Alex Jones and my thoughts from over the years. More of the triangulation approach to news. Streisand Effect.
I know that Infowars can illicit a sneer from many people, or a knowing chuckle and shaking of the head as they treat anyone that looks at such a site as an idiot. They are demonstrating their pity for the person for their so obvious ignorance. Why would anyone listen to that nut, or read that drivel?
First so I can at least keep your attention until later in the post where I elaborate, I think Alex Jones is a jerk, ass, whatever negative term that you might use for someone conceited, arrogant, and narcissistic in nature. That doesn't mean I think he is someone we should censor or ignore, he often breaks important information and news.
With that said. I do not believe allowing myself to be conditioned to have a mental knee jerk reaction to ANY source for news is a good thing. It is a clue that my mind has been closed, and barriers to certain input have been erected. Now some people may view such barriers as a good or even great thing. Why? Are you afraid? Do you think that something they say will actually rot your mind? Can you listen to people you disagree with and still think for yourself?
If you can think for yourself and you don't let others do your thinking for you then why would there be any reason to close the doors to any source of information? Who told you that you shouldn't listen to Infowars or bashed Alex Jones? Was it you reacting to something you heard him say?
An interesting thing about Infowars compared to mainstream media is that it is pretty consistent. It doesn't really flip flop and act so much like a fair weather friend. It is also not driven by teleprompters.
As such you are watching people with news articles and other things to remind them of their talking points just talking. They talk several hours every day and they do it without teleprompters. If you did that day in and day out don't you believe it is likely we could find you saying some stupid things from time to time? How about if you say something that actually makes sense but, by editing and removing some of the context we can make you sound like a loon?
So why do you hold Alex Jones to a different/double standard? Could it be because you are comparing him to the mainstream that is heavily teleprompter driven, and "oops satellite problems" when they disconnect a guest who starts saying things they don't want to hear?
I check a bit from Infowars every day. Though I look at many other news sources as well. Some that I dislike a great deal I still check. Why? I am attempting a triangulation type of approach. If I get a lot of different data points on topics then it is my hope that I can at least mentally triangulate what is more likely to be close to the truth. This doesn't always work, but then I don't know of any technique that does always work. I do know that holding up your hand in front of people you don't like doesn't reveal the truth. It slants it in one direction on the triangle and shifts us further from the truth.
I will say that I've often seen Infowars release information well in advance of the rest of media. I've seen a lot of it laughed off as crazy until months later the mainstream media is saying the same thing and by then most people have forgotten than months ago they were calling Infowars crazy for talking about the same thing.
My dislike of Alex Jones
I believe that Alex Jones is telling you what he believes to be true. I believe he is a genuine person. Yet I also think he can be a bit of a jerk. That doesn't mean he is not a patriot, and doesn't care. People who care can still act like jerks. In fact, we all have the potential to act like jerks from time to time.
I believe that to solve a lot of the crazy problems in the world that it requires solidarity. I believe a lot of people with different ideologies, beliefs, etc need to find ways to work together to fix the problems of the world and stop the psychopaths that over generations have matriculated to the top of the global power structures.
I followed Alex Jones for awhile. I believe I encountered him for the first time somewhere between 2003-2005. I watched all of his documentaries as I thought they had things worth considering and they had information I couldn't find anywhere else. NOTE: I didn't say I believed them and fell for an "appeal to authority" fallacy. No, I listened, I considered, I often used them as starting points to go do my own digging. Often I didn't agree with some of the conclusions that Alex would make.
Then he did a special on Bohemian Grove. The content of the documentary was informative. That documentary was when I first saw what I consider a problem with Alex Jones. It happened when there were a bunch of "New Agers" protesting the Bohemian Grove. NOTE: I did not say Satanists or Luciferians protesting, which are terms Alex very much likes to use. There are a lot of VERY peaceful new agers. In fact, they often are more peaceful than most Chrisitians I encounter. Many of them do not endorse war for example. In the documentary Alex Jones showed what I consider one of his biggest problems for the first time that I had seen.
He took time in the documentary to blast and belittle the people that were protesting the SAME THING he was there to protest. Why? They were not Christian, and history shows that despite the peaceful message it is supposed to have it can be twisted into a very intolerant thing from time to time. This is not so much the Christianity, but human nature. Organized religions of ALL types seem to have points where they are intolerant of others. My issue with this was not me supporting Christians, or New Agers. My issue was that it shattered the idea of solidarity.
