Hey folks, guess Alex Jones is not above the Law

Politics and Social Issues
1

Yeah, they ramble on and on, but it’s worth posting just the same. :wink:

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/alex-jones-five-things-to-know

ANTISEMITISM IN THE US
EXTREMISM, TERRORISM & BIGOTRY

  1. Alex Jones is a right-wing American radio host and prolific anti-government conspiracy theorist.
  2. Jones has earned the vocal admiration of President Donald Trump and has claimed to be in contact with President Trump and administration officials.
  3. Jones’s conspiracy theories have resulted in real world acts of violence and harassment.
  4. Jones’s on-air persona is not demonstrably antisemitic, but he has featured antisemitic guests on his show.
  5. Although Jones has been banned from several social media platforms for spreading violent, bigoted conspiracy theories, he maintains a significant audience.

I Worked for Alex Jones. I Regret It.

By Josh Owens - Dec. 5, 2019 - New York Times

I dropped out of film school to edit video for the conspiracy theorist because I believed in his worldview. Then I saw what it did to people.

On Election Day 2016, I sat in the passenger seat of Alex Jones’s Dodge Hellcat as we swerved through traffic, making our way to a nearby polling place. As Jones punched the gas pedal to the floor, the smell of vodka, like paint thinner, wafted up from the white Dixie cup anchored in the console.

My stomach churned as the phone I held streamed live video to Facebook: Jones rambling about voter fraud and rigged elections while I stared at the screen, holding the camera at an angle to hide his double chin. It rarely worked, but I didn’t want to be blamed when he watched the video later.

Four years earlier, Jones …

2

The individual is not, but with the slow justice we have, the system of misinformation is well within the law. Alex has already polluted so many minds that the people who paid him, and then made money off his advertising and the changes in the political landscape he sourced, they’re doing fine. They are untouched. They are as untouched as the phone company who says they just supply the lines, they aren’t liable for what is said on them.

There are already a thousand more like him, repeating what he said, getting information from “think tanks”, patted on the back by the lawyers who are on retention with the billionaires, and being told they live in a free country and are doing their American duty.

3

Sure that’s plenty true.
I remember the early 2000s on a bigger job, with multiple crews working together and one crew blaring Rush and FOX on the radio all the time, it was disgusting and so deceptive, and it was allowed to flourish and become normalized.
Side story - Funny thing is - not funny just telling, character wise.
One day a couple OSHA inspectors pull up and the word ripples through the carpenters. Okay, all hands on deck check your cords, straighten up your area and that sort of drill mentality sets in. Inspection is his here!!! Not, those low-lifes, they grabbed their tools and ran like rats off a sinking ship. It was pathetic and funny and OSHA guys noticed the escape, and simply asked for their names and details and made a few notes and then when on with their inspection. The Limbaugh/trump crowd, lordie, lordie, thinking and caring and taking responsibility is not part of their makeup.
It’ll be very interesting seeing how the country votes in this next election. I wish I could felt more optimist, but sure seems like too many are too numb.

If I had the time I could make a solid case that to understand the success of today’s extreme oligarch run rightwing movement, or should I say hostile take-over attempt upon our government, you need to study the Tobacco Council pioneering efforts at seeding doubt with misinformation and lies, that became refined and weaponized during the Anthropogenic Global Warming awareness campaigns - EXXON and others worked at totally eliminating the spirit of honest education and evidence processing from the public air waves - of an existentially critical matter such as global warming, human population explosion, and their potential combined cascading consequences. Which turned out to be worse and shocking faster than experts allowed themselves to expect.

Climategate and malicious dishonest character assassination efforts, which we’ve seen illustrated even here at CFI.

We need honest curiosity and education and serious public dialogue. Instead we got jokers intent on destroying every serious discussion going on and turn economy into a gluttonous free for all, for the rich.

Back to this OP, it just seems to me some of these developing events need to get more exposure, like posting here is going to do that. Okay, it’s just venting. Wish someone did care enough to create more network for people to connect, a discussion platform or something.

Oh wait, we got that right here. And apparently there are a lot of people with Skeptics and CFI groups around and stuff like that. Even nationwide. Heck putting together this new site, that took some serious commitment and a bit of treasure. So where are these people? Why don’t they participate a little? Or is it beyond any of that mattering? We’re all in a free fall, hanging on to what we have, until the bottom falls out of our world, as it has for so many millions these past years?

All this ability to communicate and so few want to try it. :disappointed:

4

I wish this forum was better attended, but attendance may not be the only goal. The website must be getting some attention, or they wouldn’t keep putting up an electronic newsletter and sending out emails. I don’t ask about those numbers. I assume some of that traffic notices the forum and skims it. I also assume people are googling these topics and occasionally getting hits on it.

5

[quote=“lausten, post:4, topic:8426”]
The website must be getting some attention, or they wouldn’t keep putting up an electronic newsletter and sending out emails. … I assume some of that traffic notices the forum and skims it.

Hell I’m counting on, hate to think I post all these things only for our Stammtisch. :blush:

Especially the back and forth with the delusionals, sure hope something in there echos with someone, somewhere.

Not that I don’t enjoy our gang, but there’s so much more out there.