bust of Saul Alinsky installed in the Supreme Court building, as a mockery to all who opposed him.

We're through the looking glass, people...

Robert Cook said...

"The Occupy Wallstreet protesters appear to be radically anti-Wall Street, but in reality they are acting to make Obama look more centrist."

Nope. Obama already is centrist, and doesn't need help in appearing so. Now that he's campaigning, he'll feign a "progressive" stance that he has absolutely done nothing to promote in office, and some may fall for it, but many will have seen from his time in office that it's a sham.

VekTor said...

The MD5 of my 2:58 post is 0dd9c81ea0ce3d81636026a3936c74d9 for example. I now cannot edit that post without the fingerprint changing.

SukieTawdry said...

Well, I have a comment in response to this, but I don't want to tell you what it is. Maybe next year. (And don't even try to drag it out of me.)

Rick said...

Let me try:
Hillary tried to get Health Care passed while Bill was President. She knew that if she was elected, she wouldn't try again. Since control of our Health Care has been a big goal of the Democratic Party, she just stepped aside without complaining about the voter fraud, and allowed Obama the nomination.
Obama got it passed, and he will step down sometime early next year to allow Hillary to run.
Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea have been seen a lot together lately. Call it timing (celebrating his Twentieth Anniversary for announcing his Presidency?) Can't remember Presidents doing that in the past. Bill really does love the limelight.

JohnG said...

Write up your theory and generate a cryptographic hash of the text. Publish the hash. Then, when you post your theory, we can compare the hash of your theory against the hash you posted.

Trust, but verify :-)

Mattman26 said...

It would be fun if they're trying to "throw" (a la Black Sox) the Obamacare litigation in the Supreme Court, as many have suggested and as Ann (notwithstanding her "don't try to drag it out of me") has potentially supported in the comments.

I'm an appellate lawyer, and of course I've never tried to lose an appeal (like I would tell YOU!), but it's fun to think how one would go about it. I'm thinking I might begin by calling my adversaries "stupidheads."

Or maybe: "Surely even Justice Kennedy wouldn't fall for respondents' ridiculous argument."

Simon said...

David said...
"The Obama Administration wants the Supreme Court to strike down the mandate, thereby removing it as a political issue in the election while allowing them to rail at the heartless extremist conservative teabagging court majority denying needed medical care to poor babies."

Doubtless that's what the administration wants, in spite of their belief that it's constitutional and because they believe that the law is popular. The problem is that they're all smart guys—one might even flatter them and say wise—and they must realize that the SCOTUS appeal is a crapshoot. It could end up being a nine to nothing standing decision. It could be a five to four standing decision that upends partisan expectations: The conservative justices and Tony refusing to entertain striking down the law. Or they could take it on the merits and its fate could be 5-4, 6-3, 3-2-4, you name it, in either direction. Four votes to uphold are certain, but it's actually quite difficult to call how this one comes out when you look at how the conservative Justices and Justice Kennedy have voted in federalism cases over the years. To name but two: What do you do with the Chief's vote in Comstock? With Scalia's and Kennedy's in Raich? The fact is that the court's two most reliable votes for federalism—Rehnquist and O'Connor—are gone, and it's hard to see anything in the backgrounds of the Chief and Justice Alito (lifelong feds both) that could make them as instinctively federalist as their predecessors.

Simon said...

Mattman26 said...
"I'm an appellate lawyer, and of course I've never tried to lose an appeal (like I would tell YOU!), but it's fun to think how one would go about it."

You could make an argument that goes so incredibly far in what it says or what it implies that it alarms everyone, even those on your side of the case. Take the government's brief in the Hosanna-Tabor Church case this term, or the SG's argument first time around in Citizens United. Of course, the risk with that strategy is that some justices are just fine with the house that jack built—if the strategy of proposing an argument with truly ridiculous consequences was infallible, the government would have lost United States v. Lopez and Morrison nine to nothing.

Alex said...

*yawn* I don't believe for a second there is any conspiracy. You can't ever get away with it in a country of 325 million people.

Mattman26 said...

Good idea, Simon. Something like:

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we can make you eat your broccoli, and if you make a fuss over it, we can send you to your room!"

Alex said...

No, it's not.

Cook - you're right because Obama has already sabotaged the American economy. It's no conspiracy either, very much out in the open.

