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Not really, Alex Jones got famous by opposing the Iraq War.

BTCOG 5y ago
Alex Jones was never right wing, but has continually been tarred with being so by anxious liberal mobs. He was really anti Bush, and across partisan lines has always been against anything that could be construed as authoritarian.
nate_meurer 5y ago
You've cherry picked an outlier. How many non-crazy conservative pundits or politicians can you name who opposed the Patriot Act, or the formation of Homeland Security, or the expanded powers given to cops and federal agencies? How many prominent conservatives spoke out in defense of Edward Snowden? Was it conservatives or liberals in the media who risked their lives and careers to organize and document the information he released? During the Bush era, the opposition to the authoritarian trajectory of the war on terror was largely from liberals, although it was often strictly partisan. Conservative media completely fell in line with the Bush administration. I thought this would change when Obama was elected, but it didn't, and authoritarianism remained a driving force in conservative politics and media throughout Trump's presidency. COVID-19 has brought some more conservatives onto the anti-authoritarian side for sure. But I'm not confident this is a durable change.
zeruch 5y ago
No, he was long famous for being generally quite a conspiratorial, often fabulist, and perpetually furious radio personality for years prior.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  Banning him was so unnecessary. The overwhelming majority though he is basically a nutjob and made fun of him for selling his man pills. Attempts to silence him almost made him a martyr. Everyone arguing he was or is a security threat should think about therapy and has now people against them that are concerned with the larger picture. And the panic will continue because of that. More people will get banned. It isn't a fallacy to believe these things escalate.

Alex Jones was never right wing, but has continually been tarred with being so by anxious liberal mobs. He was really anti Bush, and across partisan lines has always been against anything that could be construed as authoritarian.

nate_meurer 5y ago

You've cherry picked an outlier. How many non-crazy conservative pundits or politicians can you name who opposed the Patriot Act, or the formation of Homeland Security, or the expanded powers given to cops and federal agencies? How many prominent conservatives spoke out in defense of Edward Snowden? Was it conservatives or liberals in the media who risked their lives and careers to organize and document the information he released? During the Bush era, the opposition to the authoritarian trajectory of the war on terror was largely from liberals, although it was often strictly partisan. Conservative media completely fell in line with the Bush administration. I thought this would change when Obama was elected, but it didn't, and authoritarianism remained a driving force in conservative politics and media throughout Trump's presidency. COVID-19 has brought some more conservatives onto the anti-authoritarian side for sure. But I'm not confident this is a durable change.

zeruch 5y ago

No, he was long famous for being generally quite a conspiratorial, often fabulist, and perpetually furious radio personality for years prior.

raxxorrax 5y ago
Banning him was so unnecessary. The overwhelming majority though he is basically a nutjob and made fun of him for selling his man pills. Attempts to silence him almost made him a martyr. Everyone arguing he was or is a security threat should think about therapy and has now people against them that are concerned with the larger picture. And the panic will continue because of that. More people will get banned. It isn't a fallacy to believe these things escalate.