N.H. lawmakers stir up a seething cauldron of half-baked conspiracy theories
Not since former state Rep. Stella Tremblay shocked Granite Staters by declaring she believed the Boston Marathon bombing was a false flag operation perpetrated by the federal government (a story first reported and advanced on Miscellany Blue) have New Hampshire lawmakers embraced so many irrational conspiracy theories.
A quick perusal of this afternoon’s social media postings finds lawmakers wondering if the on-air murder of two television journalists in Virginia was a hoax to build support for gun control initiatives, questioning whether the 9/11 attack was an inside job and accusing the president of being a secret Muslim who is allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons as payback for Muslim countries funding his political campaigns.
On Virginia shooting: ‘So was this shooting really a hoax?’
Rep. David Murotake (R-Nashua) posted a link on his Facebook page that claims last week’s shooting of two reporters in Virginia was a “staged event” likely funded by “billionaire ‘philanthropists’ who back aggressive gun control initiatives.”
“The latest reporter shooting hoax in Virginia is getting so easily torn apart by the conspiracy research community,” the DC Clothesline article explains, “that the media’s emotional staging of actors is becoming absurd.”
“Hmmm… So was this shooting really a hoax?” asked Murotake. “I don’t think I have seen anything on this on any [mainstream media] yet…” he added. Five hours later, when Murotake was criticized for posting the story, he added a qualification: “You find all kinds of stories on the blogosphere… Not all are true…”
On 9/11 attacks: ‘We still do not have an answer…’
Rep. Max Abramson (R-Seabrook) is no stranger to controversy. The one-term Free Stater, who was bounced from the Criminal Justice Committee after House leadership learned of his 2012 felony conviction, makes frequent allegations of police and judicial misconduct.
Yesterday, Abramson posted a link to a 9/11 Truther video that disputes the notion that the collapse of New York’s Twin Towers and adjacent buildings was caused by Al-Qaeda terrorists crashing two airliners into the towers.
“We still do not have an answer from anyone for why Building 7 came down,” Abramson wrote on Facebook. “It was not struck by a plane nor anything else. There were only a few trash can sized fires reported in the building, and only a few broken windows. At first, we were told that the building had been demolished. Then the official story changed only a few days later.”
On Pres. Obama: ‘you’re dealing with a Muslim duck’
And then there’s former Rep. Lee Quandt (R-Exeter), the maverick Republican who battled then-Speaker Bill O’Brien (whom he referred to as Bully O’Brien) before losing his reelection bid in 2012.
Quandt took to his blog last week-end to assert U.S. supporters of the Iran nuclear agreement are all traitors. The president, Quandt explained, is a secret Muslim who is letting Iran obtain nuclear weapons because “Muslim countries” financed his political campaigns.
“When Obama claims he isn’t a Muslim; if it walks like a duck and quacks, guess what, you’re dealing with a Muslim duck…” Quandt wrote. “Money is a wonderful thing,” he added, “and since Obama cannot, or would not, divulge where much of his campaign donations came from so it is easily speculatable that it came from Muslim Countries and he is beholding to them. [sic]”
