Tragedy In Boston Reveals Ugly Conspiracy Culture [BLOG]
By Eric Thomas
A few hours after the bombs went off in downtown Boston, while families braced themselves for the news, while nurses tended to victims and while many sobered to the reality that their body would never be the same; a man shouted out a question that chilled the collection of media and officials alike.
The man, some news sources identified him as Info Wars radio host Dan Bidondi, shouted "Why were the loud speakers telling people in the audience to be calm moments before the bombs went off? Is this another false flag staged attack to take our civil liberties and promote homeland security while sticking their hands down our pants on the streets?"
They weren't, of course. The reality didn't seem to matter to Mr Bidondi. For a growing number of people online, it doesn't matter to them either.
"False flag attacks" is often used by conspiracy theorists, the phrase was coined during the WWII war crimes trials and is described as a military maneuver that seeks to hide its aggressor and frame someone to mislead the public. These far-flung theories are a growing sector of the internet. Alex Jones, King of these Trolls, was on Twitter a little under an hour after the bombs went off to say, "Our hearts go out to those that are hurt or killed #Boston marathon - but this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag." Nothing is ever the world of lone wolves or psychopaths in the world of Alex Jones; everything is the work of something higher, no tragedy can go unexploited for a chance to sell books and advertising.
As a result of this tragedy, we will see the best of us, as hands reach out to catch those who have been affected in Boston. In the coming weeks blood will be given, bake sales will be erected, we will gladly throw our last few leaves of cash into a plastic jug because the best thing about Americans has always been our empathy. As much as we freak out about taxes and government intervention, the population has always been charitable. There is another side to this now, some sickness now must run parallel, something once so clean has now been polluted.
The Sandy Hook parents likely know Jones' name well. Most of the country held a shaking hand to mouth when news from Newtown came across the wire and we crossed our collective fingers for the families of children mowed down by a hail of hot bullets; but Alex Jones saw a hoax. He told his audience that the parents who wept in front of the cameras were actors, simple stooges in a scheme to take the country's guns away.
He spits his bile into his microphone Monday thru Friday and sells books along with 'Survival Seeds,' DVDs, T-shirts, books, a documentary on relocation, a month's supply of food, Organic Energy Drink, coffee mugs, and lumps of green chunks called Clean Chlorella that come in a resealable pouch.
Jones has found a never ending revenue stream tapping into people's paranoia. He's been at it for a while, he's often cited by "9/11 Truthers," his theories never draw any conclusion and never offer any proof beyond the anecdotal observation. It's like the ultimate improv troupe, no one ever thinks critically, history is whatever fits for the moment and every theory is treated as an actual possibility.
Plenty of people will say that they are merely seeking attention, and by blogging about it, they're getting what they want. That argument doesn't acknowledge how much this stuff has spread, the theories on JFK and Area 51 only grew stronger over time. This becomes a kind of oral history when believers swallow the chewed opinions of carnival barkers and medicine men.
The First Amendment is still sacrosanct, so there should be no attempt to shut them down. These people need to be heard so that everyone can hear what they sound like when they spew their venom.
