Paranoid Wallpaper

This week the abandoned storefronts and the glass walls of bus shelters in downtown Troy are papered with advertising. Most of it promotes "the explosive new film by Alex Jones," Martial Law: 9/11 Rise of the Police State. Jones is now probably the nation's leading conspiracymonger, and the ad neatly summarizes his perceptions.

Out of the ashes of the September 11th tragedy, a dark empire of war and tyranny has risen. The Constitution has been shredded and America is now a Police State. This film exposes not just who was behind the 9-11 attacks, but the roots and history of its orchestrators. LEARN THE TERRIFYING SECRET THAT HOLDS THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD IN ITS GRASP.

Jones is a "truther," but his "truth" about the September 2001 attacks is apparently nothing as banal as a self-empowering or self-enriching scheme by the Bush-Cheney cabal.

From the frontlines of the Police State to the darkest sanctum of the secret society that controls it, Martial Law reveals the master plan of a group hell-bent on capturing American today -- and tomorrow the world. THE NEW WORLD ORDER HAS SET IN MOTION THE FOURTH REICH.

Whether Jones means that actual German Nazis are behind it all, or is simply employing provocative language for ballyhoo purposes, I leave for others to learn. Conspiracists often mix metaphors since all "Power" tends to blur into a single existential menace in their troubled minds. Jones clarifies things a little below:

Martial Law is a blazing spotlight piercing the electronic Berlin Wall of controlled corporate media. Plumb the depths of the Elite's minds: their ideology, their driving philosophy -- and uncover the power-mad "cult of Death" that is sworn to turn the Earth into a prison planet. Discover the documented truth yourself -- before it's too late.

With that "cult of Death" crack (which I think refers to notions of long-term population reduction that spook many modern conspiracists) Jones surrenders whatever remaining shred of credibility other dissidents have been willing to indulge him. Few reasonable people have indulged him at all, but some may still think that any criticism of a crackpot dissident is an affirmation of the establishment. That's Bipolarchy thinking and it should be avoided. There are some folks, after all, who'll dissent from everything, and not all of those are sane.

This poster campaign in Troy is probably being waged by a sympathetic individual on his own initiative, not by any paid agent of Alex Jones. This mystery person betrays some of his or her own sympathies by including among the Martial Law ads a poster that's even more contemptible. Headlined Swindlers List, and illustrated by a photo of the President framed by a Star of David, it purports to identify "Obama's Zionist Jews in power," from Rahm Emmanuel to a member of the First Lady's staff. Obama himself is labelled, "Rothschild's Choice." This scrap of paper refers readers to www.powerofprophecy.com, a website featuring the apocalyptic conspiracy theories of one Texe Marrs. While this worthy has appeared on Jones's program, I don't know whether he's influenced Jones's own theories, or whether Jones himself endorses Marrs's conspiracy prophecies or his peculiar concern with Jews. But there's someone in Troy, New York, who appears to agree with both men. This town's empty storefronts look bad enough, but these posters make them really ugly.