The Rise of Anti-Government Bigots: Spitting, the N-Word, Anti-Gay/Lesbian Slurs

[dreadgeek]

Linus:

I agree with what you're saying in part, but I'm a little more pessimistic because of my experiences watching my countrymen believe, against all available evidence, that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was instrumentally involved in the 9/11 plot OR that Al Qaeda was in bed with that tyrant. The second, more risible claim, could be disproved with less than two hours of web research. All one would have to find out is that Al Qaeda is a Wahhabist sect of Sunni Islam and that Saddam Hussein was a secular pan-Arabist who cynically used religion but was not devout by any measure and that would put the lie to that. It would be like claiming that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were the two biggest contributors to the ACLU or the American Humanist Society. Osama bin Laden would no more get in bed with Hussein as Falwell would with Richard Dawkins.

The first claim, about Iraq's involvement in 9/11 is partially debunked from knowing about the differences between Hussein and bin Laden and partially just by looking at the details that were known within a week of the attack.

The point I'm trying to make is that I'm not sure, given our current state, that it would *matter* if the information that a false-flag operation had taken place in the U.S. The kinds of people who are showing up at the Tea Party rallies aren't particularly likely and unless it came from some approved (read right-wing) information source they would continue to believe that it was done by the convenient perps even IF there were a YouTube video of Armey, Cheney, et. al. planning it. Low-information voters, gotta love 'em.

Cheers
Aj

Originally Posted by Linus

Ah.. they may have a bogeyman to blame but with the Interwebz being all over the place ('cuz Gore set it up that way, don't'cha know?), it'll be hard to maintain and will likely backfire.

Unlike the 1920s, it's a lot harder to hide who the true source of an attack or behaviour. (e.g., "Baby Killer" comment was recorded and the person apologized; given time someone would have recognized his voice easily).

[Linus]

Originally Posted by dreadgeek

Linus:

I agree with what you're saying in part, but I'm a little more pessimistic because of my experiences watching my countrymen believe, against all available evidence, that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was instrumentally involved in the 9/11 plot OR that Al Qaeda was in bed with that tyrant. The second, more risible claim, could be disproved with less than two hours of web research. All one would have to find out is that Al Qaeda is a Wahhabist sect of Sunni Islam and that Saddam Hussein was a secular pan-Arabist who cynically used religion but was not devout by any measure and that would put the lie to that. It would be like claiming that Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were the two biggest contributors to the ACLU or the American Humanist Society. Osama bin Laden would no more get in bed with Hussein as Falwell would with Richard Dawkins.

The first claim, about Iraq's involvement in 9/11 is partially debunked from knowing about the differences between Hussein and bin Laden and partially just by looking at the details that were known within a week of the attack.

The point I'm trying to make is that I'm not sure, given our current state, that it would *matter* if the information that a false-flag operation had taken place in the U.S. The kinds of people who are showing up at the Tea Party rallies aren't particularly likely and unless it came from some approved (read right-wing) information source they would continue to believe that it was done by the convenient perps even IF there were a YouTube video of Armey, Cheney, et. al. planning it. Low-information voters, gotta love 'em.

Cheers
Aj

I think one of the biggest differences between what happened with Iraq and WMD is who is handling the main megaphone on Capital Hill (aka the President). I suppose as a non-American and based on what I've seen as a non-American I'm a little more optimistic about it today than things were in 2001. Things are far more transparent than before (2001-era) and FOXNews et al would be hard pressed to really contradict proof.

Heck, they could have used that for the plane that crashed in the IRS and didn't. I was expecting it but it really never appeared...