The curtain call for Alex Jones?

[Bentaycanada]

Alex appears to be in the news a lot these days. It seems that his mouth has finally got the better of him.

A lot of social media sites are dropping him, and from what I hear he’s facing several lawsuits.

Having met Alex very briefly in 2011, before he went alt-right batshit. He was pretty much what you’d expect; loud, outspoken, but also very funny.

I enjoyed several of his documentaries a decade back, they were always fairly far fetched, but also very interesting at the same time. I never watched his show, or the weekly radio show, just never had the patients for it.

Safe to say I lost interest when he went all pro Trump / Alt Right a few years ago. It just didn’t make sense given all his productions prior, but then as things unfolded I came to realize he’d found a new niche and (for a while) it appeared to be going well for him. Even though I lost interest, I could see how there was money to be made in this new wave of the Alt Right and there still is, which is why I think he made that move.

I think back to that appearance he made on the Pierce Morgan show, and at the time I couldn’t believe that someone let him on tv! In hindsight that was a small ripple in the pond compared to today.

Anyways, it appears to be coming apart for him now, and in all likelihood it was probably always heading this way.

 

[Yul Brynner]

Well, I hope you get the patients that you needed. What did you need the patients for, anyway? What were you planning to do to them? Force them to watch the TV show and listen to the radio show?

 

[Randy]

I used the anaolgy elsewhere but this once again seems like an 'Icarus flying too close to the sun' type scenario.

I'll agree I've always gotten a kick out of conspiracy stuff, mostly because it was a mashup up of interesting factoids from history, some kind of dark fantasy type storylines and a healthy dose of the absurd. I'm pretty strictly an Occam's Razor guy but sometimes it's funny to see how bloated and overcomplicated the alternative explanation can be. Its also a fun escape from the mundane.

Jones was always a little too quick to see how to put outlandish conspirscies into a Libertarian 'the government is trying to kill you' way that's less fantastical and more paranoid. I think I was totally done with him or the people in his orbit when he shifted into talking about how David Icke is insane and the only thing we need to be talking about are his brand of survival rations and male enhancement pills. It's been kind of a slow transition into pitching himself for a Fox News hosting job over the last 8 or so years, so the 'rah rah' Trump stuff didn't come as much of a surprise.

That said, yeah, I think everyone's euologizing Jones a little too soon. His brand thrives off of the whole "I'm too edgy for 'The Man' to let me share my product with you" thing (see also: Kevin Trudeau), so the more he gets banned, the more curious SOME people will get to find him. But what is ultimately going to kill his career are posters like the OP and myself who think he's no longer funny or entetaining but just pandering to a surpringly mainstream audience now. "I'm being chastized for supporting the President of the United States!" So edgy! What a martyr. Yawn.

Lee Ann MacDoo is a smokeshow though.

 

[USMarine75]

I used the anaolgy elsewhere but this once again seems like an 'Icarus flying too close to the sun' type scenario.

I'll agree I've always gotten a kick out of conspiracy stuff, mostly because it was a mashup up of interesting factoids from history, some kind of dark fantasy type storylines and a healthy dose of the absurd. I'm pretty strictly an Occam's Razor guy but sometimes it's funny to see how bloated and overcomplicated the alternative explanation can be. Its also a fun escape from the mundane.

Jones was always a little too quick to see how to put outlandish conspirscies into a Libertarian 'the government is trying to kill you' way that's less fantastical and more paranoid. I think I was totally done with him or the people in his orbit when he shifted into talking about how David Icke is insane and the only thing we need to be talking about are his brand of survival rations and male enhancement pills. It's been kind of a slow transition into pitching himself for a Fox News hosting job over the last 8 or so years, so the 'rah rah' Trump stuff didn't come as much of a surprise.

That said, yeah, I think everyone's euologizing Jones a little too soon. His brand thrives off of the whole "I'm too edgy for 'The Man' to let me share my product with you" thing (see also: Kevin Trudeau), so the more he gets banned, the more curious SOME people will get to find him. But what is ultimately going to kill his career are posters like the OP and myself who think he's no longer funny or entetaining but just pandering to a surpringly mainstream audience now. "I'm being chastized for supporting the President of the United States!" So edgy! What a martyr. Yawn.

Lee Ann MacDoo is a smokeshow though.

Why the hate?

Regarding conspiracy theory goodness, check out:
https://www.veteranstoday.com/
[Spoiler: the Jews did it...]

