the giggle test and the 9/11 conspiracy

http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=126&a=6721

A colleague sent me this. He's a very smart colleague, for a clown, even if he went to a vocational school. (What? For clowns, of course.)

But what I don't get with these conspiracy theories is how to get past the argument-by-counterfactual: if a gummint conspiracy to bring down the WTC to create and excuse for, well, everything, then surely these things should have happened as well, eh?

1) Why wasn't there a coup before the 2004 elections when Dubya was still moderately popular but not way popular? I mean: for a brief couple of months it looked like Kerry might win the election..

2) Why wasn't there more egregious ballot-box stuffing in 2004?

3) Why not a war launched against Iran just before the mid-terms? Why not more ballot-box stuffing?

4) Why not people rounded up and sent to gulags? The Admin isn't known for having a thick skin.

AFAIK, none of the 9/11 conspiracy theories pass this giggle test, but I never see this mentioned as an argument against the conspiracy theories. What am I missing?