Just last night, as I was sitting in a bar, I came to realize something funny about this theory. Well, not so much about the theory, but about the people who take it seriously and the people who don't.

See, I was thinking about what you said, Rob, when you implied that I'm the only person in the world that believes this theory. This isn't true -- there are actually (literally) millions of us, we just aren't getting much time in the media. It wasn't just obvious to me -- it was obvious to a whole bunch of people that arrived at the same conclusion independently.

You've read enough of the similar threads on the DC boards to know you needed to delete them, so you know that there are actually quite a few people over there that believe me. Just not very many in here.

And as I was sitting there drinking my rootbeer last night, talking to some friends, I realized the pattern in people that believe the theory and people that don't. Women buy it, guys don't. Generally speaking, anyway.

There's even a woman who wrote a great report on it called "The Silk Road." (I honestly don't remember exactly why it was called that -- I think she attributed the plot to a Chinese origin somehow.) I wish I could remember her name. It read like notes for a book.

When the topic was first brought up (not by me), it was shushed by all the guys at the table except me. The girls kept pressing, however, until I chimed in and took point in the conversation. Then all the girls became pretty vocal in their hatred of the Shrub and their conviction (often even greater than my own) that he was personally responsible for 911. The guys sort of crumbled after that.

So I've got some homework for you guys, 'cause I'm interested in seeing where this leads. Check with the girls around you, and see what they think. I don't have the resources to conduct a scientific poll, so we'll just use the honor system. Find out what the women think, and report back honestly.

Note that the trend continues on these boards. Kassandra has been supportive of the idea, and Lor, though having voiced no opinions on the idea itself, has been supportive of me -- and both of them are building up some crazy OSPs for it, too. :)

Almost all of the guys, however, seem to regard it as sacrilege. There have really only been a couple of us in favor of the theory.

I'll speculate on why this might be, but later. First I want to get more data and see if it holds true.