Partisans can't handle being called out on their partisanship.

Wow. That first comment should be a copy pasta. It gets the point across perfectly and lays out a narrative. It sounds reasonable enough to convince doubters to look into the case more. And in all that, maintains healthy skepticism. Bravo. The second comment is transparently biased. It also uses a propaganda technique called a thought terminating cliché to subvert the readers natural curiosity. Just labeling the skepticism surrounding Seth Rich's death a conspiracy theory will dissuade many people from looking into it. It stops their thoughts from going down that road. The term conspiracy theory (which lumps flat Earth and reptilians in with mundane political conspiracy) immediately casts suspicion on a topic. And sure, Most conspiracy theories have very little to stand on. Some are crazy. But it would be naive to assume that conspiracies don't happen. Why would the American government, right now of all times, be free from all conspiracy. What's been happening in the American politics is ABSURD. Do you think all of the political activities carried out in the US are above board? Do you think these politicians and reporters who are clearly power hungry, money hungry or both, never get into some shady buisness? But label skepticism of power a "conspiracy theory" and people stop looking into things. It also plays on the fears of being labeled a conspiracy theorist. If you look into those kinds of things, other people may think you are a conspiracy theorist. Not great for your social standing. Worse though, 'conspiracy theorist' comes with other labels like kooky, gullible, weird and worst of all crazy. Even if the conspiracy you are looking into is true, these fears lurk in people. Whether intentional or not, it also drives home a divide and conquer technique. The partisanship signals "You better not look into this if you are on our side. It hurts your team." But the truth doesn't lie on party lines. That's an uncomfortable thought for some people who are dug in deep in an ideology. It's not left vs. right. It's top vs. bottom. [Read this if you want to know more about thought terminating cliché s .] (http://jorgenmodin.net/index_html/wikpedias-now-deleted-page-on-thought-terminating-cliche) EDIT: One more propaganda technique I just noticed in that comment. It attempts to play on your sympathy for Seth Rich's family in order to get you to look away. Basically saying you're callous for using his death. But if he was murdered for whistle blowing it would be more disrespectful of his sacrifice to not look into it. Skepticism is always the correct choice. Being skeptical of the official story isn't impolite.