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9/11 and the Tin-Foil Hat Crowd
vanity | 10/24/01 | me

Posted on 10/24/2001 9:44:01 AM PDT by bassmaner

After the horrifying sneak attack of 9/11 and the continuing anthrax scares, I am certain that our government is doing the right thing in going after OBL and his Taliban henchmen. Their words and their deeds are just crying for us to wipe them off the face of the earth, consign them to history's dustbin, or whatever similar fate we can conjure up. I am 99.9999% certain that GWB is handling the job well and doing the right thing for our nation. I hope he continues and carries the message to all the state sponsors of terrorism as well. But there are some things that are troubling me.

Before anyone starts flaming, this is not going to be a "blame America" screed. Au contraire. Through our tradition of liberty, we've always helped raise the level of civilization in places where we've injected our influence. The doubts that I have about the current war policy stem from this question: Considering the abuses and the lies heaped on American citizens in recent years by their federal government (IRS abuses, Waco, etc.), and the federal power grabs that were attempted long before 9/11 (Know Your Customer, Carnivore, and others), can we really, truly believe BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that the tin-foil hat crowd is totally off base with their wacko conspiracy theories?

I've heard such types talk about the "Masonic brotherhood" which seeks to gain world domination by imposing the "new world order". I've read theories about how the CFR, Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderbergers are behind a vast scheme to impose the one-world socialist vision of the Illuminati at the expense of traditional American freedoms (What better way to eliminate liberty than to use the exigency of war?). In the past I've always taken such nonsense with a grain of salt. And my current reaction is "Why would any such conspiracy risk killing thousands of innocent people just to advance its agenda? Couldn't it be done in a more subtle way?"

But still, I'm troubled. How, for instance, were we able to pin the 9/11 attacks on bin Laden so quickly while claiming that his al-Qaeda organization is based on compartmentalized "cells" without a direct chain-of-command? Why is the evidence we have on him and al-Qaeda under seal? Why does the title of the new cabinet level organization (Office of Homeland Security) seem troubling? Am I wrong to be asking these questions? Could the tin-foil hat wackos be on to something? Is everything we're hearing from the media and the government true? Don't get me wrong: I support the government's actions in its fullfillment of its Constitutional duty to "provide for the common defense". I just hope I'm not being lied to - I don't want this to be a country that's has given up its birthright of liberty to advance some evil, conspiratorial agenda. That's not the America I want to live in.


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Just a little libertarian skepticism.
1 posted on 10/24/2001 9:44:01 AM PDT by bassmaner
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To: That Poppins Woman; JRadcliffe; rb22982; freeeee; tpaine; NC_Libertarian; tex-oma
bump
2 posted on 10/24/2001 9:46:54 AM PDT by bassmaner
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To: bassmaner
Some good questions, but prepare to get flamed by some here that don't even want to consider this.
3 posted on 10/24/2001 9:51:37 AM PDT by Lanman
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To: bassmaner
Some good questions, but prepare to get flamed by some here that don't even want to consider this.
4 posted on 10/24/2001 9:51:38 AM PDT by Lanman
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To: bassmaner
If you want an alternative view check out Alex Jones's web site and radio show (currently streaming). Infowars
Right now he's talking about how the CFR and the Fed Reserve are financing the NWO, etc. Sometimes he sounds like a crank but is pretty good most of the time.
5 posted on 10/24/2001 9:52:15 AM PDT by lelio
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To: bassmaner
We don't know that we're not being lied to. I've had some of the same concerns. However, we don't really have a choice but to trust our leaders. And if this is all part of some sort of conspiracy, it is out of our puny little hands.

But we have the most powerful weapon of all: prayer.

6 posted on 10/24/2001 9:52:57 AM PDT by StonyMan451
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To: AbeLincoln
Wait until the "Un-cut" Anthrax kills a few thousand and see how you feel...It is going to happen. How many times do you need to be told?
7 posted on 10/24/2001 9:55:41 AM PDT by Mr.E
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To: bassmaner; katze; Silly
Uh, giving any credence to conspiracy stories involving the Masonic brotherhood, CFR, Trilateral Commission, and the Bilderbergers is not "skepticism". It is a lack of judgement.
8 posted on 10/24/2001 9:57:34 AM PDT by mlo
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To: AbeLincoln
But we have the most powerful weapon of all: prayer.

A hearty amen, prayer is a MIGHTY source of power!!

9 posted on 10/24/2001 9:59:44 AM PDT by maggie
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To: bassmaner
There are no such things as conspiracies.

The only thing evident is very well thought-out planning and executions of economic/political/cultural agendas withheld from public knowledge.

Conspiracies only occur among the "bad guys" who get caught.

10 posted on 10/24/2001 10:00:52 AM PDT by martian_22
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To: bassmaner
Here's a link that should help those of you who are actually giving any creedence to these thoughts...

http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html

Get a grip.

11 posted on 10/24/2001 10:02:03 AM PDT by ericthecurdog
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To: bassmaner
"Why is the evidence we have on him and al-Qaeda under seal?"

Are you just not smart? It's secret to protect the identities of the people who gave us the information. If an al-Qaeda turn coat gave us information that only he would know and if we reveal that information the turn coat could get his throat cut!!! It is secret to protect the identities of informers so they go on informing us. Plus it is secret to protect Arab or Muslim states that might be secretly working with us but publicliy pretending to be more sympathetic with thier countryman. Come on use your head!!!!

12 posted on 10/24/2001 10:02:35 AM PDT by Theresa
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To: bassmaner
>can we really, truly believe BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that the tin-foil hat crowd...

I think one of the weirdest aspects of the modern world is that anyone might expect to know anything "beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Throughout most of history, the hallmark of education has been the realization that "The more I know, the more I realize how much I have left to learn" or words to that effect. Plato has a quote to that effect.

