Are the crackpots ruining it for everyone?

Example. I was listening to a talk radio show this afternoon when the subject of 9/11 came up. Keep in mind that this show that I am referring to is nationally syndicated, a bit conservative, but very popular and listened to by millions of people daily. It is not some small time AM type of deal, this show is very large and covers all of the major FM markets nationally. So the host begins discussing 9/11 and introduces the question "Is it possible that 9/11 was an inside job?" I couldn't believe my ears, I was excited to say the least being that this topic virtually never reaches such a wide, more structured audience, and here is the chance for the true story to be heard. Instantly I thought "wow" maybe the message will finally get out there to the masses who may not really know too much about conspiracy theory and possibly gain a new audience and a bit of credibility.

The host takes one caller, nothing much to add, simply states that 9/11 was a tragedy yada yada and hopes that the terrorists are caught. Dandy. Second caller, it seemed like a great possibility. He was initially calm, began explaining how Bush and his fellow GOP'ers were the ones who planned it, briefly mentioned explosives being used on WTC7, everything seemed to be coming out fairly well. And then before the host could even respond the caller goes from 0-100 mph in an instant and starts ranting about the NWO, and Bush being involved in Skull and Bones, then he starts blabbering about the Bildebergs and THEN he goes on to explain that Bush is the son of Satan and that the entire Bush family are actually evil reptillian agents of the Illuminati who are looking to eat our babies and enslave us all.

Dead air. The host just sat there and let this person rant on and on and on like a complete lunatic, and you could tell that the host as well as the co-host were trying their best not to explode with laughter and utter grief at what this person was saying. Before he finished his rant they cut the call short, let out a big Alllllllrighty then, went to a commercial, and came back with a whole new topic.

Is this how the media and the mainstream world looks at us all? Do you ever get angry when you see or hear someone so obviously incapable of explaining these types of conspiracies make us ALL look like fools? Is this why the mainstream media will not even make an attempt to take these types of conspiracy theories seriously? Does the government hire people like this to go around acting like a jackass in order to discredit the entire field? I personally can name at least 50 people from ATS alone who are completely qualified and properly researched and educated individuals who could state the case for these topics in an eloquent and concise manner. Why do the morons get all of the air time? Forgive me I realize this thread is more of a rant than anything else, but it really made me angry today and I wanted to get a different view on things.

Well of course, why do you think ther'es a "alien-ufo" forum here, you did'nt think the government covered it's bases did you? but really, what else is new? Anyone who believes in UFO crapola is deserving of the mockery of the public at large, IMO.

As far as the MSM pretending to allow 'conspiracy stuff' to be aired well that is just a *SNIP* joke! there are competent individuals on ATS, who know there stuff, I would just say there definately not the "conspiracy-masters." What do you expect from the internet????

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[edit on 15/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

see how mind-control works...

Geez Ivan......I think you missed my point. While you are certainly entitled to feel the way you do, I happen to have a lot of respect for the educated individuals who actually DO real research and follow through and put real thought into their beliefs and the things that they present to other people in regards to conspiracy theory. I happen to believe in a lot of the same theories, which is why I frequent this website. Things are presented in a thoughtful and reasonable manner here and it irritates me when I see these nut cases who run around blurting out non-sense that has no backing of proof, the people who rant and rave about things like reptilians and world domination cults without offering any shred of evidence. Not only do they discredit the true researchers and the people who spend their lives building case files and searching for proof but they make anyone who may believe in conspiracies in general seem like complete whack jobs by default. ESPECIALLY when done on a massive scale like a nationally syndicated talk show. In an instant one imbecile can damage an entire field of research and study. As for 9/11 I feel like the powers that be make an extra effort to bring the craziest types forward into the media so that when mainstream types finally get exposed to the subject they are instantly turned off and the entire subject becomes laughable.

Yeah, I did miss your point, I apoligize for that, I'm thinking in terms of the entire internet, you know "other' conspiracy forums, they have their 'kooks' and disrupters, personally I don't by into the Alien stuff, but hey, I'm sure people will buy anything fed to them without facts. This is just my HONEST opinion. If ATS wants to 'boot' me that's fine, I never comply! And yes, there are alot of tremendous reserachers here on ATS, the only problem is they get ignored by the masses because they are being misled by the 'tiny-herders' IMO. OUT!

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[edit on 15/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

What you are talking about is as evident here on ATS as anywhere.

Look at the list of topics on the front page of the UFO forum:

Several about 'reptilians', one about making hoaxes, another about greys being 'puppets' etc etc etc... you get the occasional informative, scientific, impartial thread there where the discussion is worthwhile... but it dies under the waves of people 'coming clean' on aliens, reptilian conspiracies and hollow planets.

How is any of it meant to be taken seriously when you have so many wackos trying to throw themselves into the spotlight?

Don't even try to stop from laughing if you look in skunkworks. That is where all the really crazy stuff from the UFO forum goes... and i mean bad. It is like someone has closed their eyes and written down the first insane thought that came into their head... then they proceed to call anyone a sheeple that doesn't agree with it.

