In my opinion, Mike Ruppert is at best a blowhard gatekeeper who only cares that he is the ultimate mouthpiece of the alternative and Internet media, cashing in big time, or at worst, he is is a disinformation agent for one or more of our international alphabet soup intel agencies. When he first came to my attention, I bought his early 9/11 video.
I was impressed, though a little bothered over how he gloated over getting CIA Director Deutch's goat at the Compton meeting, a meeting inspired by Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" series in which Mike inserted himself as the star.
What bothered me even more in that same video is how he totally dismissed the possibility of ANY Israeli or Mossad involvement with 9/11. He never expressed that as an opinion. He authoritatively made it into a fact, despite so many reports involving Israeli spies posing as art students, suspicious moving vans with traces of explosives, the high-fivers with the Israeli moving company that promptly disappeared, and on and on. Not to rush to judgment, Mike, but those are critical areas to investigate ...unless there is an agenda NOT to.
Back to Ruppert's association to Gary Webb. Neat job of positioning on that meeting, which was assembled due to Gary's diligent journalistic efforts. Mike got the sound bite. Stole the show. Very impressive, and useful too. As Mike Ruppert eulogized Gary Webb's recent demise, all the while asserting it was a suicide and calling anyone who dared challenge that verdict as "Internet trailer park trash", I was reminded of a politician eulogizing an important figure more to grandstand than express true loss and regret.
As Mike waxed on with his "tribute" to Webb, he constantly inserted himself as someone who was a virtual buddy and prodigy of Gary in real life, urging us to be Webb like and not make hasty conclusions about Gary Webb being assassinated. Here's what Gary Webb himself said about Mike Ruppert, from a Boston Globe article on Ruppert a while back:
** Gary Webb, whose explosive 1996 ''Dark Alliance'' series in the San Jose Mercury News alleged CIA complicity in the Los Angeles crack epidemic, says, ''Mike is a real conundrum. I think he's a sincere guy, concerned about the right things, and he was quite supportive of my efforts to expose the interplay between the CIA and drug traffickers.
But he's also written stories expounding a theory about the genesis of my Mercury News series that were, quite frankly, ridiculous.'' ** _
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/ Original Source; Mark Jurkowitz can be reached at
jurkowitz@globe.com www.boston.com/dailyglobe2 Mike Ruppert's asserting Gary's death as a suicide, which he considered journalistic, were based on his discussions with an ex-wife and family, noting an error with "Freeway" Ricky Ross's testimony to an Alex Jones interviewer about the outside of Gary's house, and claiming that a .38 revolver is a "relatively weak" firearm, and as an ex-cop he has witnessed several double shot (in the head!?) suicides. By the way, the .38 revolver was used by the LAPD and virtually every police force in this nation for decades. I guess those bullets just bounced off bandits.
The .38 revolver has been replaced by automatic 9 mm pistols, more for efficiency and ease of rapid fire and reloading than power. What is an ex-cop doing when he implies that a .38 revolver is sufficiently weak to enable a suicide victim to squeeze off a second shot, not easy with a revolver, to the head at point blank because the first shot missed his brain and merely blew off half of his jaw? I say he is lying about something. There is more, but I must move on, as Mike would say.
Again, instead of expressing an opinion about Webb's death, albeit a stupid one, he proclaimed his suicide announcement as absolute, irrefutable truth, attacked earnest investigators Alex Jones and John Hankey, and drew a line in the sand, calling everyone who suspected foul play in Gary Webb's death "Internet trailer park trash". Sorta reminds me of "you are either with us or against us". Hmmm, let's splinter up the Internet news, eh Mike? For what reason? Your glory as king of the alt press, your ability to profiteer more as the opinion leader, or gate keeping for . . . .?
The same pattern exists with 9/11. Ruppert jumped in as the 9/11 authority early on, overriding others who were on the scene at the same time, and dismissed all sorts of forensic and logistical evidence and anomaly, maintaining his word as the word. Why? Now that a 9/11 "Truth Movement" has gained momentum and is jelling with more and more actual evidence, Mike jumps in again and says ''move on folks, nothing worth pursuing here!" Why?
Ken Levine, curiously, has been instrumental in helping Mike Ruppert obtain success on the international lecture circuit, promotes his the FTW (From The Wilderness) website, even by getting subscribers to donate big money for full page ads in large dailys promoting that website, and of course the books and videos that are included. Lots a bucks, eh?
Who the heck is Ken Levine and how are they managing to maintain all this in a relatively high profile arena without attacks from the mainstream? Remember, the Boston Globe article where Gary Webb was quoted, was about the emerging star of Mike Ruppert, not Gary Webb. How are they managing to handle the legal expenses of slander suits directed at or from Michal Ruppert, involving 9/11 and other researchers, or even have the confidence to threaten others with law suits, and still profit on? BTW, those tactics to intimidate others need financial backing. Where is that money coming from?
I would say, as part of the legacy of Gary Webb that Ruppert claims we should learn from, that Rupert's threats and assertions and gate keeping does deserve further investigation. They are resulting in schisms and infighting amongst sincere researchers. As for me, he has nothing to offer. I do not trust him, regardless of his motives, or wherever they come from. On second thought, let us not waste our time pursuing this investigation of Ruppert and his motives. It is time to move on. We should all simply ignore him.
