“There is an irony that the most anti-gay [groups] are Al Qaeda and the American Right-Wing” Former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank
The above quote doesn’t really have much to do with Infowars, Alex Jones and their conspiracy theories, but it does draw an interesting connection. And, after all, it’s just funny. Sometimes it’s good to start out with a little humor before we address a very serious subject.
We all know now that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two Boston Marathon bombers were essentially a pair of “losers” who have fully experienced their ten minutes of shame.
Many right-wingers have been chasing shadows, focusing on the non-existent Al Qaeda and Russian connections. However, as we know, the only connection to Al Qaeda our homegrown lowlifes have is them visiting the al Qaeda website Inspire magazine, where they learned to make the pressure cooker bombs.
What the mainstream media is not talking about is that according to a recent AP interview with the Boston Marathon bomber’s uncle, “Tamerlan took an interest in Infowars, a conspiracy theory website. Khozhugov said Tamerlan was interested in finding a copy of the book “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the classic anti-Semitic hoax, first published in Russia in 1903, that claims a Jewish plot to take over the world.”
That’s right, Alex Jones’ conspiracy theory website Infowars taught the two losers to distrust and outright hate the U.S. government so much that they no longer were able to give a rat’s ass about the U.S. population.
Alex Jones’ site, Infowars has been stoking anti-government conspiracies to gullible readers for years. Infowars steady stream of misinformation has been radicalizing both right-wing nutcases and Muslim terrorists alike.
This weekend, perennial bigot New York Congressman Peter King suggested we forgot “political correctness” and begin profiling the entire Muslim community. Given King’s logic, perhaps we should also be profiling the entire right-wing movement, especially the sheeple that listen to Alex Jones and Glenn Beck?
After all, according to journalist Peter Bergen and the New America Foundation, since the September 11, 2001 bombings to the end of 2012, there were no successful bomb plots by jihadist terrorists in the United States. However, Jihadists did kill 17 people in the United States in four separate incidents during this time. All of the incidents involved guns, which the NRA wants to make more available to terrorists, including Nidal Hassan’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood which killed 13 people. On the other hand, racist, bigoted, religious, and anti-government right-wing extremists have killed 29 people in the same period.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
Following-up on the most recent ricin letters mailed to President Obama, Mississippi Senator Wicker, and a retired Mississippi judge, James Everett Dutschke was arrested. Dutschke is a martial arts instructor and former Republican politician. He was charged with, ”knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin.”
Like the Boston Marathon bombers, the true motivations for committing such a despicable terrorist act is unknown. Nonetheless, the very fact that Dutschke is a Republican leads me to believe he may likely hold some delusional extreme anti-government right-wing beliefs, like those spewed out on a daily bases at Infowars. Dutschke has denied the charges leveled against him and has claimed, “I’m a patriotic American.”
Of course, the “Patriot Movement” is filled with folks that share delusional extreme anti-government beliefs which have at times spilled into racism, bigotry, and even violence. Although most so called “Patriots” do not become violent criminals.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center , “Generally, Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the ‘New World Order,’ engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines. Antigovernment groups do not necessarily advocate or engage in violence or other criminal activities, though some have. Many warn of impending government violence or the need to prepare for a coming revolution.”
We know Alex Jones and Infowars influenced the Boston Marathon bombers. We know right-wing extremists have killed more Americans than jihadist in the last 10 years. The question is, if Representative Peter King is so concerned about the roots of terrorism in the U.S. than why hasn’t he calling for the infiltration of so-called Patriot groups, anti-abortion organizations, and pro-gun militias? After all, the right-wing poses a greater threat to the safety of everyday Americans than a few self-radicalized pimply faced homegrown jihadists.