I must start out by saying that I am not a "9/11 Truther". Honestly I have not looked into it very much. I have seen a couple things on their websites that would make any intelligent person ask questions but it has less to do with conspiracies, and more about physics and building construction. I have heard a few people talk about it recently and they were very intelligent. Sure there are a few kooks, but for the most part these people are taxpayers that love our country. And I do believe that a society is judged by how it treats it's protesters.
Immediately after the War Between the States, if you would've asked any citizen why the war was fought they would've said "to preserve the Union". It was very simple. As the people that won the war started to write the history books things began to change. Perhaps they thought preserving the union would not be an accepted excuse for future generations, especially to explain the loss of 600,000 lives. When I was in school from 1973-1986 the history books told me that the "Civil War" was fought to free the slaves. Most of them still do. A little research will tell you that our history books are wrong. Unfortunately, these are the books that the government has chosen to teach our citizenry from.
We have become a society that gets our truth from two outlets: the mass media, and the government. But is it our fault? After all we have busy lives. The Jones' next door just bought a 60" Plasma TV and we still only have a 52"! We have to get Jimmy to his soccer game. AND the American Idol auditions start tonight! I really don't have the time investigate whether Obama is a better candidate than Romney and who the heck is this Ron Paul guy I see on all these signs. I'm sorry, I do not have the time to look him up on the internet.
So what do you do? Hey, I have 30 minutes free at 11 o'clock tonight, I'll watch the news! I'll swallow everything they tell me as truth. Hey, McCain is the Republican frontrunner; I'm a Republican, that's who I'm voting for. Iraq has Weapons of mass destruction? Well the president says so, why would he lie? We must invade Iraq no matter what the cost! We will stay there 100 years if that's what it takes.
Why do we believe what we believe to be truth? The sad answer is that we believe things to be true in this country only when the mass media, or the government tells us it is true. Why do most people believe that the "Civil War" was fought over slavery? The media and the government tells us so. Sure, there are some in the media and government that will contradict that, but until an official announcement is made from either, or BOTH, people will keep believing what they are told. Even Barack Obama last year said in a speech that the Emancipation Proclamation had less to do with civil rights and was more of a military charge (after the war was well under way). What happened when he said that? Jesse Jackson called and yelled at him and we never heard it from his mouth again.
The grandmother in Iowa who takes care of her 8 grandkids on the weekends gets her truth from the media and government. The president of the local PTA gets her truth from the government and media. We are fed our truth form 2 sources on a regular basis and we eat it whole. When you try to find truth, and it contradicts what they have said, you are painted as a conspiracy theorist and even worse.
So let me go back to the "9/11 Truthers". In order for "9/11 Truth" to come out and be accepted as historical fact in this society, the media (that works in concert with the government), or the government itself, will have to stand up and say yes, your government attacked you on 9/11. I will bet you my net worth and any future income that this is not going to happen
In order for me to join the "9/11 Truth" ranks I will have to resign myself to the fact that no matter how right I think I am, I will always be considered a whack-job, and even worse, by the majority of my fellow Americans. I am always interested in a search for the truth and love to expand my mind. But there are some things that are not worth the effort. And this is a wasted effort.
I am the founder of the website Ron Paul Chronicles, http://ronpaulchronicles.com/
No matter what happens in this years election we will continue to point out everytime the Constitution is tread upon and we will name names. If you see it happening even at the most local of levels, let us know!
Zogby last summer did a poll on commission of a 9/11 truth organization, an online poll, which asked questions about the confidence people had with the report of the 9/11 Commission. 67% responded that they didn't think the report was thorough. Nearly the same amount thought Bush and Cheney should be questioned about their roles that day more carefully.
Now what does this poll say? First, it was commissioned by a truth organization. You will have to look carefully at the questions to determine if they would lead the respondents in a certain direction. I haven't studied the questions so I don't know for sure. Second, it was an online poll, and online polling of all polling is not the best method, though I have read it is only slightly less accurate.
