FAU prof says Sandy Hook massacre may have been gov’t conspiracy
A cogent argument against tenure, from Florida’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper:
A communication professor known for conspiracy theories has stirred controversy at Florida Atlantic University with claims that last month’s Newtown, Conn., school shootings did not happen as reported — or may not have happened at all.
Moreover, James Tracy asserts in radio interviews and on his memoryholeblog.com. that trained “crisis actors” may have been employed by the Obama administration in an effort to shape public opinion in favor of the event’s true purpose: gun control.
“As documents relating to the Sandy Hook shooting continue to be assessed and interpreted by independent researchers, there is a growing awareness that the media coverage of the massacre of 26 children and adults was intended primarily for public consumption to further larger political ends,” writes Tracy, a tenured associate professor of media history at FAU and a former union leader.
Here’s hoping the good professor has no plans for a Connecticut vacation anytime soon.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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176 comments Add your comment
NY
January 9th, 2013
4:13 pm
Hope he does not own a gun. If so make sure FBI takes that away.
jbean3
January 9th, 2013
4:16 pm
Seriously!??!?! Why would ANYONE want to LIE about the death of their child??? This nut needs his head examined!
Myron Cojen, M.D. Psy.
January 9th, 2013
4:21 pm
I have not had an opportunity to meet with this gentleman, Prof. Tracy, but based on his statements I would speculate that he is suffering from acute paranoid delusional syndrome aggravated by Seasonal Affective Depression Disorder (SADD). Basically, what happens is that during the winter months (yes, even in sunny Florida) when the days are shorter we tend to sleep more. When we are sleeping, we are susceptible to misfiring neurons and chemical imbalance in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical in the brain that affects mood and it’s reception and absorption in certain areas of the brain is linked to depression. In other words, too much sleep leads to bad dreams, which causes the sufferer to wake up feeling depressed by the bad dreams, and the cycle repeats itself.
The depression aggravates feelings of paranoia and can lead to acute symptoms, which may involve believing the President of the United States is involved in a conspiracy to mislead the public regarding his birthplace. When the SADD sufferer is exposed to dramatic or sensationalized versions of “news” or current events, such as by watching Fox News, the problem may be exacerbated.
In my professional opinion, this professor needs to take 40 mG of Prozac every day and should not be allowed anywhere near school campuses.
Lacey Peters
January 9th, 2013
4:23 pm
The only thing more insulting than this guy’s comments is the Westboro Baptist Church people protesting at the funerals for the victims.
BigAintheBigA
January 9th, 2013
4:25 pm
I’m surprised anybody’s expressing shock. Our entire culture is chock-a-block with space cadets like this.
Redcoat
January 9th, 2013
4:26 pm
I bet he believes in man made climate change too!
Shine
January 9th, 2013
4:29 pm
He’s a nut. Of course he is no nuttier than the gun grabbing loons all over the news these days. They are as kooky and fruity as the “dont tax the rich” crowd on the right and deserve the same boot to the nuts as the right wing kooks just got.
Boot a nutjob democrat along with a right wing kook!!
Chris
January 9th, 2013
4:36 pm
Funny how you slam a person for their opinion but you put no thought or effort into seeing if it has any foundation. You are the same people who the government loves to have has voters… stay in your proper place little minions and don’t ever question big brother! http://www.cracked.com/article_18955_6-crackpot-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 9th, 2013
4:36 pm
This guy is just trying to use the Sandy Hook tragedy to advance his cause, kinda like obozo is.
mcdaviddawg
January 9th, 2013
4:40 pm
Didn’t have a very high opinion on Florida Atlantic before this, but this drops to the level on the TV schools. What a fool and the news media doesn’t need to give him an coverage.
curious
January 9th, 2013
4:44 pm
Paul Broun has invited him to speak at his next town hall.
JustSaying
January 9th, 2013
4:45 pm
How does an article about a man saying something about a conspiracy theory about killing children turn into politic baiting? That is sad! Anyone who thinks that the government killed these children for any reason has SERIOUS MENTAL ISSUE no matter what your party affiliation is!
Tough Guy for the Next 15 Minutes
January 9th, 2013
4:45 pm
There is a difference between reacting to an event and exploiting it.
The President has done nothing to further restrictions on anyone’s gun rights in the last four years, but all you lemmings run around spending your entire pathetic pay checks stocking up on guns and ammo based on rumors started by the NRA to trick you into spending money. The NRA doesn’t represent gun owners or gun rights. They represent the people who manufacture and sell guns and ammo. You got tricked into thinking your gun rights were in jeopardy, just like you got tricked by the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch into thinking you had anything in common with rich people or that Obama was gonna raise your taxes.
Now who’s the naive one?
curious
January 9th, 2013
4:46 pm
Aesop’s Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 9th, 2013
4:36 pm
“This guy is just trying to use the Sandy Hook tragedy to advance his cause, kinda like obozo is.”
What cause is that? Reduce mass murders?
If it walks like a duck........
January 9th, 2013
4:47 pm
I think it was George Bush’s fault. I wonder who this guy voted for in November?