The Crack Emcee said...

I remember when I first got here, talking about the reach of the NewAge movement, and "conspiracy theorist" was wrongly thrown at me as a pejorative - even by Ann.

Now Ann comes along, openly touting she's into one, and all most do is play along.

I swear, sycophancy is a truly weird behavior to behold,...

I'm Full of Soup said...

Althouse suspects some of the bigwig Republican thought leaders may want Obama to win in 2012 so Jeb Bush can have an open field to run in 2016.

KCFleming said...

Sycophant

Lisa Germano

Anonymous said...

"It has to do with certain political actors seeming to be pursuing one goal, when actually they seek the opposite." Wow! That would be a first!.

LakeLevel said...

Donald Trump will join up with the "No Labels" people claiming they want to have a third party candidate become president. In reality they want Obama re-elected and they hope their party can draw of enough independants and Republicans to do so.

Anonymous said...

You need to write it down on a piece of paper and give it to a trusted commenter, who will guest blog the note when the time comes.

J said...

And the winner of the final cookoff challenge and next executive chef of Pewk is...

After a few words from our sponsor.

Are you just baiting?

Anonymous said...

This is an instance where, according to John Yoo and Jay Bybee, the use of waterboarding might be a justifiable option.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

So this is why Meade keeps referring to her as deep throat.

Anonymous said...

Some time next year, I'll tell you what the theory was, as this is a conspiracy that will play out within a limited time frame. Don't try to drag it out of me.

Althouse has already told us, via choice of subject for some of her previous posts:

Bill and Hillary Clinton's supposed praise for Barack Obama's policies is actually intended to undermine him, in preparation for a Democratic primary challenge by Hillary.

If Althouse if correct, then at some time between now and the first primaries Hillary will break with the Obama administration. The issue might be Operation Fast and Furious, or Iran's nukes, or the Israel/Palestine mess, or the failed non-war in Libya, or relations with China, or the economy, or ... well, any number of possibilities.

Milwaukie guy said...

Cain will win the Republican nomination with Palin's endorsement. Palin will campaign in selected Congressional and statehouse races to further embed the Tea Party inside the Republicans. Romney will take the VP spot if asked and many experienced Republican governors will take cabinet positions.

Heh.

Cedarford said...

My own pet theory is that people like Pelosi, Bush, Hastert were smarter than people gave them credit for.

In the early 2000's they recognized that deficits and free trade with China would cause the economic collapse of America. But they and their donors in the Owner Class were profiting too much to sound any alarm bells. To protect rich people like themselves, they ginned up the "mortal threat" we faced from 3,000 Muslim terrorists to create "The Heroes of Homeland Security". An 80 billion a year Empire.

The goal, of course, was to put a massive, new internal security apparatus in place, in open view. in plain sight of all - so that the seething masses would not be able to accomplish 10-20 years from now -- what the French Peasants, American bourgeoisie, or Russian workers accomplished in the past.

Scott said...

What inane garbage.

Ann, write your conspiracy theory on a piece of paper, sign it, and send it by snail mail to a reliable third party (perhaps Glenn Reynolds).

Then, around November, he can post it on Instapundit and we can all laugh.

Anonymous said...

Certain political actors in the Republican Party WANT to ensure the re-election of Barack Obama and are working towards that end.

Bender said...

re: the Obamacare litigation

It is now in the hands of the Solicitor General's office, not the White House, and I would think you'd have a hard time having the lawyers agreeing to conspire to present a fraudulent case to the Supreme Court.

re: Hillary

If is it that the Clintons are sabotaging Obama to get Hillary in there while appearing to support him, and that is what she hopes succeeds, then this Althouse chick really hasn't learned a damn thing even after having been "mugged by reality," and is an incorrigible lefty down to the core.

Bender said...

But I believe it to be a pretty open secret, based on the past conduct of Dems, libs, progressives, and lefties, that they will often give the appearance of supporting one of their own, when deep down they are thoroughly disgusted with him and having little but contempt for him and are actually working to effectively stab him in the back so as to protect their ideology.

In this case, that would mean libs, who are impervious to reason and logic, while working to reelect Obama, would really like to see him lose so that they can blame his failures on Obama himself, rather than blaming it on the fallacies of their own beliefs.

