Good Article on Conspiracy Theories

At (gasp) the Huffington Post.

Many of these popularizers received their lofty titles from "think tanks" or "institutes" that are run out of somebody's PO box or den. Almost none of them have credentials or professional experience in the field they're holding forth on -- and the ones that do have relevant qualifications are more often than not regarded as embarrassments by their colleagues. And so it happens that David Ray Griffin, the leading author of books on the 9/11 conspiracy, isn't an aviation expert, physicist, structural engineer, or authority on terrorism; he's a retired theology professor who asks his readers to take a lot on faith.

Despite the lack of academic or professional cred (or perhaps because of it), the folks who promote conspiracy theories go overboard to put a thick veneer of scholarship on their claims. Books and essays are ostentatiously footnoted; but the references typically link back to even more obscure conspiracy publications with even flimsier evidence -- or else to other works written by the same author, in a self-reinforcing loop.

Yep. Remember that recent DRG article that repeated the claim that several of the hijackers were alive? Well, Grifter has learned from past mistakes; instead of linking the BBC article from 2001, which now has the correction appended, he instead referenced The New Pearl Harbor.

Worth the read.

The Horror of Censorship

Or, the inconsistency of Troofers. Hilariously, the dolts are all up in arms over Jesse Ventura's 9-11 fruitcake rant being removed from the Huffington Post:

"I can't believe the Huffington Post today will practice censorship," Ventura says in astonishment. "I've got news for them. ... I won't ever write for 'em again."

Of course the Huffington Post has had a long-standing policy against posting 9-11 nuttery, and while that policy has been inconsistently enforced (see here, here and here for examples of Truthiness that have been allowed to stand), it is at least well-known.

And where do the Troofers get off complaining about censorship? Do they allow me to post at 9-11 Flogger? Not on your life; I was banned over there years ago. Would they let me post at Truth Action? I haven't tried registering, but I was pretty quickly banned from their chatroom. Do they allow non-Troofers to post at the Debunkers blog? Of course not.

Here's the Body himself on the always reliably Troofer-friendly Russia Today:

Huffington Post Publishes "Truther" Diary

Well, well, well. Despite Arianna's (false) claims that the Huffpost is above all that conspiracy theorizing, one slipped through the cracks.

Before we tuck the Bush administration into bed and hiss, "Nighty Night, you lying scoundrels," before we go on to lock the door on that heinous era of American history, we do indeed need to probe what happened under their watch. But the event that most concerns me is what happened on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Oh yeah, that's history, old news, the 9/11 Commission figured it all out, right? Except that members of the 9/11 Commission say it was "set up to fail" and that the investigation was severely hampered. So do assorted former members of the CIA, who demand a fresh look at the events of that day.

The usual retarded cliches by the Troofers, this time burbled by Melissa Rossi, who has just written a book entitled What Every American Should Know About the Middle East. I'm going to guess that it starts out with "Muslims didn't do 9-11."

She's got a Part II to her post as well, and that's where we get the unadulterated nonsense.

As more new information has emerged contradicting the official 9/11 Commission report or appearing to fill holes in it - reports about finding the black boxes of the hijacked airplanes, inconsistencies about Flight 93 (did it explode from a bomb onboard, was it shot down, or did it indeed crash as a result of the passenger rebellion?), contradictory reports about the identities of the hijackers and other reports that point to a number of Cheney-commissioned war games ongoing that day that the Bush administration never fully brought to light - and as the weakness of the 9/11 commission itself has come into the public arena -- the Obama administration owes it to the American people to reopen that can of vipers and in this sifting through the events try to figure out what really happened to debunk the fallacies - be they conspiracy theories that don't hold water or the suffocating blanket of disinformation continually dropped on Americans by the Bush administration.

Believe it or not, she links to the old BBC article about how some of the hijackers are still alive and to the newer article which says no they aren't and says "Aha, a contradiction!"

Rossi's bio at the Huffpo indicate she's a "serious" urinalist:

A former National Geographic Traveler columnist and special correspondent for Newsweek, Melissa Rossi has been traveling the planet for years with a goal of empowering Americans painlessly by simplifying complex geopolitical affairs. Her work has appeared in Esquire, Newsday, The New York Observer, and on MSNBC, and she has written extensively about Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. She is the author of, What Every American Should Know About The Middle East.

More Huffington Post 9-11 Nuttery

I'll say one thing for the Daily Kos; they pretty quickly take care of the 9-11 kook contingent that posts over there. But the Huffington Post seems to wallow in their stupidity.

Riffing off a photo published by the New York Times in a Karl Rove retrospective, Michael Shaw writes:

If Bush's actions confirm his incompetent, pre-formulated, performance-by-rote, what, in addition, might the craft and composition of the photo indicate? In this moment of extreme crisis; 13 minutes before Flight 77 would slam into the Pentagon; with the atmosphere rife with speculation that numerous highjacks (sic) were in progress, can anybody say there wasn't still time for posing?

Only White House photographer Eric Draper could tell us for sure, but with the President centered in the shot, now seemingly down to business (because the kids must be served -- again); the American flag neatly framed under Dan Bartlett's arm; Bartlett, at that very moment, happening to point out the replay of the WTC attack (as if to say, we're on it!); Deborah Loewer, director of the White House Situation Room, doing her situationing perfectly situated behind the boss; and with the two suits to the left standing at attention and ready for action, I'd say this scene is strangely burdened by the sense of what it is supposed to look like.

(Italics in original)

To pick just the obvious, if they were staging their reaction to 9-11, wouldn't they have had Bush immediately jump up when Card told him the second plane had hit? Wouldn't they have had him give a terse speech about how America was under attack, but he was taking charge?

Check out in particular the moronic comments that follow; David Ray Griffin quickly comes up, as does the crockumentary Zeitgeist.

If you happen to run into Michael Shaw, do me a favor? Kick him down the stairs.

Hat Tip: Penraker