Glenn Greenwald:

We chirp endlessly about the Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Democrats and Republicans, but this is the Real U.S. Government: functioning in total darkness, beyond elections and parties, so secret, vast and powerful that it evades the control or knowledge of any one person or even any organization.

Anyone who thinks that’s hyperbole should just read some of what Priest and Arkin chronicle. Consider this: “Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications.” To call that an out-of-control, privacy-destroying Surveillance State is to understate the case. Equally understated is the observation that we have become a militarized nation living under an omnipotent, self-perpetuating, bankrupting National Security State.

I’ll leave it to the New York Times review to sum this up perfectly:

The problem with “The Reflecting Pool,” an investigative drama that mucks around with 9/11 conspiracy theories, is not that its ideas are silly. Strictly from an imaginative point of view, there is something unnerving about the weirdly elegant way the towers fell. And not just the north and south buildings but also the adjacent 7 World Trade Center, a smaller edifice, suffering much less damage, that collapsed in an identical manner but received far less coverage from — what’s the phrase I’m looking for? — oh yes: a complicit, propaganda-foisting media/industrial complex in the pocket of the Bush administration and the Jews and the oil industry!

Er, to continue. The problem, which dwarfs whatever you might feel about the topic, is in the drama, or utter lack thereof. Written and directed by Jarek Kupsc, the movie has the tone, rhythm and structure of a set of numbered, handwritten notes derived from 9/11 conspiracy Web sites, photocopied at Kinko’s and distributed at an anarchist bookshop.

This pamphlet narrative follows the efforts of Alex Prokop (Mr. Kupsc again), an investigative journalist for a lefty magazine about to “go corporate,” and Paul Cooper (Joseph Culp), a 9/11 obsessive whose daughter died in the attack, to unearth the truth in the face of suppressed information, disturbing ambiguities and, when needling the powers that be, their own amateurism.

It’s perfect because the reviewer’s right – it’s basically just a series of articles put into dialog. But it also shows how little attention this issue gets. The reviewer spends no time discussing whether the ideas may be valid, and it’s mostly just mockery – which is the point of the movie itself.

Here are some smart people on the topic:

http://www.ae911truth.org/

http://www.stj911.org/

Radical left-wing bookstore owner Tom Flynn (Adam Nee) finds himself in the fight of his life when his suspicions surrounding the events of Sept. 11 land him on the radar of a group of nefarious conspirators. When he crosses paths with a mysterious woman who claims to be in possession of evidence implicating the U.S. government, Tom soon realizes that exposing the truth to the world at large may cost him his life.

Sounds cool enough.  I had no idea that it’s actually the Sander Hicks story – publisher of my first novel (now this).  The left-wing bookstore is Vox Pop, and the book the character writes is Sander’s own:

Vox Pop:

Director says,

Once again, the movie is fiction. The Able Danger story line is right out of a Dashiell Hammett novel. But the Vox Pop Cafe/Bookstore is real. The Big Wedding is a real book. The idea was to make a hero out of the man I initially considered a cook, to place his maverick investigative journalism into the context of a Sam Spade adventure. He is the modern day Don Quixote taking on windmill-dragon of our collective understanding of truth as determined by the corporate oligarchies that control mainstream media. If there was a Vox Pop in every community, I think things would be a bit different ’round here.

Crazy strange and entertaining.  Better directed than written I thought.  Actually really well-directed.  Bafflingly complicated at times, but noir’s supposed to be, and conspiracy theories get convoluted.  What’s also strange is (spoiler warning, barely) that this is sort of the plot of The American Book Part II – guy writes a book, gets involved in conspiracies.  And I’m connected to Sander in some way.  Almost makes me feel like part of a conspiracy.

If we carried out a targeted campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, against sites used to train and equip militants killing American soldiers, and against certain targeted terror-supporting and nuclear-enabling regime elements, the effects are just as likely to be limited.

