Trolls are everywhere this election season.
But one, under a link I posted recently on Facebook, under the heading "WikiLeaks stands under threat,” can teach us something about how things came to the current un-pretty pass.
There, one "Hatto Aquitane" reveals himself to be a perfect example of the insanity that lies at the heart of what is wrong with America today.
Intellectual rigor has never been one of America's strong points…
But when you live in a nation being poisoned by two massive lies, the Kennedy Assassination & the phony War on Drugs, an entire segment of the population, dimly perceiving that something has gotten very very rotten in the state of Denmark, eventually concludes that reality is anything they decide to say it is.
It's not.
Why "Hatto's" left hanging
But that leaves the "Hatto Aquitane's" of the world prey to purveyers of sponsored disinformation, whose Internet creations, almost too numerous to name, include both diehard Obama "birthers" and the current dregs of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
One of the hardest things to come to grips with intellectually is the idea that, even with the best intentions, we can all be successfully lied to.
What separates the men (and women) from the boys (and girls) is the courage and humility to admit this fact to ourselves.
And many "9/11 Truthers" were too busy congratulating themselves on being intuitively aware that we were lied to about 9/11 to avoid falling into a yawning crevasse prepared for them by people who have in mind nobody's best interest but their own.
"Hatto" begins by endorsing a list of such people, who ride a variety of intellectually dubious hobbyhorses, either for their own self-aggrandizement, or because they have nothing better to do.
Never believe anyone from Utah who knows Orrin Hatch
"Hatto's List" includes "Steven Earl Jones, Kevin Ryan, Richard Gage, Cynthia McKinney, Paul Craig Roberts, Jim Hoffman, and (modesty, Hatto!) "Hatto" himself.
Using only what is publicly available about these people, (as for "Hatto" himself, he's not a person, but a troll) it is clear that some of them should be ruthlessly ridiculed, while others are more properly pitied than scorned.
Take the number one name on “Hatto’s” list: Brigham Young University physicist, Steven Jones.
In addition to his dubious research in scientific areas (cold fusion!), Jones has published papers (“Behold My Hands: Evidence for Christ's Visit in Ancient America”) about archeological clues he discovered which indicate that Jesus Christ visited Latin America after his resurrection.
It should go without saying, but in America today, it doesn't:
Anyone who can find Jesus in South America 2000 years ago is capable of finding pretty much anything he wants to.
Yet many have been led by him to believe that an incendiary substance called Thermite, bolstered by sulfur (evidence of the demonic?) generated the exceptionally hot fires at the World Trade Center that caused the structural steel to fail and the buildings to collapse.
Hatto's heroes
Just one more example. There's no fun in shooting fish in a barrel.
Consider the "intellectual" background of Paul Craig Roberts, another name high on Hatto's list, whose academic appointments are to institutions where neo-cons breed like flies… like Virginia Tech, Tulane, and Stanford, where he was Senior Research Fellow in the Hoover Institution.
(The Hoover Institution? What's their motto: "Immortalizing the First Great Depression?")
Roberts also held the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy in the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown, named for a thief who was one of President Ronald Reagan's many toxic legacies to America.
If you’re looking for a take on American history from the father of Reaganomics" who believes the bin Laden raid was a hoax, this may be your guy.
But, if its Friday, and Paul Craig Roberts tells me its the end of the week, I wouldn't believe him.
And neither should you.
That’s thermate residue, coward.
Daniel Hopsicker may be many things, but he’s not a coward. “9/11 truth” can suck a big fat thermite dick.
dude,
you obviously haven’t been paying attention. maybe you’ve just never been rat-fucked by the bully boys of 9.11, who have, i can tell you, been at it for YEARS. if you haven’t noticed, you haven’t been paying attention. let me be clear with you: i don’t give a flying fuck about 9/11 truth. i care about 9/11. 9/11 truth is a cult, and a not very nifty one. but thank you for having a civil tone, which is more than can be said for your jackbooted spud boy confreres. again, in case you missed it: 9/11 truth… isn’t.
Daniel: You are one of my favorite investigators re: CIA Drug Dealing and 911 Truth but I hope you can back off the mud raking re: Jones McKinney Gage etc.
911 Truth has enough problems, eh?
In June of 2002 I helped Kyle Hence shoot a 911 Truth conference at the National Press Club and later introduced him to Danny Schecter who helped produce 911 Press For Truth.
For the last 6 years I have been shooting a documentary about artist Robert Shetterly.
who has painted over 170 portraits in a series called Americans Who Tell the Truth.
Each portrait has a quotation inscribed on the canvas from the person appearing in the picture.
James Douglass, Cynthia McKinney and David Ray Griffin are people he has painted.
I suggest you visit his website at americanswhotellthetruthdotorg.
Please take a few seconds out and read his essay on conspiracy.
google shetterly conspiracy mlk common dreams.
Again I want to thank you for the critical, groundbreaking work you have done around Atta and 911 as well as your work with CIA drug dealing.
Daniel: You are one of my favorite investigators re: CIA Drug Dealing and 911 Truth but I hope you can back off the mud raking re: Jones McKinney Gage etc.
911 Truth has enough problems, eh?
In June of 2002 I helped Kyle Hence shoot a 911 Truth conference at the National Press Club and later introduced him to Danny Schecter who helped produce 911 Press For Truth.
For the last 6 years I have been shooting a documentary about artist Robert Shetterly.
who has painted over 170 portraits in a series called Americans Who Tell the Truth.
Each portrait has a quotation inscribed on the canvas from the person appearing in the picture.
James Douglass, Cynthia McKinney and David Ray Griffin are people he has painted.
I suggest you visit his website at americanswhotellthetruthdotorg.
Please take a few seconds out and read his essay on conspiracy.
google shetterly conspiracy mlk common dreams.
Again I want to thank you for the critical, groundbreaking work you have done around Atta and 911 as well as your work with CIA drug dealing.
I didn’t know that. Still, even holding you harmless for what ensued, its the very definition of a dubious achievement.
Daniel you and I seem to be the only people who figured out it’s the truthers who are sponsored disinfomration. But you haven’t figured out which nation is sponsoring it yet? Clue: what president of what nation openly spouts truther theories and cites specific groups? How many 9-11 truthers support sanctions against Iran vs against sanctions? How many truthers want US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to end support of Israel?
“9/11 Truth was sponsored disinformation.” That says it all. I think just you and me have that figured out. But do you dare guess what nation is sponsoring most of that disinformation? Hint: what nation officially promotes specific 9-11 truth site?
Ah, but I am. I am the one that coined the phrase after all. The definition for the phrase is the first thing to appear in the book. Who knows? You might be one yourself. 😉
http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/01/ignorance-is-strength.html