CONSPIRACY CRANKS

Conspiracy Web sites labeled Popular Mechanics a “CIA front organization” and compared us to Nazis and war criminals.

For a 104-year-old magazine about science, technology, home improvement and car maintenance, this was pretty extreme stuff. What had we done to provoke such outrage?

Research.

In every single case, we found that the very facts used by conspiracy theorists to support their fantasies are mistaken, misunderstood or deliberately falsified.

Here’s one example: Meyssan and hundreds of Web sites cite an eyewitness who said the craft that hit the Pentagon looked “like a cruise missile with wings.” Here’s what that witness, a Washington, D.C., broadcaster named Mike Walter, actually told CNN: “I looked out my window and I saw this plane, this jet, an American Airlines jet, coming. And I thought, ‘This doesn’t add up. It’s really low.’ And I saw it. I mean, it was like a cruise missile with wings. It went right there and slammed right into the Pentagon.”



  1. Tim Harris says:

    Everything is a front for the CIA. DUH!

  2. xrayspex says:

    Everything is a front for the CIA. DUH!

    I know that was sarcasm, but…

    How would we know it if everything WAS a front for the CIA? We wouldn’t. We just have to go on common sense. However, SOME THINGS are fronts for the CIA.

    The anti-conspiracy people are implicitly saying “Not everything is a conspiracy, therefore nothing is a conspiracy”.

    It’s not a black and white world; never has been, never will be.

    [Proudly wearing my aluminum foil hat since 1972!!!]

  3. Greg Allen says:

    In most cases, things are what they are: I believe thatOswald got a damn luck shot.

    But that second gunman theory is far more believable than the various 911 conspiracies because it involves a much smaller circle or conspirators.

    I just can’t believe that a conspiracy involving so many hundreds or even thousands of people would not have a leaker, yet.

  4. xrayspex says:

    I just can’t believe that a conspiracy involving so many hundreds or even thousands of people would not have a leaker, yet.

    I’ll beat my dead horse again, since I’ve never heard a coherent rebuttal:

    First of all, one man’s “conspiracy” is another man’s “project” (or “mission”, or “business plan”, etc.) “Conspiracy” is a semantically loaded term for an essentially simple and ubiquitous concept.

    Second, it’s ridiculous to say that secrets can’t be kept. Secrets ARE KEPT. Look at Groom Lake. Thousands of employees, hundreds (+?) of projects, over a period of several decades. What do you know about the things that go on there? NOTHING. Because they can keep secrets (aside from the meta-secret that it exists in the first place.)

    Not everything is a conspiracy, in the sense of the word we’re using here. But some things are. We just don’t know which ones.

  5. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    History has told us again and again that large conspiracies cannot last for any length of time. Small ones have a chance, e.g. McVeigh and Oswald/Ruby, but otherwise, IMO conspiracists are just looking for attention.

  6. John Urho Kemp says:

    Groom Lake is a tad bit different. They’re working on projects there in a isolated, controlled environment with employees to probably get paid a hefty sum. Plus these are weapons research and the thing goes down like any business. With something as sensitive as weapons research or other clandestine operations, you could be charged with treason if you leak these things. A bit of an incentive to NOT leak something.

    With 9/11 you have a situation where there are thousands of regular people all seeing these things, all the cameras shooting it and they’re going to try and pull something like this off? If you’re killing thousands of American citizens you can bet there would be someone that comes forward and blows the whistle.

  7. Ivor Biggun says:

    The Bush haters are just like Baghdad Bob. They will say anything and make up anything to justify their hatred for Bush, no matter how wacky and completely unbelievable it is.

  8. Greg Allen says:

    #4 I had to Google “Groom Lake” to know what you meant. You’re talking about Area 51, right?

    Area 51 has leaked it’s “secrets”! It’s not the black hole the conspiracy guys (I’m avoiding the n-word) want it to be.

    (my father-in-law worked there, BTW)

    Area 51 secrets are totally banal. The reason no secrets about aliens have leaked from there is because that whole alien thing is nonsense.

  9. moss says:

    I’m too lazy to do the statistical analysis. But, just reflecting upon our local dittoheads, doesn’t it seem that Bushies are even ready to leap into an article about daisies — just to whine about their hero?

    Worth a giggle or two. They’ve become as “delicate” as the average black helicopter wacko.

