James Meigs, editor of Popular Mechanics, pens a delicious slap in the face of the conspiracy theorists who insist that 9/11 was an "inside job." It is a measure of the degeneracy of the leftist media that a notable fraction of the American public buys into this absurd fantasy. AT received one of our largest volumes of hysterical email ever when we published Rick Moran's debunking of the moonbats.

He begins:

ON Feb. 7, 2005, I became a member of the Bush/Halliburton/Zionist/CIA/New World Order/Illuminati conspiracy for world domination. That day, Popular Mechanics, the magazine I edit, hit newsstands with a story debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories. Within hours, the online community of 9/11 conspiracy buffs — which calls itself the "9/11 Truth Movement" — was aflame with wild fantasies about me, my staff and the article we had published. Conspiracy Web sites labeled Popular Mechanics a "CIA front organization" and compared us to Nazis and war criminals.

He continues and offers specific examples of distortions endlessly repeated by the conspiracists. Very highly recommended.

Hat tip: Dick Weltz

Thomas Lifson  9 12 06

Update: At Newsbusters, Noel Sheppard links to an appearance of two Popular Mechanics editors with the writer/director of a conspiracist film oin 9/11 Loose Change. A video link and a transcript are available. As Noel says, "Have fun."

Update: Add to the ranks of moonbats the former head of the Islamic Center of Washington, DC. Via S&L:

In a September 10, 2006 appearance on an Iranian Channel 2 TV special, Muhammad Al—Asi, who is affiliated with the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, accused the U.S. government of carrying out the September 11 attacks.

Al—Asi is active in Islamic organizations and participates in Muslim conferences throughout the world and in the U.S. For instance, earlier this month he presented his paper, titled "Islamophobia: Its Causes and Cures," at the second annual conference of the Muslim Congress. According to the conference's brochure, the Muslim Congress is an "organization of the united Muslims of North America."(1)

Al—Asi has a history of making accusatory statements against the U.S., Israel, and Jews.

Now that Al Jazeera has broadcast tapes showing bin Laden with the hijackers before their mission, does this mean bin Laden is controlled by the US government?