Tag Archive for 'Alex Jones'

Giving liberals a bad name

Michael Crook, the troll to beat all trolls. You may have heard of his use of Craigslist to out people seeking sex. Or you may have stumbled across his rather ill-informed blog, where he goes on about how he revels in the deaths of American soldiers, among other things. Typical lifeless blogger stuff.

Normally, this wouldn’t warrant much attention at all, aside from the occasional snide comment you might wish to make on his blog just to see if he gets all pissy at you. Unfortunately, conservative bloggers like to reference him as evidence of the evil that is liberalism. They aren’t intelligent enough to grasp the idea that there are liberals and then there are crazy liberals. Crook falls squarely into the latter camp. He’s like the Alex Jones, only more inane. At least Alex Jones backs up his crackpot theories with fake evidence. Crook just rants about something and deletes all the comments people make about it. I mean, what other reason could there be that few of his articles have comments?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it yet again: don’t judge an entire group of people based on the crazy fringe members of that group. This applies in religion, politics, and even social cliques. Not all geeks play Dungeons and Dragons and are obsessed with Carrie Fisher in a metal bikini; remember that now.

Most popular post

Oddly enough, my rather disjointed rant on Alex Jones and his status as a case of nuts is the most popular post on this blog, having received 242 total views since it was posted last September. It’s also the most commented on with 21 comments (mine included). Just goes to show how easy it is to piss off conspiracy theories, doesn’t it? Just mention their leader and an insult and the referred searches just start rolling in…

And yes, I know 242 views over 4-5 months is nothing, but it’s a lot for this blog. And if that’s not enough to wow you, I even got a comment from Morton Devonshire, the Wikipedia editor who got Jones all riled up a while back, which pushed me to write the article in the first place. How’s that for full circle, or whatever? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

The (9/11) truth is out there

Generalizations really tick me off. The subject in question here is the 9/11 Truth movement. Dead horse, I know, but I happen to like beating things. Anyways, I was browsing around some sites recently and began to notice a trend. Among sites that discussed 9/11, the ones that supported the idea that it was an inside job and/or that the government perpetrated the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon were heavily liberal (of the far left flavor). Sites that debunk such conspiracy theories or simply make fun of them tend to be heavily conservative (moderate to far right). I can kind of understand the split here, but after reading through the comments on certain sites, I really wish this wasn’t how it was split up.

I am a libertarian at heart, but I tend to lean more liberal than anything. I also believe that 9/11 was an act of terrorism caused by the hijacking of airplanes by fundamentalist Muslims. The government wasn’t involved in any way and failed to act properly due to shoddy intelligence and confusion surrounding the events. In other words, I’m no 9/11 truther.

This puts me in a rather awkward position. Because I’m fairly liberal, conservatives tend to assume that I’m off my rocker and think that little green aliens told George Bush to fly remote control airplanes into American buildings. And because I don’t believe in the conspiracy theories, liberals tend to assume I’m a neo-conservative government crony and/or brainwashed. Both are clearly wrong and are a direct result of the oversimplifying of the situation here.

9/11 truthers are composed of people from all over the political spectrum. Some, like Alex Jones, are conservatives. Others, like the 35% of Democrats who think Bush knew about the attacks beforehand, are more moderate or liberal. I wish people would realize this, especially on the conservative side of things. Perry Logan (no relation) is a lot more liberal than I am, but he also debunks the claims of 9/11 truthers. Even so, he’s still attacked by more conservative blogs (especially DUmmie FUnnies) for being a liberal, which means he must be a truther. Exhibiting other traits often connected with truthers (such as being against the conflict in Iraq) also garners a person a reputation as a weed-smoking hippie truther.

Blogs like Screw Loose Change seem to be a little smarter when it comes to realizing that not all liberals are moonbats (my research indicates that word is only used by conservative blogs with nothing important to say), but that’s not saying much for the commenters, who still seem to be of the type to criticize anyone with a slightly liberal slant. Honestly, people. It’s all well and good to have an opinion, but attacking anyone who varies from that opinion in the least is bad form and makes you look like a jackass. I’m talking to both sides here. Truthers need to stop thinking I’ve been brainwashed or that I’m too ignorant to see their truth, and debunkers need to stop assuming I’m a truther because I’ve always thought the invasion of Iraq was a bad idea. False correlations are the sign of someone with a big mouth and a little brain.

And please, if you’re a truther, stop getting all surprised when you tell me to make my own conclusions and don’t agree with your version of events. Expecting me to believe everything you say makes as much sense as believing everything the government says, wouldn’t you agree?

Alex Jones is a nutcase

Updated 6/14/10: In the interest of promoting discussion (as this is by far the most-visited post on my site), I’m reopening the comments for this post. However, keep in mind that the post is nearly three years old and contains outdated and possibly outright incorrect information. Keep it clean.

9/11 conspiracy theorists are, unfortunately, a rather common breed, especially considering they come from all political ideologies. Websites like Prison Planet don’t help, especially when they bill themselves as reporting the truth. I’m rather fond of saying that truth requires proof. Half-assed theories aren’t proof. Of course, linking to things like this on the main page of the site doesn’t help when it comes to credibility.

Anyways, who exactly is Alex Jones? He’s best known as a conspiracy theorist who runs a radio show and the aforementioned Prison Planet (I’m not giving that site the pleasure of a link). In fact, I’d say he’s one of the most vocal opponents of the official version of the events of 9/11. As for his political ideology, he’s a paleoconservative. Think Rush Limbaugh but worse. He’s so extreme it scares me to think people actually believe what he says. Now, I don’t mind conservatives, but when anyone, regardless of their political beliefs, willingly believes that the government of the United States launched missiles at its own buildings (including a government one, containing key members of the Defense Department), killed 2000 of its own civilians (2000 less people paying taxes), and yet was unable to whack the most vocal conspiracy theorists (such as the maker of Loose Change), I tend to think they’re a little crazy.

Continue reading ‘Alex Jones is a nutcase’

 

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