Our last issue featured the story “9-11 at Nine: The Conspiracy Industry and the Lure of Fascism” by World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, calling out the growing embrace of right-wing and virulently anti-Semitic conspiracy theory by the left-wing blogosphere and alternative media. Weinberg also had to issue a statement dissenting from the right-wing conspiranoid drift at New York’s non-commercial WBAI Radio, where his program, the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, has been exiled to 2 AM and stripped by 30 minutes as a punitive measure in response to his protests. Our September Exit Poll was: “Is World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg an agent of the Illuminati, pawn of the Bilderbergs, Mossad operative and/or shape-shifting reptilian?” We finally received the following responses:
From Joseph Wetmore of Autumn Leaves Used Books in Ithaca, NY:
Your shape has changed over the last 30 years, so maybe you are a shape-shifting reptilian.
But you rig the question by feeding us a finite set of answers. Why not:
Propagandist of the New World Order?
or
Pawn of the Federal Reserve System?
or
Member of the International Communist Conspiracy?
Perhaps you work for one of these organizations:
* Ashmedai’s 2069
* 1001 Club
* Bohemian Grove
* Committee of 300
* Council on Foreign Relations
* Freemasons
* Le Cercle
* Majestic 12
* Men In Black
* Nine Unknown Men
* Pilgrims Society
* Royal Institute of International Affairs
* Skull and Bones
* Trilateral CommissionThe list of possibilities is so large, it is hard to know where to start!
Bill Weinberg responds: You forgot the Shriners. Hey, my shape hasn’t changed THAT much!
From Josh Garey, in Berkeley, California:
I call bullshit on your article “9/11 at nine”—Icke is clearly mad at Israel, but no more so than the UK, the US, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican or any other power-grubbing, fear-mongering institution. His most known phrase is “infinite love is the only truth, everything else is illusion” and I think he truly believes that. You intentionally left out that the crux of his reptilian argument lies on the Windsors, not the Rothschilds, not Jews even a little bit.
Being half-jewish, I know when jews hide behind the anti-semitism rap, and that is exactly what you are doing. Jews can be evil or good, just like anyone else.
Also, if you doubt Icke’s research, try Pullitzer Prize-winning Dr. John Mack, PhD, Harvard (deceased) who also agreed, before his untimely and suspicious death, that Reptilians seemed to be real indeed.
Bill Weinberg responds: I call bullshit on your calling bullshit, and very vile bullshit at that. If David Icke doesn’t have a particular hard-on for the Jews, why does he promote the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? If you buy his “infinite love” rhetoric, can I sell you a bridge in Brooklyn? If you are half-Jewish (as I am, by the way), why do you put “Jewish” in the lower case? Would you treat whatever ethnicity your other half is the same way? Most importantly, what do you perceive that I am “hiding” behind the “anti-semitism rap”? I’d be most interested to know.
From Anonymous, somewhere in cybersapce:
Please remove me from all email lists.
Your opposition to exposing 9/11 and support of the global warming lie indicate you are a Rothschild shill.
Good bye!
Bill Weinberg responds: Good riddance, conspiranoid crank.
From Judith Pasternak of the Political Landscape blog, in New York City:
Something more sinister, so to speak: A journalist of the left.
Bill Weinberg responds: Thank you. There are still a few of us left…
From Janet Martell, somewhere in cyberspace:
Bill, I find it curious that you are so witheringly contemptuous of conspiracy in what was such an obvious, in-your-face kind of event that even a child could see had nothing at all to do with the official “facts” — but you have advanced a conspiracy theory about the origin of AIDS that is intriguing and far from obvious.
Bill Weinberg responds: What the hell are you talking about?
From Kim Alphandary in (we think) San Diego:
Thank you very much for your article: “9-11 at Nine – The Conspiracy Industry and the Lure of Fascism.” Your reporting is GREAT.