JustSaying
January 9th, 2013
4:48 pm
@Chris it is on the internet so it must be true! Okay stop watching television commercials!
People Kill People
January 9th, 2013
4:51 pm
I own multiple semi automatic weapons… Would love to see the government try and take away my 15 round magazines!
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
4:53 pm
Dumb Masses-
I couldn’t agree more. The majority of the people on this board have been brainwashed by mainstream media for too long. If CNN doesn’t report it, then it isn’t so. Furthermore, I agree with you on the party issue. It’s all by design. Hey Sheeple – why don’t you find out who owns the AP and all of other major news outlets. It’s not a coincidence. Don’t despair, DM people are waking up, slowly but surely, and when the lights get turned on, won’t they all be surprised!
Plow
January 9th, 2013
4:54 pm
@Sister….you should be ashamed of yourself.
Plow
January 9th, 2013
4:56 pm
That goes for you too @wakeup…I hope the parents of those angels never see your idiotic comments.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
4:57 pm
Chris –
Don’t waste your time. It’s a typical defense mechanism for them to name call. It’s based on fear and nothing else. 10 years ago, you would have never been able to convince me that our own government could be so evil, but oh how wrong I was!
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
5:01 pm
Plow –
Don’t hate just because you can’t think for yourself. I’m surprised you took a break from flipping the channels between reality TV and CNN – with the news reels on repeat and the crawl at the bottom of the screen. Brainwashing at it’s best. I’m not ashamed at all – you should be for feeding into the moral decline that is now called TV. Read a book!
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 9th, 2013
5:04 pm
tough guy – obozo did raise taxes.
DJ Sniper
January 9th, 2013
5:08 pm
Please explain to me how the Sandy Hook situation relates to Obama and raising taxes.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
5:10 pm
@ DJ – I see…so if someone is bi-racial – they automatically default to black? Thanks for clearing that up. It’s a tired argument. If blacks didn’t have such a chip on their shoulder it would be a non issue. Don’t even try the slavery thing because that is also, a tired argument. Racism goes both ways.
Sofa King WTI
January 9th, 2013
5:11 pm
No, Congress did not renew tax cuts. But keep on posting stuff. No one on here knows the difference anyway.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
5:16 pm
Tough Guy- what rumors has the NRA started? The groundwork for tighter gun laws has been going on since Columbine. In a perfect world, we’d keep the guns out of criminals’ hands and call it a day. In reality, no law in the land will ever stop a criminal from getting a gun. Obama has been flirting with tightening the laws for some time now and it’s oh-so- convenient that incidents like this are happening – and all over the news for days on end. Herd the sheep, herd the sheep!
DJ Sniper
January 9th, 2013
5:17 pm
Wakeup, stop trying to twist things around. We all know that America tends to view bi-racial people as black. And you continue to prove my point about how some people are unwilling or unable to admit how race plays a part in all of this. If Obama was a white guy with a foreign sounding name, I guarantee you that the birthers wouldn’t have made an issue of whether or not he was a US citizen.
If you think that race doesn’t part of this, then go talk to some of these white people out here who have specifically stated that they don’t want “a n****r in the White House.”
DJ Sniper
January 9th, 2013
5:20 pm
Wakeup, here’s a prime example: At the CPAC conference last February, Wayne LaPierre told the crowd full of wingnuts that Obama was trying to lull people into a false sense of security so that he could repeal the Second Amendment. Those idiots bought it hook, line, and sinker.
Neo-cons have been claiming that Obama is coming to get their guns ever since he got elected, yet that didn’t happen. Just more fear mongering from the right.
WAW
January 9th, 2013
5:20 pm
The conspiracy was not from the liberal government, but rather by the NRA ahd the Fire Power Marketer’s Association of America. It worked. At gun stores you have to “take a number” to buy your own personal M16 knock-off.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
5:21 pm
Ok DJ – I see your point – but let me go on record and say that I am not one of those people. My point is- I think it is idiotic for people to play the race card BECAUSE Obama is biracial. Why does biracial mean black? Why not white? It’s ironic, really.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
5:26 pm
I don’t think it is fear mongering. I have no malice towards Obama at the end of the day, because all he is is somebody’s “boy”, just like all those before him. Let’s be real and say that there really is no “Democratic and Republican” party. As someone stated earlier, it’s all the same “company” and until more people realize that, and start working together to take this country back from Big Government, then we, I am afraid, are doomed.
MamaD
January 9th, 2013
5:29 pm
Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.
RGB
January 9th, 2013
5:33 pm
“Here’s hoping the good professor has no plans for a Connecticut vacation anytime soon.”
I agree. All the Leftist-Statists there are looking for someone to take a pound of flesh from and when the liberati are desirous of proving they are against violence, that’s when they become the most violent.