 

[Drew]

I'm watching this closely, for reasons that have very little to do with Jones himself.

We're in what's increasingly been called a "post-truth age" wherein entertainment and news have gotten blurry (ironically, it's probably guys like John Stewart and Steven Colbert responsible for this, when they decided to make late night comedy about serious, factual issues, in a defense of the importance of truth, but that's neither here nor there) and we've become accustomed to just assuming that our news outlets are going to heavily filter the content they choose to present, to appeal to their "consumers," to advance a certain partisan agenda, or both. Jones is probably at the vanguard of that movement, where he's pushing outlandish conspiracy theories like 9/11 being an insider job, Sandy Hook was a false flag operation, the pizza shop pedophilia ring, etc. He's then used the defense that he's just an entertainer, playing a part, to try to distance himself from the fallout of his actions.

So, what we're seeing now is a test of that idea - does a public figure ostentatiously claiming to be a news source and telling the truth (and Jones is currently seeking donations because "money is the jet fuel that propels the jets that drop truth-bombs," or some such crap, so he's clearly making some claim to speaking truth) have any responsibility to actually try to tell the truth and be factually honest, and if they don't, do they have any responsibility for the actions of those who misunderstand their intentions and think they actually are being truthful? For example, in light of the sheer weight of the evidence to the contrary, can Alex Jones claim that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation by the left to build support for gun laws carried out by child actors? If so, do the parents of a victim of the shooting have standing to sue him because even after moving 9 times in the subsequent five years, they're still having death threats mailed to them, because Jones keeps sharing their new address and egging his listeners on every time they move?

Basically, it's a question of what sort of relationship with the truth do we as a society want to have, and what sort of standard for intellectual honesty we expect of our public figures. By all accounts we're at at least a near term low in that respect, so it's going to be interesting to see where we go from here.

 

[Bentaycanada]

I'm watching this closely, for reasons that have very little to do with Jones himself.

We're in what's increasingly been called a "post-truth age" wherein entertainment and news have gotten blurry (ironically, it's probably guys like John Stewart and Steven Colbert responsible for this, when they decided to make late night comedy about serious, factual issues, in a defense of the importance of truth, but that's neither here nor there) and we've become accustomed to just assuming that our news outlets are going to heavily filter the content they choose to present, to appeal to their "consumers," to advance a certain partisan agenda, or both. Jones is probably at the vanguard of that movement, where he's pushing outlandish conspiracy theories like 9/11 being an insider job, Sandy Hook was a false flag operation, the pizza shop pedophilia ring, etc. He's then used the defense that he's just an entertainer, playing a part, to try to distance himself from the fallout of his actions.

So, what we're seeing now is a test of that idea - does a public figure ostentatiously claiming to be a news source and telling the truth (and Jones is currently seeking donations because "money is the jet fuel that propels the jets that drop truth-bombs," or some such crap, so he's clearly making some claim to speaking truth) have any responsibility to actually try to tell the truth and be factually honest, and if they don't, do they have any responsibility for the actions of those who misunderstand their intentions and think they actually are being truthful? For example, in light of the sheer weight of the evidence to the contrary, can Alex Jones claim that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation by the left to build support for gun laws carried out by child actors? If so, do the parents of a victim of the shooting have standing to sue him because even after moving 9 times in the subsequent five years, they're still having death threats mailed to them, because Jones keeps sharing their new address and egging his listeners on every time they move?

Basically, it's a question of what sort of relationship with the truth do we as a society want to have, and what sort of standard for intellectual honesty we expect of our public figures. By all accounts we're at at least a near term low in that respect, so it's going to be interesting to see where we go from here.

That’s very interesting, as I feel that way about the pizzagate story. I felt that was the moment the lid came off the madness when that guy walked into the place with a gun, based on a obvious internet faux story.

When it came to Alex, I enjoyed the conspiracy aspect and also absurdity of it, but I always took it with a giant pinch of salt. His productions on Waco, Oklahoma, 9/11 and Terrorstorm were all decent works, abet very Alex Jones.
When I’m talking about conspiracy I always use the line, “it’s fascinating, but reality is way more boring”. Haha

However when I read about Pizzagate, I couldn’t believe that people actually took it seriously. Serious enough to act upon it. It reminded me of those Slender Man killers. That fact that their reality could be blurred by an obvious internet story.

