Fans of Fox's tin-foil hatter Glenn Beck discuss the Pittsburgh shooter

What a tragedy it was in Pittsburgh - three police officers gunned down by an unemployed 22-year-old member of the Base of the GOP, the nutbag/freeper section. I think it's safe to say that Richard Poplawski, who spent his time surfing the internet filling his disturbed mind with notions held by many of the fans of Glenn Beck and the WingNutDaily denizens, represents what happens when tin-foil hat conservative theories are taken seriously. (Raw Story):

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Richard Poplawski was "convinced the nation was secretly controlled by a cabal that would eradicate freedom of speech, take away his guns and use the military to enslave the citizenry. ... He appeared to share a belief that the government was controlled from unseen forces, that troops were being shipped home from the Mideast to police the citizenry here, and that Jews secretly ran the country."

Some of Poplawski's beliefs are fairly commonplace among conservatives. For example, fears that the Obama administration intends to somehow ban gun ownership have recently become a staple on such relatively mainstream outlets as Glenn Beck's program on Fox News.

It's only a short leap from the wingnut fringe belief system that we saw during the 2008 campaign with the McCain/Palin rally mobs to eliminationist, neo-Nazi thinking -- Poplawski makes this clear.

Poplawski had also posted pictures of himself at Stormfront, a white supremacist website whose slogan is "white pride worldwide." The discussion of the shootings at Stormfront, which began with speculations that the gunman would turn out to be "some non-white" or "a jew," then turned to suspicions that the recent rash of shootings is a "setup" to push through gun control legislation, has become oddly muted since the revelation that Poplawski appears to be one of theirs.

Just this week Stephen Colbert did a hilarious take down of Glenn Beck's "9-12 Project to save the nation." I wondered what Beck's fans were going to do with the news that it was a member of the tin-foil hat brigade that killed these law-enforcement officers.

A sampling is below the fold. From a post on the shooting...it appears that many of Beck's fans just don't get it and engage in more conspiracy-think (big surprise), though a couple realize the black and white mindset they love to revel in simply cannot apply:

Question for 9/12ers:

Is the following premise correct:

1)The 2nd amendment was created to protect the people from Unconstitutional and tyrannical government, by allowing violent revolution against the forces of the government.

2) The government is acting in an Unconstitutional/tyrannical manner under Obama.

3) The police are a part of government.

Ban handguns, allow long guns. Open carry allowed, concealed carry banned.

You guys get to keep your AR15s and AK47s.

We get rid of the guns that most criminals use for robberies.

All of the recent shootings and gun stories reported on the news seem to be set in a rapid progression towards what the current government might say is just cause to ban firearms. From the reports of firearms being mass transferred into mexico, to the shootings in Oakland, to the shootings at the civic center in New York, to this sad event. This event being the first I have seen in which the media has made comments directly related to a threat from the current administration in Washington. I feel as if this is a play in which the climax is soon to come and we are nearing the end which will sadly include a violation of our right to bear firearms. Our concern for this is justified but we must be sensible in how we act so that we dont throw fuel on the fire being used to burn the 2nd ammendment from the Constitution.

f the baseless anti-government rhetoric based on the belief they will "take our guns" keeps up... well, it will spawn much more violence by the real nutcases, and probably be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is a sad state of the times. When I was the shooter's age I was in the Army. I left home immediately after graduation at the age of 17. Why was this slug still living with his mom? Why would you call 911 when a dog pees in the house? Unless there is more to the story then the mother should be held liable for the abuse of the 911 system. My heart goes out to the slain officer's families. Too bad he wasn't shot in the head instead of the legs.

If there ever was a case for more stringent gun laws, and more stringent application of current laws, this would be it. Even if you're pro 2nd amendment like I am, you have to recognize this. I fear the paranoid rhetoric of many today, rhetoric that has very little real connection to legislative initiatives, does much more harm than good for the pro 2nd amendment cause. Nutcases like the guy in Pittsburgh, who take the rhetoric to the extreme, will undermine the arguments for why the rest of us should be allowed to keep guns if we so choose.

