As Media Matters

Even before the volatile town hall meetings, conservatives seized on the Holocaust Museum shooter as an example of left-wing extremism, due to his criticism of "neo-cons" and belief in 9/11 truth conspiracy theories. This claim was thoroughly and effectively

But the misreading of poll questions aside, the equating of right wing conspiracy theories with 9/11 truthers, clearly has an agenda: to suggest that the left of center is as extreme as the right of center. This rests on the assumption that - since they were critical of the Bush Administration - the 9/11 Truth movement is left of center. However, that assumption misses the fact that the movement has more in common with right wing anti-government militia movements that took aim at the Clinton Administration, than with liberals or leftists.

Any perusal of the movement's beliefs - which tend to veer far from the topic of 9/11 - will reveal a familiar list of right wing anti-government positions. A prime example of this comes from the guru of many 9/11 Truthers, radio talk show host Alex Jones. In addition to pushing the idea that 911 was a Bush Administration conspiracy, Jones' websites and radio show tout an amalgam of anti-government positions, from gun rights advocacy to fear of mandatory vaccinations. In fact, his infowars.com website features an article that repeats the very accusation that birthers, deathers, and tea-partiers are so fond of:

I became aware of the conservative nature of so many of the beliefs of 9/11 Truthers, when a relative of mine became an ardent 9/11 Truther and Alex Jones follower. I've been watching a life-long liberal slowly turn into a right-winger, ever since. Suddenly, being a conspiracy theorist was less and less about 9/11, and more about age-old conservative canards. The real turning point was when my relative explained to me that "man-made" global warming didn't exist, and was merely a ruse by the federal government to bring about a carbon tax. My relative hardly makes enough money to worry about taxes. Alex Jones'

When conservatives try to use these conspiracy communities to excuse the extremists in their midst, it's dishonest. When liberals, such as my relative, are manipulated into metamorphosing into right-wingers, it's sad.