https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=a9fdc67db9&u=9d011a88d8fe324cae8c084c5&i
In recent months the phrase “conspiracy theory” seems to have taken on a whole new meaning. At one time the phrase was reserved for only the craziest of crazy far-out and unprovable theories. For example, there was Lyndon LaRouche’s theory that Queen Elizabeth was secretly running the international drug trade. Or how about the theory that Freemasons conspired to bring about the sinking of the Titanic? Now those were truly worthy of the label of “conspiracy theories”!
Obviously, those kind of crazy theories could only be promoted by people who were severely mentally deficient. And that implication is likely how we have come to the new usage of the phrase “conspiracy theory.” In the new usage, the phrase is simply a label you apply to the someone’s position when you want to convey that you think that person advocating that position is mentally deficient. The great thing about tossing out the “conspiracy theory” phrase is that it relieves you of having to go to the trouble of refuting the position itself.
And thus we now have voices in the media using the phrase “conspiracy theory” to refer to President Trump’s assertions that people in the permanent bureaucracy are working to undermine his administration and remove him from office. From the Daily Beast, October 8, headline “The Deep State Conspiracy Is About to Go Into Overdrive”:
Trump is now reactivating and trafficking a theory that started after his election, but that was left to fringe elements on the right and largely ignored. This is the belief that Trump’s opponents, most coming from the camp of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters, and their holdovers still sitting in major government positions in various agencies, are using their positions to slowly undertake a coup d’état, meant to remove from power the legally elected president and destroy his administration.
Or consider this piece from the Independent on September 30, with the headline “The Deep State conspiracy theory is making us all play defense”. Excerpt:
The “Deep State” is a supposed cabal of powerful, unelected bureaucrats secretly pursuing their own agenda, as opposed to that of the president and his administration. In the case of Trump, it’s a bunch of career operatives in the State Department and the intelligence community, hell-bent on making sure Trump’s agenda gets foiled at every turn.