9/11 Truth - The Highest Form of Self-Congratulation
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Added: May 07, 2008
Driving across town the other day I saw a bumper sticker bearing what’s become a common refrain:
“Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism!”
I sped up to catch a glimpse of this patriot - a twenty-something dude in jeans and a black t-shirt sporting the obligatory goatee and super-sized sideburns. Given the choice between him and his Prius or Paul Revere thundering through the New England countryside - I prefer the guy on the horse.
It’s an interesting phenomenon, this redefinition of patriotism. Employing a term that’s perpetually misused by the left - it’s Orwellian the way they’ve turned everything around.
I see the flag as a symbol of the greatest nation in history - they see the practice of burning it as patriotic.
I look at the men and women of our military as examples of American exceptionalism - they see them as an embarrassment to be explained away though small town ignorance.
My heroes are the men who charged up Mount Suribachi - theirs are a shadowy army of bloggers debating ”stand-down” orders and the melting point of steel.
Which leads us inevitably to the current epicenter of “patriotic dissent” - The 9/11 Truth Movement. The “truthers” started as a loose confederation of under-employed wingnuts with “serious questions” about the 9/11 Commission Report and in the intervening years have grown to a much larger collection of under-employed… (Do I really need to finish the sentence?)
Their stock in trade response to any reasonable inquiry as to their motivation, (much less sanity), is: “When did it become un-American to ask questions?”
Consider the following hypothetical conversation:
Sane Person (SP): So you’re saying that a bunch of people secretly planted explosives, wiring, etc., over a course of several weeks in one of the most busily trafficked, public buildings in the world, and that everyone working there just failed to notice electrical cables hanging from fresh holes in the ceilings, etc., etc., etc.
Truther (T): I’m just asking questions. When did it become illegal for Americans to ask questions?
SP: But I’m asking you a question. You made a statement and I’m trying to understand it?
T: What did you say your last name was? And who says I can’t ask questions? I’m a patriot. I will not be silenced! Not by you or Dick Cheney or Hallibuton…
Imagine this conversation continuing endlessly…
Obviously a slight exaggeration, but if you’ve ever dropped by a “truther” kiosk, (as I did at a street fair recently), you’ll see it’s not too far off the mark. And this sentiment appears to be growing, not diminishing, with the passage of time. Polls by Zogby and Scripps Howard reveal that a disquieting number of “randomly selected Americans” have begun drinking the truther Kool-Aid. From Scripps Howard, July 2006 –
Federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them”.
— 59% “not likely”
— 20% “somewhat likely”
— 16% “very likely
Although these is still a healthy majority which sees this proposition as “not likely”, an amazing 36% percent feel it is “somewhat to very likely” that Federal officials either participated in the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon, or took no action to stop them.
Even though their stock appears to be rising of late, truthers generally become defensive and indignant with anyone who doesn’t meekly submit to their “patriotic” right to just ask some questions. The faux innocence behind this questioning is strategic and disingenuous.. As if, by “just asking questions” they’re not asserting some alternative version of reality. The ultimate goal is to establish a base level of doubt, to create credibility for alternative scenarios – no matter how laughably far-fetched – and to demean the best efforts of thousands of Americans who produced the exhaustively comprehensive 9/11 Commission Report as pawns in some pedestrian piece of government propaganda.
The guy I talked to made an incredible statement, very typical of truthers for its patent circularity. Describing this moment in history he said:
“Can’t you see that no matter how you look at it, 9/11 is the linchpin? 9/11 is the justification for both wars and the systematic elimination of our civil liberties. None of it can happen without 9/11?
The implied truth which underpins all his logic, (and is never proven or debated), is that 9/11 - as we know it - is a fraud. The ultimate victory in conspiratorial logic is that the delusional ”cover up”, (i.e., the lack of serious media attention to the “Truth Movement”), proves the crime.
I actually took a shot at conventional logic and responded:
“But all this is only true if the official version of the story is wrong. You can equally explain everything by an attack on this country from a group of highly motivated Islamo-fascists who’d been trying to do similar things around the world for the last 10 years - including actually bombing the same building in 1993.”
He shook his head with a touch of contempt dismissing me as one of the “sheeple”, (truther term for the great majority of mindless Americans blindly following authority), or maybe a Zionist conspirator, (I never did supply my last name), and wandered back to his friends in the booth to rearrange the pamphlets and fliers.
I’m not alone in my attempts to right their listing ship. Popular Mechanics published an excellent article which was later expanded to a book titled, “Debunking 9/11 Myths; Why Conspiracy Myths Can’t Stand Up to the Facts.” It systematically goes through each of the prevalent conspiratorial assertions and summarily points out one of several flaws:
1. The statement is not true. Case in point, the infamous “stand-down” order that kept the Air Force from following their routine practice of intercepting, and potentially destroying, wayward commercial airliners. In reality, the Air Force has not kept squadrons of armed fighters sitting on alert since the early 1970’s. Fighters can’t shoot down ICBMs, and as the nuclear equation shifted in that direction the practice became irrelevant. Although the Air Force did eventually scramble jets that morning, confusion in command structure and difficulty locating the remaining jet, (United 93), due to the fact that the hijackers turned off its radar transponder, prevented an intercept. (Luckily, this contingency was handled by a group of real American patriots who prevented the hijackers from achieving their objective).
