#2976: Dan Happel

Dan Happel is a Montana-based speaker, self-declared political analyst, and radio host at Connecting the Dots with Dan Happel on Patriot Soapbox. Yes, as the name of his radio program suggests, Dan Happel is a conspiracy theorist. It is worth mentioning that he was also a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and member of the Ted Cruz 2016 campaign’s Montana LeadershipTeam.

 

Happel is perhaps most famous for his promotion of Agenda 21 conspiracy theories, and he believes that Agenda 21 – a several decades old, nonbinding sustainable development initiative from the UN – is actually a Stalinist plot to create a one-world government to ensure that “private property can be increasingly controlled and ultimately eliminated” because that’s what the superrich really want. In particular, according to Happel, Agenda 21 will “involve relocating most Montanans to some large city, like Seattle, where they would be housed like sardines in compact housing developments, deprived of automobiles, and basically held hostage to some job in the city. Meanwhile vast areas of land would be reclaimed for wilderness to be used by the rich oligarchy.” And you should be worried, for as Happel sees it – completely falsely – Agenda 21 (at least prior to Trump) “drives 90 percent of federal legislation”.

 

But Happel might not be a mere one-trick pony, however. During COVID, he was one of the most influential pushers of COVID-related misinformation in Montana, and in September 2021 he was chair of the “second annual Red Pill Expo” in Rapid City devoted mostly (but not exclusively) to COVID-related conspiracy theories: “We’re going to be talking about the vaccine programs and what the vaccine programs are about,” said Happel about the event. “We’re going to be talking about COVID, we're going to be talking about Agenda 21. We're going to be talking about globalism and the push to create a one world global government …” so ok, he is a one-trick pony. But he is also anti-vaccine; as he lays it out in his post “VACCINE HESITANCY aka COMMON SENSE!”, “not only were these ‘vaccines’ [the COVID ones] not adequately tested, they became a political football to outlaw the use of inexpensive, time tested and verifiably safer drugs like hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin.”

 

Diagnosis: Although his Red Pill Expo was nominally arranged to “help truth seekers understand how the world really works,” Happel is evidently among the worst possible guides you could have. He has an audience, but we doubt he has much power to win new converts.

#2975: Jim Hanson

Jim Hanson is a deranged conspiracy theorist affiliated with the anti-Islam organization Center for Security Policy. And Hanson sees Muslim and and pro-Muslim conspiracies everywhere. For instance, when a 14-year-old Muslim was arrested in Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school back in 2015 under the pretext that it might be a bomb, Hanson saw through the pretense immediately and concluded that everything about the situation “was a P.R. stunt, it was a staged event” designed by Islamic radicals for the purpose of undermining anti-terrorism security protocols. “They wanted people to react and they wanted to portray this kid as an innocent victim ... I don’t think there is any question he was put up to it by someone else who wanted him to take that in to create this exact scenario”. Evidence, you ask? Hah, you narrow-minded heretic. No, Hanson knows: this whole thing was organized by Islamic fundamentalists who “want a Muslim-privilege exemption to ‘see something, say something' and that's what this is about” (he also refused to believe that the clock was, in fact, just a clock). Meanwhile, Hanson and his organization has long been pushing the conspiracy theory that Democrats are purposely bringing in immigrants who “don’t share our culture and values” in order to seize power and undermine America. And keep in mind that the organization’s ‘research’ into such issues has been invoked e.g. by American presidents (name not necessary) to propose policies like a ban on Muslim immigration.

 

Diagnosis: And that’s enough about Jim Hanson. Please overlook him, his rants and his organization. Many, unfortunately, don’t.

#2974: Paul J. Hansen

Paul J. Hansen is a flamboyantly lunatic sovereign citizen (self-proclaimed) who has made a bit of a career offering legal advice and selling legal “kits” to other sovereign citizen types and people in trouble with the law. Despite admitting to being a “native-born of the Land of Nebraska” and living in Omaha, Hansen “believes that neither the city nor Douglas County holds sway over him” and “does not believe the laws of the United States of America apply to him”; he does, accordingly, for instance refuse to pay taxes. On the other hand, he does sell “briefs” on his website to people who don’t want to get a driver’s license or license plate, or who do not want to observe public health codes or pay taxes. His followers tend to claim that his legal reasoning is sound because they have no training in or idea about how the law works, and preditably tend to neglect the probably rather more pressing question “will it fly?” And to answer the latter, it is worth noting that Hansen has outstanding warrants for his arrest for failing to appear in court, tax liens for tens of thousands of dollars, and been arrested a two-digit number of times. Over the course of his career, Hansen has made news for instance for taking money from a disabled person and for being sentenced to jail for refusing to address 14 housing code violations as well as “one count of giving false information, one count of resisting arrest and two counts of obstructing the administration of the law.”