They have used that excuse before on Carter and Mondale and Dukakis and Gore and Kerry, who served in Vietnam, and even Bill Clinton.

If libs concede that it is their ideology that is the problem, rather than Obama the man (or Stalin the man or Mao the man, etc.), then they must conclude that it is they who are the problem too. They must realize that it really is true, "we have met the enemy, and it is us."

When you are so filled with hate and bile as are libs, then you become hate, and you inevitably end up eating your own even while purporting to support them.

Bender said...

And by "libs," of course I include the mainstream media. They will give the appearance of continued subservience to The One, but every now and then, they might slip in a poison pill. And then they might even do a last minute "a-ha" October surprise, media sharks smell blood in the water, story that they've been sitting on for months, if not years.

Anonymous said...

Can you clarify a bit?

Is this your own theory, or a theory that more than one people share that you have somehow learned of?

Anonymous said...

Not into unfalsifiable hypotheses.

bagoh20 said...

Maybe it's related, but I don't envy whoever wins this next election. If the winners want to succeed in saving this country, they are gonna have to be willing to be hated for a long time, before being recognized as the heroes they will be. We need some truly great and selfless people right now with a love, respect and understanding of freedom.

Like many of us did when we finally grew up, someday this nation will appreciate the adults that did the right thing even if it's not appreciated at the time.

Thanks Mom and Dad. I'm truly sorry for my stupidity and selfishness, and thankful for your wisdom and strength. Neither of us deserved what we got, but you made the sacrifices, and I got the benefit.

Jonah said...

For anyone recommending an MD5 generator, the MD5 cipher was compromised years ago. These days, you can easily create a completely different message with the same MD5 checksum as the original.

The easier thing for Althouse to do is to make a video where she lays out the proposed conspiracy theory with something in the video that verifies the date.

Kansas City said...

David has it right. Obama wants Obamacare ruled unconstitutional, so it shake the political albatross and rev up his base with fight langauge. But, I think the result Ann wants is the unconstitutional ruling, not Obama using it effectively int eh election.

2/11 1:44 PM

David said...
The Obama Administration wants the Supreme Court to strike down the mandate, thereby removing it as a political issue in the election while allowing them to rail at the heartless extremist conservative teabagging court majority denying needed medical care to poor babies.

I thought this was a fun post by Ann.

A. Shmendrik said...

John Lynch said...
Hillary.


You are correct, Sir!

Actually it is Bill Clinton who is acting on behalf of Hillary, but close enough!

Leland said...

Professor, I told you to becareful with the information I provided from the future. People won't understand and you risk the paradox. I fear now, as you tempt fate, the future may already be changing. My left hand is disappearing.

ic said...

"It's has to do with certain political actors seeming to be pursuing one goal, when actually they seek the opposite."

I know! I know! It's Fast and Furious. Certain political actors selling guns to Mexican drug lords, actually seek gun control in the US. In case the One lost his re-run, his pitch-forked goons do not want to confront real guns.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

It came to me about the time that the Illuminati slipped the brain worm into my left nostril-- Alger Hiss will be endorsing Harold Stassen, not because he wants him to win, but in order to throw the race to Ralph Nader!

Dustin said...

"These days, you can easily create a completely different message with the same MD5 checksum as the original."

It wouldn't really be that easy to retype an intelligible conspiracy theory and then find a way to get another one to generate the same hash.

It would be possible, but would probably take months of work or very odd diction. Probably both.

I'll take Althouse at her word as to whether what happens was her prediction, but I thought I'd note my opinion on the MD5 fakery.

Actually I am not sure why someone wouldn't just muse about their theory if they are a blogger and it's an interesting theory

My stab in the dark is Bill's efforts to shore up Obama are actually conceited enough that they aren't helping Obama, but are keeping the Clintons in the spotlight and may help Hillary if she were to replace Obama as the candidate. I don't think Bill really wants that to happen.

Or perhaps it's something else. The GOP debates have been very strange, and I've mused if A or B are really under some kind of alliance with Romney. Cain (whom I like a lot) announced case closed to terminate a very powerful point against Romney at the CNN debate, and later he rejected Romney's main competitor (who is ideologically more like Cain).

But I think alliances explain this less than just sophisticated tactics to compete for similar vote blocs.