I believe the founding fathers of the United States of America were rather brilliant people. It is important to note they were not all Christians contrary to the myth people like to portray. The majority of them were some variant. Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and others were Deists which is not an organized religion. John Adams was a Universalist which today is merged within the Unitarian Universalist movement (UU). Universalism at the time of Adams was still very close to Christianity with a few differences. Namely it didn't buy into the HELL aspect as existing. Then there were Catholics, Protestants, and others. They realized something important, and it is this important thing that Alex is failing in.
If they condemned one religion, or elevated another then they would destroy their solidarity. They needed that solidarity to win the fight they had entered. They made "Freedom of Religion" a cornerstone of the movement. This was a key to keeping solidarity and letting them focus on the problems that had nothing to do with their religion.
Alex misses this and frequently he goes down the road of what I would call a "Bible Thumper". I respect the right of people to have their beliefs. I do not respect people forcing their beliefs on others. This means I also don't like what I call "Atheism Thumpers" as they can be just as bad.
This was the first sign I saw from Alex that I thought was a mistake.
Years later there was an anti-2nd Amendment movement in Austin, Texas where Infowars is located. Some local protestors got a permit and formed a rally to DEFEND the 2nd amendment. In other words, they were on Alex's side. They were protesting and had been for awhile and giving speeches on the capital building. Eventually here comes Alex Jones with his bullhorn. The lady that organized the protest tried to welcome him and tell him she was glad he was there, and he just kept shouting over his bullhorn. He then belittled her in what I consider a spectacularly arrogant fashion. It was at that point that I started considering him an arrogant asshole. That doesn't mean I still won't listen to him. He releases unique information. I do consider him a jerk though. I think he owed that lady and the other people there that he should have been in solidarity with a big apology.
Streisand Effect
I do consider today Infowars as on the front line of resisting global tyranny. I do not see Infowars as just Alex Jones. He is the seed for that organization and he is definitely the most bombastic. There are other people there now. Collectively, they are a pretty informative group. Yes, the bias is there, but as I said I use them as one of the points of trying to triangulate closer to the truth.
An interesting thing is that I believe a lot of the reason Donald Trump won the presidency was because people were finally waking up to the mainstream media trying to force feed them who they should elect, and tell them who was "unelectable" before any elections had even begun. Enough people were finally tired of it. If the mainstream media tells you that you should vote for X, then you probably don't want them unless you like the status quo and want no change. If the mainstream media tells you that someone sucks or you shouldn't look at them, then that person might be worth looking at.
They didn't learn from this. They keep triggering the Streisand Effect. For those of you unfamiliar with the term that is the process on the internet where by bashing, attempting to censor, etc something you instead greatly amplify the interest and attention for that topic.
I see the mainstream media, and the government frequently triggering this effect lately.
They did it with PizzaGate (now called PedoGate). I only half paid attention to PizzaGate until just briefly mentioning it resulted in massive censorship of great journalists like Ben Swann who had been covering very controversial topics for years, yet him saying "It seems to warrant an investigation" and not saying it was true or false was sufficient cause to virtually scrub him and years of work from the internet. I started paying attention to Pizzagate then. Streisand Effect.
Lately their attacks on Alex Jones seem to always result in a Streisand Effect. They don't seem to be learning from it either.
The recent folk song video they worked hard to put together against him was a great example. Alex Jones loved the song, played it on air, laughed, sang along with it, and showed the context for all of the things they used as lyrics which sound really bad when taken out of context.
He went so far as to have a contest which is currently going for $20,000 for people to make their own version of the same song, with the same exact lyrics. So far there have been heavy metal, country, folk, techno, rap, and many other versions.
This was a massive Streisand Effect and their attack song was actually great publicity for Alex Jones and Infowars.
It has been stated they are starting a new comedy show that is supposed to be a comedy hit piece where the main character is basically Alex Jones. Sounds like another Streisand Effect waiting to happen to me.
The recent John Oliver comedy hit piece on Alex Jones. Likely another Streisand Effect. While it was amusing, it did have it's flaws. Such as the color of the Caveman Bone Broth that Alex Jones drank and the color of the one John Oliver drank. They were not close to the same. That was a clue the preparation was different. Whether the stuff tastes bad or not, I don't know. I've never purchased anything from the Infowars store. I may at some point if they have something I want.
