I like the way Snrub thinks.

In my usual perusing of Internet esoteric, I came across the headline, “Blink 182 Star Latest Celebrity To Question 9/11” on Alex Jones’ Prison Planet website. Yes, you read that right—a pop/punk musician doesn’t believe the official government account of 9/11.

Promoting low-level celebrity endorsements: The times they are a changin’? Or are the Truthers begging for loose change…?

I’m going to start off by admitting that I haven’t been following Alex Jones or the 9/11 truth movement as much as I used to. I think, like a lot of people out there, that as the years begin tallying up and most conspiracy theories have been sufficiently debunked or reduced to an irresolvable stalemate of rhetoric, there just isn’t much left to investigate. If there was indeed a government cover-up of assistance to or complacency with the hijackers, it seems these upper echelon schemers have succeeded in keeping it in the realm of America’s great unsolved mysteries—nestled in between the JFK assassination and Roswell.

Barring any surprise evidence or unheard testimony (both long-shots at this point), there just aren’t many options left to advanced the cause. Heck…even Jones himself—the self-proclaimed father of the 9/11 truth movement—chose in his latest documentary, Endgame, to move beyond the usual 9/11 talking points.

So with the movement stagnating, Truthers have resorted to high publicity protests and relying on celebrity endorsements to champion the cause and keep it relevant to an increasingly disinterested public. I’ve already voiced my dissatisfaction with these protests in my Destructive Disruptions column. At the time, I felt that the protests were ultimately damaging the cause by reducing credibility and were an obvious sign of a lack of inspiration. In reading this Blink 182 headline, I can’t help but think that the Truthers are taking whatever they can get.

The duality of celebrity in this country never ceases to amaze me. The stars we openly ridicule in tabloid exposes are the same we look to (and readily emulate) for the latest trends. That’s not to say all celebrities can’t bring respect and dignity to a cause, but in this case I don’t think the support of a punk rocker—whose credentials include little else than the ability to impress teenage girls—is something to be flaunted.

There’s a certain level of fascination to be had when an established and noteworthy public figure speaks his mind about an obscure or otherwise unpopular topic. Dan Aykroyd’s Unplugged UFO documentary comes to mind. But in said movie, Aykroyd wasn’t trying to push an agenda or change anybody’s mind.

Apparently expecting just this kind of criticism, staff writer Paul Watson was careful to include a paragraph at the end of the article specifically admitting that celebrity endorsements do nothing to their credibility. I give props to Jones and crew being honest about their intentions, but I think they underestimate the ‘publicity gain to credibility lost’ ratio with these endorsements.

What the Truthers need to realize is that although they may bring you eye-catching headlines, rock stars and sit-com actors are a poor substitute for experts…and despite what the article tries to convince you, such professionals are far too small in number.