I Trust No One Is Interested in Zsa Zsa Gabor's Having Broken Her Hip?

Sara Robinson (at Campaign for America's Future) dissects conspiracy theory:

Americans believe in conspiracy theories for the same reason we're so quick to accept the right wing's faux science and reconstructed history: we simply don't teach most of our kids the basic skills of critical thinking any more.
This is where 25 years of teaching to the test has brought us. We don't know who to trust, or when, or why. We can't evaluate the claims of history or science, or even get a basic timeline straight. We can't sort out what's plausible and likely from what's implausible and unlikely. We can't assess the relative credibility of various experts, or figure out what agendas they're serving when they make their claims. We'd rather take Rush Limbaugh's explanation as gospel than spend .062 seconds on a Google search that would give us some alternative data to work with, because then we'd be forced to evaluate that data on our own.
And then we wonder why in the hell so many of us hold such implausibly baroque beliefs; but can't seem to locate the simple truth at high noon with both hands.

I once had to explain to someone that, no, AIDS was not a gay conspiracy.  I don't think he believed me.

Frankly, I would be suspicious if talk-show hosts stated that the sun rose to the east in the morning, but that's because I don't expect they have any acquaintance with truth.