It's only in the relatively modern, reductionist, materialist times that you get bozos like Stephen Hawking saying that we know "everything" there is to know and now all that remains is refinement...

As far as practical politics and social affairs go, part of any educated, civilized human being's world should be the understanding that nothing is ever known beyond a shadow of a doubt and, since we must ALWAYS frame out decisions and actions based on less-than-perfect knowledge, we must consciously decide what constitutes persuasively proven rather than proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Mark W.

13 posted on 10/24/2001 10:02:53 AM PDT by MarkWar
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To: bassmaner
How, for instance, were we able to pin the 9/11 attacks on bin Laden so quickly while claiming that his al-Qaeda organization is based on compartmentalized "cells" without a direct chain-of-command?

How did they pick up McVeigh so quickly? Could it be that microchip he claimed they planted in his butt? Could it be that our government has planted microchips in everyone's butt? How did the fed in charge of the fed's ANFO experiments just happen to be in OK City on that day, and in front of the Murrah building just in time to confirm to the media that yes indeed it was ANFO?

Why is the evidence we have on him and al-Qaeda under seal?

Because if they revealed it, everyone on the planet would realize they all had microchips in their butts.

Why does the title of the new cabinet level organization (Office of Homeland Security) seem troubling?

Didn't Hitler start out in some kind of post like this?

Am I wrong to be asking these questions?

No, absolutely not. In fact, law enforcement is so grateful for you identifying yourself, they'll be over in a minute to thank you personally. You'll be treated to an all-expense paid vacation at the nearest penal facility.

Could the tin-foil hat wackos be on to something?

Yes, its true. We never went to the moon. We landed at Groom Lake.

Is everything we're hearing from the media and the government true?

Absolutely. Bubba Clinton is innocent; there really was a vast right-wing conspiracy; and Elvis is currently on a Special Ops assignment, somewhere on the Asian continent.

Don't get me wrong: I support the government's actions in its fullfillment of its Constitutional duty to "provide for the common defense".

Then get the friggin military down to my neighbor's house and shoot him in the butt for playing his stupid Chinese music at 80 million decibels.

I just hope I'm not being lied to -

Of course not. Never. Ever. The federales never lie. Marijuana really does make white women want to go and screw every single brown man.

I don't want this to be a country that's has given up its birthright of liberty to advance some evil, conspiratorial agenda.

The agenda belongs to that shapeshifting, reptilian alien, G.H.W. Bush -- oh yes, his exploits are well-documented. Just see the David Ickes website.

That's not the America I want to live in.

Better start learning how to sing Oh Canada!

14 posted on 10/24/2001 10:04:03 AM PDT by That Poppins Woman
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To: bassmaner
Although you've read all the "conspiracy theories", it's too bad they haven't come to life for you. "The conspiracy" is a living, breathing thing and it's going on right under your nose. The conspirators rely heavily on your denial, your refusal to believe, that it's all to fantastic to be true. But it is. Keep trying.
15 posted on 10/24/2001 10:07:08 AM PDT by babylonian
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To: bassmaner
Occam's Razor: the simplest answer is ususally the right one.

For the tinfoil-hat "the USA gov't did it!" crowd to be right, there would have to be a complex highly-motivated super-secret large-scale conspiracy in place to put in place the facts that we have - facts which are simple & believeable enough for our enemies to do without such a conspiracy-upon-conspiracy. Pulling it off without leaks or evidence would require enormous effort by an organization most of us agree can't even compute income tax correctly.

I'm reminded of the Penn & Teller magic trick of Teller smoking: While Penn blathers on, Teller stands on stage smoking a cigarette, crushes it out, lights another and repeats - an entirely believable simple process. To the audience's tinfoil-hat delight, Teller is faking the whole thing, and shows how. Despite having seen Teller fake having a smoke, I do not EVER look at someone smoking and consider that maybe they're really faking it for some conspiratorial reason. On the same note, there are enough USA-hating, martyrdom-seeking fanatics in this world for 19 of them to drive four airplanes into high-profile targets - I have no reason to believe it is faked by some conspiracy pursuing obscure outcomes.

As Freud said: sometimes a cigar is ... just a cigar.

16 posted on 10/24/2001 10:08:08 AM PDT by ctdonath2
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To: bassmaner
You need to read a little deeper to see who is behind the NWO, etc. Then you'll understand 911 DID NOT help them achieve their goals.

Pre-911, the world was marching in an orderly fashion towards the "One-World, One-Planet, One-God" which the powers-that-be have worked towards for over a century.

But 911 has shaken us sheep out of our sleeping-pill slumber. We've rediscovered our power as a republic under God to assert ourselves for righteousness. That's no small accomplishment. I truly believe this cataclysmic event will change us forever, turning us towards a firmer liberty and trust in God.

Those brave Firemen who booed Hillary, the NWO goddess, spoke for all of us -- a collective "up-yours" to any power but God's power.

17 posted on 10/24/2001 10:09:56 AM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg
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To: bassmaner
just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not after you.
18 posted on 10/24/2001 10:10:17 AM PDT by GoreIsLove
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To: That Poppins Woman
shapeshifting, reptilian alien, G.H.W. Bush

You caught on to that, too? Phew, I thought I was the only one who knew!

19 posted on 10/24/2001 10:10:33 AM PDT by bassmaner
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To: bassmaner
BTW, just a few years ago, anybody even considering that Xlin-Ton had something to do with the transfere of weapons information to Red China was considered a 100% tin foil certifiable conspiracy nut.......

For what it's worth.

20 posted on 10/24/2001 10:11:47 AM PDT by martian_22
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