What is the strange compulsion to watching something which actually repulses you?
In the case of Alex Jones, it's something like trying to figure out what the agenda is - and I confess that frequently I have wondered if Alex Jones is an agent of cointelpro or disinfo. Is Beyond Tangy Tangerine in reality the Kool Aid that Jones blabs about metaphorically - to which he now jovially says he is addicted?
There is one area where he fails any test to determine how genuine he is (and never believe anybody who is so aggressive in their claims to be genuine) and that is his (and frequently others at Infowars) fidelity to the truth. I have already made it quite clear that the claims of Paul Joseph Watson that he cannot get an appointment with a private doctor in the UK are utter bullshit - either on his part or on the part of Jones. The story has recently morphed into Watson's inability to get an appointment with a specialist but this is equally mendacious.
Recently, there has been the sensational claim that 'Climate Alarmist Calls For Burning Down Skeptics' Homes' which Alex Jones has repeatedly reported as a call to set fire to skeptics' homes. Now, I am neither a climate skeptic or alarmist - I actually find the subject quite fascinating if confusing - but I tend to believe that there is something extremely fishy about the whole global warming agenda which is obfuscated by an abundance of contradictory information. So, in essence, I am a climate change doubter - and as such I reserve the right to have multilateral doubt. As far as the claims made in the story and Jones' rants are concerned though, there is not a shred of truth to the allegation that anybody called for the burning down of anybody's house - merely that nobody should take action to put such a fire out. Now, to Alex Jones and his army of devotees, there is no difference between dropping a stone and not picking it up but to those who have an adequate degree of discernment, there is a gulf of difference. Making such claims is blatantly dishonest and actually taints everything else that he and his claque propagate.
Then there was the call from a pastor who objected to Jones' repeated assertions that all the clergy are government informants - and in effect turning people away from the church. In this instance, Jones played dumb and made out he didn't understand what the pastor was saying and played his usual game of muting the caller whilst he went off on a rant which took a circuitous route away from the topic and returned with the explanation that it is necessary to scare people with the truth. The caller was audibly exasperated if not beaten into submission by Jones' bullying censorship and slipped away with a few polite words.
During his evasive rant, Jones made claims that he is a good actor and a comedian. He is neither - he is just the star of his own show - and his dearth of thespian ability was recently exhibited in the painfully awful production, New World Order: Blueprint of Madmen.
When you are part of an industry which depends on sensationalising issues in order to sell products, you are very likely to over-egg the pudding. And when you have a carpet bombing approach involving multiple websites, podcasts, live broadcasts, DVDs and a raft of merchandise, cranking it up to squeeze out more juice is inevitable. There is no difference between Alex Jones' wilful and perfidious exaggeration and the 'sexing up' of the case for war against Iraq.
You cannot lie and claim to stand for truth.
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