Easy like Iraq, in which he said:

But that era–in which the American stance was one of doubt, weakness, and retreat, in which we failed to affirm our most cherished principles or even stand up for ourselves–came to an end on September 11, 2001. The United States committed itself to defeating terror around the world. We committed ourselves to reshaping the Middle East, so the region would no longer be a hotbed of terrorism, extremism, anti-Americanism, and weapons of mass destruction. The first two battles of this new era are now over. The battles of Afghanistan and Iraq have been won decisively and honorably. But these are only two battles. We are only at the end of the beginning in the war on terror and terrorist states.

There is NO difference in the impulse – and the outcome – of going to war in Iran.  It is to extend limitless war against an enemy that is being radicalized by these wars.  Kristol’s war-hawk fanaticism is the same as terrorist fanaticism. His first impulse is to kill people.  You don’t end fanaticism with more fanaticism.

In light of this, how creepy is this letter to Bush by the Project for a New American Century only days after 9-11.  Almost as if it had already been drafted:

We write to endorse your admirable commitment to “lead the world to victory” in the war against terrorism. We fully support your call for “a broad and sustained campaign” against the “terrorist organizations and those who harbor and support them.” We agree with Secretary of State Powell that the United States must find and punish the perpetrators of the horrific attack of September 11, and we must, as he said, “go after terrorism wherever we find it in the world” and “get it by its branch and root.” We agree with the Secretary of State that U.S. policy must aim not only at finding the people responsible for this incident, but must also target those “other groups out there that mean us no good” and “that have conducted attacks previously against U.S. personnel, U.S. interests and our allies.”

I have to hand it to the ABC reporter – keeping his calm, smug look throughout the entire interview while he was being attacked as if representing all of the MSM. Truthers are referred to as Trufers. But tell me if you doubt these guys’ intelligence and sincerity, and tell me if the MSM isn’t anti-truth itself.

More: is this guy a trufer? It’s possible explosives were used by terrorists on 9-11 – why wasn’t at least that investigated? Say what you will about the physics of how the buildings fell down, there’s no argument – even from people who classify 9-11 theory as nonsense – that the original report is flawed and full of holes. The same people doubt the rationale to go to war. They think Bush and Cheney are war criminals for the use of torture, but somehow scoff about a full investigation into 9-11.

Update: Really interesting to see how this piece was finally put together.  A lot about the conspiracy movement without any investigation about the veracity of their claims – much as the Loose Changers predicted.  Includes, holy shit, my former publisher of my first novel, Sander Hicks.

Powerful, effective.  If the issue of 9-11 truth gives you jitters, you might be put off by part 2, but you should at least investigate it before dismissing it out of hand.  But part one makes an enormously compelling case for the cross-pollination of world myths and how Jesus’s death and resurrection is nothing more than the death and resurrection of the sun during winter.  I had hints of this – Christmas is a pagan holiday – but never entirely knew what this signified.  “Oh my God,” I said out loud a few times.  At the same time, there’s always a part of you that doesn’t want to believe this – it hurts almost.  Because to find out that the entire basis of Western civilization is actually false is pretty shattering.  Even if parts of this idea are up for debate – the movie no doubt has its detractors – the connection between Christian and pagan rituals is undeniable.

The film is along the lines of a book I recently reviewed by Darryl Sloan, called Reality Check, which is more of a personal story of one person coming to terms with his Christian upbringing and the incongruities in that religion, as well as how vilified he was for his break with the church.  It’s most important message is that one must investigate something fully before decrying it as bullshit.  If you watch the movie or read Darryl’s book and still have your worldview, then fine: you’ve done the work.  But do the work.  Darryl Sloan’s book is highly recommended and can be read and downloaded for free on Scribd.

I recently did an interview with Alterati, where I get into how 9-11 was the impetus behind my writing The American Book of the Dead.  I sort of cop out when it come to the question of 9-11 truth.  I say I’ve “entertained” the idea.  Mainly because it’s fairly embarrassing – because it’s so vilified.  It’s not fun to be vilified.  On Daily Kos, if you didn’t know, they censor any mention of 9-11 truth.  This does make some sense because it would affect the credibility of the site if it the site devolved into conspiracy theory – no matter how convincing that theory might be.  But that’s the zeitgeist for the moment – the mainstream story about 9-11.

