Maddow: Right wing fringe is now a cynical money-making 'racket'

Friday night on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," host Rachel Maddow discussed the elaborate money-making schemes dreamed up by the anti-government conspiracy theorists currently making a living off of conservative Americans' fears about the Obama administration.

There is, for example, the Info Wars dating service.

"If you like Info Wars which is a show hosted by Alex Jones," Maddow said, "If you like Glenn Beck and Alex Jones who says we faked the moon landing and that 9/11 was an elaborate hoax and that it was secretly the White House that bombed the Boston Marathon, Michelle Obama was in on it and there was no massacre at Sandy Hook, they were hoaxes, if you are one of those folks, a conspiracy theorist who believes in the Glenn Beck-Alex Jones view of the world, well, that doesn't mean you don't need love."

Hence the prank Twitter hash tag that appeared late this week, #InfoWarsPickupLines, which featured romantic opening salvos for conspiracy-minded singles on the make like "How about we get illuminaughty and you show me your nude world order?” and “I’d like to shoot all over your grassy knoll, if you know what I mean….” or "What's your sign? Mine is 'Trespassers shot on sight.'"

But it doesn't stop with just dating services. Men like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck, said Maddow, are monetizing their fame in any way they can. If you're already in a relationship and don't need Info Wars dating, you can still buy some or some Rush Limbaugh iced tea.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who Maddow "has always counted on the conspiracy theorists to be part of his base," has now left Congress and decided to get back in bed with the right wing fringe. Friday, he appeared on Alex Jones' radio show.

"Remember," Maddow said, "the chief Alex Jones conspiracy theory right now is that the White House bombed the Boston Marathon. The government did it as a false flag attack as part of a New World Order conspiracy involving Marxism and fascism and helicopters and something about Mexico."

"Honestly," she confessed. "I got lost trying to figure it out."

The whole business seems more and more like an elaborate scam, she said.

"These guys have a good racket going and they have all been in the racket for decades," she continued. "You know, it's always the end of the world but not quite yet. Subscribe for one more month, because then it will be the end of the world, only $19.95 and yes, you can pay in gold."

It's one thing for us to point and laugh at it on the internet, but what do you do when it's "your personal sadness that your crazy uncle sends Glenn Beck part of his Social Security check each month because he's terrified?"

Or when U.S. lawmakers start to attempt to legislate from the conspiracy-monger perspective?

Watch the video, embedded via MSNBC, below:

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