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Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas (R) recently told a conservative radio show that President Barack Obama's administration may be engaged in a "conspiracy" to purchase all available ammunition as a form of gun control.

Last week, Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s National Security Subcommittee caved to conspiracies theories in the conservative media and held a hearing about whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was buying a billion rounds of ammunition to use against the American people.

In an interview with NewsMax host Steve Malzberg on Monday, Lucas explained that he had joined with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to introduce a bill that would limit the amount of ammunition the federal government can buy.

"What do you think that they think they need this for?" Malzberg wondered.

"You know, it's hard to see into the mind of an Obama-appointed official," Lucas opined. "But this is the administration that's super gun control, that really, really, really doesn't trust people with firearms and obviously they don't trust people with ammunition."

"Is this a conspiracy to buy up all the bullets so they're not available to us? I don't know," he added. "But I suspect, Steve, it's a combination of these big purchases by the non-Defense Department government agencies like Homeland Security and a near-panic buying among my constituents, who are afraid that in some gun control bill there were be a limitation on on their ability to buy ammunition. Or the president will do something by executive order."

Although conspiracies theories about government ammunition purchases have been thoroughly debunked, Republican lawmakers have continued to let conservative sites like Alex Jones' Infowars, Glenn Beck's The Blaze and The Drudge Report drive their agenda.

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(Ed. Note: The video above is NSFW)

A reporter from Alex Jones' Infowars.com website found himself being being verbally destroyed by a resident on the streets of Boston over claims that the recent bombings had been the result of a so-called "false flag" operation carried out by the U.S. government.

In the YouTube video posted on Friday, a man can be heard tearing into Infowars.com reporter Dan Bidondi over "right wing conspiracy theories."

The day of the bombing, Jones had tweeted that "this thing stinks to high heaven #falseflag," adding that "the FBI has been behind virtually every domestic terror plot in the US."

"Your boy said this was a false flag, the bomb that blew up people was a false flag," the angry man in the video notes. "The FBI is behind the bombing, that's what you're here to cover. And that's why I'm the asshole? Because the FBI blew up those people at the Boston Marathon? That's right. That's because you're a dope. And what you say is dangerous and people like you shouldn't be able to drive a car, much less espouse your opinions in public."

"But we have a First Amendment, got to protect it. But you're an asshole. And so is Alex Jones... And that's the nicest thing I can say about you, you son of a bitch."

"Anything else you got to say?" Bidondi asked.

"Yeah, I just said it, motherfucker," the man shot back. "I am the smart guy because I'm not standing here saying the FBI blew up the people at the Boston Marathon, you fucking shitheel."

"We got the photos to prove it," Bidondi insisted.

"You got shit, you got jack shit, you got your dick in your hand," the Boston resident replied. "You fucking asshat."

(h/t: Addicting Info)

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Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's National Security Subcommittee, slammed Republicans on Thursday for conducting a hearing that he said was driven by Internet conspiracy theories suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was buying a billion rounds of ammunition to use against the American people.

In his opening statement on Thursday, subcommittee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) cited "recent news reports" about the "federal government's massive procurement of ammunition."

"The question is, what is an appropriate use of this ammunition, where is it stored, how much are they paying for it and what are they doing with it?" the Utah Republican asked.

Although Chaffetz mentioned media outlets like The Associated Press and USA Today, much of the hype about DHS ammunition purchases have been driven by conservative websites like Alex Jones' Infowars and Glenn Beck's The Blaze. And the theories have been kept alive by the Fox News Channel, the Fox Business Network and even televangelist Pat Robertson.

"To the extent that we're responding to conspiracy theories or whatever, I think we're really wasting everybody's time on that," Tierney said in his opening statement. "It might have been predictable that Sarah Palin would have taken opportunity to feed these conspiracy theories with statements that the government was preparing for civil unrest, but it was a little more disturbing that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) would seize the opportunity to accuse the government cornering the market on ammunition to drive up prices."

"Unsubstantiated false conspiracy theories have no place in this committee room -- hopefully," he continued. "Federal ammunition purchases are a fraction of the total ammunition market and they've been decreasing in recent years. Even the National Rifle Association distances itself from these conspiracy theories."

