Not Just Another in the Long Line

Remember Truth Burn, the fiasco where a giant sign was going to be demolished by thermite at Burning Man? Truthers raised $20,000 for that effort and what did they get? A video of some thermite being burned in a bucket.

Remember Box Boy Gage collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and paying himself a salary of $75,000?

Remember NYC-CAN, where the Truthers raised a bunch of money in order to get an initiative on the ballot in New York City only to have their efforts laughed out of court?

Well, this isn't like those, apparently. This is a scam, according to the Troof Action dolts.

As of this date, it looks like a total scam and it is most unfortunate that Ken has gotten sucked into this and can't seem to see the real problems.

Part vaporware, part bait and switch. All "trust us." A classic con.

"This" is a new attempt to get an independent 9-11 Commission initiative on the ballot. Somewhere:

Building on the New York experience, I approached the Office of California Legislative Counsel in October 2010 for assistance in drafting a prospective law that would create a new investigative commission––independent of federal and state governments––but with the necessary powers to get to the facts (i.e., subpoena and oath taking). The vision of the commission would be to pursue an investigation wherever the evidence leads. No person would be immune from criminal implication, regardless of political station in or out of government (domestic or foreign).

But not California as it turns out:

We have since concluded that the initiative process in California is overly expensive and otherwise not ideal for a number of reasons, and that we should prioritize our work in three states: Oregon, Massachusetts, and Alaska. You will learn more about these considerations at our website, 9-11cc.org.

The people behind the effort include:

Mike Gravel, the former Senator from Alaska. Gravel's run for President in 2008 included this ad, possibly the greatest in the history of politics:

Byron "Urantia" Belitsos, one of the founders of 9-11 Truth dot org.

Ken Jenkins, 9-11 Truth's #1 psychologist.

And somebody named George Ripley, believe it or not.

One of the more endearing aspects about 9-11 Truthers is the way they can put a smiley face on all their fiascos. But they usually do it after getting the pie in the face; in this case they've already prepared for it:

If we are able to raise the necessary funds for this undertaking, I believe there is no possibility of failure even if no initiative is enacted into law.

Their donations page claims that the contributions are tax-deductible; sounds to me like the money is being laundered through Gage and his gaggle. The home pages notes them as a "sponsor". So far the effort claims to have fleeced, err, raised almost $4900.

Update: One of the members of the advisory board is Fred Burks:

Bat-crap crazy.

Moron the NYC Ballot Initiative

Mike Gravel, who finished eighth in a seven man field for the Democratic Presidential nomination, has picked up the cause.

The petition drive needs at least 30,000 residents to give their signatures in order to place a potential amendment to the city charter on the November ballot. The former Alaska senator and lifelong political loose cannon threw his weight behind the effort to establish a second, privately funded investigation into the events of September 11th, in response to what he called a fatally flawed 9/11 Commission report.

But get this:

Petition drive leaders say their efforts began in February, and thus far have gathered around 10,000 signatures in support of the ballot initiative.

Heheh. Over three weeks ago, I noted that Les Jamieson reported that they had 7,500 signatures, so they've only gotten 2,500 signatures since then. The newspaper article claims they have until September to get them but Jamieson's own page says otherwise:

Here's the plan. We must get 30,000 valid petition signatures of registered New York City voters as quickly as possible. To ensure we reach this goal, we are aiming for 100,000 signatures. Our target date is June 30th. At that time our petition will be reviewed by New York City Council. On July 1st we'll begin gathering another 15,000 signatures which will override City Council if they decide to reject our proposal.

Wow, they were aiming for 100,000 signatures and they're less than two weeks away from their own target date, and they've got 1/10th of what they need? Even if we assume the September deadline is correct, they aren't going to get there. They might have a shot at September 2010 at the rate they're going.

Oh, and even if they get the proposition on the ballot and it passes, there's still another hurdle:

The commission would rely on private financing, with a budget of $10 million a year.

Look these dorks can't even hire some signature-gatherers. Where in the world do they think they're going to come up with $10 million a year?

This will be what, the 27th consecutive fiasco for the 9-11 "Truthers"? It's Truth Week, Truth Burn, Final Cut and Jones' ridiculous peer-reviewed paper all over again.

Quick Hits

Maybe we pay too much attention to the Student Scholars? Check out this article:

Martell is quick to stress that the student organization, with 80 members from schools in Canada to Japan, is more focused on the investigation into 9/11 than the possibility of controlled demolition.

Eighty members worldwide? My god there are more professors (admittedly emeritus) than there are students in the college of 9-11 knowledge.

But just so Justin doesn't get the impression we're picking on him check out this astonishing ad for Mike Gravel:



Now that might just be the greatest political ad ever. I think the rock symbolizes 9-11 Truthers everywhere, causing little ripples that fade away quickly, while they sink rapidly to the bottom. Something like that, anyway.

Meanwhile, the other favored candidate of the Truthling Cult, Ron Paul, has started to accept reality:

With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining, and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get. But with so many primaries and caucuses now over, we do not now need so big a national campaign staff, and so I am making it leaner and tighter.

Hat Tip on Gravel Ad: Lisa Simpson at the JREF Forums.

Correction: Mike Gravel Is Still Running

As requested by Justin Martell, this is to correct an earlier post wherein I indicated that Mike Gravel had dropped out of the race. Apparently Gravel's still running, according to his website. Of course, according to his website, Gravel was on the ballot in South Carolina, which will come as news to CNN. According to Wikipedia, Gravel racked up 214 votes in South Carolina, or about 1/25th of 1%. The chicken may still be running around, but its head is cut off.

For Justin's benefit, here's a tribute to Mike Gravel:



Go, Mike, go!