I'm not a skeptic by far, i believe in UFO's, i investigate paranormal phenomena, but i don't believe anything on face value. If something looks hoaxed, it most likely is. It really gets me when some people still take things as fact even after they have been proven a hoax, like the original Roswell 'autopsy' footage, the Patterson bigfoot video etc etc.

Anyway... i've had my rant now. I was going to start a rant about this very topic today in BTS, but you made a thread for me

This was deliberatly staged to make 911 truthers look bad and or crazy(It's a system), of course it was, you see this is how they operate.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Originally posted by ivanterrible
Yeah, I did miss your point, I apoligize for that, I'm thinking in terms of the entire internet, you know "other' conspiracy forums, they have their 'kooks' and disrupters, personally I don't by into the Alien stuff, but hey, I'm sure people will buy anything fed to them without facts. This is just my HONEST opinion. If ATS wants to 'boot' me that's fine, I never comply! And yes, there are alot of tremendous reserachers here on ATS, the only problem is they get ignored by the masses because they are being misled by the 'tiny-herders' IMO. OUT!

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[edit on 15/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

OK, Mirthful Me, why the persecution? I apoligized to the poster, why do you persecute me? Is every post I make on ATS going to be scutinized for now on? This is the last forum on the NET where people like me can express my opinions, I really don't want to register a complaint to the forum administrators, but i will let them know of of the harrassment.

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[edit on 16/3/2007 by Mirthful Me]

ever look at religions, just look at Christianity alone, Catholics, Prostestants, Luthurens..... all from the same Origin, Christ, and thats the EASY ( LOL) stuff

I personally have not gotten passed the alleged Cell phone calls to see anything further about 911


ever heard the term "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"?

there are A LOT of squeaky wheels in the world, and thats all most folks hear

In a word, yes. They do hurt your case. For everyone one person that has a well thought out logical case, there seems to be 3 that scream about aliens and babies being eaten... Even the 'sensible' stories/sites/videos, all have an element of the crazy wild eyed guy ranting about nwo and so on.

However, if that's what people really believe, that's what people say. You can't censor or hold them back, particuarly on a site like that. I believe the 9/11 story, and try not to call people idiots for thinking otherwise.

Then the first time I disagree with someone, I'm a stupid sheep and the nwo is in need of people like me... blah, blah, blah. Then a 'normal' person reads it and says "Wow, these guys are all loonies"

You MUST state what you believe though, or you've already lost.

Originally posted by BlackOps719
Are the crackpots ruining it for everyone

The WORST thing that can happen for those who are interested in conspiracies is for some whack to decide to take up 'the cause'.

Rosie O'Donnel for instance. She recently made statements about 9/11. What she said may or may not be true, but the fact is that as soon as she opened her mouth, those who had been seen as potentially credible were instantly shoved backwards by the general public.

Spokespersons are very important for a cause. When a whack is spouting - then even if what they say is true, no one will listen. OR EVEN WORSE - people will associate the cause with the idiot and the cause will suffer.

Jesse Jackson comes to mind as an example of a slime who hurts a good cause instead of helping it.

The line seperating CTs from crackpots is razor thin to begin with.
It all starts with paranoia and spirals downward from there.

Crackpots are a very good strawman for dismissing an argument in its entirety without having to ever examine the facts of it. So yes, they do ruin it.

For example: I'm not a big fan of the 9/11 conspiracy theories. However, I do believe in the whole CIA-crack coc aine-Iran Contra old boys network, linking into various corporate directorships, biological weapons research and so on. Because I have actually looked into this and can speak at some length about the subject, without veering off into other unproven theories, provide examples of investigative reports into it, suspicious patterns of suicide and accidental death for those involved, that sort of thing and because the basic premise is not too implausible in the first place (government in illegal covert ops non-shocker), I can at least make a reasonable case for it.

The more implausible the theory you're trying to sell, the harder work you're going to have to do to convince people. If the basic premise is something so far out of the average person's experiences as to be almost totally unknown, then you're going to have to do a very good job in proving that as the basis for your argument. Only from then on in can you build a scenario as to what is happening, once you have those basics in place. So if you want to prove the "NWO" were behind 9/11, prove or make a good case for the existence of it. If you think shapeshifting reptilian aliens killed Diana Spencer, make a case for their existence. Evidence is always going to be of benefit to the sceptical mind, too.

I wouldn't consider the issue you are referring to as a "crack pot" problem....
But more rather a problem related to people's mouths far exceeding their mental capacities.....

Translation:
Ever heard the old saying:
The empty vessel makes the most noise....

Well this is a variation on that theme....
I think alot of people who lack mental development and/or massively over estimate the faculties they do have tend to manifest this through regurgitating alot of half chewed tid bits that they have only partially digested and spewing them forth in a barely co-herent babble.....

I think alot of people (my self included) have over estimated their boundries
at times... once humbled however hopefully some of the worse offenders will find more balance and perhaps a little more thought will creep into their rants.

We can only hope.....

Unfortunately its all too easy for the average joe citizen to associate conspiracy theorists who can think a little with those who can not... or tend not to.....
And lets face it.... dis-illlusioned people seek out the weird and wonderful....