Do you know what the very first thought I have is whenever I hear someone claim that something is a government conspiracy? Motive. I look at their supposed conspiracy and I ask myself, "Why? Why would the government spend their time and money to do this? What do they gain? Or if not gain, what do they stand to lose if they allowed this situation to play out naturally without interfering? What is the benefit to the U.S. government to do such a thing?"

The reason I bring this up is an article I saw in one of the many news mediums I pore through each day. It highlighted a woman from the FBI's most wanted list. I forget her real name, but her alias is Assata Shakur. Yes, Shakur. She's Tupac's godmother, if you must know. She was/is a black panther and a leader of the black liberation army, as well. Back when racism was still an issue, she gunned down a New Jersey State Trooper when she and two other BLA members were pulled over. At the time she was wanted in connection to a string of bank robberies, among other felonies.

Anyway, she was caught and went to prison, insisting the entire time that she was innocent and had been framed by the government. Sympathizers who believed her story broke her out of prison, and years later she resurfaced in Cuba where she remains today under political asylum in a government funded apartment. Yeah, that's right... we know exactly where she is, but she has asylum and Cuba won't cooperate with us. But my thing is her story... she claims she's innocent and that she was set up. Framed. A government conspiracy.

There's that word, and so comes the question: Why? Why would the U.S. government even bother with her? What threat does she pose, or did she pose at the time? If she knew some terrible secret then surely she would have come out with it by now, activist that she is (albeit a racist one). So apparently she doesn't, and without knowledge of some great secret, let's be honest... she's no threat at all. There's nothing she can do to the government if she isn't privy to some dark secret of theirs.

So then the government isn't protecting themselves from a loss, but trying to make a gain. But what could that be? What could they possibly gain from framing this woman? She's an activist, and a ranking member of a highly controversial group. Ok, but realistically in the overall scheme of things, she's nobody. So, nothing to gain, and nothing to lose. Why, then, would the U.S. government waste their time and money framing her?

BTW, for those of you who, like me, enjoy making conspiracy theorists look ridiculous, that same line of questioning will make 4 out of 5 conspiracy theories crumble into dust. But just in case, here's the real killer: Most especially in cases like this, where the subject of said conspiracy is one person who really isn't anyone important, anyone who thinks she's the victim of a U.S. government conspiracy is severely underestimating the U.S. government. Especially in this case, where we know exactly where she is? Please. Think. Use that squishy thing behind your eyes for something more than keeping your ears from smashing together.

If the U.S. government wanted this woman silenced, then I assure you, she would be silent. If they wanted her gone, she would vanish without a trace. And if they wanted her dead, and I mean this as in publicly known to be dead because otherwise she would simply vanish... then she would die. No government in the world could protect her, and no investigator in the world could trace it back to the U.S. government in any fashion that could be proven in court. If you do not believe this, you're naive. I assure you they have the power to do it. It wouldn't even be difficult. If you think that shit only happens in hollywood... well, I can't officially tell you you're wrong, so hey, you must be right. Enjoy being right. Ignorance is bliss, after all.