Asking questions of our government officials and institutions is patriotic, it's one of the most magnificent aspects of our nation's political and legal processes.
It's a practice having been established even before we declared independence from the British.
When it comes to the events of the horrific day that was Sept. 11, 2001 (9/11), we've recevied the answers to the most important questions surrounding the events of that more than tumultuous and historic time, in a fairly timely manner.
See the "9/11 Commission Report" here, and the "National Institute of Standards and Technology Report" here.
Unfortunately, most people don't possess the time or inclination to closely examine voluminous reports of the sort that would give experienced engineers and architects headaches.
"Nano-thermite" may sound like a really cool word to use in conversation, most of the people mentioning it have no clue about what it's really used for, its composition, and the massive quantities required for its activation.
Nano-thermite has become a nostrum for any half-wit 9/11 "truthers" confronted with real information and facts on why the collapse of the Twin Towers absolutely did not resemble a controlled demolition.
Figuring out why some of the buildings collapsed may be complicated, identifying and accepting that al-Qaida was the sadistic terrorist organization responsible is simple, and it shouldn’t be controversial because that is exactly what happened.
To my surprise and disappointment, it turns out that far too many people give credence to the 9/11 conspiracy theories. A YouGov poll found that almost a quarter of Americans believe that the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job."
We recently reached a nadir when Joe Rogan hosted Tucker Carlson on his podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience."
While I don’t always agree with Mr. Carlson and Mr. Rogan, both are estimable, highly regarded commentators with appreciably sizeable followings.
During this podcast Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson decided to go much further than speculation about what information our government is withholding and "questioned" whether the collapse of Tower 7 was due to controlled demolition instead of collapsing due to the enormous debris that crashed onto the building causing raging fires throughout the structure.
Rogan said that if you look at the video it looks like a controlled demolition.
Carlson went on to declare that was "agnostic" on the issue and that he hadn’t questioned the building’s collapse in the past because one had to "ask a lot of other really obvious questions. . . . and you might arrive at the conclusion that a lot of your most basic assumptions were false. . . that you’ve been had. . . and that is too destabilizing."
So much meretricious conjecture in the course of two minutes from two of our country’s leading commentators must not go ignored.
- Tower 7 does not look like a controlled demolition to anyone who has any experience conducting building demolitions. Footage of the building collapse shows the penthouse on the left side (on the roof of the building) collapsing first.
For a terrific primer on how demolitions occur and why Tower 7 collapse was wholly dissimilar to such a process, see here. We see a similar inward collapse caused by fire when examining the events leading up to the fall of the Architecture Faculty Building at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
- As for the allusion about buildings catching fire and melting "all the time," Carlson may be referring to the erroneous often repeated claim that steel buildings don’t collapse due to fire and the Twin Towers are the only such example of that happening.
- That claim is incorrect. Several other steel buildings collapsed from fire before and after the 9/11 attacks. For the sake of argument and magnanimity, let’s overlook the obvious fact that the Twin Towers are the only buildings in which massive flying airplanes crashed into and exploded.
A favorite trope of 9/11 conspiracy theorists is highlighting that steel melts at 2700 degrees Fahrenheit and jet fuel only burns at 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, concluding therefore that it was impossible for the buildings to collapse.
It's infuriating but not surprising that they fail to mention what happens to steel when exposed to such high temperatures even when it doesn’t melt.
For an absolutely amazing demonstration of what happens to steel at these temperatures, please watch this video because it puts this silly assertion to rest for once and for all.
One could write a thousand-page book trying to debunk all of the obnoxious and baseless 9/11 conspiracy "theories."
While not quite a thousand pages, the tome put out by Popular Mechanics does an impressive job of laying to waste most of the absurd allegations about 9/11 being an "inside job."
2,996 people were murdered on 9/11, countless more lives were destroyed because of the events of that day.
Over seven thousand American soldiers have sacrificed their lives in the war against terror, with an additional 53,000 wounded.
Terrorists constantly plot to destroy the United States and inflict as much damage as possible. American heroes are constantly stopping them.
Wild, reckless, and uninformed claims about what "really" happened on 9/11 isn’t real questioning, it isn’t patriotic either.
It's immature, attention-seeking behavior unworthy of serious-minided people who genuinely honor our great country.
Nicholas Chamberas has advised good government advocacy groups, elected officials and political candidates on public policy matters as well as having served as a senior adviser on several prominent New York City campaigns. He holds a degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctor. Read Nicholas Chamberas' Reports — More Here.