"BAM! I cannot believe how idiot these people are!"

For years now, Matt Drudge has been pushing Alex Jones, America's freakiest conspiracy theorist, as the new voice of the Republican party. Liberals ought to rejoice. Anyone who caught AJ's instantly-infamous Piers Morgan appearance knows that Jones is the sort of bombastic, maniacal fear-monger who makes conservatism seem toxic.

In previous years, this blog has never endorsed gun control -- in fact, I have always counseled Democrats to stay away from that topic. (Such was my position as recently as two days ago.) For the first time, Alex Jones and his fellow conspiracy clowns have offered a compelling case in favor of gun regulation. One can get through life quite well by applying a 180 degree rule to any advice given by a paranoid Texas blowhard like Jones. If AJ recommends a restaurant, eat somewhere else.

Drudge's endorsement of Alex Jones buries the notion that the "controlled demolition" theory of 9/11 (one of Jones' favorite memes) should be associated with the left. That absurd theory originated on the libertarian right and now has no other home. True, for a few years (2005-2007), a sizable number of young, easily-duped Democrats became attracted to this foolish notion. By this point, however, everyone should be able to understand one simple equation: "CD = AJ." 

Given that history, one should not be surprised to learn that Alex Jones and his compatriots have latched onto a new form of madness: Sandy Hook conspiracy theories.

A few correspondents (including lambert at Corrente) have encouraged me to look into what some have called "Sandy Hook trutherism." Until today, I have resisted all such entreaties, if only because I didn't want to spend any time dealing with the deranged dolts who inhabit that sick world. As soon as I learned that their numbers include Jim Fetzer, Professor of Philosophy and one of the most annoying toons in Toonville, I knew all I needed to know about this movement.

If you want an introductory tour of that particular suburb of Crazyland, I suggest that you read Salon's recent piece on the Sandy Hook theorists. The Jonesian wackos think that they have uncovered proof that one of the Sandy Hook victims was never killed.

The girl in question is Emilie Parker, a 6-year-old who was shot multiple times and killed at Sandy Hook. But for conspiracy theorists, the tears her family shed at her funeral, the moving eulogy from Utah’s governor, and the entire shooting spree are fake. Welcome to the world where Sandy Hook didn’t really happen.

There are dozens of websites, blog posts and YouTube videos extolling the Emilie Parker hoax theory. If you Google her name, the very first result is a post mocking her father for crying at a press conference after the shooting. One popular video, which already has 134,000 views, was made by the producers of a popular 9/11 Truther film. “Just as the movie ‘Operation Terror’ shows the 9/11 attacks were a made-for-TV event, so too were the mass shootings … There can be no doubt that Sandy Hook was a staged event,” the narrator intones. He goes on to say that the adults who participated in the media coverage of the shootings “should be prosecuted as accessories after the fact in a mass murder” — i.e., the parents whose children were murdered in the massacre should be thrown in prison.

The crux of the theory is a photograph of Parker’s sister sitting on President Obama’s lap when he visited with the victims’ families. The girl is wearing the same dress Emilie wore in a pre-shooting photograph of the family shared with media, so she must be Emilie, alive and well. “BAM! I cannot believe how idiot these people are [sic]… That’s her,” one YouTuber exclaims as he watches the two images superimposed on each other. (Apparently missed by these crack investigators is the possibility that the sister wore Emilie’s dress and that they look alike because they are sisters, after all.)

Remember that crimson-necked ape who was photographed holding up a sign reading "GET A BRAIN, MORANS"? He exemplified the type of person who supported George W. Bush's Iraq misadventure. Now we have these classic words: "BAM! I cannot believe how idiot these people are..." That sentence sums up the Alex Jonesian mentality.

The Salon piece continues:

One posting on the community forum of Jones’ website connects Sandy Hook and Emilie Parker to Satanism, postulating that the school was a “recruiting center” for the Church of Satan.

Yes, Jonesland really is a shame-free zone. Here's the Infowars page postulating a Satan/Sandy Hook connection:

I’m just playing the “Devil’s Advocate” here, but theoretically, what if, the coven in Newtown was approached to participate in “something big” that would ensure that they, and theirs, would hold an honored place not only in this world, but in Hell? If the Illuminati NWO wants to “get our guns”, it might not only require a dramatic event to trigger an emotional response from the general public, but a large, and highly prized sacrifice, to trigger the desired response from the “Powers That Be”. What is Black Magik? Getting demons and devils to trigger events for you from behind the scenes, in exchange for your Soul (or the Souls of those sacrificed).

For sheer sickness, you won't easily find a more striking juxtaposition of image and verbiage than the presentation on this Infowars page. Honestly, this stuff is so offensive, I'm stunned that even someone as low as Alex Jones would dare to publish it.

Let's be clear: This is not a spoof. Those images came directly from Alex Jones' site. His fans really do think that way. (By the way, that's the so-called "incriminating" dress on the right. You can see the Obama photo here.)

The Alex Jonesians have produced a video supporting this inanity. You can see it here. To be frank, I don't think I could watch it without retching.

Here's another video claiming that the families of the victims are all actors.

Still another video "proving" that the families are "all fake." Again, I have not yet seen any of these productions. But perhaps this comment gives one a flavor of the intelligence level behind such videos:

Put the pieces together folks, Also turn your head to the left and you'll see a nice little shiny all seeing eye as well. Same satanist pigs that did 9/11 and that control EVERYTHING

Alex Jones and his fellow conspira-clowns are so caught up in their poisonous little world that they have no idea how reprehensible they sound to normal people. For that reason, liberals should thank Matt Drudge for making Alex Jones the new face of conservatism.

Good choice, Matt. AJ is the best thing to happen to the Democratic party since Todd Akin -- or, perhaps, since Glenn Beck.

BAM! I can't believe how idiot Matt Drudge are! All your voters are belong to us...