 

Hansen is, however, most famous for his work on behalf of legendary loon Kent Hovind. After having landed himself in jail for tax fraud, Hovind – who had long promoted sovereign citizen theories himself – sought the legal counsel of Hansen. The WND described Hansen as “an attorney advising Hovind”; Hansen, however, is not a lawyer but, according to himself, a “law-educated layman”; indeed, the courts issued an injunction in 2013 preventing Hansen from “engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in any manner, including but not limited to holding himself out to another as being entitled to practice law as defined by § 3-1001” after an investigation of Hansen's blogs and legal “kits”. A fairly representative example of Hansen’s work on Hovind’s behalf is his 2011 letter to the Florida Attorney General informing the government that Hovind is a “free inhabitant” per the Articles of Confederation and the government “must accept the Articles of Confederation” – i.e., Hansen based his argument on a system of governance that dissolved itself in 1789. That Hovind would buy such bullshit is hardly surprising. The courts emphatically didn’t.

 

Apparently, Hovind’s and Hansen’s partnership has continued also after Hovind finally got out of jail, and they have gone on to file frivolous lawsuits to be dismissed with prejudice based on hysterically insane pseudolaw.

 

Note that there is also a Paul Hansen who has published work with Answers in Genesis. We have no idea whether that is the same guy or not.

 

Diagnosis: Kent Hovind found his reasoning compelling enough to partner up with him, and that tells you all you need to know. And Paul Hansen is primarily a danger to himself and those who associate with him. That said, there is a scary amount of these dingbats to go around.

 

Hat-tip: Rationalwiki

 

#2973: Nikole Hannah-Jones et al.

Nikole Hannah-Jones is an investigative journalist and staff writer for The New York Times, a MacArthur Fellow, inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at the Howard University School of Communications (where she founded the Center for Journalism and Democracy), possessor of various Honorary Degrees, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and even a Pulitzer Prize winner for Commentary in 2020 for her work on her most famous project, The 1619 Project. She has, in other words, received lots of accolades and wields a lot of influence, But her work, in particular the 1619 Project, has, to be honest, ideology-driven bullshit as its core (although it should be emphasized that the bullshit verdict doesn’t extend to all essays written by scholars in connection with the project). And even if you agree with her goals (reparations for descendants of slaves, as well as national health care and other social welfare programs for all Americans – like most defenders of the former, she is pretty nebulous about the practical execution and consequences of such a program) – it really doesn’t justify her pseudohistory. And it is junk history. The fact that lots of people like it because they share some or all of her political views doesn’t change that (this review of the later book is somewhat remarkable for its attempt to laud the project but more or less giving up halfway through). The New York Times, meanwhile – and true to their ideological stance – refused to publish corrections, just as they had refused to accommodate the contributions of fact checkers in the first place (instead, editor Jake Silverstein doubled down).

 

And the things is, we have thus far covered a lot of wingnut pseudoscience of the America-as-a-Christian-nation variety – history twisted to serve wingnut or religious right ideology – and that is hard to justify without including the 1619 Project as well. Indeed, the whole thing is eerily reminiscent of the work of David Barton, including the types of inaccuracies and sleights of hand employed.

 

Hannah-Jones herself responded to criticism by pointing out “that history is never objective. There are facts, and then there are interpretations of facts”, and sure: the idea that there is some kind of ‘objective’ framing of history is a myth – that defense of distortion is of course available to Christian nationalists, too – but there are, indeed, facts, and Hannah-Jones seems to be less than ideally concerned with those as well (and with this). It is not a particularly good look. And to emphasize: What really makes the project break the lunacy barrier is not in itself the revisionism – legitimate historical revisionism (in the sense used by historians) is a means to shed new light on and deepen our understanding of history – but the obvious political goal to push it in public schools. Indeed, the Times quickly developed its 1619 Project Curriculum and printed hundreds of thousands of extra copies for distribution to schools, museums and libraries, and The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting made available free online lesson plans and offers help to get speakers to classrooms – all in a manner we are very familiar with from the Discovery Institute’s efforts on behalf of intelligent design: the goal was never to engage with the science but to get their ideas into schools.

