Americans are Stupid...again. Or is it still?

Now it's conspiracies to lower gas prices. Honestly...I can't take it anymore. The blatant disregard for economic realities--nay, not even an ounce of curiosity as to how they work--kills me.

From the Washington Post today:

A lot of Americans don't think so. "This has been huge fodder for talk radio," said Tyson Slocum, director of energy programs at Public Citizen, who says he has appeared on about 15 radio shows focusing on whether the Bush administration is manipulating oil prices before the congressional elections. "I don't think the influence is as explicit as some people out there are alleging. But all markets are susceptible to politics, and oil is no exception."

Generally, oil experts, executives and traders cite other explanations for the recent steep fall in prices, including the easing of anxieties about possible armed conflict with Iran, the flight of financial speculators, ample oil inventories and softening U.S. demand. Prices, they say, are the results of decisions made by people ranging from pension fund managers and oil executives to traders and ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

But the roller coaster in oil prices this year without any supply disruption has fueled conspiracy theories about why gasoline prices went up and why they are coming down now. After seeing a Washington Post report about oil traders closely scrutinizing supply and demand, one reader responded online: "LOL!!!! They're looking at the approach of November elections!!!!! Care to wager how soon after the elections a 'catastrophic' event will occur to re-inflate the prices at the pump?????"

CNN anchor Miles O'Brien dismissed the conspiracy talk in a Sept. 25 gabfest. "Some bloggers are putting those two things together and, you know, this is the grassy knoll group," he said. More-sober analysts are also skeptical. "Paranoia is as American as apple pie," says Chas W. Freeman, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. "This is all Michael Moore on steroids."

Read on for the gory details.