Entry #084: Jerome Corsi
Paranoid, right-wing loon and conspiracy theorist, columnist for World Net Daily, and prolific author who has hit upon the most effective rhetorical strategy there is: just lie. Outright, all the time, and if anyone catches you lying, just lie more. Just invent the facts - some people will believe you.
Among Corsi’s conspiracy theories are the NAFTA highway, the alleged plans for a North American Government, criticism of the United States government for allegedly covering up information about the 9/11, the abiotic theory of petroleum (arguing that oil is produced from chemical reactions in the Earth, rather than from biological matter - in fact, the argument isn’t mainly the usual creationist ones, but arguments from the conspiracy that oil is a scarce commodity), and that the United States (i.e. the Democrats) really support Iran in their attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
As a matter of fact, Corsi’s attacks haven’t only been directed at the Democrats; he also alleged that a Muslim terrorist group group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida has given "strong support" to John McCain, and that "the Republican Party is controlled by what used to be called the ‘Rockefeller Wing'”. Politically, Corsi backs Chuck Baldwin, who has already been covered in our Encyclopedia.
Corsi’s most famous achievment was his 2004 book “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry,” the book that (dishonestly) started the rumors of Kerry’s “cowardice” in the Vietnam war. Purely made up, of course, but the distinction between truth and falsity has always been blurry (or rather unimportant) for people like Corsi. His equally non-factual book on Obama, book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, was released in 2008. More on Corsi’s antics can be found here.
He
frequently hangs out with White Supremacists, and with Alex Jones (who will be covered here in due time; don’t worry). He is also (in addition to being a Troofer) a Birfer and spends a lot of time warning people about the planned, Government-run concentration camps.
Even right-wing pundits like Medved think Corsi is a kook. That should tell you something.
Corsi is still a birther, of course. Here's Corsi complaining that no one is taking the birthers seriously anymore. More on Corsi's ridiculous birther promotion here. But at least his birther views evolved - and if you didn't think they could become more crazy, then ... well, they could.
And don't forget his ideas on abiotic oil. They have evolved as well. Unfortunately his gotcha-questions for those darn conspiring liberal scientist are of a kind that one would think even Alex Jones, George Noory, or Jim Pinkoski would be wary of touching them.
Ok; so apparently being a birther is not quite sufficient for Corsi. So instead he's jumped to claiming that Obama was in a gay marriage with his Pakistani roommate during his college years. Despite being a birther claiming that Obama was born in Kenya, Corsi is also pushing the idea that Obama is the son of American labor activist Frank Marshall Davis, not quite realizing that those two positions are rather blatantly incompatible. At least Corsi must be commended for his judicious selection of sources to trust.
More from Corsi’s deranged, far-away, alternative reality here. Corsi continues to support Gilbert here, proving himself to be the dumbest, most insane conspiracy theorist with any influence in the US at the moment. No mean feat. There's an excellent portrait of Corsi here.
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Diagnosis: Utterly unhinged, pathologically unable to distinguish truth from falsehood from fantasy from opinion. Has had a huge impact, however and must be considered severely dangerous.