The evil of banality

I suppose a few words are in order concerning the latest mass shooter, Chris Harper Mercer. These thoughts aren't presented in any order.

1. He was active on a bittorent site called Kickass Torrents, where he also maintained a blog of sorts (which has been removed). Interestingly, major media outlets are discussing his activity on KAT without publishing the site's name.

I guess KAT is now as unmentionable as MI6 was in the Connery-era James Bond movies. If you dare to say the Name Of Power out loud, you will anger the gods.

2. Judging from his uploads and other online activities, Mercer was a self-proclaimed conservative Republican who didn't like Christianity, who leaned toward paganism and magic (or "magick" as some prefer to spell it), and who immersed himself in right-wing conspiracy literature. He reminds me of Jared Loughner, the crazed shooter who was inspired by an idiotic documentary called Zeitgeist. That conspira-classic combined three popular stupidities: The "mythicist" theory of Jesus, Bush-diddit 9/11 nonsense, and gonzo libertarian economics.

The biggest difference between Loughner and Mercer is that Loughner was more obviously nutso. Until he decided to commit this horrific deed, Mercer's online persona seemed eccentric but not frightening.

3. Mercer seemed to be fond of IRA imagery. I doubt that he knew or cared much about the politics of that group: The IRA leans to the left, while he described himself as Republican. More than likely, he simply liked the bad-ass visuals (and maybe the music). For many a young man, bad-assery trumps ideology.

4. From the start, I knew that our ever-predictable conservative propagandists would paint Mercer as an occult-crazed liberal socialist who hated Jesus. That was always a gimme; no surprises there. What surprised me was the speed with which the wacko-rightwingers tagged Mercer as a Muslim.

It was obvious from the beginning that he was either black or a Muslim that’s why his race and name was withheld. If he was white his picture and name would have been posted all over the media

And under his breath, Obutthead utters “allah bless you my brother! Not only did you kill infidels, you also gave me more ammo to start more gun control so your muslime brothers can safey kill more infidels!”

I could go on. Need I? I need not. Welcome to America, folks: The only difference between a right-winger's skull and an empty beer can is that the empty beer can once held something useful.

5. The Illuminati-spotters are singing their usual song.

Of course, many people in the conspiracy community believe this is another false flag attack by the Illuminati using an MK Ultra mind controlled assassin to use as a patsy to roll out more gun control laws. Media analyst Mark Dice reporters.

He "reporters"? I scoffer at his reportering.

I wonder if dear old Sid Gottlieb ever realized that his sick little program would one day become one of our culture's most tiresome cliches? Right-wing conspiracy freaks are the most predictable -- and easily manipulated -- people on this planet. And yet, hilariously, they think they're hip. These ninnies consider themselves to be the Enlightened Ones, the insightful ones, the only true human beings in a nation of sheeple. Despite their avant garde affectations, most of them have no idea what a truly new idea feels like. These trite clowns are the living avatars of vapidity.

Y'know who loved to read about overly-familiar conspiracy theories? Chris Mercer. I have yet to see any indication that this fellow was capable of original thought. The Mercer story should be titled "The Evil of Banality."