Cue The “Obama Plotted The Newtown Massacre” Conspiracy Theories

The nation is once again grieving the senseless loss of innocent life at the hands of a mentally unstable gunman. Compounding the tragedy, this time the majority of victims were children. As President Obama said this afternoon…

“As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago — these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

Unfortunately, the politics will eventually seep into this as it always does. Gun rights advocates may try to evade a public debate by claiming that it is inappropriate to discuss responsible gun policy after a notorious crime, but in truth there is no better time. And waiting until the nation is crime-free would mean putting off the debate forever (which, of course, is their intent).

The President’s message explicitly addressing the need for meaningful action is bound to set off a flurry of paranoia from the Second Amendment set. It is just the sort of soundbite that triggers their imaginations. During the campaign, NRA president Wayne LaPierre wrote in a fundraising letter that Obama’s re-election would result in the “confiscation of our firearms” His proof of that was the fact that Obama had not taken any actions against gun ownership throughout his first term. To LaPierre, and many other right-wingers, that meant that Obama was lulling gun owners into a false sense of security and that Obama would proceed with the gun roundup in his second term. Of course, Fox News was a principle proponent of these conspiracy theories. Here are a few headlines from Fox’s community web site Fox Nation:

  • Obama Starts Pushing Gun Control
  • Obama: We’re Working on Gun Control ‘Under the Radar’
  • Obama May Use Executive Orders to Bypass Congress on Gun Control Laws
  • Obama to Push for New Gun Laws in Wake of Colorado Massacre?
  • Chuck Norris: Obama’s Stealth Gun Control
  • WSJ: Second Obama Term Could Kill Second Amendment

There were similar conspiratorial prophesies percolating in the midst of the “Fast and Furious” affair. Many conservative pundits and politicians believed the whole thing was a covert plot to impose stricter gun laws in the United States. Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips said as much on Fox News earlier this year.

“This was purely a political operation. You send the guns down to Mexico, therefore you support the political narrative that the Obama administration wanted supported; that all these American guns are flooding Mexico, that they’re the cause of the violence in Mexico and therefore we need draconian gun control laws here in America.”

So I’ll give it about forty-eight hours before some gun nut charges that Adam Lanza was an Obama operative sent to Connecticut to create havoc that would open the door for federal agents to clamp down on the rights of gun owners to possess assault weapons and other military grade munitions that our Founding Fathers could never have imagined. It could be Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh or Allen West or Michelle Bachmann. There are plenty of delusional crackpots on the right who could advance this theme. And if all else fails, the NRA could take it up themselves. Seriously…I wonder how long it will take them to run an ad like this:

NRA Ad

Today America is mourning again. We all send our condolences to the families of the victims. But the most meaningful thing we can do for them is to start tomorrow to insist that rational and reasonable steps be taken to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the first place. That means adopting a sane approach to gun ownership and compassionate access to mental health care. Not to do so would be to rub salt in the wounds of everyone who has lost a loved one to gun violence, and it would also be an invitation for more of these horrific events in the future. We need to stop this, and we need to do it now.

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13 thoughts on “Cue The “Obama Plotted The Newtown Massacre” Conspiracy Theories

  1. I’m sorry to say that the crazy ‘Obama is to blame’ conspiracy theories have in fact already begun. There is a right wing paranoid that goes by the name ”Electionwasafraud” or something like that, that wrote several E mails over at the CBS NEWS Website saying exactly that and then wrote back angry answers when saner E mailers replied to him. It frustrates me that there are so many people who will not believe what the problems are at hand but are willing the believe the worst of RightWing garbage! I am afraid that this massacre will set off a new wave of massacres over the next few weeks over the the country. I am also worried that some one with a gun who believes the conspiracy nonsense will decide to be a ”hero” and will try to take ”revenge” on President Obama.

    Personally I wish that Obama WOULD pass Gun Control Laws ”Under the Radar”, as it may be the only way to get it done.

    • Sometimes these paranoid notions start with anonymous Internet chatter, then spread to broadcasters like Limbaugh. And there are also the religious zealots who find absurd reasons to justify God’s involvement. Mike Huckabee already said today that this sort of “carnage” should not be surprising because we have taken God out of the schools.

      However, I wouldn’t let fear drive you to worry that a wave of massacres are coming. We always need to be aware and to take reasonable precautions, but we can’t let fear overcome us. The Secret Service has reported that the White has received more death threats during the Obama administration than ever before. But they are doing their job and they are good at it.

      We need to stay positive despite the tragedy, and focus on making progress toward the safer, saner future that’s possible if we work for it.

        • Disgusting. The same sort of comments were on Fox Nation. They were saying that Obama was smiling in private. Others said it didn’t matter to him because they were white Christian kids.

          Seriously, these people are sick.

          • Thankfully, I’m insulated within the hallowed halls of academia…I’m not directly exposed to such idiocy. I truly fear meeting many of those commenters in person because, as you’ve said, they’re sick. They’re so out of touch with reality that it borders on psychosis.

            • I don’t tend to get scared by people venting on the internet, in fact i would assert that bitching and complaining actually slows or stops most people from taking the violence to the next level. It’s the quiet ones that keep their anger internalized that scare me, cause when they SNAP, it’s on the nightly news.

        • Those comments highlight the way the internet can help people feed their own mental illness. You can tell a lot of them are obsessed with one or two issues, or with any one conspiracy theory. Colbert put it best-“I’m a conservative, I go with what I feel, not with what I know. It’s a gut thing.”

          That one guy, saying something like this happens when there is an investigation going on, pay attention to what is actually happening. The Internet is an incredible resource, but it can also help the mentally ill further rationalize and further radicalize their insane thoughts, making action easier to justify. And fox nation and the website linked above does nothing about it, because it helps their audience stay at their website. They make money off these people. And they don’t care.

    • So u want legislation passed under the table….lol that’s laughable because something passed under the table to day may be you right that you hold dear passed under the table tomorrow “oh say like your freedom”

  2. Obama An idiot he will take this tragedy to pass more f===== gun control laws or take them away and he will use his puppets in the white house to do so politics are so crooked

    • As apposed to the previous idiot that WAS a puppet in the White House and started two wars that he couldn’t finish? And by the way, President Obama has passed no gun control regulations since he took office. You are whole misinformed. Think before you speak sir.

      • Oh, I see. .. any criticism of Obama is unanswered except for an attack on Bush. . . like the writer is definitely a Bush supporter? Most “right-wing” extremists are not Bush supporters. . . DUH!

  3. The latest is an supposed link to the LIBOR Fed case between the fathers of the CT and CO shooters. Waiting to see what insanity they dig up on that.

  4. Of course, the Newtown shooting didn’t happen the same way 9/11 didn’t happen or the sinking of the Titanic. Where did this bag of ass cheese go to school anyways? UDMF, University of Dumb Motherfuckers? Forget that 20 year old mentally ill loser twat Adam Lanza. This “professor” is either off his sane, regular meds prescribed by real doctors, or on loopy pills prescribed by total quacks. To James Tracy, do the entire human population a favor and kill yourself now you dipshit faggot! You are a disgrace to University professors everywhere.

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