Before I embark on my analysis of Alex Jones and InfoWars, I think I should make a few things clear. I am not out to attack Alex Jones - nor do I disagree with much of what he stands for. I think Alex deserves an enormous amount of credit for his tireless work over many years.
I first became aware of Alex Jones in May 2001 through the Channel Four (UK) series, 'Secret Rulers of the World' in which journalist Jon Ronson explored the fringe of political activism, meeting many colourful figures which were regarded by many as conspiracy theorists, a term which merits its own discussion and to which I will return.
I began listening to Alex Jones radio show via a very slow dial-up internet connection the same night that I saw his infiltration into Bohemian Grove. I began listening every night and distinctly remember him warning that a terrorist attack on the US was imminent and specifically that it would be an inside job.
After 9/11 I ordered a VHS copy of '911: The Road To Tyranny' from infowars.com, the first of many documentaries to made about September 11th. It took over three months to arrive. Frustrated, I phoned several times and spoke to Violet once or twice who I assume was Alex Jones' future wife. When it did in March 2002, I remember watching it within minutes of it hitting my doormat. I wasn't even dressed and sat huddled up for three hours in my unheated flat unable to tear my eyes from the screen long enough to get dressed or even wrap a blanket around myself.
I borrowed a friend's video recorder a few days later and began making copies as prolifically as humanly possible - it took over three hours to make each copy and I think I made about twenty before I ran out of tapes. I was possibly the first person in the UK to distribute Alex Jones work on any scale.
When, after attempts to stop the war on Afghanistan failed, the Stop The War Campaign began focussing on the inevitable war on Iraq, I became quite active in my local group. I was responsible for all the printed material and the group's website. At meetings I would raise the issue of 9/11 and how the evidence highlighted holes in the official account. I would be countered by comments that this was just a right wing conspiracy theory. There were links on the website to a number of other sites which I considered to be valid to the purposes of the Stop The War Campaign - I still have a local copy of the site. As well as the national STWC website, some local links and means to contact one's MP, there were links to the following:
Michael Moore Website
www.michaelmoore.com
John Pilger Website
www.johnpilger.com
Info Wars Website
www.infowars.com
The chairman of the group was incensed by the inclusion of the InfoWars link complaining that Alex Jones was a well known right wing extremist - even though I pointed out that if this was true, it would be more than balanced by the links to the Michael Moore and John Pilger sites.
Consequently, though I was probably one of the most active campaigners, I was always regarded with suspicion. I still listened to Alex Jones regularly and tried to overlook the right wing tendencies he exhibited. Being thoroughly conversant with issues raised by Alex Jones and trying to enlighten the antiwar, anti-globalist and environmental activists with whom I campaigned without being accused of being a right wing sympathiser has always been a thorn in my side.
I have often toyed with the idea of getting on Skype and calling into his radio show but the thought of queueing to get in the ring with somebody who uses his bullhorn voice as a weapon to silence anyone with whom he disagrees is not appealing. The only people he does not attack in this way are those who have comparable media power. In that sense, there is no difference between him and Bill O'Reilly. He may not tell people to 'shut up' but cutting them off is equivalent.
It is my opinion that Alex Jones', inadvertently or otherwise, is a divisive influence. We are, it seems, entering the critical stages of the current chapter in world history. The road ahead forks. The overthrow of the banking oligarchy and its mercenary puppet regimes or the total enslavement of the human underclass.
United we stand, divided we fall...
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