Some of you may have seen Drudge‘s recent headline, "Fury as academics claim 9/11 was ‘inside job.’"  I read it intrigued, as I always am, by these people who have a need to believe in more complicated versions of events.  There’s this psychological demand in each one of them that "facts" exist to fit their worldview.  They have to believe that President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, the CIA, and the United States military-industrial complex conspired to commit bloodshed in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania or the rest of their worldview won’t line up.  They’ll actually experience cognitive dissonance for defending bin Laden, al Qaeda, Arafat, Hamas, Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad, Gaddafi, Chavez, Castro and others if they can’t point the finger at Bush et al for every one of the world’s ills.  It’s beyond cynicism.  It’s a pathology.

I’ve read the enthralling 9/11 Commission Report cover to cover and believe it’s a fairly inclusive (present national security concerns considered) account of how the greatest national tragedy of our time came to be.  I don’t know how they answer to the many independent accounts of the events and people involved in the terrorist act.  So, I looked into the "Scholars for 9/11 Truth" (sic) to find out more.  

Here’s an exerpt of their mission statement:

Scholars for 9/11 Truth members are convinced their research proves the current administration has been dishonest about what happened in New York and Washington, D.C.

These experts contend that books and articles by members and other associates have established that the World Trade Center was almost certainly brought down by controlled demolitions and that the available relevant evidence casts grave doubt on the government’s official story about the attack on the Pentagon.

They believe that the government not only permitted 9/11 to occur but may even have orchestrated these events to facilitate its political agenda.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth encourages its members to vigorously express their concerns on this score through lectures, conferences, symposia, articles, and books as well as other access routes that publicize their findings.

Scattered amongst the professors of Folklore, French, and English Literature who serve as some of the organization’s full members, I was appalled (but unsurprised) to find not one, but seven California university professors.  Three of them are teaching at public universities, meaning they’re paid with our tax dollars.  Peter Phillips, a professor of sociology and director of "Project Censored," lectures at Sonoma State.  Stephen LeRoy, a professor of finance, indoctrinates at my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara.  And Jesus Nieto, a professor of teacher education, instructs at San Diego State.  The four other California professors are: David Ray Griffin (emeritus professor of theology, Claremont School of Theology), Albert Dragstedt (classical languages and philosophy, St. Mary’s College), James Hill (intellectual property attorney, radiology, USC School of Medicine), and Paul Rea (graduate liberal studies, St. Mary’s College).

I offer this information only so that students and parents may be further informed of the state and direction of the ivory tower these days.

UPDATE: Here‘s how BYU is handling their resident conspiracy theorist.

SECOND UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg of National Review has an excellent article out about this.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.