The movie could be more convincing about proving the thermite theory and the impossibility of the building’s falling how they did.  Beyond WTC 1 and 2, Building 7 really makes no fucking sense.  Nor does the fact that there’s no evidence of a plane having crashed at the Pentagon.  Those two things alone are enough to reasonably ask: What the hell? without being shouted down as a delusional idiot.  That Daily Kos can despise every act perpetrated by the Bush administration, from the Iraq war to the economy and beyond, but not think they’re capable of 9-11 is puzzling – the same vitriolic hatred for Dick Cheney is given to truthers.  Somehow, the administration was evil enough to lie their way to go to war in Iraq, but not evil enough to basically do the same thing in New York City.

I find it interesting as well that on Daily Kos (a place where I spend a fair amount of time, by the way, because I do enjoy following mainstream political debate in the same way I like following trades in baseball) that it’s mainly peopled by atheists.  As if you have to be open a bit more to something else being behind the spiritual curtain to entertain the thought of a 9-11 conspiracy.  If you don’t then you demand an impossible amount of proof for each, even if there is a lot of available proof, or at least compelling research.  Enough to say, “What if?” without condemning it out of hand.  So perhaps I should own up to what I believe: in the possibility of God and that the government is capable of terrible things.  The government, after all, goes to war.

The Fed

Part 3 gets into the Federal Reserve – something that I’ve glossed over in relation to the Ron Paul movement, mainly because he’s a Republican and Libertarian, and I’m not an advocate that small government is the answer.  In many ways what we need is more government, more regulation, more social programs.  Anarchy would be, well, anarchy.  I’m not a New World Order fanatic who sees all government as an attempt to take control of our lives.  Or, rather, I don’t think all control is necessarily a negative, because the world is a disaster area and creating a new system with a one world government and one world religion could potentially be seen as progress – if done correctly.  So the North American Union doesn’t automatically strike me as a bad idea.

Now to tie this together with other demented leanings I have.  I mention this in the interview with Alterati – I believe in the possibility that Cheney orchestrated the 9-11 attacks, or at least let them happen.  Even if he didn’t, the Iraq war was waged under false pretenses and has all the hallmarks of a perpetual war meant to enrich certain people.  What I don’t get is why they need all this money – just “to be rich” makes very little sense.  After hitting a certain level of wealth, money stops mattering.  “To be powerful” seems a little weak as well.  I’ve always been puzzled about how ties together with my other main pet belief: UFOs.  If anyone knows the secrets behind the UFO conspiracy it’s families like the Bush’s, and men like Dick Cheney.  So what on earth does the UFO phenomenon have to do with this raping the planet for profit and creating perpetual war?  What on earth does the UFO phenomenon have to do with right wing ideology?

What I came up with in my novel is that all of this degradation is by design: to lead up to the Big One, World War III, that will diminish the population to such a degree that first contact could be possible, and we could then start a technological utopia.  They want control over this uncontrollable world so that humanity can graduate to whatever’s ahead.  The plan is not necessarily 100% nefarious.  And if – as my novel pontificates – death does not exist and there is an afterlife, then war has less consequence, even if it causes so much immense pain.

Just a theory of course, and the movie doesn’t touch on it.  I wish the movie didn’t quote from LaRouche or Lou Dobbs or Alex Jones, who’s pretty deeply conservative – and if you’re talking about peddling fear for profit, that’s his M.O.  I remember a piece he did about going behind the scenes at Bohemian Grove and decrying how everyone there worships the “occult.”  If we go back to part one of this piece, an occult “perennial philosophy” in which all religions are different versions of the same idea, is a more honest spiritual disposition.  Jones’s point was that it’s “un-Christian,” which doesn’t strike me as a bad pose to take.

Now if all this is true, and they’re doing this to eventually instigate a NWO, why all the secrecy, why all the murder?  Seems like there’s a better way of going about this than unleashing so much pain – which then makes the NWO nefarious, because the events leading up to the NWO are so destructive and anti-human.  It’s like they’re fucking things up on purpose – why would corporatists want to live in a raped, climate-changed world?  It seems to have a purpose beyond just carelessness, or even the lust for money and power. Again, this was the major impetus behind The American Book - that they’re after some kind of progress.

