I’ve asserted for a long time that belief in Rense/Alex Jones type conspiracy theories is much more widespread than many realize.

Popular Mechanics found this out the hard way when they did their now famous de-bunking of trooferism in 2005. They eventually followed this up with an excellent piece on the Conspiracy Industry.

On February 7, 2005, I became a member of the Bush/Halliburton/Zionist/CIA/New World Order/ Illuminati conspiracy for global domination. It was on that day the March 2005 issue of Popular Mechanics, with its cover story debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, hit newsstands. Within hours, the online community of 9/11 conspiracy buffs—which calls itself the “9/11 Truth Movement”—was aflame with wild fantasies about me and my staff, the magazine I edit, and the article we had published.

The Web site www.911research.wtc7.net, an organization that claims that questioning the “official” story of 9/11 is “an act of responsible citizenship,” fired one of the first salvos: “Popular Mechanics Attacks Its 9/11 LIES Straw Man,” read the headline of a piece by a leading conspiracy theorist named Jim Hoffman.

We had begun our plunge down the rabbit hole. Within hours, a post on www.portland.indymedia.org, which claims to be dedicated to “radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth,” called me “James Meigs the Coward and Traitor.” Not long afterward, another prominent conspiracy theorist produced an analysis that concluded that Popular Mechanics is a CIA front organization. Invective and threats soon clogged the comments section of our Web site and poured in by e-mail.

Glenn Beck, of course, is not a troofer but his style of thinking and presentation, his use of established conspiracy memes, and his references to established conspiracy kooks like the John Birch Society place him solidly within the conspiracy culture. This seems likely to be part of an overall strategy by Fox News to muscle in on a market that has been historically under-exploited by big media. “Judge” Napolitano’s effort to legitimize Alex Jones could be seen in the same context.