Yo Waccobb.net Politicos,
Anybody reading the "debates" between me and someguy, with a few others joining in, or in many cases carrying the ball without my participation (i.e. pnicholson, Hotspring44, Clancy, Valley Oak (Edward), Zeno, Conrad and others whose names don't immediately leap to mind (sorry if I've slighted you, not intentional!), have heard about Alex Jones. He's one of someguy's favorite "news" sources. Other than Ron Paul.
I've mentioned when I first noticed Alex Jones, in 2002 when Mary Moore shared his video about the Bohemian Club gathering every summer at Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio. I wasn't impressed. He came off as a total alarmist nutjob. But the guy is prolific and has many fans. Including some guy on this board. (Sic.)
A few nights ago I spent several hours perusing the web for information from critics of Mr. Jones. There's a lot there but you have to wade through anti-semitic, or fundamentalist Christian exteme right-wing garbage to find much of it. Neo-nazis seem to have a special grudge against him. Which would be a plus in his favor for me, if there weren't many other problems with his positions, claims and methods.
The most recent tiff between me and someguy was still pretty fresh, so I didn't link any of that stuff to a post here. I didn't want to be seen as tenaciously continuing a fight that had run its course.
But I was prompted by the Naked Emperor News U-Tube video someguy just shared to look at Alex Jones again. Naked Emporer News is a video project, by a children's book author who really hates President Obama and thinks he wants to expand government control over us. She plays "gotcha" with his administration, and is linked with Jones' two major websites.
Jones is listed on Southern Poverty Law Center's site as one of the right wing "Patriots", linked to the militia movement, spreading hate in our country. Their criticisms of him (scroll down, he's the third one on that page) are milder than many of the others in their list.
They, SPLC, don't have anything on their website about Naked Emperor News. I emailed them and asked them what they thought. I'll report their response if I get one.
Here's a piece in 2000 from an Austin local paper about Alex Jones. It pretty much sums up the criticisms. In the last third of the article it seems to devolve to an unrelated discussion of censorship of some other guys show on community access television in Austin. Keep reading the article, the tangent serves to make the the authors concluding point about Jones.
Garbage in, garbage out. The haters hating the haters to try and make us haters. Emotion replaces provable fact, the quintessence of demagoguery.
This stuff is totally marginal to the politics of our country. Except that the marginal has a habit of becoming mainstream in troubled times.
Tea Party anyone?