WAW
January 9th, 2013
5:36 pm
Well now the truth comes out. In another down-the-page article in the AJC, a professor in Florida has reported: “Gun violence is just one of many factors contributing to lower U.S. life expectancy”. It’s all about Social Security. Get rid of the old farts. Then the life-time pay and perks of members of Congress is the only thing really secure.
burntgrassroot
January 9th, 2013
5:46 pm
First, condolences to the loved ones of those who died in the Newtown CT tragedy. Second, every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. In this matter, the tragedy’s “two or three witnesses” would be 1) media coverage, 2) the responders, and 3) the bodies. Third, once these witnesses discredit Dr. Tracy’s assertion, no more attention, media or otherwise, should be given to the discredited assertion. A discredited assertion is either more aptly called a lie, fiction, or delusion. This delusion actually speaks more to the need for an objective national discussion about mental illness and its many facets. Foolishly, Americans confuse pride with dignity; many would rather die (or kill) than admit defeat, dishonor or disease. Finally, free speech is protected by our US Constitution’s First Amendment, but this protection only prevents Congress from prohibition of speech. A reasonable person understands that there are consequences to speech (e.g. termination of employment, litigation, therapy), and one cannot say anything, everywhere (e.g. Don Imus, Rob Parker).
lynnie Gal
January 9th, 2013
5:49 pm
So I guess the professor thinks the Newtown children and their teachers are just hiding from their families, maybe somewhere in the Cayman Islands where Romney’s money is hiding. Geesh.
Peter Phillips
January 9th, 2013
5:57 pm
James Tracy isn’t promoting a “conspiracy” theory regarding Sandy Hook, but rather saying the mainstream media distorts the news, and doesn’t follow up on important questions. There were reports of more than one shooter in the Sandy Hook case. Tracy is not denying that it happened, but he is saying that when such events do happen it is the responsibility of the media to fully investigate all aspects of the story and not just sensationalize the tragedy.
Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Say What???
January 9th, 2013
6:03 pm
@ DJ Sniper… Um… President Obama put Vice President Biden in charge of coming up with new GUN CONTROL laws… So I am confused… Are you saying that President Obama said this but he really didn’t mean it, or that Vice President Biden is such a gun-lover that when he presents is his ideas, none of them will actually say anything about removing the ability to buy any gun, ammo, or magazine that is currently legal to buy and own?
Just so you don’t think that I am just one of those “Rightwing Nuts”, I believe the in second ammendment, but for the life of me I can’t understand why someone (other than an active member of the military) needs a semi-automatic rifle with a 15+ round magazine. I just find it… ah… “inconsistant” that you state the President does not want gun control yet he has held multiple pressers expressing that exact position.
florida guy
January 9th, 2013
6:04 pm
WOW. Even more incredible, this guy is actually being paid by the state-(well, on second thought, that’s really not all that surprising). Obviously an FSU graduate.
Kris
January 9th, 2013
6:11 pm
One would be amazed at the goof balls that teach in higher education, sex offenders, a little junior college up north had a child molester (with PHD) and now this idiot. Run mental as well as background checks on college personnel..
God bless the parents and children in Newton…Give them a break
Sam the Sham
January 9th, 2013
6:34 pm
Curiously, there have been 11 mass shootings since the 2009 inauguration, including one involving a sitting United States Congresswoman, and this administration has taken NO ACTION WHATSOEVER. Only after an election to a second term is this deemed a crisis. There was no government conspiracy involved in the Sandy Hook shooting, but what is happening since is certainly suspect.
Buckhead Boy
January 9th, 2013
6:39 pm
This is the same man who last year suggested that our government has been covertly allied with al-Qaeda, supporting it militarily and financially. After the killing of bin Laden, he explained that away as being necessary so that al-Qaeda could be propagandized by the government as “good”, after having been as “evil” for so long. I suppose that wasn’t sufficiently outrageous in these times to get him the attention he craves. He’s no danger to anyone but fools — so long as keeps just talking.
fletch
January 9th, 2013
6:48 pm
Yes, the poor sheep in this discussion…lashing out over Left vs. Right, Democrat Vs. GOP…just like .gov wants. They are all the same people!! Wake up!! Divide and conquer….so sad.
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
7:03 pm
@ Fletch – exactly. @ Peter Phillips – right! What little I did listen to the news that day, the story was never consistent. Why is that? Were these news outlets so desperate to get the “exclusive” that they didn’t bother fact checking? “The gunman’s mother taught at the school, wait no she didn’t. The gunman’s brother is believed to be the second shooter. Wait – no he’s not involved at all. The larger gun was left in the trunk of the car – wait – no it wasn’t it was the weapon used. It all stinks! I’m not denying this event happened, but there’s more to meet the eye here.
FAU parent
January 9th, 2013
7:04 pm
Oh great, so this is what I’m paying for. My son is a student at FAU and hopefully he has not had the
“Nutty Professor” as one of his instructors
wakeup
January 9th, 2013
7:06 pm
By the way – the Bin Laden thing stinks too. How mysterious, and odd that his body “was disposed of according to religious tradition”. Really? How funny that Obama’s ratings were waaayy down and then – woops there it is! Agenda, agenda, agenda. Sheep, sheep, sheep. If CNN is selling, the sheep are buying.
Carl
January 9th, 2013
7:12 pm
This nut job has to be a Democrat.
Old timer
January 9th, 2013
7:28 pm
Ellen…collegemprofessormand republican are not usually synonymous ….I know many college teachers and most very very liberal….
Old timer
January 9th, 2013
7:29 pm
College professors and