The 9/11 Conspiracy Entry

You know, I have really never spoken with anyone about the so-called '9/11 Truth Movement' as such. The only conversation I have ever had about it was with my Dad, not about the beliefs and arguments themselves, but as to the limits of academic freedom. (There was a professor at the University of Wisconsin who many thought should have been fired for featuring a few essays that debated the issue--last I knew, he wasn't. I guess Bill O'Reilly's campaign failed.)
My Dad thought he should have been fired for expressing such insane beliefs, in the classroom or out of it. To him, the 9/11 Conspiracy is not something he is cognitively able to believe (see William James, 'The Will to Believe'). I was on the other side, that although I remained skeptical about the validity of the 9/11 Conspiracy, that academics must be allowed to express unpopular beliefs without fear of losing their jobs. Academics are sort of a high-brow version of the Fourth Estate, or at least I always thought so.
So anyway, back to my original point. I have never really spoken with anyone about the 9/11 Conspiracy movement, so I'm not really sure how much on the 'fringe' it is. I know there are quite a few 9/11 myth books, and I've seen at least one nutjob on Fox News (not to say all people who believe in the movement are nutjobs, but this guy, yeah, he was.)
So, really, this entry may be preaching to the choir. Do people remain vehemently against the movement on principle? Or do people not care and be agnostic about it?
Well, either way, I was always agnostic about the whole thing. I guess I just figured that regardless of what the Bush Administration may have known before the attack, they used it as a reason to go after Iraq.
But finally, the curiosity got to me--it felt close-minded of me to not hear their arguments out just because they are on the fringe. So, I started by looking around the internet to see what the '9/11 Truthers' thought was the best documentary made so far. The answer seemed to be a documentary called Loose Change. I was lucky enough to find a version of Loose Change which included counter-arguments along with the movie itself. That way, I could decide for myself who was more convincing.
Well, the movie is almost 3 hours long, so unless you're pretty curious, I wouldn't waste your time. The 9/11 Truth Movement is bull shit. My dad was right about that. (I still think professors should be able to hold the view, however.) Yeah, I really overestimated their reasoning abilities. The extent of which they mislead is the only thing I underestimated. I mean there is malicious use of quotes! Let me give an example. Let's say someone was quoted as saying "It looked like a missile, but it wasn't, because it had wings and said American Airlines." Loose Change would only take the "It looked like a missile" part of the quote.
Not to mention how clearly ad-hoc their arguments are. They cite only sources which illustrate the point they are trying to make, and anyone who disagrees with them they consider part of the conspiracy. Its pretty ridiculous.
But, I'm glad. I am glad they are totally wrong. That would have really made me much more paranoid than health would advise.

On the other hand, I still am cynical. Check out This video. WOW.