Notorious conspiracy theorist loses it on national television.
Alex Jones is a central figure in the contemporary field of conspiracy theories. His radio show has taken over a huge segment of what used to be Art Bell's audience, back in the day. His websites and podcast and articles are nutty, sure, but you would hardly have expected the kind of insane ranting that he burst into when interviewed by Piers Morgan.
Some people - including no less than Glenn Beck - are wondering if Morgan invited Jones on his show specifically because he knew Jones would freak out, thus discrediting Second Amendment fanatics everywhere. It's not an implausible theory, which says more about Piers Morgan and the insatiable hunger of the 24-hour news cycle than it does about Alex Jones.
Jones has always stuck up for the lunatic fringe. In 1998, he helped rebuild the Branch Davidian church after the ATF destroyed the first one in the standoff with David Koresh. Next, Jones hit the big time when he advocated that a government conspiracy was behind the Oklahoma City bombing.
It takes a special kind of person to position white power zealots as the underdog, and champion their cause in public. In fact, no less an authority than the Southern Poverty Law Center has Jones on their list of bad guys for his constant effort to "appeal to the fears of the antigovernment Patriot movement."
Not only is Alex Jones a fan of the Second Amendment, he fervently believes that it is the only thing that will stand between us and tyranny. I mean this literally. Jones has long forecast a military takeover of our nation which will only be defeated by "true patriots" and their stockpiles of guns. Jones is vehemently opposed to any form of gun control, which he sees as the first step in the long slide into complete totalitarianism.
Long story short, if America experiences another Civil War, Alex Jones will be at the helm.
Even given his history, Jones' lengthy angry violent rant at Piers Morgan was over the top, even for him. Morgan later commented that he found Jones "terrifying," "an advertisement for gun control," and that "it was based on a premise of making Americans so fearful that they all rush out to buy even more guns."
If Jones was seeking a national stage, he sure got it on Morgan's show. And I suppose we shouldn't be terribly surprised what happened when he did.