Did anyone else pay close attention to what happened with the release of the shooters reasoning for doing this heinous act? When the story first broke the media mentioned the shooter was also a drug addict. Now for the last 24 hours the media has just been saying the shooter was unemployed and afraid President Obama was going to take his guns? Why are they putting more emphasis on him unemployed and afraid Obama is taking his gun? You know! Here's another one. When the media first released the story about Binghamton, they said the shooter had somekind of high powered rifle. Of course we now find out he had two handguns near his body. Sounds like a smear to me!

FIRST OF ALL ARE THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS SHOULD BE WITH THE FAMILIES OF THE FALLEN OFFICERS. SECONDLY LETS HOPE THE RESIDENTS OF PITTSBURG ARE CIVILIZED AND NOT LIKE THE SCUMBAGS IN OAKLAND WHO WENT OUT ON THE STREETS AND PRAISED THAT COP KILLER AS A HERO AFTER HE KILLED 4 OF THEIR FINE OFFICERS. THAT MADE ME SICK TO HEAR THAT THEY WOULD DO SUCH A THING WOULD AND HOW CAN ANYBODY JUST KILL A BUNCH OF COPS THESE ARE THE EVIL PEOPLE IN ARE COUNTRY. ANYBODY BE WILLING TO BET THAT EVERY ONE OF THOSE IDIOTS IN OAKLAND VOTED FOR OBAMA. AND AS A VETERAN I WOULD LIKE PRAY THAT ALL OF ARE POLICE, FIREFIGHTERS, AND SERVICE MEMBERS BE KEPT SAFE, AS THEY ARE KEEPING ALL OF US SAFE

This makes me sick. I for one am glad this guy is dead, for what he has done. I too have been laid off for a couple of months now, I too am scared of what is coming ahead because of the Obama administration, but I am not running around shooting the place up. He clearly had his own agenda, and I am convinced a mental case. Good Riddance you Shmuck.

I have long used the quote "More guns less crime". If a criminal thought there would be a greater chance that whoever they were violating was armed they would be less inclined to commit the crime. Hell, in Iraq every household is permitted one AK-47 or below per male and two magazines for it. If we had a similar law, I almost guarantee home invasion, rape, car-jacking (at gun-point), muggings, and a multitude of other violent crimes would plummet. Quite simply, if you were hypothetically a criminal, which would you rather rob, a department store or a gun store? Obviously the dept. store, because you know not only are all the clerks armed, but a great deal of the patrons as well. Something to chew on.

Just another tragic and senseless loss of life. One that this administration will exploit in it's effort to ban all guns from law abiding citizens. But the problem is not the guns the problem is that an individual intent on causing harm will do whatever with whatever means necessary. McVeigh used a van full of fertilizer and deisel fuel to kill. Al Quaeda used 3 commercial airliners to kill. How many people are stabbed to death? How many are killed with blunt trauma? Drunk drivers use automobiles as a weapon. New York City has the toughest gun control laws in the nation yet crimes with guns continue.....

It seems that every time that shootings like this happen the right to bear arms issue comes up. The anti-gun lobbyists have a field day trying to add a nail to the box that they think will ultimately take away the 2nd amendment. We the people have to stand firm and not let that happen. My heart and prayers goes out to the families who lost their loved ones. The mental case who took those lives had his own agenda and could have made more of a statement without taking innocent lives.

As the 912 project evolves it would be good to encorporate some element of active/direct support of our local police. These guys never know what's behind the doors they knock on or what will happen when they pull someone over for a speeding ticket. This act was performed by a frustrated violent nutjob with guns...the fact that he was a frustrated, violent nutjob who decided to commit this act was the problem...NOT the fact that he owned "guns". He could have just as easily been a nutjob with who killed 10 people in an alley with a lead pipe over a period of time. Banning "guns" would not have stopped this guy from being a violent nut any more than banning led pipes (or knives or large rocks) would stock another nut from crushing some innocent persons skull.

I fail to understand why, as this article indicates, a person would murder police officers because he was scared of this administration taking his guns away. Makes no sense and clearly this was a deranged individual!! Please keep peace officers in your prayers. Especially these that are now patroling the streets of heaven. GOD SAVE THE USA.