 

Some people have of course defended the project on the grounds that, despite its flaws, it serves as a counterweight to prevailing narratives. But that's precisely the sort of idea about the dynamics that makes it scary: the need for a counterweight doesn’t justify pseudohistory in service of ideology but should motivate an even more excrutiating focus on accuracy and detail. Note that the 1619 project is the direct motivation for the 1776 Project, which is even more ridiculously plagued by pseudoscience and pseudohistory. And that’s how it will all continue when accuracy is proscribed in lieu of political games. So even if you agree with the political goal of the 1619 Project, you really ought to be worried about the dynamics here. And no: Our denunciation of the project does not mean that lots of the criticisms from elsewhere weren’t moronic; but they were predictable.

 

Diagnosis: Can people stop doing pseudoscience and pseudohistory in the name of ideology? (Of course they can’t, but life probably won’t get much better before they do.) Given our coverage of wingnut pseudohistory in the past, we really couldn’t circumvent this one. And although the 1619 Project is probably less egregious than, say, David Barton’s drivel, given the support and advocacy it’s been lent and by whom, the 1619 Project’s effects are conceivably even more disconcerting.

#2972: John Hanlin

John Hanlin has been the sheriff of Douglas County, Oregon, since 2008, which means that he was the sheriff in charge of investigating the 2015 shooting at Umpqua Community College that left nine people dead. In that context, media rightfully raised some concerns, because Hanlin had previously promoted Sandy Hook trutherism: In a (later removed) Facebook post, Hanlin posted a link to the video “Sandy Hook Shooting - Fully Exposed”, writing “This makes me wonder who we can trust anymore.” The video suggested that both 9/11 and the Sandy Hook shooting were part of a government conspiracy to take away people’s guns. At the same time, Hanlin wrote a letter to the government asserting that “Gun control is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings” and pledged that he would not enforce new gun laws; in the aftermath of the Umpqua shooting, he merely asserted that “[n]ow is not an appropriate time to have those conversations”.

 

Now, Hanlin did later assert that the Sandy Hook massacre was not a government conspiracy. He still counts as a loon, however, and not only because he at one point entertained such silliness – for notice the standards he applies to judge which conversations are legimitate to have at what points. And yes, those standards are sufficient to qualify John Hanlin as a loon.

 

Hanlin is also associated with the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers and subscribes to the view that sheriffs are “the highest executive authority in a county and therefore constitutionally empowered to be able to keep federal agents out of the county”. He invoked claims like this in response e.g. to statewide COVID measures in 2020, both because of what he perceived to be medical reasons and because he viewed them as an unconstitutional infringement upon individual freedom, just like traffic laws (he didn’t mention that).

 

Diagnosis: Yes, this entry is centered around one error he made years ago and which he has later, half-heartedly, repudiated. But it was an error that reveals more than enough about what kind of mindset we are dealing with, and it is a profoundly disconcerting one.

#2971: Donald Hank

Donald Hank is a columnist for RenewAmerica – or at least he was: we haven’t seen any new columns for a while – and wingnut. Most of his writings seem concerned with perceived Washington overreach and countering what he thought was fake news from mainstream media, but he did, of course, broach other issues, too, including (sigh!) gay marriage and gay rights. Responding to a decision of the Presbyterian Church to allow pastors to officiate same-sex weddings back in 2014, Hank accused them of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” and of supporting what he called “socialMarxism.” Said Hank: “This is social Marxism and we are slaves to it in the US. Isn’t it time to throw off the chains? It's all up to the people”. As Hank sees it, gay marriage “is like saying a dog is a cat” and will allow for “our culture and hence our sovereignty to be destroyed” (The mechanisms he have in mind are a bit unclear). Moreover, gay marriage is wrong because people “deep down” feel is wrong; then he cited the assassination of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus, whom historians have said was either gay or transgender: “In Elagabulus’ case, he was eventually assassinated. The people’s will was done.” So there.

 

Diagnosis: Take a moment to consider how he invokes freedom vs. slavery in the context of the issue at hand (Presbyterian Church allowing pastors to officiate same-sex weddings), and you can probably come up with a diagnosis yourself.