Another thing that John Oliver and Mainstream media are attacking Infowars and Alex Jones for is them advertising products in their store. This advertisement has increased from what it once was. Yet it is less than the commercial breaks on mainstream media to sell you all the big pharmaceutical company garbage. "You might want this product A, because it can help with B. Though beware side effects may include Q, R, S, T , U , V, W, X, Y, and Z."
So instead we have to listen to Infowars tell us occasionally about their products, which honestly sound a lot nicer than the crap in the commercials. Also keep in mind they attacked his chance at monetizing videos on places such as youtube and tried to kill off funding that way.
Now you may be thinking "John Oliver doesn't have commercials". You would be right, but it is on a channel that you have to pay a monthly subscription fee to. So it actually has a guaranteed revenue stream. Without that guarantee it wouldn't be in business without advertisement.
So when laughing and poking fun at the Infowars commercials (which I do too with friends) keep in mind that those are the commercials for that broadcast. From that perspective it is not unusual and it even makes sense. With their revenue streams being controlled and cut off by the opposition it is one of the only things they can do. For now.
I think that's about all I have to say on Alex Jones and Infowars at this time. There was a lot I wanted to say as you can see.
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWc8U4ZhHmzGiNDFgvq2UeSEHT1x9bheZ56rPAPhDH4eX/image.png)
@dwinblood Getting information from all sides and making your own opinion is key, which you touched on brilliantly! I agree on many things you mentioned but believe you are mistaken on a few things about Alex Jones and Infowars.
He has flip flopped/changed his stance a lot over the years which I have proven in this short video of the man himself
Here you can judge for yourself if he is fighting censorship or selling disinfo
BTW have you seen Alex even mention the new absurd anti-BDS legislation that could cost Americans up to ONE million and 20 year prison sentence just for supporting BDS.
Alex is just like CNN with his over the top propaganda for Trump, he's just the other side of the same coin. Just look at his praising of Trump's budget plan that completely ignores Trump's increase in military spending to claim "Trump will spend less". (for one example)
Which brings me to my 3rd point, how can you believe his a Patriot??? When he refuses to call out the blatant infiltrators whom receive bipartisan support. It's not like he's not aware, as he's touched on it in the past
Just because I have proven Alex to be misleading, unpatriotic and inconsistent, does not mean, I believe you should not listen to the man, but to do it with a massive grain of salt (just like CNN)
Thanks for the material. It'll take me a bit to get through it.
This is actually not true. Does he mention it every time they talk about the budget? No. I have however heard them bash the military spending before. I've also heard them not agree with Trump.
Also with the way the mainstream media is at the moment I do not blame him for his stance. I am not a Trump supporter, but if Jones and people like him were not speaking up I'd feel compelled to do so just to offset the obvious media bias that has been slanted heavily against him since before he was even elected and only intensified afterwards.
There is a clear double standard. NOTE: I did indicate I know Infowars is biased in my post. So that is not telling me anything new.
I haven't watched your flip flop video yet, but I'm going to bet it is missing context. Flip Floppers tend to pretend they never were the other way. I've heard Jones change his mind, and I've also seen him explain WHY. This is normal and is not flip flopping. Now if I were to leave out that explanation, or perhaps catch a clip later where he didn't rehash his explanation for his stance that was already explained elsewhere then it might seem to be flip flopping.
With that said he may indeed have flip flopped. I simply haven't seen it yet. I have seen him change his mind and explain why. This is human and only a FOOL refuses to ever change their mind.
@dwinblood It's quotes like "only a FOOL refuses to ever change their mind" why I have much respect for you! I saw fellow steemians spread Trump budget with Infowars source that didn't have anything about military expansion, but it is possible Alex has mentioned it and I missed it. Doesn't change the fact of InfoWars over support/propaganda for Trump
You may have touched on how bias he is, but I claim he is just as bias as CNN.
When you see undeniable video footage of someone flip flopping, thinking ahead of time it's "out of context" seems below you friend
Definitely not. He is not greenscreening and claiming to be in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He is not claiming to be on a conference with someone in another country to find out that both participants are actually simply standing in different places on the same parking lot.
He is not claiming to be at some huge feminist rally to only have someone snap a video on their cell phone showing a nice lit setup little square of pavement and using camera angles they make 10 people walking around in their boxed in area seem like a crowd.
