Cracks in the Lefty Gatekeeper's Wall?As many of you know, I've been covering the 9-11 Denial Movement over at
Screw Loose Change for several months now.
One of the interesting things about 9-11 Denial has been the reluctance of the lefty blogosphere to touch it. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, aka Kos, actually
issued a fatwa at his site against anybody posting 9-11 conspiracy theories:
Diaries on certain topics are likely to generate angry responses. Most of these topics fall under the general heading of "conspiracy theories", i.e. "JFK was killed by Martians". The rule for posting such diaries is "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". The more extreme the claim, the higher the burden of proof that commenters will demand. If you can't provide evidence to back up your claim, it is best not to post the diary. This guideline also applies to recommending extraordinary-claims diaries. If a diary makes an extreme claim with little or no evidence to back up that claim, it shouldn't be recommended, no matter what that claim is.
Controversial 9/11 Diaries
DailyKos accepts that the 9/11 attacks were perpetrated by agents of Al-Qaeda. It is forbidden to write diaries that:
1. refer to claims that American, British, Israeli, or any government assisted in the attacks
2. refer to claims that the airplanes that crashed into the WTC and Pentagon were not the cause of the damage to those buildings or their subsequent collapse
Authoring or recommending these diaries may result in banning from Daily Kos.For the most part, the liberal blogosphere has gone along with that. I check Technorati every day or so to see who's talking about "Loose Change", and almost no major liberal blogs have done so.
But... there appear to be cracks in the wall. Dr Robert Bowman, a former fighter pilot, recently won the Democratic nomination for Congress from Florida's 15th District. And major liberal bloggers are getting aboard, acknowledging Bowman's 9-11 Denial:
Firedoglake:
But, enough about ABC’s Path to Shame. The other press conferences this morning were even more interesting than the Kean/Hamilton dog-and-pony show. I wonder how many reporters showed up to a press conference, sponsored by the McClendon Group. Info at the National Press Club site reads:
On the Fifth Anniversary of the Attacks and just three hours before the Kean-Hamilton luncheon address, the former top Air Force officer who won Florida’s 15th District Democratic primary with 54% of the vote on an explicit platform to expose the fraud of the Kean Commission Report, and top 9/11 researchers, authors and activists will present hard proof that the official narrative of the Kean-Hamilton Commission and Bush-Cheney Administration is a fraud of world historic proportions. Proposed legislation for a new and genuinely independent expert investigation, the first reality-based 9/11 feature film, and the International Grand Jury on the Crimes of 9/11 will be announced. Speakers will make brief presentations and take questions from the press:
BradBlog:
In the barrage of Curtis-Feeney blogging, I neglected to mention another Democratic primary victory which in its own way was equally important and perhaps even more encouraging: Robert Bowman's victory in Florida's 15th district was a powerful shot in the arm for those of us who agree with what Bowman says about 9/11.