Ann Althouse said...

What could I put in the video -- suggested above by Jonak --that would prove it was made today?

Kansas City said...

Stuff is put in video to prove it was shot a later date. I laughed because I could not figure out what could be put in to prove it was shot on an earlier date. I give up.

As to the consiprary, I think it is either: (1) Clinton and other dems conspiring to get Obama to step down; or (2) Obama wanting Obamacare ruled unconstitutional so he can get out from under it politically for the election (internal polls showing it is a killer in 2012 as it was in 2010_

Chip S. said...

If the Brewers play another home game this season, get some tickets and record the video during the game, with the scoreboard in the background.

Seems like the tix would then be a deductible business expense, although this is not an offer of professional tax advice.

Largo said...

What rhhardin and Barry and JohnG said.

@Dustin and Jonah:

"It wouldn't really be that easy to retype an intelligible conspiracy theory and then find a way to get another one to generate the same hash."

Well nigh impossible I think. I believe take an arbitrary source file, and append extra stuff to the end to generate an arbitrary MD5 checksum, BUT the extra stuff would look no different than a random string of bytes. Jonah can correct me on this.

Anonymous said...

Althouse wrote:

What could I put in the video -- suggested above by Jonak --that would prove it was made today?

Shoot the video with the Capitol Hunger Striker guy in the background. If he's telling the truth -- and left-wingers never lie, of course -- he'll be dead of starvation within a month.

What's the sell-by date on your conspiracy prediction? If you tell us the Big Secret in February 2012, a background of trees that still have green leaves probably would be adequate.

wv: aphobe -- I fear nothing!

AllenS said...

Ok, I'll give you a hint. It contains the word "the".

WV: destreat

HT said...

Great jinx, Carniflex. The SEC is so tough because we eat our own. If it's not SC (newcomer) or LSU, it's Auburn or Florida. It's just really really difficult to win. So 'bama's c'ship two years ago must be seen as truly epic. To win the SEC is to win the national championship. But it's gotten to be just too much, now. And they're adding the aggies. Why?

At some point it becomes ridiculous.

I love the Tide, grew up with them, and the Bear. This gets into your blood. But it's almost gotten out of hand.

traditionalguy said...

This is fun. How many conspiracies can fit into a 2 gallon glass bowl?

KLDAVIS said...

"Ann Althouse said...
What could I put in the video -- suggested above by Jonak --that would prove it was made today?"

The digital equivalent of holding up today's newspaper... Turn the camera on a computer and load NYT.com. The current date is right there at the top.

madAsHell said...

It's not a conspiracy. It's an election.

raptros-v76 said...

I second (nth? lost count...) the hashing proposal. However, I say use SHA-2 instead; no collision attacks have been found for it yet, and I doubt any will be found in the timeframe that matters for this stuff.
Here's a javascript-based demo:
http://jssha.sourceforge.net/
As long as you've got javascript enabled, the computation will be done locally, and nothing should be transmitted to sourceforge. Use the first box, and set the SHA variant to SHA-512.
Make sure to save the input message somewhere secure - this is what you will need when you are ready to reveal the secret.
Hash the message, and post the hash output along with the algorithm you used.
When you're ready to reveal, post the input message exactly as it was saved. Then, we can all verify that you had this information when you said you did by hashing the posted message using the same algorithm as you, and checking that the hash you posted is the hash we obtained from your message.

Patrick said...

Doesn't this describe about every politician out there?

Pastafarian said...

We should be able to figure out what this is.

The conspiracy's goal is something that Althouse would like to see succeed. So I don't think, at this point, that the conspiracy would be the re-election of Obama.

And it's probably something local or state-level; I doubt that Althouse thinks her blog is so prominent, or her insight so earth-shattering, that mere mention of this conspiracy here could stop something on the national level.

Maybe it has something to do with the Archer raid. Maybe it's a birther-esque feint by the Walker camp to misdirect their opponents toward something insubstantial.

Nah, that's not it. One of you 'sconsin people should come up with something better, I'm not familiar enough with your whacky political issues.

Nihimon said...

Professor Althouse should write up the theory, encrypt it, place the key in some law firm's hands with instructions to release it to the public on a certain date, and then publicly post here the first paragraph of the encrypted post, so that it will be impossible to change the details of the theory as time progresses.

blake said...

