Out There

Dear Moon Landing Deniers: Sorry I Called You Moon Landing Deniers

Supporters of conspiracy peddler Alex Jones are FURIOUS that I dared to note his dismissal of the Apollo 11 mission. Talk about a lunatic fringe.

The worst thing about being a moon landing denier is, apparently, the part where reporters call you out for labelling Apollo 11 as some kind of false flag operation.

When I wrote a story about Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s relationship with his father—and the impact it might have on his chances of getting the Republican presidential nomination—I expected some pushback. But not like this.

My characterization of radio host Alex Jones (a frequent promoter of the Pauls) sparked outrage among his devotees. Specifically, they got all rage-y because I referred to Jones as a “moon landing denier.” A weird thing to quibble about, considering he is a moon landing denier.

Alex Jones, I wrote, is “a noted conspiracy theorist who spreads his message on his syndicated radio show and on his website, Infowars.com. Jones is a moon landing denier who believes the government acted as a guiding hand for the September 11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing, buys into the New World Order—the theory that a group of so-called elites are conspiring to form a singular, totalitarian global government has accused American pop stars of being purveyors of Illuminati mind control.”

@PrisonPlanet—aka Paul Joseph Watson—is editor-at-large of Infowars.com, Jones’ site. There is rich irony in having the editor of Infowars.com charge that your job is to “make up shit.” Infowars.com, for the uninitiated, is a very special place where ideas like the Super Bowl halftime show is an illuminati ritual, and that President Obama has called for a New World Order, are welcome. The website even sells iodine drops, called “Survival Shield,” at their official store.

Watson is taking issue—rather impolitely, I might add—with what I consider a moon landing denier. Jones does not deny the entire event of the moon landing altogether, but he does not believe the version of the moon landing shown to the public actually happened.

On his radio program, he told his listeners: “The government lies out of hand. You say, ‘well then, why do you believe in the moon landing?’ Because I have sources inside NASA—they put on some fake stuff for you—see, there was a lie. It’s not just ‘did we go’ or ‘didn’t we go.’ You were shown the tinker-toy stuff because you’re not supposed to see what they really got. You’re not supposed to know the thousands of astronauts that have died. Oh, yeah. In fact, I should to a whole show on that. This is the kind of stuff that will get you killed. I shouldn’t even get into things I know, because I don’t have the absolute proof in front of me—I just have sources and evidence that backs it up, but I’m digressing.”

People who claim that a much smaller number than six million people were murdered in the Holocaust are Holocaust deniers—even though they are not denying that some version of the event did take place. Similarly, when Alex Jones goes on his radio show to tell his canned goods-hoarding, Illuminati-fearing listeners that what the government showed the world of the moon landing was not reality, but a “tinker-toy” version of it, he earns himself the title “moon landing denier.”

Because I am so #Blessed, some of Jones’ fans chimed into the debate.

Truly awe-inspiring command of the English language.

Watson then took to YouTube to recap our Twitter exchange, because the Internet is horrible. And I would ask him and all other critics: If you are going to call me an “establishment media hack,” please pronounce my name correctly. (Newt-Zee)

Not only was my name mispronounced, but some people seemed unclear about what my name actually is. A fan of my work emailed me to say: “Hello Ms. Nazi, It’s so great these days to read so-called ‘journalists’ and their garbage pieces full of lies and disinformation. You should be so proud of yourself working for an illegitimate rag like the Daily Beast. But of course you’ve sold your soul to make money for the corporate elite who control you.”

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Olivia Nuzzi

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