He is also not using a teleprompter.
I don't know that it was. I simply was playing devil's advocate. Also we all tend to go into things with some of our own internal bias. Many of those clips I saw would require internal bias looking for something that was not definitively there.
I also write to you as I am going. It kind of shares my thought process with you. So I can and do change my mind. I also saw it as giving you feedback... when you give me something that is a lot of different clips the only reasonable way I can respond is as I go, otherwise I likely won't remember certain things or be able to point out specific points in the video.
I figure you want honesty, which is what I am trying to give you.
@dwinblood Alex has claimed the FED is run by Muslims recently and Alex has claimed Arabs own Hollywood recently, but you're right he doesn't use a teleprompter! Is that a defense for making such idiotic statements? If you don't think that's as pathetic as CNN green screen (I surely do)
I don't think it is as pathetic as CNN. I don't know anyone YOURSELF and MYSELF included that if we spoke as much as Alex does off the top of our head wouldn't say some stupid shit once in awhile. The teleprompter saves you from that. Hell in those cases they don't have to be even your own words. Your writing team can whip something up.
I don't view Alex as super human, so I expect mistakes a human would make. Especially when it is done on the fly.
If I am going to watch a fictional movie I'd like people to know their scripts. If someone is going to spout teleprompter babble at me I'd rather simply READ the script and save myself a lot of time. :)
@dwinblood Well we disagree on the level's of patheticness (I may have invented that word) and that's okay
The greenscreen and fabricating the scenes as though they were Iraq during an air raid and bomb sirens was 100% false and painted the entire thing as a LIE.
The same parking lot stating someone from New York was talking to someone in London (may not be the actual end points but they were far apart so I am using those for illustration) when in fact both parties were in the same parking lot was fabrication. It was a lie.
The setting up a stage to show a BIG protest that was in like a 10 meter by 10 meter box on the pavement taped off as though it was an actual protest was fabricated and a LIE.
Alex Jones saying something stupid, is Alex Jones saying something stupid.
So yeah I see a VAST different between the two things.
The CNN shit is planned and has a lot of budget behind it. There can be no excuse for it. It could only be knowingly done.
When Alex Jones says something stupid it generally wasn't planned.
So yeah, very big difference as far as I am concerned.
By the way... this image from your first video...
That is similar to the young turks "False Dichotomy". Implying that you either get it or you are a moron tries to force choices into either or. There are often other choices than that. They may meet those criteria and draw different conclusions. They may agree with you on some points or not others.
False Dichotomies are a pretty common appeal to emotion technique to try to get the person to agree with you as they don't want to be considered a "fool".
Yet people that recognize these things have a different reaction. It appears as a big red flag. "Uh oh this person is trying to force me to agree with them so I won't be considered a fool" Trying to be part of the herd, the in crowd.
I'm one of those that sees this as big red flag. I only share this because you made this video so at least by telling you about my PERCEPTIONS of this tactic it is something you might consider in future videos. Now most of the population doesn't know shit about critical thinking. This stuff works great on them. However, that changes a piece from being journalism and simply presenting information to being propaganda.
Part of my personal mission is to get more people aware of such things. So I hope you see this as POSITIVE criticism for your future efforts.
If money is your primary motive then keep it up. It seems to serve the young turks well.
If reason, rationality, and good journalism are your goal then this might be something to avoid in the future...
I'm off to continue watching...
@dwinblood Thank you for the well interpreted pointer and I wish to inform you I have also created videos on the Young Turks hypocrisy and ridiculous (bullshit) ridicule of Trump
Awesome. And while I may seem harsh. I am being honest. I respect your work. I figure if I give you my criticisms that can only make any future works you do that much better.
So don't take it as me attacking you. I do not mean it that way. I appreciate the time that you give me A LOT to digest.
I've explained in my last reply to your reply WHY I give you a running commentary as I watch. It is the only way I know to insure I don't miss a thought, or miss where the thought was at and what it was about.
That doesn't mean I might not change my mind by the end. So you basically are getting a play by play of my thoughts as I watch.
Nope I haven't seen it. I'll keep an eye open for it though. I haven't watched anything from him for the past two days. Too much work related and other stuff going on.
I do see Alex as heavy on Trump support. Yet I ask you this. If he didn't what would that leave you? That would leave you pretty much 95% anti-trump propaganda day in and day out. I don't particularly care for Trump but I find myself having to push back because of how overt and slanted the news is.
