Are conspiracy theories detrimental to the ability of Americans to unite under a common cause?

Between Glenn Beck and Breitbart sure is a Hell of a Market for the Insanity and people making a Business Model Out of It.

Depends on how you look at it I guess; you can google and find 50 conspiracy theories that turned out to be true - so are they really conspiracy theories or just theories?

The problem comes when people can't tell the difference between a Conspiracy "Theory" and a Conspiracy "Fact". In most cases Americans are just too lazy to research a subject for themselves, so they accept the headlines (which are written to sell papers) or even worse the accept the word of their favorite actor or comedian as if it were fact.