Originally published in backofthebook.ca

AMONG THE TRUTHERS
By Jonathan Kay
Harper Collins
368 pages, $32.99 hardcover, $25.99 ebook

Reviewed by Frank Moher

On the evening of Saturday, June 26, 2010, Jonathan Kay headed out on his bike into the streets of Toronto to see what was up with the G20. What he saw, he wrote early the next morning in the National Post, convinced him of “”the extraordinary professionalism of the police patrolling Toronto this week.” The city was intact: tourists thronged Yonge Street, a band played on the corner. He toodled west along Queen, where he found a line of police staring down protestors. But: “There wasn’t any violence — at least none that I saw.”

Er, not so much.

We know now, of course, that the police were engaged in widespread brutality and violations of civil liberties all over Toronto that day. But Jonathan Kay didn’t see any of it and, so, of course, the police acted with “extraordinary professionalism.” Or perhaps he would argue that a little head-bashing and snatch-and-grabbery is not really violence, as in, you know, violence, and the police and state agree with him, and so that is that.

We don’t really know what Kay was thinking in the wake of the G20, as he didn’t blog much about it after that, except to call Toronto a “city of wimps.”

And so we come to Mr. Kay’s latest item of “reporting,” a book titled Among the Truthers: A Journey into the Growing Conspiracist Underground of 9/11 Truthers, Birthers, Armageddonites, Vaccine Hysterics, Hollywood Know-Nothings and Internet Addicts.

By Sonny Bunch - Book Review - "Among The Truthers" By Jonathan Kay
The most disheartening aspect of the 2012 election cycle (so far) has been Donald Trump's effort to press the "birther" argument, claiming that President Barack Obama may not have been born in Hawaii in 1961 but somewhere else—Kenya, perhaps. A survey in February recorded that 51% of GOP primary voters believed Mr. Obama to be a non-native son. In a victory for common sense, support for the position plummeted with the recent release of Mr. Obama's long-form birth certificate.

Liberals should avoid crowing too loudly, though, since they have their own share of nutters. In 2007, pollster John Zogby asked Democratic voters about the terrorist attacks of 9/11; 42% of respondents said that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney either allowed the attacks to happen or deliberately caused the attacks to happen, presumably for political gain or to reap a financial windfall by waging a war for oil in the Middle East.

CHLY 101.7 Nanamo, Host Raymond Geisler interviews Jonathan Kay of the National Post July 2009. Complete Interview.
Kay's new book " Among The Truthers" comes out May 2011.
Kay's Blog- Among The Truthers.

Related:
National Post's Jonathan Kay Attacks a "Truther" to Introduce His Own Foxified Account of the 9/11 Attack:
By Anthony J. Hall.

"9/11 Truth and The Media" Good or Bad? You Decide!"
Compiled by Edmonton 9/11 Civil Information

Originally published at http://backofthebook.ca/2010/11/22/our-911-honour-and-dishonour-roll-v-2-0/4233/

By Frank Moher

Time to update our 9/11 Honour and Dishonour Roll. Some fine qualifees have presented themselves in recent months.

The original idea of the list was to record for posterity those news organizations that have or haven't done their job in covering 9/11. You'll find that roster here. For this iteration, I'm expanding it to include individual media types -- columnists, hosts -- as they've been the busiest truthers or obscurantists of late.

As noted before, entrants may appear on both lists. And, as always, suggestions for additions are invited.

The 9/11 Media Honour Roll

Neocon propagandist hack and editor of the National Post, Canada's answer to the Washington Times, has once again attacked the 9/11 Truth Movement by issuing a series of ad hominem attacks against the University of Lethbridge and Professor Anthony Hall, who are supporting the graduate work of Josh Blakeney. Here is Blakeney's research proposal, work that will be funded to the tune of $7,714 by the university:

Inside the brain of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/Inside+brain+Mahmoud+Ahmadinejad/3577604/story.html

Jonathan Kay: Don't insult 9/11 'Truthers' by comparing them to brain-dead 'Birthers'
Posted: July 31, 2009, 2:27 PM by Jonathan Kay

Ever wonder what happened to all those right-wing loonies who sent you email in 2008 insisting that Barack Obama was a Muslim? Turns out they now have greater ambitions: They're trying to convince the world that Obama isn't even a "natural born citizen of the United States," and so is ineligible to be President.

Amazingly, these debunked conspiracy theorists not only have created a large Internet-based movement in recent months, they've also managed to convince some Republican members of Congress that there is real doubt about the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency.

The movement has been dubbed the "Birthers" — a play on the word "Truthers," who believe that the September 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job perpetrated (or known about) by warmongering elements within the U.S. government and/or military.

Jonathan Kay of the National Post showed up at another 9/11 talk, in Walkerton, Ontario, May 24th, 2009, and got an earful from the speakers: Graeme MacQueen, Anthony Hall, and Michael Truscello.

Previously:

10.27.2008 - Jonathan Kay on the humbling frustrations of debating 9/11 "Truthers"

4.23.2009 - An evening in Montreal with Richard Gage, 9/11 Truth Movement prophet extraordinaire

5.6.2009 - Richard Gage, AIA - answers Jonathan Kay

(Please also see Anthony Hall's report: 9/11 Truthers Do the Clinton-Bush Event in Toronto )

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/04/23/jonathan-kay-an-evening-in-montreal-with-richard-g...

Jonathan Kay: An evening in Montreal with Richard Gage, 9/11 Truth Movement prophet extraordinaire

Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:53 PM by Jonathan Kay

Three years ago, Richard Gage says, he was just a run-of-the mill architect, designing steel-frame buildings for clients in the San Francisco area. In March, 2006, that changed: While flipping through stations on his car radio, he caught an interview with David Ray Griffin, a retired philosophy and religion professor who calls the official account of the 9/11 attacks "one big lie."

Beginning that day, Gage became skeptical of the idea that "people living in Afghan caves" could possibly have brought down the World Trade Center. The more likely explanation, he decided, was a plot by warmongering elements within America's own government. Spreading this message is now the man's full-time job.

(Edit: I changed the headline of this blog from an insult directed at Kay generally, referring to how big of an 'a-hole' he is, to something a little less offensive, and a little more apt. My apologies, Mr. Kay, you are just ignorant. -rep.)

He admits he's never read the 9/11 Commission Report or any of its rebuttals.

Jonathan Kay on the humbling frustrations of debating 9/11 "Truthers"
Posted: October 27, 2008, 1:30 PM by Jonathan Kay
Jonathan Kay

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