He actually has been calling them out the past couple of weeks. If you are speaking of the established senators/congressmen that clearly are all colluding and have been colluding regardless of party.
I tend to refer to them as the Neo-Con movement that infiltrated both parties simultaneously. Pretend to be against each other but all pushing the same agendas. A lot of them came into power during the Bush-Cheney years, and others that were there prior to that seem to have been "converted".
If those are who you are talking about I've actually heard him and others on his team calling them out.
So much of what he does seems to be REACTIONARY to mainstream, and only occasionally is before mainstream. In those cases it seems more as PREEMPTIVE. So not really LEADING the news... he is in a constant defensive stance would be my take on it. So many of his stories are reactions. Others are him attempting to PREEMPT and action he is sure is coming. It is very rare to see an Infowars original piece that is not one of those two things.
@dwinblood The anti-BDS legislation has been spoken a lot about in the alt-media for weeks now (just fyi)
As for 95% media anti-Trump well I would argue it's not that high (hense Fox News or most conservative channels) but I agree it's slanted in the big cable stations and I'm aware that's why so many are quick to defend/support Trump.
Are you aware that most of the alt-media were/are for Trump. The slant goes both ways really. The whole thing has really divided the public well
Yes, but the alt-media is on the internet. There is still a large portion of the voting population that never sees that side. They still only get their information from the television.
As to Fox... it is sometimes for Trump and sometimes against him. In some periods its been slanted against him as well. If you had to pick a mainstream outlet that sometimes does defend him it would be Fox.
I also have known Fox (Faux) news was not the best of sources for a long time. I do like John Stossel, and Judge Napolitano quite a bit that often appear on there, but that's about it and they are not on very often.
EDIT: What I am getting at is that a lot of it is the Established vs the Anti-Established. So yeah there is a fight. There is also some solidarity among alt-media which can inject bias.
I do. I recognize no authority of anyone out there.
@dwinblood "I do. I recognize no authority of anyone out there." WELL SAID
@dwinblood your consistency on being open minded enough to listen to different viewpoints and make up your own mind is so refreshing.
Some people are much better than others, maybe only having one or two topics that they view as religious canon who's message is above questioning.
I have to say, I think you're probably the most logical & rational person I know of.
Thanks.
I try. I find flaws with my own thinking frequently. Sometimes I write about them. It helps me to become more aware of them to write about them.
See, how many people are even willing to admit flaws?
It's a pleasure to know you Sir (even if only digitally).
The feeling is mutual.
For a long time I was a little embarrassed to keep Alex Jones in my Facebook feed, but at some point what he said started to make sense. Now I've gone a little further and added Milo to my feed. I don't usually have the patience to watch long videos, but the titles at least give me an idea of what's going on. And, as you say, when something catches my eye, I always check multiple sources. Very good post and thanks for the Alex Jones song. I had not heard it before.
I have trouble watching long videos too. If I could have found just the clip I was referring to in the Bohemian Grove video I would have shared that instead. I think I described it enough in words that it was not required. The Pizzagate/BenSwann one the first 10 minutes or so are more than sufficient on that one... the rest is just a deep dive on the topic if you want to know more and doesn't talk about Ben Swann as much.
But yeah I added the videos AFTER I wrote the text, so it is mainly there if you wanted to know MORE about what I was referring to.
The enemy relies on that attention span. The plan is so detailed and crazy, you honestly don't have time to figure it out before the new world order is boot stomping your face.
Yeah I realized in the 90s when Bob Dole was running for President that my attention span was different from most people. They couldn't remember what he said 6 months ago. I could. So when he flip flopped they had no clue and just ate up the latest thing he said.
love your thoughts - I think the streisand effect is becoming something that while the majority of the public may not use the term is becoming aware of the concept. People like Alex Jones and other independent media sources have been able to hit a tipping point - specifically with social media users - that have forced mainstream media and politicians to respond to -
Im super thankful it feels like our government is coming back to the middle and able to have legitimate dialogue about issues again...and jerks such as Alex Jones have been a big part of that
Yes, I think he is a jerk. Yet I also think he is important and is a patriot. I don't have to like him as a person and still see value in what he is doing. I believe we'd be in a much worse place than we are now without him and Infowars.
haha "I think he's a jerk" dont know the man - but i think i agree
He is in fact, what they call controlled opposition. He's got truth, but not final truth, not even close. He's a level 1 gatekeeper. There are level 2 and 3 gatekeepers. They seed you with just enough lies to put you off course at various levels.