Maybe I’m holding on to a naive faith in people – as well as a belief that we need some order in a disordered world. The movie ends with words about how “we’re all the same,” and “one planet” which is why a one world government – absent implanting microchips in all of us, which is where the movie really lost me – could potentially be a manifestation of this idea.  Seems a pretty roundabout way of going about it, though. If industry stressed sustainability, this could have positive potential without destroying everything first.

Zeitgeist: Addendum

Also fascinating, and worth watching.  Eye-opening material on the failures of our monetary system, offering an actual solution with discussion of the Venus Project.  Ironically, it’s my theory (one possible theory) that perhaps the one world government scenario is to lay the foundation for a Venus Project type of utopia.  Otherwise, upending our current monetary system could possibly lead to its own type of apocalypse.  In this sense, you need “control” of people in order to usher in the next stage.  This system needs to fail, which may be why the current system seems almost masochisticly bent on failure, perhaps to usher in a new system.

Really, that’s the underlying hope behind all conspiracy theory – even theory that ramps up the fear: that there’s a purpose to all this, and the “elite” are out there planning something.  Nothing is just arbitrary and meaningless.  It’s the same reason that some people, including myself, want to believe in God.  A purposeless existence in which there’s more pain than light is fairly depressing.  It’s in fact more depressing than worrying about a New World Order.  At least with the NWO you feel like you’re in on a great secret, like a priest who knows what the Gods are working on.  That’s pretty exciting, and easily clouds judgment.

If you think all of this is ludicrous, please watch the movies, and then we’ll talk.  It makes me sort of nauseous to be this naked about these types of beliefs, but if this sort of fuel is still with me nine years after I got into this type of info, post 9-11 when I started doing a lot of research in the run-up to writing my novel, I may as well own up to it.

More

Zeitgeist – Orientation Presentation: more info along these lines – mostly centered around the collapse of our financial institution.  If you want to take issue with the movie’s stance on religion or 9-11, do so, but it’s hard to deny our current economic system is unsustainable.

The Zeitgeist Movement – Frankly, this creeps me out a bit. I know if things are to change dramatically, there needs to be a revolution of like-minded thinkers. But I also think this movement could inspire a religious-like cult following. Though the evidence around 9-11 is compelling, it’s not incontrovertible, so it has to be taken in part on faith. As always, faith can lead to bad motivation.  NWO paranoia seems more than a little faith-based, and tends to see connections everywhere with limited evidence, which is why I don’t find it especially interesting.  And taking the movie as irrefutable truth doesn’t make sense, especially when there are inaccuracies in the movie. It would be ironic to take everything in a movie like Zeitgeist as gospel.  The purpose of the movie is to challenge some of your current assumptions – it does that.  There’s plenty in the movie worth considering.  But check out:

A site debunking Zeitgeist. Another one at Conspiracy Science.

A video debunking the debunking (Part 1).

The Reality Sandwich review, which is pretty dead-on:

Zeitgeist may have sacrificed a measure of precision for a greater degree of suggestion, but through that act it ripped open a hole in the mythological framework of American society. Millions of minds are at this very moment pouring through the fissure. This is why Zeitgeist simply is what It Is, a reflection of this particular moment in time and space, while at the same time serving as a tool of cultural, and potentially social, transformation.

Finally, Blog Talk Radio with filmmaker Peter Joseph.  Yes, I got a little obsessed, but I think this is an important development, even if you disagree with it.

I also mention how I’m starting at a loss:

Not only am I writing about fringe subjects that people don’t take seriously, I’m using a publishing platform that people don’t always take seriously.

Which is sort of the point: using a fringle platform to write about fringe ideas.  I want to get these ideas out there – I think they’re important – even if it means having to give it away.  Then again, if I was published by a Big Publisher, it would be much easier to unload books.  I wonder, though, if I would feel the same kind of freedom with the music I’m recording if I was accountable to a mainstream publisher.

While I’m here, here’s a piece from me about the self-publishing movement I wrote recently for 3:AM Magazine.