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It seems we just can't escape the wingnuts. From this afternoon's presser in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, the first question out of the box was from an InfoWars "reporter" who asked "Is this another false flag attack staged attack to take our civil liberties?"

Gov. Patrick's response: "No. Next question."

Honestly, what the hell did they think he was going to say in response?

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This Sunday we had Chris Wallace actually calling out wingnut and chickenhawk draft dodger Ted Nugent for some of his hackery on Fox News Sunday. CNN apparently felt the need to lower the bar with this "reporting," and I use that term lightly from their correspondent Deborah Feyerick and host Erin Burnett, who highlighted her interview with Nugent this past Friday and then followed on her show Monday night.

I guess these two decided their network needed some "fair and balanced" reporting to counter that of one of the fellow hosts on there, Piers Morgan, who had Nugent on Monday evening as well and wasn't quite as polite to him as Feyerick was in her fawning interview to put it mildly.

I'm no fan of Morgan and wonder if his part in the phone hacking at his former job might ever catch up to him, but some of his interviews on gun control have been at least informative and interesting if not at times horrifying, like the one with Alex Jones, which was like a bad car wreck you just can't stop watching

Here's more from Media Matters on the preview offered by CNN of the Nugent interview: CNN Praises Gun Extremist Ted Nugent's "Deep Connection With The Facts":

Previewing her upcoming special, CNN reporter Deb Feyerick praised NRA board member Ted Nugent for his "deep connection with the facts" on gun violence. But Nugent's radical views on gun ownership and outrageous and offensive comments about President Obama and prominent Democrats demonstrate that he is not a credible source for information on guns. [...]

But despite Feyerick's repeated praise, Nugent is an extremist on the subjects of both guns and government. Nugent has espoused numerous outrageous and offensive comments about gun violence and prominent Democratic politicians.

On the subject of gun violence, Nugent compared gun owners to Rosa Parks, claiming "there will come a time when the gun owners of America, the law-abiding gun owners of America, will be the Rosa Parks and we will sit down on the front seat of the bus, case closed." Nugent's comments were heavily criticized by civil rights leaders. In his Washington Times column, Nugent wrote that the "embarrassing, politically correct culture" of the U.S. that "mocks traditional social values" contributed to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.

Following the 2010 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six people and left then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with critical injuries, Nugent advised conservatives to avoid calls for more civil discourse and "turn up the rhetoric." Nugent has also called on anyone who uses the phrase "gun control" to be jailed.

Nugent has also espoused radical and offensive comments about public figures. He recently equated the decision to have Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder lead gun violence prevention efforts to asking serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer for child-rearing advice. Nugent also called on viewers of a radio show he appeared on to arrest Holder and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

We've got our own long list on Nugent and the crap that's come out of his mouth at C&L as well. Why anyone at CNN felt the need to prop this guy up as part of the debate over gun control in the United States is beyond me. CNN looks like they're doing their best to play both sides of the ratings game on this issue. I'm not sure who they think they're going to appeal to in the long run by doing this.

Full transcript below the fold.

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Stephen Colbert had a field day with every one of these gun nuts that have come out of the woodwork now that it looks like there could finally be some movement on gun control and with Vice President Biden meeting with his task force after the latest mass shooting.

No one was spared from Alex Jones screaming at Piers Morgan on CNN, to Larry Ward and his remarks about "Gun Appreciation Day" and Martin Luther King, to James Yeager and his threats to start killing people if there are any new gun control laws passed.

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From this Monday evening's The Young Turks, this interview with Alex Jones wasn't quite as contentious as the one he had with Piers Morgan last week, but it wasn't a whole lot better. I did enjoy watching Cenk get a chance to ask him if he'd ever sought any mental health treatment after listening to quite a bit of his ranting and raving. I can also say it didn't break my heart to see two of these wingnuts tearing each other apart and Jones ripping on Glenn Beck after he criticized his interview on CNN.

Alex Jones to Glenn Beck: ‘Thomas Jefferson would spit on you’:

In this clip from Cenk’s interview with radio host Alex Jones, whose rant on Piers Morgan’s CNN show was dismissed by Glenn Beck as an attempt to make gun advocates seems crazy, Jones says, “You jackass mainline conservatives don’t speak for me. You’re the ones that have discredited true conservatism and libertarianism. Thomas Jefferson would spit on you, you little bastard. You little piece of trash. That’s what I have to say to Glenn Beck.”