Which is like you’ve said about Sandy Hook. I remember what he said, and that was around the time I tuned out. He always had a tendency to be OTT, but that was a bit much. But it appears, like my friend back home, that people were buying into it. Clearly it’s become a real issue, this idea of “real truth” or “alternative truth”.
I remember his defence in trial about his radio/internet personality being an act, which at the time I thought would be the beginning of the end. I was wrong.

It looks like this time might not be any different...

 

[Drew]

I mean, I think even back then, his very casual relationship with the truth in order to make sensational claims to advance a political agenda was concerning. I don't think I fully realized the scope of it, but I always considered him problematic, if thankfully only at the fringe. Unfortunately, Trump's willingness to parrot InfoWars conspiracies and the fact he appeared on the show, if only as a candidate, has given Jones a new found air of legitimacy.

We're, at a minimum, at least pushing hard against the limits of the sort of speech the First Amendment was meant to protect, and by my read are at a point where speech is causing harm.

 

[tedtan]

Well, I hope you get the patients that you needed. What did you need the patients for, anyway? What were you planning to do to them? Force them to watch the TV show and listen to the radio show?

Gotta occupy them somehow while they twiddle their thumbs in the waiting room.

 

[AngstRiddenDreams]

Fuck Alex Jones, I have nothing but ill wishes for someone whose supporters harass the victims of Sandy Hook. All the while claiming it is just a character in court for his children.
I hope he is bankrupted by his loss of platforms.

 

[Ordacleaphobia]

I'm just concerned about the memes, to be honest.
I don't want to live in a world without crispy Alex Jones memes.

 

[Drew]

I'm just concerned about the memes, to be honest.
I don't want to live in a world without crispy Alex Jones memes.

I do.

 

[Randy]

The problem with Alex Jones was that he spent all his time determining if they turned the frogs gay and none of the time determining if we should respect their lifestyle.

 

[Explorer]

I think I was totally done with him or the people in his orbit when he shifted into talking about how David Icke is insane and the only thing we need to be talking about are his brand of survival rations and male enhancement pills.

The problem with Alex Jones was that he spent all his time determining if they turned the frogs gay and none of the time determining if we should respect their lifestyle.

Two recent developments...

First, the judge in one of the defamation cases isn't buying the argument of Jones' lawyers that doxing the innocent parents is "protected free speech."

Secondly... you know how occasionally someone accidentally reveals an open tab on their browser which has a NSFW title? Well, Jones was hawking his website on his phone, when he finished his spiel and minimized his browser.

Lo and behold... he had a tab devoted to a pornographic performer who had her thirst for a stiff c**K fulfilled by a hunk.

The surprising thing, though, is that Jones, who has publicly denigrated trans people, had apparently been watching a "t-babe," a transexual, receive the slaking of her thirst.

https://spectator.us/2018/08/watch-alex-jones-shows-infowars-fans-his-love-of-trans-porn/

It's not really surprising, of course. The people who spew the most hate about certain sexualities are often the ones who are in denial....

 

[Drew]

While Alex Jones jacking off to chicks with dicks after publicly condemning their lifestyle warms the cold, dead cockles of my heart, it's comparatively small change compared to the case going forward. His supporters are pretty good with cognitive dissonance; I'm sure they're just take it as further evidence that if they stop taking their Alex Jones endorsed supplements, they really WILL turn gay, because look what happened to Jones when he missed a day!

 

[narad]

As a staunch Alex Jones supporter, I heard they weren't actually trans but paid actors/actresses.

 

[spudmunkey]

As a staunch Alex Jones supporter, I heard they weren't actually trans but paid actors/actresses.

I heard it was that friggin' frog water.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Oh hey, he was finally banned from Twitter

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/twitter-bans-alex-jones-infowars

...After weeks and weeks of Jack and Twitter saying they'd let it slide.

Totally wasn't because Alex made an ass of himself in front of Jack in public.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Thanks everyone for giving a guy you dislike free publicity and advertising him and his brand.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

The problem with Alex Jones was that he spent all his time determining if they turned the frogs gay and none of the time determining if we should respect their lifestyle.

I love quoting that for absolutely no reason in serious conversations. It's great.

 

[Explorer]

Hmm. It never occurred to me that someone would view abusive behavior on the part of a person as a good reason to be a fan of such a person.

Thanks for letting us know that such thinking is part of your mental landscape.