In my 1997 book, Conspiracy, I devoted an entire chapter to "Right-Wing Nuts, Leftist Sophisticates," the point being that although the Left engages in conspiracism as much as the Right, it does so with more convincing arguments and more sophisticated spokesmen present them. In a section titled "The Right's substance is risible," I gave as one example that "In the 1950s, the National Federation of Christian Laymen portrayed fluorine as 'the devil's poison' and considered its addition to drinking water (to prevent tooth decay) 'one of the most dastardly plots ever attempted against the human race.'
Now along comes Jay Nordlinger in National Review, telling us that the Left has picked up the anti-fluoridation cause. It makes the case in articles like "Flouride: Commie Plot or Capitalist Ploy," but with so much more panache than the Right ever could, drawing on the Friends of the Earth, Ralph Nader, the Greens, and the odd medical doctor or public health specialist. (July 1, 2003)