 

Hat-tip: People for the American Way

#2970: Hillel Handler

A.k.a. William Handler (the name he uses when he talks to Gentiles)

 

New York-based Rabbi Hillel Handler is a flamboyantly insane conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine activist, and likely partially responsible for measles outbreaks in New York’s orthodox Jewish communities. Now, Handler doesn’t quite view it that way; according to Handler, as expressed at a New York symposium with (a.o.) Del Bigtree and Andrew Wakefield, and based entirely on his feverish imagination, the 2019 measles outbreak among orthodox Jews was part of an elaborate plan concocted by Mayor Bill de Blasio to deflect attention from “more serious” diseases brought by Central American migrants. “We Hasidim have been chosen as the target,” said Handler; “the campaign against us has been successful.” And yes, he did claim the role of victim of persecution while simultaneously, and without irony, accusing Central American immigrants of spreading disease, a type of hoary gambit … he should have some awareness of, shouldn’t he? He did, however, claim that Bill de Blasio is a “nasty German” and a “very, very sneaky fellow” and asserted that it was therefore “in his DNA” to hate Jewish people.

 

But yes, that’s Rabbi Hillel Handler for you. Handler views his status as a Rabbi as a sort of mechanism that grants truth to whatever delusional fantasies his deranged imagination comes up with, regardless of fact, coherence, reason or evidence (such as claiming that de Blasio is German). Apparently, however, his word carries some weight in Rockland County (famous, by the way, for hosting the US’s first case of paralytic polio for more than a decade in 2022 – the patient being, of course, unvaccinated), even though he is obviously delusionally insane. And Handler has said a lot of stupid things, including that parents who “placate the gods of vaccination” are engaging in “child sacrifice”. (“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”, said Rabbi Handler, citing the Gospel of Luke, though we don’t really believe he wants anyone to be forgiven.) Meanwhile, ultraorthodox communities remain a favorite target for anti-vaccine activists.

 

Indeed, not only are vaccines bad, according to Handler, but disease is good: Handler claims that getting measles, mumps and chicken pox reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke by 60%; needless to say, he didn’t even try to back up his assertions, partially, of course, because they are idiotically false. And there is, of course, a conspiracy afoot (one that goes beyond Di Blasio): “This is all being orchestrated by the drug companies, which are very close to the CDC,” says Handler. “The doctors all march in lockstep with the CDC. The doctors don’t think they’re marching in lockstep. They don’t understand that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, is a totally corrupt swamp. … They are criminals.” And of course, invoking the holocaust is a go-to trick: “Yes, there is a vaccine-triggered holocaust of autism and autoimmune diseases, like asthma, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and various forms of ADHD and brain damage,” says Handler, and promptly goes on to express outrage that “the Anti-Defamation League and other politically-Liberal Jewish organizations have claimed exclusive ownership of this very powerful English word and blocked its use by Autism activists”; he did of course not go on to try to provide any evidence for his claims, which are demonstrably ridiculous.

 

He wasn’t a fan of covid vaccines and covid measures either. On his YouTube video, which amassed thousands of views, he predictably called his political opponents (including Jewish doctors) “Göring” and “Mengele” and accused them of orchestrating a “soft pogrom”, dismissed standard medical protocols, and provided medical advice based on his own delusional imagination, including vitamin supplements. 

 

Handler was also a signatory to a 2020 letter written by Sharon Kroner and Kevin Barry to President Trump to oppose school vaccine mandates. Having the signature of a raging lunatic like Handler doesn’t exactly lend credibility to the letter, but then it didn’t have any credibility to lose in the first place.

 

Handler is notable for other efforts, too, including fiercely attacking observant Jews for reporting child sex abuse to police; as Handler sees it, such accusations should be handled by rabbinic authorities (“[m]olestation cases must be handled by G’dolim, not by ‘experts’”), and he has been caught defending a rabbi who was convicted of raping his own daughter by saying the girl was lying about the abuse. You are supposed to take the authority conveyed by the title “Rabbi” as evidence enough for anything. Indeed, Handler even served as a spokesperson for the campaign to raise funds to support the convicted rabbi (that effort was led by one Rabbi Moshe Green, a name we record for future reference). He has also opposed efforts to regulate metzizah b’pei, a controversial circumcision rite that can spread deadly herpes to newborn boys, on the grounds that the practice must be “safe” because it is “old”.

 

Diagnosis: Incoherently fuming, insane conspiracy theorist. But although Rabbi Handler is a complete idiot, apparently a number of people thinks his title give him some kind of authority on medical issues. Those people should be avoided.

 

Hat-tip: Respectful Insolence