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You people need to stop.
Seriously
.
I have listened as respectfully as possible for the last four years when you claimed that the President of the United States wasn't actually from the United States. I let it slide when you called him a Socialist and a Communist, I laughed at you when you said Obama was coming to take away your guns despite no actual evidence to justify that claim. Secret Benghazi cover ups, fake concussions, I've rolled with the right-wing punches.
Let’s start with an easy one to debunk, shall we?
I generally do not give any type of attention or credibility to the “9/11 was an inside job” type conspiracy nuts but in this case we are talking about the Sandy Hook Massacre where 26 people (including 20 six and seven year old) were brutally slaughtered by a lunatic. This is NOT a column on gun control – I've written extensively about that
topic and my only real hope is that as a country there still remains the possibility of a meaningful gun debate.
That is of course if the government stops organizing mass murders to push their agenda to strip away the Second Amendment.
Several of my friends on Facebook (People that I generally consider to be bright, insightful people)shared a video that examines a bunch of theories about the “real” story behind the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary. Using the Glenn Beck “Hey, I’m just asking questions!” model of journalistic integrity seems to be effective because millions of people have viewed this tripe and some actually give validation to this line of thinking.
And now, I proceed to make each and every one of you who watched that video and entertained even a moment of doubt over the validity of 26 innocent people being murdered feel like gigantic assholes. I’m sorry that I have to be the one to do it, but I can’t have you walking around thinking that the victims of this tragedy do not deserve every bit of respect, sympathy, and prayers that we should all be offering them.
This is not partisan, this is not politics, this is about being human beings and for a moment putting ourselves in the shoes of a mother or father who had to identify the body of their six year old son with half of his face shot off.
We all know the story, on to the ripping conspiracy theories to shreds. I’ll try to go in order through this terrible video:
Conspiracy Theory #1 – Multiple Shooters
We will start nice and slow here. The explanation here is simple – the second man is Chris Manfredonia, who was briefly detained by police when they arrived to secure the crime scene. He’s actually the father
of a student at Sandy Hook. Once the “suspect” was identified and no evidence of him being involved in the shooting could be found, he was released. Believe it or not, this is pretty routine when investigating a crime. It doesn't represent multiple gunmen, or some massive coordinated attack – It just was a concerned parent trying to check on his child. We aren't supposed to believe that the man doesn't exist, we are supposed to believe that he was identified as Chris Manfredonia and was released after questioning. Also, he liked baking gingerbread houses with his wife and daughter, which is why he was at the school.
Conspiracy Theory #2 – What Guns Were Used?
I’m not sure why it matters except to gun-nuts but this one is also pretty easy. In the competitive media environment outlets are always trying to be the first one to have the “scoop” on a story. However (and you Benghazi nuts will love this point) as an investigation continues, often more accurate and complete information is available.
The primary weapon used in the attack was a “Bushmaster AR-15 assault-
type weapon,” said Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance. Right after the story broke there were grainy videos of police pulling a gun out of the shooter’s car that they tried to identify as the AR-15 (it was the shotgun, per police reports) and autopsy and police reports afterwards found that again, the primary weapon used in the massacre was the Bushmaster AR-15.
The shooter did take his own life with one of the pistols that he also brought into the school. If you don’t believe that news organizations can sometimes have inaccurate information at the beginning of breaking news, ask Ryan Lanza how he feels about the
possibility. There were not 4 handguns, there were 2 and the segment ends with the medical examiner verifying the autopsy report that the rifle was the weapon used in the killings.
On a side note: The “conspiracy” that this is some effort to get the Assault Weapons Ban re-instituted?
Let me hit you with THIS COUNTER-CONSPIRACY THEORY. The Sandy Hook Shootings were organized by the NRA and Wal-Mart to create record gun sales in the past month.
Conspiracy Theory #3 – Where are the Survivors?
This is where you should REALLY start to feel sick to your stomach. It’s a conspiracy that 6 year old
trapped in a classroom didn't do a better job of surviving a gunman firing a semi-automatic weapon at them in confined, closed quarters?
Really – pause for a second just to feel bad about such a sad,
disgusting thought entering your brain – even for a second.
Conspiracy Theory #4 – Nancy Lanza’s Employment at Sandy Hook
The media screwed the pooch on this one. From further investigation (You know, to get those pesky facts!) it appears as though at the time that her son shot her in the head four times en route to Sandy Hook that she was not employed, and was collecting somewhere around $250,000 a year in alimony from her ex-husband.
I’m shocked that the traumatized nurse didn't answer the reporter’s question accurately
minutes after fleeing from a gunman. She must also work for the government.
Conspiracy Theory #5 – Emilie Parker and “How to Grieve”
I pray none of you reading this have ever had to bury your child. Regardless, you do not need a degree in psychology to realize that people grieve differently. Furthermore, public speaking is scary for a lot of individuals and PERHAPS having to focus on his recently deceased child caused Mr. Parker’s mood
to change. To “smell BS” in regards to a dead child is pretty deplorable. Yes, this is another moment where you can pause and feel bad for doubting that this man lost his daughter.
Now to the Facebook “ time-stamp” issue. Look, we all use Facebook: Does it always work EXACTLY right for you? My timeline disappeared for a whole week. Sometimes posts do not show up, it’s certainly not an exact science – Or a science at all. (I’m sure I’ll talk more about web searches in a bit, so let’s move
on.)
Conspiracy Theory #5a -Emilie Impersonates Jesus in Picture with President Obama.
This is going to strike those of you without children as weird but believe it or not, sometimes parents give what they call “hand me down” clothing to a younger child. It saves money, and often 6 year old aren't TOO concerned with the latest fashion. The fact that the video guy outright claims that Emilie is not dead is disgusting.
continue reading story @ link
By AATTP Guest Contributor: Spiffy Sean StylesYou people need to stop.
Seriously
.
I have listened as respectfully as possible... more
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