So was it in any way accurate? As a snapshot of people's opinions, I think the argument could be made that if a majority of people were dead against considering 9/11 as an inside job the results, even with leading questions, would have been different and would have shown that.
Polls are what they are, but I have written a fair amount about 9/11 with a few articles here at OpEd, and several on the Gather website. I get some die-hards that call me a wacko, but I actually get many more responses thanking me. That is the case with a local newspaper I write for as well. More "thanks," and "You know I was thinking the same things myself," than you are a wacko. Though I did get one of those just the other day. Another interesting result I am seeing is, many of those that say "wow, thanks" are politically not in my camp... a progressive independent. This issue goes way beyond partisan politics or ideology. It really is about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
So, careful with your assumptions. Your points about getting information from the media and government are right on, but that doesn't give you a pass to shut your mind down and not think for yourself. If you start a serious investigation of the arguments for 9/11 truth, there are many unanswered questions that the official conspiracy theory simply has no answers for. Not only that, there is an active effort to not answer them. That should tell you alot.
by
Stephen Demetriou (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 181 comments)
on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 10:32:24 AM
"... no matter how right I think I am, I will always be considered a whack-job ... I am always interested in a search for the truth ... But there are some things that are not worth the effort. And this is a wasted effort."
What a disgusting attack on the concept of "Truth wherever it may lead" and on those who pursue truth. What an eloquent example of moral cowardice.
by
Bill Willers (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 48 comments)
on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 12:50:03 PM
I was using the "9/11 Truth" movement as an example, I was not judging it.
I could have spoke of the Kennedy assassination, I was trying to be more current. I understand your movement is emotional and if I decided to believe I probably would be too.
But, I am sorry. You will never prove this.
by
David Powers (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 4:07:47 PM
Nothing can call itself the "truth" if it is based on les, misrepresentations, political ideology masquerading as knowledge, or just plain bad science.
The term “9/11 truth movement” is an oxymoron.
by
Roark Howard (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 350 comments)
on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 4:05:53 PM
One tires of semi-coherent rants from people pushing "reason" without applying it and "facts" without offering any. Here, from Roark's bio: "My goal is to explore the realms of stupidity and hold them up for closer inspection. This can be tricky, since stupid evaporates quickly in the light of reason."
OK, here's a chance to apply the light of your "reason". Go to the website of architects and engineers for 911 Truth (Need help in finding it?). At last count, there are 261 such professionals who know the characteristics of internal demolition. You do NOT. Understand? You do not know squat. But I am eager to see you apply your self-proclaimed gift of "reason".
Something about these right wing rants is fishy. If an author of the 911 Commission Report (Lee Hamilton) says "We were set up to fail; ... People have things to hide", you would think that alone would be a wake up call for anyone with an I.Q. better than, say, 90.
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Bill Willers (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 48 comments)
on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 6:13:51 PM
David Powers you are living proof of just how affective the brainwashing is at making people self centered ego maniacal bone heads. You haven’t looked that closely at 9/11! No this is only an event that proves how evil our own government is. And that it won’t hesitate to kill thousands of Americans in order to achieve the capitalist agenda. But that isn’t as important as your own petty desires. Clearly you weren’t just taking about the general public when you spoke of how busy life is. Nothing is more important than what I want. IS IT?
by
arlen custer (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 286 comments)
on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 9:56:47 AM
When you people, THE ONLY ONE'S THAT KNOW THE TRUTH, convict somebody, or get somebody to admit something, come talk to me. BECAUSE YOU READ SOMETHING ON THE INTERNET, oh yeah, everything is true on the net.
I was going to edit this article and take out the part about you people being Americans that love this country.
Then I realized that the one's leaving comments are the nut jobs that I mentioned.
Does the significance of the three buildings have to do with the occult?
Yeah, you're the nut jobs.
by
David Powers (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 2:06:03 PM
8 comments
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