My name is Mike Metzger, MikeyMetz for short, co-founder of 9/11 Truth UAlbany. I will not go on about my past accomplishments in the "truth" movement, but I invite you to check out the official site and our stuff on GoogleVideo if you're that interested in my background. I figure the best way to start this all out is by reposting a Facebook note that explains my "sudden change of heart" to anyone who was interested.
Change of Heart?
I might be thinking too much of myself, but I'm sure some of you are already jumping to conclusions over my apparent "change of heart." I can hear it already. "Mikey stopped smoking pot, and now he's ultra-conservative all of sudden." Or, how about "Mikey's fuckin girlfriend changed him overnight."
If there's anyone who simplified my situation using one of these rationalizations immediately upon observing the obvious changes in my profile, I don't think it's too outrageous to claim that you're one who quickly jumps to conclusions. I don't mean to offend anyone (although, I know I am), but I think that statement is rather representative of the entire 9/11 Truth Movement.
My "change of heart" didn't happen overnight. This has been a process that has been eating away at me for the past month and a half. I wanted to act strategically as far as "coming out" as a means to perhaps transition the 9/11 Truth group on campus to one that was less focused on strictly 9/11-related issues (aka more truthful ones). However, I was exposed to something that truly angered me deep down in the wee hours of this morning, which I'll get to later. I was so outraged that I can no longer keep my mouth shut.
For whatever reasons at the time, I no-showed the 8/11 truth action our group was doing in Albany. Instead, I watched a movie called Screw Loose Change. I expected it to point out a few corrections in some minor details of the film. To my surprise, it contested just about every claim in the entire movie. I was a bit shocked.
I was a true believer of all this controlled demolition nonsense for a time. I never cared about the physics or the claims of pseudo-"experts." What always did it for me was the fact that there was never a decent response to any of these questions by the government. Even the hit pieces you'd see on 9/11 were always personal attacks. The mainstream never contested the actual "facts" movies like Loose Change presented.
Or so it seemed. After watching Screw Loose Change, I delved into the world of 9/11 Truth debunking. Among my favorites are the Screw Loose Change Blog and 9/11 Myths Finally, someone was answered all these pertinent questions with something that was a bit foreign to me... facts agreed upon by the experts.
There are no facts in the 9/11 Truth Movement. Just a lot of theories, which eventually break down to "hey, we're just asking questions" if someone questions the validity of such. No structural, civil, or any engineers agree with the truthers. Yet, most of my friends will try to explain the hard physics involved in structural collapses. None of these people are engineers, physicists, or even in a scientific field, for that matter. Someone's supposed to take their word over an expert's?
The truthers will just tell you that all the experts are "in on it." Yeah, sure. Every engineer in the world is complicit in the government's murder of 3,000 people. And so are the firemen, who apparently ordered Larry Silverstein to "pull" Building 7. The truthers' misrepresentation of Silverstein's quote is one of the most popular "facts" to spit out, but in doing so, you are effectively in agreement that firefighters were not only involved in the controlled demolition of WTC7, but they are also aiding and abetting in the government's cover-up. Yeah, every firefighter who was out there on 9/11 is going to be complicit in the MURDER OF 343 OF THEIR FALLEN BROTHERS! To quote Loose Change co-creator Jason Bermas, "the firefighters are paid off."
This is absolute horseshit, which brings me to why I've formally distanced myself from this sorry excuse for a movement. Loose Change, 9/11 Mysteries, Alex Jones, and all the other kooks out there are fucking lying about, distorting, and misrepresenting the facts to further their personal agendas. And what is their agenda, you ask? Money, in the words of Shaggy 2 Dope, "mutha fuckin bitch ass money." Not only are they desecrating 3,000 graves, but they are profiting off of it. That, my friends, makes me sick to my fuckin stomach.
Some may think that this is just a big personal attack, and that I'm not presenting enough facts. I honestly don't give a fuck because the information is out there. I love how all the truthers, myself included for a time, brag about how they've done all the "research." Well my friends, research doesn't involve looking exclusively at other 9/11 conspiracy sites! Research involves looking at things from both sides of the spectrum, and making your own decisions. Check out the links I've listed above, or google "Screw 9/11 Mysteries" and "Screw Loose Change."
Controlled demolitions: absolute bullshit. Now, I know there are some legitimate inconsistencies in the story that can't be proven false. My problem, and your problem as well, is that we have been blatantly misled by people who are only interested in selling dvds and t-shirts. This is supposed to be a truth movement. At this point, Alex Jones could pull every smoking gun out of ass that proves without question that 9/11 was an inside job, but it will never excuse the fact that he had lie so blatantly. Fuck you, fuck avery & bermas, fuck 9/11 mysteries, and fuck every true believer who goes out there and tells people that they've "done their research."
I don't know what the future holds for the student group. For the time being, I'm gonna continue to fill out the paperwork and other such presidential duties because I take my responsibilities and promises very seriously. But you won't see me hand out one more 9/11 pamphlet, or ever utter the phrase "9/11 was an inside job" ever again. I'd personally like to see the group transition away from fringe conspiracy theories and focus more on local issues (God knows, there's enough corruption in Albany, alone), but I might get outvoted by truthers. If that is the case, I cordially invite any of the truthers who think I'm totally wrong to step up and take the reigns. The group is, in part, my creation, but I'll gladly abdicate the throne if all everyone wants to do is continue the truther nonsense.
Oh yeah, what sent me over the edge today? I watched Screw 9/11 Mysteries, which basically adds comments to the original movie. Like Screw Loose Change, every single theory spat out is immediately disproven with formal citations from the NIST report, scientific journals, and the experts themselves. By the end, the whole controlled demolition theory is a complete joke, as the film can't even keep their own story straight.
9/11 Mysteries ends very tragically with a phone call from one of the victims inside the WTC. You may have seen it, it's the guy who's frantically describing the situation to a loved one, but then suddenly, the building starts to collapse and all you hear are his last words, agonizing screams. The creators of this propaganda movie did this intentionally, to play on your emotions right after feeding you all their bullshit theories.
But as I watched this film again, this time with the annotations, I knew that the creators of this movie used that poor guy's dying moments for their own selfish gains of selling dvds and perpetuating myths that do nothing but denigrate the lives lost on 9/11/01.
Change of heart? My heart's always been in the right place. I was just cheating myself of making an informed judgment on all the information available.
I'm done, thanks.