To some degree I expect this from any source. Thus, why I triangulate. I am not going to paralyze my mind with WHAT IFs. I am going to work with what I have, and try to make the best mental pictures with that information that I can. I just have to be willing to change them.
One of the best tools in critical thinking:
Check Source A, see what Source B says re: Source A, see what Source C says about Source A...over time you can establish a baseline of bias and honesty.
In this, I think that Jones has established a baseline of honesty far superior to the Ministry of Truth media.
I agree with you in that his interpretation is biased, but I haven't yet caught him editing information to meet the Narrative
LOL. I've got that on tape
nazis are for gun control, Hitler was for gun control
I loved it, but then again, I have no respect for people that don't like Constitutional freedom because they are afraid of it.
YMMV
just like anything else their cult believes in...this is why things will come to a bad pass regardless of anything else...The Cult of the Political Class won't recognize reality and demands that real people submit to their rule.
Jones has his problems, but he's more accurate than the whole cheerleading squad of the self-proclaimed "elite"
I didn't have a problem with his message. I had a problem with how he treated those that were there delivering the same message. He stomped all over them and then belittled them. He was a dick.
His message was spot on, but so was the message of those he stomped all over.
oops, I read that wrong; I thought you were discussing his actions against the nazis...
I missed the point where he treated those on his side like crap.
One of the big difference between those on the right and those on the left is that we do tend to react a little more negatively to those on our side that are divisive on our side...then again Jones does have a lot of fanbois that brook little criticism of him
I agree on this.
I like the concept of listening to others that you may not agree with, because I think you learn more that way than getting stuck in the echo chamber of your own beliefs. If you listen, you may not come to agree but you may understand them better. Good article!
Alex Jones doesn't believe anything he says. He just says crazy shit so people will keep listening. At least that's what his lawyers said when his ex wife tried to use his rants to prove he wasn't fit to be a father. Common sense would also lead one to that conclusion.
To me Alex Jones seems more like an entertainer, he says over the top things to keep people interested... Some of the stuff he says is just crazy, but really funny though, haha :)
Yeah that is his style. When you consider he started on radio that makes a lot of sense. How you deliver the information is important to keeping and attracting a radio audience. He has a visual side to that as well which carried over well into video.
Great piece. My takeaway is this: Ban a book, it becomes a best seller. Suppress information and people will want it more. Silence the speaker and the message gets louder. Left, Right, or Middle we tend to gravitate to those with like minds and "opposites attack" is rarely a political ideology.
Yep. Though my message is also we need to listen to those not of like mind as well if we want to hopefully get a bit closer to the truth. Echo chambers rarely are about truth.
Agreed, I was stating the sheeple effect. "Enlightened" minds like ours can see through the shroud of deceit and spinnery (yes, that's a new word) of the media, mainstream or otherwise.
I like the word "spinnery". :)
Once a word is used 5 times by 5 different people then it has to be a real word. It's the law! OK, probably not but it's on the blockchain forever! Just 3 more people needed!
I challenged a person the other day who replied to something I wrote pointing out that a word I used was not a word.
I asked him "Says who?" "Or did you maybe look it up in a dictionary?" then I pointed out that this makes it an appeal to authority.
I asked him if he knew what my "not word meant" as it was pretty clear.
I told him the purposed of communication is to transmit and share thoughts so if he understood what I was writing then it likely was a word. :) Whether it shows up in a dictionary or not is irrelevant.
He obviously did not notice your hand gesture as well ;)
Interesting, and I agree that there's no other approach than what you call triangulation. I also try to expose myself to many sources of news for this reason.
I'm not sure Alex Jones is genuine though, It seems more likely to me that he is probably a kind of right-wing/libertarian gate-keeper along with people like Stefan Molyneux. Webster Tarpley, Noam Chomsky and others perform the same job on the left of the traditional spectrum. They gather some of the strays, of curious, independent or radical persuasion, who can think a bit more than most can. Over time they bring them back into the political mainstream as that itself becomes more militaristic and totalitarian.
Noam Chomsky 'left-wing'? You sure you're not confusing him with Nim Chimpsky?