2. Violation of Occam’s Razor. Stated simply by W. Occam, (1288-1347), “Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.” In modern day language - “When given two possible explanations for the same event, all things being equal, the simpler of the two is more likely true. This is often stated as - When you hear hoof-beats in the distance, think horses, not zebras. A good example of this is when a truther explains that the planes that hit the world trade center were actually modified military jets loaded with explosives and dressed up to look like airliners. What happened to the actual airliners, you may ask? What of the passengers? The phone calls - many recorded - made in flight to loved ones? That’s simple, replies a truther. The planes were forced to land at remote airstrips, the passengers were loaded onto United 93 - which was later shot down - and the calls were accomplished through CIA computer generated voice mimicking software. Simple indeed - How could I have ever believed anything as far-fetched as a hijacking by a group of violent fanatics who’d been stating their intention to this very thing for the better part of the last decade?
3. Circular Reasoning. Often referred to as “begging the question”, a circular argument is one that is based on an unproven premise or axiom which is essential to the ultimate conclusion. When I spoke to the truther at the street fair he informed me that five of the nineteen September 11th hijackers have already been found to be alive in various Middle East countries. ”Wait a minute,” I said, “That would be the biggest news story of the decade. How come I haven’t heard this?” He pointed at the banner hanging behind him - “9/11 Cover Up. Demand the Truth!” and replied, “Exactly. That’s why it’s a cover up.”
4. Argument by Insinuation. This is sort of an all purpose argument for anything they don’t have an answer to. I mentioned the Popular Mechanics book to them and was asked, “Do you know who owns their publisher?” Long story short - they’re in on it. Anyone who raises a legitimate argument against their insanity is “hiding the truth”, “part of the cover up”, etc. It’s interesting to note that this is also circular argument in that it assumes that the truthers are indeed correct, there is a cover up, etc., with out ever proving as much.
5. General Nuttiness. There is a strong undercurrent of anti-Semitism in the truther movement. There are rumors that all employees of Jewish descent called in sick on the morning of 9/11. There are veiled accusatory questions such as - “Who benefited from us fighting Saddam Hussein?” Ditto for anti-capitalism, (large maniacal corporations figure into many of their theories). Finally - and most amusing, or disturbing, as the case may be - is the fact that the plethora of conspiracy theories generated by the “truth movement” are totally at odds with each other and this doesn’t seem to bother the truthers at all. On one hand the WTC towers are secretly rigged with high explosives, on another, the planes themselves are filled with explosives. On one hand the hijackers are expendable operatives tied to the CIA, Mossad, etc., on another, they’re alive and well, living large in Dubai on their monthly pension from Halliburton.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter that none of this ultimately makes much sense. The irony of the 9/11 Truth Movement is that “truth” is pretty far down their list of priorities.
Why do they do it then? Short of writing a thesis on the subject I think their motivation is probably not much different than that of an overly dramatic teenager: desire for attention, the need to feel special, an anti-authoritarian axis to unite them “against the system”. Truthers have an incredible sense of self-importance, of which, the invocation of “patriotism” and their claims to be fighting back the rising tide of fascism are obvious facets, (the fact that they’re allowed to have their booth, distribute their literature, and that - if need be - the police would even protect their right to do so, doesn’t seem to make a dent in their cognitive armor).
These 21st century Don Quixotes tilting at their Zionist/Industrial windmills, in many cases, probably need nothing more than a girlfriend to cure their fevered fantasies.
And how did the day end for the “patriot” I met at the street fair? I imagine later that night he went home to his parent’s house and asked Mom what was for dinner or talked Dad into making another of his student loan payments with a promise to - “Really start seriously looking for a job.”
Not quite the same as dragging a wounded buddy out of a firefight in Fallujah or standing up to a water cannon in Selma. No, these “patriot” battles are waged entirely within their collective delusion where they man the barricades against BusHitler, congratulate each other for their courage and fortitude and still make it home in time to catch the latest episode of “Lost” on their DVR.
And what should our response be to this phenomenon? There’s the obvious choice of outrage, which I imagine would be almost impossible to avoid if you lost a loved that day. But ultimately - they sort of like that. It validates their “us against the forces of darkness” worldview.
There’s also pity. And I must say that that is a tempting choice as well. These are people who’ve obviously missed a couple of milestones along the path to mature, adult development. But pity’s a slippery slope. You could make all the same arguments for racists, religious zealots, etc., etc. These are - by and large - emancipated adults who deserve to be held to the same standards of rationality as every other member of society.
In the end, I’d suggest that the most appropriate response is laughter. The “truth movement” is essentially a ship of fools. For all the pyrotechnics in their literature, movies and websites, their core assertions are ultimately intellectually and philosophically hilarious. The self-congratulatory nature of their redefined ”patriotism”; their fictional status as the vanguard in a society of sheeple; the sheer audacity to compare themselves with the founding fathers of this country. It’s really pretty funny if you stop and give it a chance.
No modern scientist or philosopher is actively working to disprove the theory of the Greek Gods, ditto for a flat Earth or the “staged moon landing”. I would submit that the 9/11 Truth Movement is currently circling the same airport. We should no more argue over their nonsensical claims than we would seriously engage in a debate about the powers of Zeus.
The one thing conspiracists can’t counter with their rhetorical tool-belt is sheer dismissive laughter. To modify a line from the aptly title play - “Richelieu: or The Conspiracy” The snicker is mightier than the sword.
Give it a try next time you meet one of these modern day patriots - who knows, maybe it’ll be the first link in chain of events that finally gets them out of their parent’s guest house and into the real world where groups like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the nation of Iran, and others too numerous to catalogue, are working tirelessly to produce a spectacular follow up to the real tragedy that befall America on 9/11/01.
That’s a truth we would all do well to remember.
David Bueche writes regularly at Compassionate Warmonger
BONUS:
For your enjoyment, a truther at work:
