HELL IS COMING

The Alex Jones Reader

[thealexjonesreader]

A Challenger Appears! Remember this guy? That's Adam Kokesh. He's an ex-Marine and a libertarian political activist with a radio show. Alex is rather put off by him, as am I. Could Alex's long-term interests be endangered by the actions of this petulant child?

[lolalexjones]

LoL Alex Jones #47 - LIES

[thealexjonesreader]

Ministry has a few good songs, seriously.

[thealexjonesreader]

Anatomy of Alex

If you don’t want it spoiled, here it is in its entirety:

1:23: “I’ve studied history.” One of my favorite catchphrases.

2:47: Alex and his fellow freedom-lovers are far from the only ones aware of the New World Order. There is, in fact, a whole segment of society that knows it exists, but chooses to side with the “winning team” for the sake of security and profit as we tumble forward into the new dark age. Alex feels assured that many of them tune in, and feels it necessary to remind them that signing on with the Dark Side never ends well.

4:29: The Oscars ought to have a “Trailer of the Year” category. This bizarre commercial has been looped into YouTube uploads for months now, so let’s pray the full version sees the light of day.

6:17: Alex refers an audio clip used earlier in the show, taken from the film “Death Race 2000.” As a lifelong fan of cinematic violence, “Death Race 2000” was one of the worst films I’ve seen. As we will expand upon in greater detail, Alex is absolutely obsessed with science fiction cinema, be it classic or cult, and often utilizes it for his show. He also sneaks in a shot at violent video games, which we all know are behind every mass shooter.

7:09: Alex discusses insect drones.

8:25: Alex discusses the national media’s eventual distortion of his report on insect drones to attempt to diminish his journalistic integrity.

9:21: Just because they’ve refrained from the corrupting of local institutions of power, terrorism and brutal murder doesn’t mean La Raza isn’t the new Ku Klux Klan.

13:55: Alex is angry that illegal immigrants are doing nothing but living fat off taxpayer money. Would he change his tune if he knew illegal aliens provided him, a member of the middle class, economic benefit? The answer should be obvious.

17:20: An ironclad back-up for any progressive cornered in a debate with their conservative superior? “You’re a racist.”

18:58: Bilderberg > Bohemian Grove

19:22: Another classic AJ catchphrase: “Would you guys cue up…” Alex often asks his crew to find and load a specific audio or video clip of a movie/television quote or a clip of out-of-control government, either of which can be used to hammer a point. Very rarely is this order is followed through. Notice also the excitement building in Alex as he imitates the sinister Network executive.

22:49: A commercial for ProPur, the water filter that gets out the toughest fluoride strains. ProPur is also the show’s primary sponsor. Surprisingly, advertising growth has been a significant step in credibility for The Alex Jones Show. Before, Alex would spend significant time on-air shilling the gold investment operation of his holding company, Genesis Communications. Now he just appears in miniaturized promos.

25:57: Whites are “the new Al-Qaeda.”

27:28: Alex briefly breaks down the effects Obamacare has already had on medical costs in America. He sums it up with a flawed but original metaphor.

28:09: “They’re now announcing…” often precedes some fantastical news development, either involving incredible scientific advancement or the unrolling of a new government agenda that’s cartoonish in its brutality. This time it’s robots.

29:19: “The globalists have always hated America” and Queen Elizabeth keeps her ancestors’ grudge alive in her heart.

29:43: “Diabetes exploding.”

30:00: The crescendo begins.

31:08: Alex offhandedly cites studies showing that life expectancy in the U.S. has declined since the 1950s. As he so often suggests, I looked it up myself.

32:05: Alex suffers a traumatic flashback and mimics Diet Coke drinkers. The apex has been reached.

34:05: Liberals, the real racists.

34:37: Alex provides a quick history lesson on the Hollerith Machine. Did you know IBM played a central role in the Holocaust?

35:54: At the end of the day, it’s always about foreign megabanks and the Federal Reserve. Note that Alex says “the takeover” began in 1913.

36:22: The Free Syrian Army is Al-Qaeda, obviously.

36:41: Alex turned on his old friends at Russia Today as soon as they began questioning the 2nd amendment in the wake of Sandy Hook. I love RT because its Putin-run media targeting Westerners outside of Russia for what one only can assume is propaganda purposes. Look no further than its former relationship with Alex, who was often brought on to commentate on all types of important issues. Watching attractive television anchors keep discussion with Alex without belittling him was like getting a glimpse of some terrible alternate reality. Alas, those days seem behind us. Also, "foreigners" and Americans associated with them are not entitled to the 1st Amendment.

37:03: The vampire next door is going to end up eating you one day as well.

37:31: OK, so if I’m getting this right: The New World Order is actually allied with the Communist China, who are prepared to stab Russia in the back because Russia won’t go along with their plans. This is the first time I’m hearing this.

38:23: These face-scanning drones would probably save quite a few innocent lives. What’s the big deal?

39:03: There’s a lot of money to be made in the untapped cud market.

39:28: “Neo-serfdom.”

39:38: “…as dead as a hammer.”

40:21: Alex doesn’t get too preachy because a fairly large segment of his audience is either agnostic or atheist. But when he can’t justify going off into a Jesus rant, he’ll sneak it in there when applicable.

41:01: Alex drops the G-word anyway.

41:25: “The flesh is strong with this one.”

41:55: As Alex tries to sum up the mindset of evil with poetic phrasing, the trumpets kick in, signaling a commercial break. We end with a bumper commercial touting the many ways you can access The Alex Jones Show and Infowars.com.

Overall, a good show. Alex is not normally so scatterbrained, but when he’s fired up, it’s always much more entertaining.

[thealexjonesreader]

CON LOS TERRORISTAS

[thealexjonesreader]

The Lost Highway sequel finally has its' trailer.

[thealexjonesreader]

Burning Down the House

It’s interesting to see which current events make it through the Infowars filter. Remember the survivalist in Alabama who shot and killed a bus driver, then proceeded to hold hostage a five-year-old boy for a full week? A single article was written and, from my recollection, no on-air mention by Alex.

But Chris Dorner, the ex-LAPD officer who allegedly murdered four people? Who spouted support for President Barack Obama and Piers Morgan in his alleged Facebook manifesto? Alex made a special appearance on the Infowars Nightly News to discuss the matter, along with making it the main topic of discussion on today’s show.

Cycling through the Infowars coverage of this event, it’s difficult to pick a single trait to focus on. There’s the vague nature of Alex’s predictions and the cultural criteria set for present-day Nostradamuses. But even better is his highlighting of Dorner’s political affiliations when he has whined for years about the media exploring the association between lone wolf shooters and the 9/11 truth movement. There’s also his alarm at the small groups declaring their support for the fugitive on social media. But because Alex is focused primarily on the fiery end of Dorner, we’ll follow his lead.  

To understand this current obsession, we must delve into Alex’s past. The story isn’t entirely clear, although he told Rolling Stone about growing up in a house occasionally visited by members of the John Birch Society, a run-in with a corrupt county sheriff and his discovery of conservative journalist Gary Allen’s 1972 best-seller “None Dare Call It A Conspiracy,” a book which deeply influenced Alex beliefs on the machinations of the New World Order.  But in 1993, our hero, a pot-smoking football player in his senior year of high school, was staring down the long dark road to nowhere. But alongside that road, a flame suddenly appeared, lighting a new path.

  Say what you will about Waco. There is no denying the government’s ultimately poor handling of the siege, a case laid out expertly in the 1997 documentary “Waco: The Rules of Engagement.” The film shines a light on the lack of evidence supporting the government’s initial account of the events and provides testimony from a wide swath of people on both sides of the tragedy. It also provides a look at the severity of the situation that likely went unseen on national television. It’s no surprise that it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, nor is it much surprise that, three years later, Alex released his own documentary, “America: Wake Up or Waco.”

His film is a feeble attempt at investigative journalism, frequently diverging from the story of the siege to examine the glory of Alex Jones. It’s also intensely boring, with long musical segments and overwrought speeches from random individuals. Alex’s vision features dramatic music, testimony from individuals connected to the event only by proximity and Alex harassing a camera crew who he believes to be associated with the FBI. It also details Alex’s efforts to build a church on the grounds of the destroyed Branch Davidian compound. My favorite part might be the highlight reel of Alex’s then-burgeoning media career during an interview with “Rules of Engagement” director Michael McNulty, but the UN flag shredding rally is much more memorable.

It’s no surprise that Alex is experiencing Deja vu. He is uncertain of whether or not Dorner’s manhunt was staged, but he is certain that the police intentionally burned him alive. The only evidence he has, of course, is circumstantial: unconfirmed audio recordings of police scanners in which an officer is heard saying “We’re gonna go forward with the plan to use the burner, like we talked about.”

The Los Angeles Times suggests police gas canisters started the fire, but quote San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon as saying “We did not intentionally burn down that cabin.” Yahoo! News provides a good account of the unusual circumstances rising from the wreckage, all of which are being reported on Infowars.com as well.

I’m willing to give the police benefit of the doubt, partly because Dorner would’ve been much more valuable to them alive than dead; what better than the living trophy to draw attention away from the mistakes made in this manhunt?

It’s also worth remembering that these situations create extraordinary pressure on law enforcement to come out on top. I cannot blame them for resorting to action when doing so might save lives. The FBI’s recent success in Alabama is a case-in-point. Tragic and mishandled as Waco was, I don’t believe the Branch Davidians were acting in the interest of their community’s children when they either opened or returned fire on ATF officers, as well as failing to remove those children from a dangerous situation.

As for Dorner? The only certainty is that his story is now meshed within mainstream conspiracy theory. I can’t imagine he’d want it any other way.

[thealexjonesreader]

Ye of Plenty Faith

The Sandy Hook Truth Movement seems to be dying at the same speed with which it was born. Perhaps this time, there's nary a bit of evidence which can be spun into a reason to disbelieve. When a world-renowned expert of exaggeration can only express a non-committal attitude towards Sandy Hook, surely there's no hope for its' survival.

This is a big deal coming from the guy who called 9/11 an inside job the day the towers went down. Is Alex's inductive reasoning improving? I'm going to say it's highly unlikely, knowing the other events he has deemed contrived by powers-that-be:

The Civil War

JFK Assassination

RFK Assassination

1993 World Trade Center bombing

The Oklahoma City bombing

2008 Mumbai attacks

2008 financial crisis

2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

2011 Norway attacks

The Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria

The Century16 shooting in Aurora, CO

The Columbine High School shooting

The 7/7 London attacks

The birth of Barack Obama

The death of Princess Diana

The Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting

The failure of Operation Fast and Furious

This list doesn't include the organizations, social movements and collective embracing of sexual orientation Alex believes to be orchestrated. This video provides some framework, though he always repeats this reasoning as evidence when breaking down each design.

He buffers his theories with the fact that governments either have or likely took advantage of events in the past, including the Reichstag Fire, the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the planning sessions of Operation Northwoods, among other so-called false flag events.

As disturbing as such examples might be, belief in these theories above doesn't require an opinion on whether or not a government acts within the best interests of its' people, but that the government  possesses the competency required of such operations. Noam Chomsky puts it better.

Alex is, at his core, a conservative. He never hesitates to point out government's incompetency, which ought to call into question the nigh-perfect performances of mass death and destruction upon which he has built his career. In this world, alas, incompetence is often staged itself.

[thealexjonesreader]

Is Piers Morgan set on a collision course with Alex Jones on his show tonight? Seems likely.

A caller to today's show tipped Alex off to Piers' scheduled LIVE appearance at a gun store in Katy, Texas. Angry that he hasn't been invited back on, Alex is speeding there now. Tune into Piers tonight to see if we see a second meeting or just Piers straining to ignore the endless bullhorning in the background as he chats with friendly locals or Ted Nugent or whatever.

Note: Notice how, almost a month later, Alex's interview is still prominently featured on Piers' site, his interview just one slot behind recently deceased NYC Mayor Ed Koch. Maybe this is destiny.

[thealexjonesreader]

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! If you’re skipping this year’s exciting match-up, tune into Alex Jones’ Sunday show 4:00.—6:00 PM CST to find out whether Alex’s going for the Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers or Ray Lewis and the Ravens.

[thealexjonesreader]

The Simple Truth

Last week, conservative muckraker James O'Keefe made his debut appearance on The Alex Jones Show. It was interesting to see him there, quite a few rungs removed from Fox News, where he was warmly received after igniting a political maelstrom that brought about the end of ACORN in 2009. I assume he insisted on wearing the outfit to the set.

In some sense, O'Keefe is everything Alex Jones ought to be. "A lot of people sit around discussing what to do," O'Keefe told New York Times Magazine in 2011. "I grab my camera and go do it.”

He was trained in advocacy and journalistic outreach by the right-wing Leadership Institute, but parted ways after pulling his first sting against a Planned Parenthood office. He has left many jobs in his wake, including that of the president of NPR.

While the ACORN video won him some financial support from Andrew Breitbart, O'Keefe struck out on his own. His baby is Project Veritas, a non-profit dedicated to exposing "corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions," as stated on his website. Their most recent project involved targeting employees of The Journal News, a newspaper in Westchester, New York which published a map of registered firearms owners living in the area. Never mind that this was public information obtainable by anyone; O'Keefe and crew were on the case.

But sometime long ago, things went wrong. Stunts have failed, sometimes ending in arrest, sometimes just in painful embarrassment:

Supporters have backed off, debts were run up and O'Keefe finds himself being offered sponsorship by Infowars.

Where have the good times gone? Watching the interview, there are moments when Alex seems to be advising the unmoved O'Keefe, even giving anecdotes of his own agitprop.

Make no mistake, Alex worked much more actively in his younger days than he does today. He generated substantial Internet attention in 2000 after releasing a documentary online which included footage from his covert infiltration of a Bilderberg Group meeting.

But besides the occasional protest or speech, he has since stuck to his radio show and growing media empire. O'Keefe, on the other hand, kept working after his "greatest hit," and now he's struggling to stay afloat in the sea of political culture and above the debt line.

It must be difficult for O'Keefe not to envy Alex with his high-definition camera and professional studio. Why is someone who has parked themselves before a microphone get invited onto national television, a fringe partisan loudmouth no less? Surely Ayn Rand hadn't envisioned this.

We've already covered part of the answer, but it might have to do something with the fact that O'Keefe isn't as clever as he thinks he is. He's borrowing tactics from liberal activists who have tricked conservatives into looking foolish for years and years and years. He's been reduced to "investigations" involving harassment at people's homes. No one cares, except Alex.

But where Alex poured his heart into his operation during his twenties, O'Keefe has grown stagnant. He seems wistful for brief moments during the interview, especially when Alex tries pulling him closer to reality's precipice.

Is O'Keefe desperate for attention? Or is he suddenly rethinking things?

It doesn't matter. When you pick up a call from The Alex Jones Show, you're kissing the good years goodbye.

[thealexjonesreader]

A Muslim group in Austria raised issue with a Lego play set of Jabba The Hutt's palace because it slightly resembles the Hagia Sophia.

Yes, it's a ridiculous comparison. But even more ridiculous is that it's the main topic of discussion on today's episode of The Alex Jones Show since it deals with race and Star Wars, two subjects Alex holds very close to his heart. I recommend tuning in.

And just for the record, I'm not convinced George Lucas didn't mean to sprinkle Jar-Jar Binks with magic minstrel dust. So, there's that.

[thealexjonesreader]

Musketmen

From the morning of December 14 to this very afternoon, guns have been the primary topic of discussion on The Alex Jones Show. In each episode prior to today, they were entirely about guns. Alex effectively filtered everything besides the topic . The callers who weren't on subject would get hung up on. Those who did likewise, but remembered to suck up beforehand, were gently transitioned into the matter at hand.

There is no other subject which inflames Alex more, simply because it's the point of no retreat; if the globalists take the guns, liberty will be forever lost. This has been his apex issue for as long as I'm able to document. He relentlessly charges into battle at whatever threat rises to the Second Amendment, even when it means trampling those ahead in line. What else would you expect from a warrior of the Information Age?

I'm not normally a fan of celebrities talking at me but the context is required:

Once again, we see a uncanny reflection of mainstream media in The Alex Jones Show, hilarious to no one but me. Even funnier is Alex's decision to pair his spoof with an eight minute video of him talking, in case further explanation was warranted. This video is our introduction to the entire InfoWars team, handpicked by Alex. More on them later.

If you search for "Demand A Plan" on YouTube, our heroes' version actually comes in three spots below the real video. As you might imagine, the number of people paying attention to Alex Jones has increased dramatically since his appearance on Piers Morgan, as exemplified by his view counts on YouTube:

Videos uploaded in the past week:

  Videos uploaded in the wake of the Aurora theater shooting in July 2012:

I point these out just to show the unprecedented hold he has taken on the American public, powered by not only new fans but by a worldwide interest in American gun culture as well.

I disagree with gun advocates who suggest that Alex Jones doesn't represent the viewpoints of mainstream gun owners.

For all intents and purposes, a political lobby group as organized and powerful as the National Rifle Association certainly represents a significant number of gun owners in this country. The organization claims 4.3 million members, supposedly with an additional 250,000 in the past month, who probably own a significant chunk of the estimated 270 million guns owned in the U.S.

The crux of my argument is the previously shared NRA pamphlet from 2006 which features, literally page-for-page, imagery and text that could've been borrowed by the The Alex Jones Show: evil sneering liberals, a violent mainstream media, grandma getting "swatted,"  an article on the gun control attempts of the United Nations titled "The One World Extremists" and the emphasized association between illegal aliens and gangs. Perhaps this is just the reverberations of the conservative echo chamber coming full circle, but I have to wonder just how close the links lie.

Alex isn't simply parroting the association's talking points when he's pointing out perceived double standards weeks before they do. When NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre speaks of a preplanned gun control agenda, it sounds less crazy because it's not being screamed. LaPierre also shot back at President Barack Obama's  inauguration speech on Tuesday, defending the ideal of "absolutism" when it came to firearms, similar to Alex's own white-and-black worldview.

The parallels are impossible to deny and they leave me feeling pessimistic about the possibility of meaningful change when it comes to gun control. It's a painful reminder that as much as we laugh at Alex, there are real consequences when people in power share his worldview, even in part.

[thealexjonesreader]

Standing at The Precipice

"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Friedrich Nietzsche

What would happen if I were to start believing Alex Jones?

It isn't a reasonable fear, so I don't give it much thought. But through my constant exposure, am I in danger of doing so?

I subscribe to the shared perception of Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky on global mainstream media in the late 20th century, laid out in their famous critique Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media: "..money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public." The "filters" are profit orientation, advertising, corporate subsidizing/government access, costly negative reactions from the public and the general War on Terror. This model is ingrained in almost all media operations, all the way up to The New York Times. A recent example would include the U.S. media in the run-up to the Iraq War.

But most truthers come to realize some version of this perception through other means. The book's influence has had decades to seep through various levels of academia, pooling down into pop culture.

Matt Taibbi suggests in 2008's The Great Derangement that the popularity of the movement comes at the tail end of a "fifty-year decline in the performance standards of the White House's propaganda professionals" in which "America went from being a place where the president set the standard for truth and forthrightness to being a place where the president was expected to lie always, and at all times... with no community leaders, no community, no news he can trust, Joe American has to turn on the Internet and tell himself a story that makes sense to him."

Alex Jones offers a story rooted in themes of history but also of science fiction. It might taste good, but it's not good for you. And if you happen to be traveling down his rabbit hole alone, you're going to find yourself very lonely at the bottom.

Like me, millions stand at the information precipice, uncertain of the truth and non-trusting of instituations. But we never jump. We are free of the learned behaviors common among conspiracy theorists. It isn't hard to observe Alex's flagrant disregard for truth and to subsequently discredit just about everything he says.

Seems impossible to shake that damn Nietzsche quote though.

[thealexjonesreader]

Redcoat

Monday night was a new chapter in the Alex Jones saga:

It was wonderful. Yet I'm left feeling uncomfortable.

But, really, it was the best thing I've ever watched on CNN. I began laughing upon Alex's melodramatic introduction and only stopped after one final guffaw at Pier's feeble attempt at an outro. If there wasn't a moment in which you allowed yourself a little laughter, surely you'd find the context funny.

Alex is among the worst in punditry, only superior to David Duke. Yet Piers and his producers pulled him up and propped him up, where he likely horrified thousands of moderate baby-boomers who had only just learned of "Gangnam Style" from Wolf Blitzer last week. That's funny.

Yet, I hesitate. Forgive me if I avoid confronting Alex's firearm fixation for now. There just happens to be a much larger issue at stake here: The Piers-Jones interview was an inside job.

Did Piers purposefully trigger Alex? No.

Did he anticipate a blowout at a time when he and his channel are desperate for ratings? How could he not?

Alexandra Petri said it best when she described Alex as being as "close to a living straw man as you can hope to get." Piers is about as effective as Sean Hannity when it comes to debate (not convinced? Try David Weigel's take.) As any self-respecting talk show host knows, the louder, the dumber.

I suppose this happens in TV all the time, but I sense that it's the first time Alex has been brought onto national television to attract ratings (but not, interestingly enough, the first time he's been manipulated by a media outlet.) This is a new relationship between Alex and mainstream media, and I'm troubled by it. I don't like the thought of anyone but me benefiting from putting the freak show on display, especially when it's carried out without the ounce of respect I'd like to I have for him.

I don't think Alex will be invited onto "Real Time with Bill Maher" anytime soon, but I don't think this is the last time he'll be brought onto the national stage. He simply provides too much entertainment. Sometimes you just have to learn to let go I suppose.

On a final note, I think it's important to remember that propaganda promoted by the National Rifle Association is exactly one Building 7 away from Alex's worldview, so it's not fair to argue that much of what Alex was spouting doesn't represent a significant segment of gun owners' own beliefs. More on that later.

For now, let us take measured delight in the haze following the interview and the reactions of everyone involved. My favorite so far has come from Infowars producer Aaron Dykes, who compares Alex to Jesus Christ. It had already occurred to Alex.

[thealexjonesreader]

Alex Jones is scheduled to face off tonight 9 p.m. EST with Piers Morgan on the CNN host's show as "the man behind the deportation petition." Expect plenty of name-calling.

[thealexjonesreader]

[thealexjonesreader]

Essence of Alex

Before we begin, it's important to lay out the cream of the crop with this audio only clip:

There's something unnerving about Alex cutting in between the celebrity Obama supporters. "Hit pause, hit pause," he repeats, full of disgust. One after another, he never misses a beat: FEMA Camps, the United Nations, UNICEF, multiculturalism, fluoridated water, the military-industrial complex, the health care laws, mental health programs, trendy liberals, firearms, abortion, indoctrination, radiation and the New World Order.

And it's the clip which provided my first experience with Alex Jones:

This is my blog's main subject. This is who I devote time to.

Despite the crudeness and anger here, there's something about these selections I find deeply amusing. Surely a reflection of my own cynicism, but perhaps also of the deep sense of conspiracy and government distrust that's an essential part of the American empire's foundation and has reached new heights in the wake of 9/11. Look no further than this 2004 New York Times/CBS News Poll in which over 50% of respondents repeatedly believe that while the U.S. government was truthful about the events of 9/11, they were hiding something. There's no question that the disaster launched Alex into the next level, setting his path for a small spot in American pop culture. There's time yet for him to grow further; Alex is only 38.

If you enjoyed even a small bit of either of these clips, you will find something worthwhile in Alex Jones. If you want more right now, I recommend as a starting point the respectable IFC documentary "New World Order" , starring Alex. One can see a great deal of the activities behind the scenes of Infowars and give you a taste of other anti-government protesters, although none of them are even slightly as interesting as Alex, who basks in the attention. The best part comes in his climactic showdown with Geraldo, a meeting between the worst in media but also the upstaging of one generation by another.

If those clips disgusted you... well, you were warned.