Last Saturday night, a country music festival was in full swing just off the Strip in the Nevada city of Las Vegas. It was suddenly interrupted by bursts of automatic gunfire coming from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel. The shooting continued for several minutes. After it ceased, more than 50 people were dead, and hundreds injured. The death toll has since climbed to 59. It was the USA’s worst recent mass shooting.
Behold the face of desperation and delusion
That the shooter was a 64-year-old white male, with no connection to any terrorist group, has put the froth and rant merchants out there on the right in a quandary. Who can they blame? Well, for Battersea bedroom dweller Paul Watson, aka Prison Planet, someone or something else was to blame, and he wasted no time getting to work. One thing was for sure, whoever was to blame, it wouldn’t be Nevada’s lax gun laws.
And so it came to pass, as Watson started off with the old far-right chestnut of blaming CNN. “For @CNN to post this after a massacre whose victims are predominantly white men is an utter disgrace … STOP the fucking racism. You are inciting violence. STOP NOW”. Yes, CNN did it! Could the stupidity outdo itself? Sadly, it could.
As Watson cited his own employer, InfoWars, one of the least reliable sources of information on the planet, he found something else to blame. “Las Vegas Gunman Was Prescribed Drug Linked to Violent Outbursts”. The Valium did it! Or perhaps someone close to the shooter was involved? He was already on the case. “Vegas Shooter’s Girlfriend Used Multiple ID’s, Multiple SS Numbers, and Married Two Men Simultaneously”. The girlfriend who was in the Far East did it remotely!
Of course, what Watson and his boss Alex Jones really wanted was to kick the Muslims, but none were involved … oh, hang on a minute. “Top of Drudge. Huge development - understanding some kind of motive appears to be near”. Was it? Could it be? Yes, the news he had craved had finally arrived. “BREAKING: Sheriff Says Las Vegas Shooter Could Have Been ‘Radicalized’”. The Scary Muslims (tm) did it!
But they didn’t, so on to another lame excuse. “Forensic Psychiatrist Suggests Gunman May Have Deliberately Targeted Conservatives”. The Rotten Lefties (tm) did it! No, they didn’t take part either. How about revisiting that girlfriend? That should do it. “Las Vegas Shooter Wired $100,000 to Philippines Last Week”. Praise be - wiring money to the Philippines made sure the girlfriend did it remotely (again)!
Maybe those advocating gun control did it? Of course! So when someone suggested the cops might be better off with less lethal weaponry, off he went. “Disarm the very people who stopped the massacre. Genius, mate. Genius”. The cops didn’t stop the killing - the shooter did. By killing himself. One last throw of the dice? “ISIS video of Las Vegas strip put authorities on high alert”. It really was the Scary Muslims (tm)!
The reality of this shooting - that someone armed himself to the teeth and went on a killing spree - is not allowed to enter in the world of Paul Watson and his equally batshit and conspiracy mongering pals. There has to be another explanation.
But there isn’t one. Keeps him off the streets and out of trouble, mind.
Once upon a time we had outstanding journalists like John Pilger regularly in and on mainstream media.
ReplyDeleteNow we have the Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Star, the Sun, Daily Mirror, Times, Sky/ITN/BBC "News" and all the other assorted media cowards. The "height" of "free thinking" is now a doddering, deluded old fool wearing stupid ties and socks.
No wonder it spills over into malevolent small-time morons like Watson.
Sick doesn't begin to describe it.
I despise PJW. I despise everything about him, his map, his scabby prep ubescent face, his arrogant shouty Clarkson-esque enunciation, his stupidity. Shall I go on?
ReplyDeleteAt least Alex Jones is (n't) funny. Funny in the way a dog shitting in the street is funny.
PJW is just there to issue a constant stream of unrepentant evidence-ignoring horseshit and confirmation bias.
But the thing I hate the most is that he has a lot of folloers. People who lap up and support his 'work'. Just like the rest of these alt-right patron draining youtube vampires. All they do is drag the rest of us down
Two issues with the "It was the medicine wot did it" approach.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, Valium is more usually known for its calming, sedative effects.
Secondly, while in very rare cases it can cause aggression, what we know of the shooter's actions show meticulous premeditation, including: Stockpiling weapons over a period of time; feigning interest in competetive shooting tournaments to deflect suspicion; modifying his weapons to increase their rate of fire and setting up cameras to alert him to police coming to get him.
So far it appears nobody (including the police) knows what went on in this murderer's mind, or what passed for his mind.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes Watson's "speculation" even more poisonous and evil.
But given Watson's previous opinions plus this one, it doesn't take much examination to imagine the kind of society that would evolve from his distraught mindset. If it got full traction. The problem is of course we have too many like him.
A thoroughly contemptible individual with no apparent saving graces. Real human detritus.
What a horrible little twerp this chap is. Described as a "youtube personality". Strange. He does have lots of people who seem to hang on his every piece of bs. He is no journalist, just a mouthpiece for right wing claptrap.
ReplyDeleteSo he could identify Conservatives from a 32nd floor hotel room and selectively kill them. Impressive.
ReplyDelete