9/13/2020
Some people just don't have the grace to notice they've been disgraced. That would be Alex Jones, conspiracy theorist, and Roger Stone, a seven-time felon who got off scot-free when Donald Trump commuted his sentence of 40 years in prison. Neither has the personal restraint to stay under their respective rocks.
On Saturday, the two got together in front of microphones and started swapping outrages. They acted as if they were star quarterbacks and Trump was their high-school principal.
Stone's recurrent topic was how Trump should impose martial law if he lost the election. No one knows if he was asked to float the idea, but he said it good and loud.
As quoted in the Huffington Post, Stone said that under martial law and the Insurrection Act, Trump will have “the authority” to arrest Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook), Tim Cook (of Apple), “the Clintons” and “anybody else who can be proven to be involved in illegal activity.” He also called for the immediate arrest of former defense secretary James Mattis, who resigned his position as Secretary of Defense in disapproval of Trump, for “sedition.”
Stone also threatened journalists, specifically at The DailyBeast. “[If] They want to play war," he added, "This is war.”
Meanwhile, Jones, a longtime scoundrel, cooed that Stone was "almost a political prisoner."
Jones' resilience would be impressive if his content weren't so vile. He has invented conspiracy theories so far-fetched that they would make almost any sane person avoid him. Jones and his InfoWars show have been banned by almost every social media company under the sun for repeated violations of rules against bullying, hate speech, and harassment.
Jones' list of lost platforms includes Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Spotify, and Vimeo. Add to that Pinterest, Mailchimp, LinkedIn, Twitter, Periscope, and Instagram. In 2019, Apple removed the InfoWars app for "objectionable content." In 2020, Google Play removed Jones's show for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Even Paypal banned him.
The take-home is simple. Like the bullies that we all remember from our formative years, these people will keep stretching their limits until someone stops them cold.
What kind of response will this conversation draw from listeners in right-wing militias? How can we deal with these provocateurs if we have to do something other than ignore them? Is it possible that they will encourage Trump to try to take over the government, as he seems to want to do?
What kind of response will this conversation draw from listeners in right-wing militias? How can we deal with these provocateurs if we have to do something other than ignore them? Is it possible that they will encourage Trump to try to take over the government, as he seems to want to do?
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