The Audacity of Controlled Demolitions

One of the weirder sideshows in the Barack Obama campaign is the presence of 9/11 "Truthers"—various wings of the unconnected movement to launch a new investigation into whether terrorists actually brought down the World Trade Center. One Truther got a plum position at Obama's Austin, Texas rally and hoisted a "Investigate 9/11" sign for most of the speech, in full view of media shutterbugs. Now there's a YouTube video from Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth where, after bothering some Obamaniacs about their theories, group founder Justin Martel (who looks uncannily like a guy who used to show up to Chicago-area Guided by Voices shows and force whiskeys on Bob Pollard) gets in the candidate's face.

MARTEL: Senator Obama, I'm the founder of Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth and…
OBAMA: Good to see you.
MARTEL: Will you stand behind Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul in calling for a new investigation into 9/11?
OBAMA: You know, I think we need to investigate a whole range of options, although I have to be honest, some of the issues you guys have raised I'm not entirely confident are the truth.
MARTEL: Thank you for answering.
OBAMA: You're welcome.

Uh, what's Martel referring to? I know Ron Paul criticized the 9/11 Commission, but he doesn't have the Aaron Russo view that the events of 9/11 are so shadowy that we need to re-investigate them.

In any case, the 9/11 Truthers are one of the biggest argument against traditional media hacking I've ever seen—they can force themselves into the frame at political rallies, anti-war demos, and honest-to-God 9/11 memorials and reporters adhere to a secret treaty not to cover them. With reason, as there's no reason these guys are more newsworthy than the average Larouche Tabernacle Choir.

(Side note: Obama's response to Martel is a pretty good, as these things go, but he can't top the moment in the movie Feed when a prankster asks Bill Clinton if he's pro-choice and then says "How many abortions have you personally made necessary?" Clinton holds up his hand in an "o" shape and bellows: "ZERO! Zero!" Then he gladhandles the guy until most of the cameras move on.)

UPDATE: Here's that Buzz Aldrin video mentioned in the comments. Best punch since Chris Makepeace slugged Matt Dillon.