In some way, I feel most moved by an article like the one mentioned above. Or, occasionally I will go back and re-read the Jan. 17, 2005 article: “WELCOME TO WORLD WAR 4”
Suggestion:
First, you mentioned Chris Hedges, another fellow comes to mind, Derrick Jensen. These two fellows seem to have made a niche for themselves as leading thinkers, book writers, prophets of the LEFT. Especially their debates about violence vs non-violence, or more simply put — promotion of a violent solution to the catastrophic state of world affairs as seen through the lens of economic and ecological degradation.
Second, the suggestion. Write more brilliant analysis. Perhaps you’re thinking, “I do it all the time.” I don’t think you do. Your ability to analyze events is downright incredible, where being a simple journalist in your case seems like a waste of your greatest talents. For folk like myself, I feel seized by the desire to understand what in the heck is going on in this world. In this, you have been an occasional assistant. I know. You think I’m silly. Anyway.
Thanx for you great work.
Bill Weinberg responds: Kim, many thanks for the kudos. In light of all the abuse I take, they mean a lot to me. However, I have no desire to be another Leftist Talking Head like Chris Hedges. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe in letting the facts speak for themselves. I spend more time on reportage than analysis because I believe that an insightful analysis can only arise from a comprehensive grasp of the facts. Alas, nothing is less fashionable in this age of gas-baggery, and holding to this ethic has manifestly hurt my career.
From Peter Jakobsson in Glasgow, UK:
I am generally left-leaning, non activist regular, professional male living in Glasgow Scotland. I am an occasional reader of WW4R.
I have a technical background in aviation (an Honours Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Commercial Pilot’s Licence), and have felt for a long time that the official explanation given for the events of 9/11 is fundamentally untrue.
I’m afraid I do not recognize myself in Bill’s commentary of September 1st, 2010 (9-11 At Nine) and would like to voice my objection to your journal characterising these views as essentially political fascism or any other type of extremism.
If Bill wants to reconcile skeptics of the official account of 9.11 with causes in the public interest, he can start with the fact that it is not possible (and was not possible before 9/11) for members of the public to ‘steal’ airliners in mid-flight and navigate them unhindered around US airspace. The fact that this did allegedly happen on 9/11 has never been appropriately accounted for.
The pursuit of truth with regards to the events of 9/11 is a cause which falls squarely into left wing ideology, being that the impact of the resulting geo-political fallout is being felt mainly by working people around the world.
How many adverse political labels & soundbites can Bill cram into one article without informing the reader as the genuine nature of the issues that people such as myself have with the official account ? That’s the question left on my lips after reading. Talk about being blinded by political dogma.
I don’t think it serves the interests of genuine enquiry (or those of any left wing ideology for that matter) for WW4R to be carrying such examples of simple, uninformative nonsense and I wish to register this view with you in the strongest possible terms.
World War 4 Report responds: You missed the whole point of what I wrote. I stated that I wasn’t interested in the minutiae of 9-11, about which there has been plenty written, God knows. I am certainly not interested in baseless assertions that the mid-flight seizure of airliners is not “possible.” Do you think it is a matter of no import that some of the most prominent figures in the 9-11 conspiracy milieu (like David Icke) are slimy fascistic types?
From Save the Roaches, somewhere in cyberspace:
Hey Bill,
Personally, i don’t think you’re involved with the illuminati, bilderbergs, mossad, or the reptiles or any other ridiculous conspiracy besides possibly being a reporter (some people may think that’s enough to make you a reptile, but in a ‘cold blooded, crocadile tears’ kind of sense). But the ‘shape-shifting’ reptile thing is just hilarious (and very sad at the same time). I’ve heard it referenced a few times but had no idea how ridiculous it really was. Thanks for some interesting insights into how ‘conspiracy theory’ has been evolving
By the way, I reposted your article into infoshop news (anarchistnews.org too, but it never appeared there). Hope you don’t mind, I thought it would be appreciated, and it seems to have been. It struck up an interesting conversation which i just noticed, but some people think you put it there, so maybe you should check it out? I linked it to your site as well (well, i tried to, i’m not the best at stuff like that). Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, I meant to but it slipped my mind as I moved again
Bill Weinberg responds: Thanks for spreading the word.