  10. Kent Goldings says:

    Oh Please, Mr. Dvorak. Take of your blinders. Next, you’ll be saying that professional wrestling isn’t real!

  11. sirfelix says:

    If time travel is possible, how come no one from the future has visited us?

    Then again, why would anyone want to visit this crappy timeline?

  12. xrayspex says:

    I had to Google “Groom Lake” to know what you meant. You’re talking about Area 51, right?

    Nope. “Area 51” is supposedly an area inside Groom Lake (or whatever its actual name is.) Whatever has “leaked” from there is almost certainly total BS… some made up by the usual weirdos, some probably disinformation spread around to feed the usual weirdos to weaken the credibility of anything legitimate that might actually get out.

    Groom Lake is a real place. They do real work there (like SR-71 and Stealth). There is NO credible information available about the place regarding what they’re doing there today, although projects that are subsequently declassified are sometimes well-known.

    Regarding keeping secrets, it doesn’t matter whether it’s military, classified, whatever, that doesn’t in any way refute my point that SECRETS CAN BE KEPT.

    Groom Lake is a tad bit different. They’re working on projects there in a isolated, controlled environment with employees to probably get paid a hefty sum. Plus these are weapons research and the thing goes down like any business. With something as sensitive as weapons research or other clandestine operations, you could be charged with treason if you leak these things. A bit of an incentive to NOT leak something.

    The employees don’t live there. But they don’t talk about their work, either, for WHATEVER reason. You could pay me to keep a secret, but if I believed, as a patriot, that keeping something under my hat was truly in the best interests of the country, I’d do it. That would be MY best motivation. That’s probably true for a lot of other people, too.

  13. Frank IBC says:

    The notion that the Bush “regime” could have pulled off this entire scenario is further complicatedby the fact that it had only been in power 7 1/2 months, following 8 years of Clinton’s presidency.

  14. Frank IBC says:

    That plane looks like it’s waiting patiently at a door, waiting to be let in…

    “Knock knock!”

    “Who’s there?”

    “Terrorist plane.”

    “Terrorist plane who?…”

  15. Frank IBC says:

    Or…

    “Candygram…”

  16. astro says:

    While the world is arguing about conspiracies and what have you, the bankers, the oils companies, the war industries of this world are making billions and the economy of this world is collapsing…

    I am sure they are all laughing at us, the small people that does not understand the big picture.

    http://tinyurl.com/jwcjl

  17. Roc Rizzo says:

    This article is from the NY Post.
    New Yorkers call it the NY Dog Trainer, or the NY Fishwrap, because that’s all it’s good for. They don’t print anything that any way, shape or form resembles news. Well, maybe the sports, but my point is that it’s NOT a NEWSPAPER, it’s an Entertainment Rag.

  18. malren says:

    “The notion that the Bush “regime” could have pulled off this entire scenario is further complicatedby the fact that it had only been in power 7 1/2 months, following 8 years of Clinton’s presidency.”

    Please, please, no rational thought here. All Bush’s fault, please stick to the MoveOn/Kos/Moore talking points.

    ABC MUST DIE. DEATH TO THE INFIDELS.

  19. Frank IBC says:

    How is the economy of the world “collapsing”, astro?

  20. Mark says:

    16

    You get the prize. It is a much larger picture than “government conspiracy”, its a global conspiracy, and Bush and his thugs are small potatoes. If America doesnt start to see the bigger picture soon, this country will expire. The North American Union is being constructed under your feet right now, as we speak. And NO ONE seems to care. This is no conspiracy, IT IS REAL. The weaklings we have representing us dont even know this is happening. David Rockefeller (Council on Foreign Relations) writes in his own biography, that he is working against the interests of the United States, and towards a one world government and he is proud of it. See also the PNAC Document which states that a new Pearl Harbor is needed to bring about a new world govt. If this is what you Bushies want, then fine, be a man and just come out and say it. I am not a Bush hater, I think he is the worst president in history, but he’s probably a fun guy to hang with. Most of us who do believe that the government played a role in all this, are truly heartbroken, we DONT WANT TO BELIEVE IT!!! But as thinking adults who have looked at the evidence on both sides, it just doesnt add up, no matter what you say, and if you were honest with yourself, you would easily see that. It takes some research and an open mind, but if you do a little, you will see a lot. Your eyes will open, and you just might WAKE UP!!!!!!!!

