"The disturbing rise of Sandy Hook conspiracy theories" Blaming Obama and Gun Control

[TomCADem]

I guess we should not be surprised that with the NRA fanning the flames about the federal government is about take your guns that the extreme right has been spreading conspiracy theories suggesting that the Sandy Hook massacre was either a hoax or that it was planned by gun control advocates.

http://theweek.com/article/index/239012/the-disturbing-rise-of-sandy-hook-conspiracy-theories

In the aftermath of the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., President Obama has moved to strengthen America's gun laws, and public opinion has swung significantly in support of stricter gun control. Gun-rights advocates have responded passionately, but opposition has also begun to take on uglier forms — most notably in conspiracy theories that contend the shooting was a hoax perpetrated by the government, the media, or some wildly improbable combination of the two.

What kind of conspiracy theories are out there? One contends that something is amiss because the adults in Newtown — particularly Robbie Parker, who lost his 6-year-old daughter Emilie in the shooting — haven't grieved hard enough. According to this theory, many of the shattered adults you've seen on camera are actors. Another claims that Emilie is still alive, appearing in a photograph with President Obama (the person in the photo is Emilie's sister). Yet another claims that there were other gunmen besides Adam Lanza. For a comprehensive list, as well as a thorough debunking (not that you'd need one), check out this article from Salon.

The thread that connects the various theories is gun control. "The underlying theme in all the theories is that the media, the government, and the Obama administration specifically either manipulated or orchestrated the shooting to move political opinion on gun control," says Laura Edwins at The Christian Science Monitor. Analysts say the theories may be a way to deflect blame from guns to imaginary culprits.

Of course, conspiracy theories abound on the internet. But the Sandy Hook variety are gaining traction, approaching Obama-was-born-in-Kenya ubiquity. One YouTube video, "The Sandy Hook Shooting—Fully Exposed," has been viewed more than 10 million times. Gene Rosen, a Newtown resident who sheltered six children during the shooting, has reportedly received creepy phone calls and emails from those who believe he is an actor.

[Mojorabbit]

1. There are a lot of idiots in this country. nt

[UCmeNdc]

2. You have to admit ...........

Some Americans are pretty stupid.

[struggle4progress]

3. The rightwing has quite a lot of funding for huff-n-puff: their theory is that laid out by

Gingrich in the 1990s, namely, that constant negative noise about one's political opponents is the path to victory

On that theory, the rightwing strategists have pushed all manner of nonsensical crap that they know is nonsensical crap: Obama as advocate of death panels, Obama as illegitimate Kenyan-born pretender to the Presidency, Obama as the author of record federal deficits, and so on

The people who craft these messages and push them forward know the messages are false but promote the messages anyway because it serves their political purposes

Part of the game, of course, is that they rake low information voters into their game

[smirkymonkey]

4. I can not even believe people are debating this.

It is beyond bizarre to me.

[NewJeffCT]

5. The woman that was the Republican candidate for Attorney General of Connecticut -

Martha Dean - is one of the people who is helping to perpetrate this myth. She was the 2010 candidate for AG of Connecticut, an elected position, so was selected by the Republican party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_attorney_general_election,_2010

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Republicans-Outraged-Sandy-Hook-Newtown-Martha-Dean-Facebook-187359611.html

[Dash87]

6. I was arguing with these idiots last night. They're truly stupid.

Half of them can't even spell, or randomly type in caps lock. The other ones have no concept of facts or proof.

They all tend to be Alex Jones's followers or gun nuts. Trying to reason with them is like yelling at a wall. Anyone that disagrees with them is a 'paid shill.' Their evidence is totally laughable too, if not downright disgusting.

The worst part, though, is their harassment of the Sandy Hook families, including calling them names like "whore" and "fraud" over the internet, up to even calling their houses.

I am disillusioned by how many of them there are, too. Are we as a country really this stupid?

[NutmegYankee]

7. You can't argue with Conspiracy nuts.

Their logic is broken and they just keep feeding their own confirmation bias.

http://xkcd.com/258/

[treestar]

8. Actually more insane than birtherism

someone on par with the CT that environmentalism is a conspiracy to create one world government.

They just cannot deal with reality or with being wrong. They will say anything, no matter how nutty it makes them, in order to maintain their cognitively dissonant attitudes.