See our last Exit Poll results, and our last posts on conspiracy industry and the rise of the radical right.
Please leave a tip or answer our new Exit Poll.
Ummm
What a dishonest person you are! I capitalized “Jew” 2 out of 3 times. Ever think I just missed the shift button? Talk about a paranoid delusion.
Nice side-step of Dr, John Mack, too. Hard to address something that flies in the face of your theory.
Bottom line, Icke’s not an anti-semite, he’s anti-anybody-who-wants-to-control-or-harm-others. You apparently like to harm others, or at least try to, with your slanted illogical accusations.
Be well, and try to let some love in!
~Josh
Now, about that bridge in Brooklyn…
You can’t count. You failed to capitalize “Jew” (or “Jewish”) two out of four times. You didn’t fail to capitalize any other proper nouns. John Mack’s investigation of the abduction phenomenon a.) was not without controversy; and b.) does nothing to vindicate Icke’s wacky theories. And since you are so quick to accuse me of dodging questions, I reiterate: What do you perceive that I am “hiding” behind the “anti-semitism rap”? I’d be most interested to know.
Now if you don’t think Icke is an anti-Semite, please contact me about that bridge in Brooklyn…
What, no anti-Semitism here…
We posted the “9-11 at Nine” story to NYC Indymedia, where it accrued comments such as the below:
We are certainly not calling for removal of such posts, because it is better to get the ugliness out in the open. But can you imagine that NYC Indymedia would let any other such ethnic slur go uncensored on their site?
David Icke Plays Both Sides
I have been studying the conspiracy theories of David Icke for nearly two years, and I can safely say that MANY of his ideas and “theories” have their origin in the Far Right (both secular and religious persuasions.) At the same time, however, his spiritual beliefs are based on the New Age movement. That is how he got his “start” in the lecturing circuit, he was marketing himself as a New Age “guru” who was the “Son of the Godhead” and would wear turquoise tracksuits as much as possible because it radiated “positive vibrations.” His first two books since he started lecturing (he had actually written two books before he got involved in this) were about his New Age spiritual doctrines, the coming of the Age of Aquarius, the “Ascended Masters”, etc. About two years later, though, he REALLY began to get into conspiracy theories and his lectures quickly became almost entirely flooded with conspiracy theories about the “new world order”, “one world totalitarian dictatorship”, and how the government is trying to put microchips in our bodies to track all of our movements.
Icke has also had a history in the British Green Party, and advocated a charter of Animal Rights, arguing that if human beings have a charter for human rights that ought not to be infringed, then so should animals because they also feel pain, happiness, stress, etc. He still appears to hold onto these beliefs, which is more Left leaning. I am not arguing that Icke is NOT a conspiracy theoriest, or that his theories are extremely lacking in critical thinking skills, but I don’t think he can be securely placed within the Right Wing in a totalist sense. I think he mixes and matches, whereby his conspiracy theories mostly come from the Far Right, but his spiritual and social beliefs are more aligned with “alternative” views. For example, he believes all organized religions are frauds and mental prisons, including Christianity. He also believes that people should be able to do what they want as long as they are not hurting other people, which is leaning towards anarchism and libertarianism. He also believes in “small government”, but stays true to that line regardless if the politicians are Rightwing or Leftwing, etc.
I do share your dismay about his conspiracy rants being featured on WBAI, however. The conspiracy theory mindset really does have an affect of eroding the intellectual capacities of the affected individual. I had a brief “stint” in believing in some of these theories myself, and I could sense that my critical thinking skills were being stifled at some point, because my mind was open to absolutely anything being possible – which is how these peddlers get you. They tell you to open your mind to a different explanation, but what that always means is their crazy explanations that don’t have a basis in reality. So, you keep opening up your mind to insanity and it starts to affect your thinking process. And if anyone questions the unoffical story, which is always more “true” than the “official” story, then you are chastized as being a “stooge” and “schill” for the “new world order.” Thus, in that aspect, the conspiracy theory community acts like a cult.