  21. Floyd says:

    Astro uses Lyndon LaRouche as an “authority,” which destroys any credibility his statement might have had.

    If he really believes the banks, oil companies, and defense industries are making billions, he’d be crazy not to invest in them.

  22. Mark says:

    21

    I see, so Floyd believes Astro shoud go against his conscience and make money on the very people ruining this world. I think I might see you running for office someday, another corrupt politician.

    Truly now, you believe the defense industry, banks, and oil arent making money from all this turmoil. Grow up lad.

  23. jim says:

    It would be neigh near impossible to set explosives in two major commercial buildings without someone noticing. The claim that Bush or whatever cabal had the World Trade Center Towers set with explosives ina controlled demolition is just plain silly. It would take months to plant the explosives and wire the building. It would be almost impossible for no one to notice that people were detatching explosives all over two buildings.

    No, the conspiriacy theorys are just attention getting fame seekers. (and/or Bush haters) One can’t prove a conspiracy didn’t occur because it is secret. (so secret one can’t prove it didn’t occur.)

  24. Mark says:

    jim

    By his own admission, the landlord (Silverstein) of the World Trade Center reported that building 7 was “pulled”. That means controlled demoltion. There is no other way to explain it. It housed the offices of CIA, FBI, and NSA. It was not destroyed by debris from the other towers, and I know this because the man who owned the building said it. So, if the building was “pulled” within hours of catching fire, how are you going to explain that away?

  25. Roc Rizzo says:

    Hey, any of you that believes ANYTHING that poses for News in the NY Post, of all rags, are surely drinking the wrong kool aid.

  26. Smartalix says:

    Then again, only a super-secret black-hat doesn’t-exist secret agent/killer ninja group lead by the functional equivalent of Nick Savage could pull off a frameup of those proportions. So the conspiracists are at least logical in that respect.

  27. astro says:

    Anything anyone will say, you will always have someone to discredit you or what other says… It’s so easy to respond with “you are crazy” and be done with it….

    It’s probably impossible to find a common ground for discussion around the problem the world faces… Not here anyway.

    And if you have a group of people trying to find solutions, they will be dismissed has well for any reason.

    Has for Larouche, read and listen to what he says, make more sense than anything else I hear these day in mainstream media…

    Has for economic collapse, don’t take my word for it, research it yourself… http://tinyurl.com/zzmdw

  28. Frank IBC says:

    Ah… a Larouchie. Wonderful. 🙁

  29. Jeff says:

    The Clinton haters are just like Baghdad Bob. They will say anything and make up anything to justify their hatred for Bush, no matter how wacky and completely unbelievable it is (Wacko, Ruby Ridge, and other all the other bull****!)

  30. RBG says:

    26. Holy crappola, Mark: “There is no other way to explain it. (Silverstein’s “pull” remarks)” Let me try a huge leap into common sense logic and help you out with one other possible explanation. Like, maybe Silverstein was referring to pulling out any rescuers or firemen who might still be in the building. It actually didn’t take too much brain power to come up with that. And doesn’t that explanation just have a certain feel of authenticity over a covert demolition requiring the killing of thousands?

    So you believe Silverstein went on a PBS documentary and simply announced that he ordered the demolition of his building during a (his?) convenient attack? What, exploding pre-arranged demolitions that worked perfectly in tandem with the jet crashes as cover? Maybe such admissions might be used against him in court – to say the least? Or did that just slip his mind? Remind me not to have Silverstein in on my next conspiracy.

    But wait, his exact quote below leaves room that maybe he might or might not explode all the in-place demolitions. And then only because there had been such loss of life and the demolition would somehow help the situation. The logic is mind-boggling.

    Silverstein: “I remember getting a call from the Fire Department commander, telling me they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, you know, ‘We’ve had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is just pull it.’ And they made that decision to pull and then we watched the building collapse.”

    “I just remember it was tremendous, tremendous fires going on. Finally they pulled us out. They said all right, get out of that building because that 7, they were really worried about. They pulled us out of there .” – Richard Banaciski

    http://www.debunking911.com/pull.htm

    If you’re really interested in reading an in-depth, fact-filled explanation of “pull”.

    RBG


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