Silly conspiracy may just be most dangerous kind

FRANK MIELE

A successful conspiracy against power can only happen one of two ways:

Either the conspiracists are so closed-lipped that no one ever finds out about the conspiracy until it is too late, or else the conspiracy is so absurd and ill-considered that no one takes it seriously in the first place.

There appear to be relatively few successful conspiracies of the first sort, probably because it violates human nature too much. The larger the conspiracy, the more likely that someone will tell the wrong person too much and lead the authorities to the truth before the conspiracy can reach fruition.

It appears that the vows of the Islamist terrorists, being a sacred honor, make it possible for them to accomplish much more than other conspiracists through the weaponry of silence. Although the United States had enough intelligence about the 9/11 attacks to warn of an impending attack, there was very little certainty in that warning - not enough to make arrests and stop the attack in advance.

On the other hand, sometimes conspiracies are well understood in their intent and even practical application before they are accomplished, and yet the powers-that-be don't act in a manner fitting for self-preservation. These are the conspiracies that are most dangerous, the ones that are ignored or overlooked the way the brown recluse spider can hide in plain sight and be mistaken for a common house spider.

Such conspiracies are not always successful, of course, but they have a much better chance of success than those that are taken seriously by the authorities. A few simple examples are the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Bolshevik Revolution.

I'm not sure if we are in the midst of such a conspiracy today or not, but it seems that there are only two explanations for the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America - one is stupidity and the other is conspiracy. That veil of stupidity, of course, is the perfect cover to make an actual conspiracy a success, so in a well-planned conspiracy it could actually be part of the plot.

If you don't know what the Security and Prosperity Partnership is, welcome to the crowd. Most people have never heard of it, even though it is clearly the framework by which three countries - the United States, Mexico and Canada - could give up their sovereignty in order to band together in some kind of new North American Union.

I was one of those people who used to laugh at the idea of a North American Union.

Longtime letter writer Linc France of Columbia Falls, who died a couple of years ago, used to send in a seemingly paranoid letter every month or two warning that the U.S. government was selling out the people, starting with a new international monetary unit called the Amero, which would replace the U.S. dollar. I laughed at Linc, along with I suppose many other readers, but if you do the research Linc was right. There is a movement underfoot to replace the dollar with the Amero, just as the start of the European Union was the creation of a new currency called the Euro.

And if you are foolish enough to talk about it in public, you are dismissed as a paranoid kook or a right-wing goon.

But despite the name-calling, sometimes you have to tell people what is happening and hope that it is not too late. Certainly, I have not met anyone who has any desire for a North American Union, where U.S. sovereignty would be subsumed into a greater collective with our neighbors to the north and south. I have met no one who wishes to replace the dollar with an Amero, and yet our government - our representative government - seems to be intent on accomplishing both those goals.

Did I mention our representatives? I shouldn't have. Congress has been silent on the Security and Prosperity Partnership, although it is an international treaty and should not exist without congressional approval.

But of course, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (spp.gov) insists that it is a harmless cooperative approach to terrorism, economic security, and cross-border convenience. The partnership has an entire Web page devoted to debunking so-called myths about its purpose. The goal of such a page, of course, is to reassure the masses that everything is under control until everything really is "under control."

Meanwhile, as long as we still are able to exercise our freedoms, I strongly encourage everyone to do your own research on the Security and Prosperity Partnership and the North American Union. President Bush is meeting with the presidents of Canada and Mexico in Montebello, Quebec, on Aug. 20-21.

Supposedly, opposition groups are being denied access to within 15 miles of the meeting, and though one of the purposes of the meeting is to reassure the public that nothing underhanded is under way, it is hard to fathom why President Bush continues to seek closer ties to Mexico when the public wants bigger fences.

There really is no way to know whether or not the Security and Prosperity Partnership is really just a harmless get-together, but there is no sense taking chances, so spread the word and - again - do your own research. Don't just play dead; Congress will do that.

It's time for the American public to take back the reins of government before it is too late.