Anything on the TV or computer could be easily recorded for a later retraction.

I'm surprised at you people! The newspaper gag only works when you come from the future! Or, immediate present, I guess.

An outdoor shoot could work, particularly if it included an event that was beyond the reasonable capacity of Althouse to stage. Like a Badgers game. The problem with using the protests is that they're all pretty much indistinguishable one to the next, and they might still be protesting next year.

Do something like go down to the Hall-Mitchell Theater for "Stew and Friends" and film in the lobby. Or the World Dairy Expo this week.

Even Althouse couldn't stage a World Dairy Expo!

The Savage Noble said...

I would suggest something along blake's idea. Record a video in a public street backdrop. Cut the sound when you speak of the specifics and blur the mouth and upload the altered version in the next day or so. Then later upload the actual video. You could not replicate the non-cut parts of speech or the actions of strangers going about their daily lives to such a exact extent could you? And your post date of the altered video would vouch for the date of creation.

Known Unknown said...

Does it have anything to do with Althou.se?

Because that was such a big fucking deal.


WV: noment --- whenever the moment is lost, it becomes a noment.

Triangle Man said...

Will it be possible to verify that the conspiracy existed even if the outcome is the one Althouse is predicting?

For the sake of argument, from an earlier thread, if the conspiracy is Obama working behind the scenes to derail the current healthcare law that he signed, and the law is overturned, it would not establish that there was a conspiracy. If the existence of the conspiracy would be concretely demonstrated by the outcome, then that must narrow down the possibilities.

chickelit said...

Even Althouse couldn't stage a World Dairy Expo!

Plus I wouldn't mind Meadia coverage of that event. I used to go when I lived there. It was always at the Coliseum. There was some expensive bovine on sale there--USDA choice veal estate!

Joe said...

Nah, Anne should chisel her theory onto granite and sink it into the ocean guarded by freaking sharks with laser beams.

Tibore said...

"I have a conspiracy theory, but I won't tell you what it is..."

Oh good God... I see enough of this out of 9/11 truthers. Not you too!

"Meade said...

Ah! Clearly, E.M. Davis is part of the conspiracy.


Gaaaaah... exactly what a truther would say, save for the fact they wouldn't be ironic about it!! (*bangs head on desk*)

Tibore said...

Ok, just to make things clear:
I was only comparing the professor's action to truthers on a superficial level of presentation. I'm not saying that the 9/11 field of conspiracy theory has anything to do with the Professor's theory. Only that in her playful title, she ended up echoing how truthers themselves act. As well as Freemen on The Landers, Tax Law CTists (yes, such exist), etc. etc....

And yes, I know Meade's post was also a tongue-in-cheek satire of conspiracy theorists. Man, I gotta quit going to paranoid forums for the lulz; it's starting to drive me batty! :-S

Cindy Martin said...

Well, it's obvious.

The lefty pundits and news anchors are seeming to appear as if they support another Obama term, yet they are secretly wishing for a Hillary run because they know Obama's going down.

Anonymous said...

Ann Althouse said...

What could I put in the video -- suggested above by Jonak --that would prove it was made today?


Take two video recorders. Make your video in front of a building on campus.

In the middle of your video, spray paint AA onto the side of the building. Use one camera to record the entire video, and another camera to record just the spray painting on the building.

Upload the 2nd video as soon as you've made it.

John Althouse Cohen said...

The digital equivalent of holding up today's newspaper...

Holding up today's paper doesn't prove you made it today; it only proves you didn't make it earlier than today.

Anonymous said...

Obama will reveal that he was created in Nairobi out of spare genetic parts, thus explaining his lack of a past.

FTFY

Nihimon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nihimon said...

On second thought, I won't post my guess, since, if I'm right, I also very much want it to succeed.

The Elder said...

Conspiracy??? You have a conspiracy theory but won't tell us what it is?

Sheesh.

I take this as evidence that being married to my brother can make anybody crazy! I suggest that you take a deep breath and make him leave town for a few days.

KLDAVIS said...

"John Althouse Cohen said...
The digital equivalent of holding up today's newspaper...

Holding up today's paper doesn't prove you made it today; it only proves you didn't make it earlier than today."

Did you actually read the rest of my suggestion?