Slide #10-12 - Shock and Awe

This slide, this slide, and this slide are actually the same slide, revealed part by part during Gage's presentation. At his website, Gage shows this effect by reproducing it twice or three times with new information revealed on subsequent slides. However, I'm going to treat this slide and others like it on a single page.

Transition

Gage has concluded the first section of the introduction. So far he's told us that he and other authority figures have questions, and many people besides are wondering about these events. Without sound arguments supported by strong evidence, this entire first section will be nothing but a fallacious appeal to authority and ad populum.

Shock and Awe

More people besides Richard Gage have compared the similarities to terrorist attacks and the "shock and awe" campaign that kicked off the Iraqi War. A key distinction is that innocent civilians are purposely targeted in terrorist attacks. But the general aim of both were the same - to stun your opponent into surrender and retreat.

However, most would not be suggesting the same thing that Gage is. He wants us to believe that the same group of people carried out both the 9/11 attacks and the Baghdad "shock and awe" campaign. He also wants us to think that this group used the stunning power of the 9/11 attacks to pull off three controlled demolitions on global television.

And quite frankly, I find insulting the implication that most Americans have been in a hypnotic trance for over five years.

Gage doesn't mean it this way, of course. He's using this as a sop for his audience. It's a way for you to justify not knowing about all this truth he and his 36% of Americans have known for quite some time. You've been in a trance! And the people who committed the 9/11 attacks put you in that trance.

Call for Objectivity

Gage then calls for an objective look at the "collapses" on 9/11. I'm certainly for that. But I fear greatly about Gage's ability to conduct such an inquiry.

• He's taking advantage of the patriotic emotions that the 9/11 attack produced in Americans (much like the Bush Administration)
• He's openly soliciting for free lunches and "sustaining members" at his website
• He has been cloaking the true extent of his conclusions behind more popular-sounding facades
• He's misusing his membership in a trade organization to gain undue credibility for his position
• This very slide gives a biased view of the Iraqi War and then places the word collapse into prejudicial quotes

How is it that someone can appear to be so partisan and yet still be objective?

I'm becoming uncharitable. Let us take him at his word. He has made quite a few promises concerning his reputation. Perhaps he does mean to give us a fair and objective recitation of the extraordinary facts that support his extraordinary conclusions...

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This slide has been virtually unchanged from the September 2007 slideshow (original slides #8 and #9). Instead of two slides, the information was divided into three in the January 2008 slideshow. Full details about the additions, changes, and deletions between that presentation and the January 2008 presentation will be available at this website.