If you're in for some more abuse, you can watch the extended interviews with Jones here and here.

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Jon Stewart was still on fire his second night back from vacation, despite having some trouble with his voice due to a cold and he laid into the right for their staunch opposition to any new regulations or form of gun control, even though we're constantly hearing them say that "everything should be on the table" to deal with the problem.

No one was spared from NRA head Wayne LaPierre, to Fox News, to GOP politicians to you name it. After playing some footage of Fox "news" and wingnut Glenn Beck and their fearmongering on the topic, Stewart pulled out an assault rifle on the set in reaction:

STEWART: I'm not sure what happened. I'm sorry. I blacked out in the middle of that and woke up with an AK in my... I don't know... or whatever this is. I'm sure I'll get letters about what this really is, which is plastic is what it really is.

It was nice to see him get in a not so thinly veiled swipe at the wingnuts who went crazy after David Gregory held up something that appeared to be a magazine on the set of Meet the Press. There is a mile long list of why I'd like to see Gregory off of the air, but that stupidity isn't one of them.

Stewart got a shot in on LaPierre for his solution to the problem with our mental health system failing us not doing anything to actually improve taking care of those with mental health problems, but a national database of the "lunatics" out there instead. After asking what someone might have to do to be added to that list, Stewart recommended that LaPierre be put on it for this:

LAPIERRE: Americans, don't want to be added to that pile of dead people that have been left defenseless by the U.N. policies.

STEWART: LaPierre with two r's is a run.

Next up was HuckaJesus saying we don't have a gun problem, but a sin problem instead, to which Stewart responded that he didn't realize that his masturbating had risen to the level of a national crisis. He wrapped up the first segment with Fox's Eric Bolling saying it's not the right time to talk about gun control and that he'd have to wait until the next segment to continue his conversation about it.

In part two, Stewart did a great job talking about all of the other things we are willing to regulate in the United States other than guns, and the list of reasons we're given by the politicians and the talking heads for not regulating them, along with all of the legislation that's been passed to make sure that the gun manufacturers are never held liable for their products, unlike every other industry out there which manufacturers products which might harm or kill people.

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I'm not sure how many of you have seen these ads, but with monitoring cable news for the site, I see them constantly on MSNBC and CNN. I just have to ask if they're so hard up for advertising dollars that they need to be running ads from an Alex Jones promoted scam artist who's been fined a million and a half dollars by the SEC? And better yet, he's also apparently World Net Daily's financial columnist as well.

WorldNetDaily's financial columnist faces $1.5 million SEC sanction:

Yesterday, we highlighted how WorldNetDaily financial columnist Porter Stansberry bragged that he's ready to flee the country at a moment's notice with most of his wealth to a locale "that doesn't have any ties to America." We did some looking into Stansberry's background and found a large sanction against him from the Securities & Exchange Commission. [...]

In 2007, the SEC ordered Stansberry and his company to pay $1.5 million in restitution and civil penalties, stating that, according to an August 10, 2007, Baltimore Sun article (retrieved from Nexis), Stansberry's company "acted in reckless disregard for regulations when it published Stansberry's unbelievable claims without a shred of confirmation." The parent company, Agora, was not held liable. [...]

In September 2009, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Stansberry's SEC sanction, stating that securities fraud is not protected speech and "[p]unishing fraud, whether it be common law fraud or securities fraud, simply does not violate the First Amendment."

Stansberry has popped up on occasion in more mainstream news outlets. Barron's touted him as "highly regarded" and "remarkably prescient" in July 2008; a February 2009 Associated Press article cited Stansberry, as did a separate February 2009 USA Today article.

None of these articles mentioned Stansberry's SEC fine. Unsurprisingly, WorldNetDaily hasn't either. Quite the contrary: When his column began in December 2009, WND claimed it was "introducing readers looking for sound, reality-based investment information to the respected financial research outfit Stansberry & Associates."

How does "sound, reality-based investment information" mesh with a $1.5 million SEC sanction for selling "unbelievable claims without a shred of confirmation" to investors? That's something WND (and Stansberry) should explain.

Maybe MSNBC and CNN can explain why they're promoting him as well.