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On 9/11 Bullshit

“It is just this lack of connection to a concern with truth – this indifference to how things really are – that I regard as of the essence of bullshit.”  Henry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit p. 33-34

America is drowning in 9/11 bullshit.

I’m not talking about the “conspiracy theories” that Cass Sunstein deplores. Nor am I talking about the Official Conspiracy Theory (OCT) per se. Yes, the OCT is bullshit. But only 16% of Americans believe the OCT. That mentally-challenged minority is not the problem.

The problem is that the 84% that doesn’t believe the OCT – most of them anyway – display a “lack of connection to a concern with truth” meaning “an indifference to how things really are.” They know, or at least suspect, that they are not being told the truth about the most significant historical event of the 21st century – an event that rolled back the Constitution and triggered two murderous wars of aggression that have bankrupted the USA both morally and financially. And yet most of that 84% show little or no interest in discovering or publicizing the truth.

When Michael Shermer, a bullshitter who posed as an Economics Professor for several years until exposed by this blog, defends the Official Conspiracy Theory and falsely claims to have read David Ray Griffin‘s books, he is, of course, bullshitting.

“Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about. Thus the production of bullshit is stimulated whenever a person’s obligations or opportunities to speak about some topic exceed his knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic.” (Frankfurt 63)

Compare Professor David Ray Griffin‘s nine books on 9/11, and his countless essays, to Unprofessor Michael Shermer’s discourse on 9/11 (see here, here, and here). Dr. Griffin, plainly, knows what he is talking about. He displays comprehensive “knowledge of the facts that are relevant to that topic.” His books meet the highest academic standards of reasoned argument and thorough documentation. He considers potential counter-arguments and treats them fairly (most obviously in his first book The New Pearl Harbor, published before the reeking pile of bullshit known as the 9/11 Commission Report made it obvious that 9/11 must have been an inside job).

Shermer, unlike Griffin, does not address any specific evidence. Instead, he speaks in vague, general platitudes punctuated by ad-hominem attacks on his opponents. The Skeptic Magazine articles he published, written by Phil Molé and Brent Blanchard, are not much better.  Each offers a cursory overview of some of the evidence cited in the 9/11 debates; and without exception, that evidence is presented in a mendacious or distorted way. (See Anab Whitehouse’s analysis.)

Those who, like Shermer, Chertoff’s Popular Mechanics crew, and the very few others who have openly defended the Official Conspiracy Theory – the untruthers – appear to be “disconnected from a concern for truth” (Frankfurt 40) to the point of fanatical devotion to untruth.

What can possibly explain such monumental bullshit?

And what can possibly explain the indifference to truth of that majority of the American people who don’t believe the government’s version of 9/11?

Will that majority finally wake up when it left hungry and homeless by the trillions spent on the 9/11 wars?

4 Thoughts to “On 9/11 Bullshit”

  1. Anonymous

    Hungry and homeless? Well, not so soon, Kevin.
    The ingenious plan was not only to instigate the wars but also to lend enough money for them so that the executioners don't eminently fall into poverty. The wellbeing executioners' children is a separate question.

    In this respect the pursuit for truth of 9/11 events becomes not only pursuit of justice but also of sovereignty and welfare of this nation.

  2. Anonymous

    There is a vast scholarship by credentialed experts, including peer-reviewed articles and books, supporting the 9/11 truth thesis, and nothing but a few little piles of BS (and a whole bunch of internet garbage) defending the official story.

  3. Dear Kevin,
    Have you noticed that the bullshit non-arguments for the official 9/11 story follow the same pattern as the bullshit non-arguments for the official Holocaust story? Michael Shermer is also a mainstay defender of that story, being featured on TV panels the few times in the 80's when a couple revisionists were allowed on TV. He behaved the same way you are describing him when opposing 9/11 Truth — as a liar.

    I know this is touchy ground, but if people are really Truthers they ought to be able to look at Truth everywhere. 9/11 Truthers and Holocaust Revisionists are in the same category – or soon will be. If you think you can escape that connection, remember that the official establishment will NEVER admit guilt for 9/11; they will do what is necessary to prevent it even if it requires the imprisonment of "truthers" as anti-social dissidents.

    All official denial of truth follows the same pattern, and once you have clearly seen it in one instance, you can see it in all. If you are willing, that is. Willingness is what it takes. Don't continue to spend so much time denouncing the official establishment — they are defending their turf and will continue to do so. Look at why "the people" are willing to go along with it. That brings up another difficult question: Does democracy [an idea we can't bring ourselves to question either] really ensure an intelligent, well-functioning government, responsive to the people? On a small scale it can, but on a large scale? Do our elections mean anything at all? And who are "the people" and do they all want the same thing? Do such sharp divisions among the populace prevent the coming together in common desire and vision?

    It's all a big show now – a production choreographed by Mass Media. Even the "grass-roots" oppositional groups become a part of the show. Everyone has their interests to defend. The real, honest-to-God truth is only loved by a few.

    Many questions need to be asked by the 9/11 Truth Movement beyond the facts of 9/11, because when you uncover the top layer, you find a deeper hole going down to the two world wars, which requires examination also.

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