A CONSPIRACY OF DUNCES

In the late 1970s, David Byrne wrote a faux be-happy song titled Don't Worry 'Bout the Government. Today few would appreciate the irony, since worrying about the government has become a kind of grim national obsession-it's what Americans seem to do best, or at least loudest. At its extreme, this anxiety is expressed in the now famous conspiracy theories held dear by some right-wing militia members-namely, that the U.S. government has a secret plan calling for United Nations troops to take over America. Coded markers are being placed on the backs of road signs so that the Blue Helmets will know...

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