How to start a conspiracy theory

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In this post-truth era nothing is more popular, it would appear, than a thoroughgoing conspiracy theory. If you can persuade enough people that something dodgy is going on, which the powers-that-be are desperate to hide from public gaze, then you can make a real difference to the world by ensuring that nobody know what to believe! There are quite a lot doing the rounds at present, but surely there is room for one more? So let me offer this one. I cannot be sure that it is original – almost certainly not – but I have not come it across elsewhere so I am not aware of any plagiarism on my part. The theory? That there has indeed been massive voter fraud in the Presidential Election, but it was the Republicans who were guilty of it, not the Democrats! OK – so let’s consider the evidence, shaky though it might be (but that should not worry a convinced conspiracy theorist, for whom reliable evidence is the least of their concerns). Firstly, why would you want to fix an election? Surely it is only if you are seriously worried that you would lose it if you didn’t. And who has looked more likely to lose it, going by the opinion polls for months on end? Donald Trump! So wouldn’t Trump have a greater incentive to fix the result than Biden? Why resort to dodgy tactics if you are well on the way to winning anyway? Secondly, how did things turn out? Biden won OK, but with nothing like the margin of victory that was predicted by the opinion polls. Why might that have been? Perhaps there was voter fraud that created more Republican votes than there should have been! Thirdly, who is in a better position to fix an election? Surely it is the party that has the power in its hands to do so. With a Republican President, doesn’t that mean the Republicans? A few crafty phone calls from the Oval Office, maybe? Fourthly, which candidate is the dodgier character? Although there have been attempts to paint Joe Biden as a corrupt agent in dealings with Russia and China, anything that might be established surely pales into insignificance when compared with what is common knowledge in terms of Donald Trump’s lifelong questionable business dealings and his blatant attempts to avoid paying tax while also raising enormous bank loans. So who is more likely to be behind any plans to rig the election? Fifthly, what is the best way to avoid being found out? Surely it is to blame the other side for doing precisely what you are doing yourself. And that is precisely what people like Rudi Giuliani have been doing in spades. (And also what I am proposing here, to be perfectly honest!) So there you have it – a ready-made conspiracy theory ready for the off! All it needs is for lots of people to think that it might actually be true, and away it goes! Any takers?