9/11 Conspiracy Theorists Descend on Republican Spin Room
By kowalski Posted in 2008 — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
You probably know by now [H/T: Drudge] that at least one 9/11 conspiracy theorist was arrested last night in Manchester, NH after he began his schtick with the Giuliani campaign. That was Matt Lepacek of infowars.com, but there's some evidence that Lepacek might have been part of a coordinated group who decided to crash the debate. By the time Lepacek was arrested, I had already left the spin room because everything was basically winding down.
Obviously, all of these people were [caveat: I don't know that for sure, or under what circumstances they got them] given credentials by CNN, and Lepacek is now making hay out of alleged "civil rights violations" on the part of the Giuliani campaign.
But Lepacek & Co. were not the only conspiracy theorists in the room. Also present was at least one of the producers of the "Loose Change" documentary, Jason Bermas, who was featured (along with Dylan Avery) in a debate with two editors from Popular Mechanics on Amy Goodman's "Democracy NOW!".
Before Lepacek's disruption and arrest, I was still in the spin room and happened to snap a picture of Bermas. Here it is:
Bermas was well-dressed in an immaculate black blazer and when I initially approched him, I thought I recognized him from his appearance on Democracy NOW! but wasn't 100% sure, so I smiled and said in a low voice, "You're the guy who did that documentary, right?" and he winked at me conspiratorially and said "Yeah, man!" to which I responded: "What a piece of CRAP that was." He laughed at me and we parted ways.
At the very least I think it would behoove CNN to examine their credentialing process for these debates in the future.
Update: I did point out to the producers at CNN before I left that Bermas was in the room; he was attempting to ask Sam Brownback a question at the time. I informed them that Bermas was the lead producer of a 9/11 conspiracy documentary and about 5 minutes later I left the room.
Also: I have quite a bit more spin room coverage to post, which occurred before all of these shenanigans. I did get some very good video of Senator Brownback and others, as well as some excellent photographs. Yes, Gamecock and Paul Seale, I got in a couple of your questions, too, so stay tuned.
I haven't posted them yet because today has been an absolute frenzy of a marathon in my day job. I had a 5 minute break to write this blog entry, and this update, and I'll have those videos and commentary available here and TMR later this evening. Thanks for your patience -- it's worth the wait, as I alluded to in my earlier thread.
Update II: Part of the explanation for Bermas being in the spin room (other than the obvious) may have something to do with the fact that the cosponsor, WMUR-TV, is a Hearst-Argyle concern. If you watch the interview/debate at the Democracy NOW! link above, you'll see how agitated he gets at the very prospect of sitting in the same room with the two editors from Popular Mechanics, which he attempts to get Amy Goodman to discredit when he angrily and dismissively refers to them as "...a Hearst magazine." [Author's note: I gave Jason Bermas too much credit there. He actually referred to Popular Mechanics as "...a Hearst yellow journalism publication..." -- I was working from my memory of the broadcast I watched the night ABC aired 'The Path to 9/11'] Evidently to him that implies they're not to be trusted as a news and information source and presumably are also willing co-conspirators in the elaborate plan as editors for a publication of the Hearst empire. Just a thought for the folks at WMUR-TV and CNN.
Update III: Happily, Democracy NOW! provides a transcript of Bermas' view on anything Hearst, here:
JASON BERMAS: I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity to take on the government's lies and Popular Mechanics, which is a Hearst yellow journalism publication’s lies, as well.
I guess that makes WMUR and CNN a bunch of yellow-journalist liars and thrice-removed co-conspirators too, at least in Mr. Bermas' view.
At the very least I think it would behoove CNN to examine their credentialing process for these debates in the future.
You are assuming that CNN didn't want these guys there?
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The CIA has better politicians than it has spies - Fred Thompson
I spent two days at this event and during that time I had quite a few conversations with the producers and organizers of this event. I find it very difficult to believe, given the professionalism and good will with which they treated me, that they would do it deliberately.
CNN had to cater to more than 300 journalists of all political stripes and nationalities during this event. 99% of the people there were obviously legitimate. I don't know under which organization these people registered for the event -- I guess perhaps they used the name of a blog or a news org. that wouldn't "tip anyone off." Or maybe something else happened. I don't know.
I do know that the two producers I spoke to in the Spin Room regarding Bermas expressed a lot of surprise when I told them who he was and what he was infamous for, and how he was making money hawking conspiracy theories. At the time I left, Bermas was asking Brownback a question and nobody had interrupted him or approached him. All of the rest happened after I had already started my drive home.
You da man!