[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Truthers and the reverse evolution of the anti-war movement

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Truthers and the reverse evolution of the anti-war movement
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1158088137.shtml


   Truthers are conspiracy theorists who believe that a [1]"sinister
   cabal of neocon politicians arranged for a missile to hit the Pentagon
   and for a controlled demolition to bring down the Twin Towers.
   According to their theories, this neocon cabal killed almost 3,000
   Americans in a bid to increase both the power of the Bush
   administration and the willingness of American citizens to support
   military action in the Middle East. They subsequently covered it up
   with the "official story" of bin Laden and 19 hijackers, according to
   members of the "9/11 Truth Movement."

   These crazies were all over the WTC site yesterday, delivering their
   obnoxious and poorly timed tirades to an unwilling audience.

   These tinfoil hatters appear to be gaining members. Many media
   organizations publicized the results of this poll, which stated that
   [2]a third of Americans (36%) suspect that 9-11 was a government
   conspiracy.

   However, a closer reading of this poll reveals that more Americans
   (38%) believe that the governement is covering up evidence of
   extraterrestrial life.

   One third of Americans believe that it was "likely" or "somewhat
   likely" that "people in the federal government either assisted in the
   9/11 attacks or took no action to stop the attacks because they wanted
   to United States to go to war in the Middle East". However, only 12%
   believe that "the Pentagon was not struck by an airliner captured by
   terrorists but, instead was hit by a cruise missle fired by the U.S.
   military."

   16% believe that "the collapse if the twin towers in New York was
   aided by explosives secretly planted in the two buildings" - way fewer
   than the number of people who believe the government is hiding little
   green men.

   [3]Mary Katherine Ham believes that it's important to take on these
   9/11 conspiracy theorists. [4]Karol at Alarming News isn't so sure.

   Karol also notes that anti-Bush activists like [5]Oliver Stone are
   taking these conspiracy theories seriously. No surprises there.

   Given that some 'peace and justice' activists have jumped on this
   conspiracy bandwagon, I'd have to guess that this is a symptom of the
   reverse-evolution of the anti-Bush left. They're really
   knuckle-dragging now.

   This is a good thing. These nuts had genuine legitimacy when they were
   concealing their hate behind the 'anti-war' 'peace and justice'
   banners. They were harder to confront then. Who wants to be
   anti-peace?

   Now, they're not concealing their hate or their craziness. This seems
   to be similar to the degradation of the anti-war movement in the late
   '60's and early '70's, when members of the "peace" crowd joined the
   Weathermen and the SLA. Former 'peace' extremists probably helped get
   Nixon elected.

   As always, the majority of Americans are pragmatic people. If the
   Democrats embrace these nuts, or if they're associated with them,
   Republicans might see some real gains, despite dissatisfaction with
   the Iraq war. [6]"General nutter" Mike Malloy of Air America and
   Democratic candidate [7]Dr. Bob Bowman are truthers. If the Democrats
   are wise, they'll take on the nasty job of taking on the Truthers.

   If they're wise...

References

   1. http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/bb0fe4e6-c585-4081-8de1-44b7879628cc
   2. http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll
   3. http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/bb0fe4e6-c585-4081-8de1-44b7879628cc
   4. http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/005144.html
   5. http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/005144.html
   6. http://screwloosechange.blogspot.com/2006/06/in-praise-of-daily-kos.html
   7. http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/184560.php