#1946: L.A. Marzulli

A.k.a. Lynn Marzulli (real name)

L.A. Marzulli is something of a legend in conspiracy circles, having made his appearance in numerous poorly produced documentaries and sensationalist TV and radio shows aimed at the most gullible among us. His deranged rants have also been extensively published in venues that publish such stuff (such as the WND, who refers to him as “Reporter and researcher”). Precisely what Marzulli thinks is sometimes a bit difficult to determine, but he seems bent on adopting whatever crazy combination of conspiracy theories, deranged religious fundamentalism and pseudoscience he encounters. Aliens are a big part of it, as is the return of Jesus. And apparently the theory of evolution is false. In general, the general tenor seems to be a perceived battle between Jesus and his devout followers on the one hand, and a Satanic horde of ancient alien lizard people, demons, the Illuminati and the UN on the other. Apparently aliens built piezoelectric teleporters in Peru in prehistoric times, and people with unusual head shapes are aliens and signs of imminent End Times. That kind of stuff.

Examples:

•        Marzulli is for instance one of many cranks who weighed in with nonsense on Comet Elenin – Marzulli maintained, with scant evidence beyond the malworkings of his own mind, that Comet Elenin is actually a “SUPERMASSIVE BLACK CARBON STAR” (perhaps this one). It isn’t.
•       He was also host of the “documentary” series The Watchers, weighing in for instance on the evidence for the historical accuracy of the Nephilim. According to Marzulli, not only are the Biblical stories of the Nephilim accurate; they survive to this day. One of them was killed by American soldiers in Afghanistan. To back up the claim, Marzulli cites “rumors”. Apparently the powers that be have a vested interest in keeping the story under wraps: “If it points to the Bible’s narrative being accurate, they don’t want it;” in particular, “if it goes against Darwinian evolution, it’s not to be spoken of.” Ostensibly because “they” are secretly Satanists worshipping at the altar of Darwin.
•       As for those piezoelectric teleporters in Peru: Apparently Marzulli has travelled extensively in South America, where he noticed some common, simple houses built out of tufa; the back walls of these buildings, apparently interestingly, had no windows. Therefore they were piezoelectric teleporters that ancient Peruvians used to zap themselves a thousand miles away. Apparently because aliens.
•       He has also promoted the starchild skull nonsense (one of the more familiar out-of-place artifacts claims). The skulls in question were apparently tested by real scientists in real labs, but Marzulli obviously cannot reveal the names of these scientists for fear of persecution.

Marzulli also hosts something called Acceleration Radio, which actually seems to enjoy some listeners. He is also the author of the Nephilim Trilogy; Politics, Prophecy & the Supernatural and the Alien Interviews. Cult leaders John and Glenys Darnell in Australia (truly scary people) seem to be heavily influenced by Marzulli’s teachings, for instance.

Not only is Marzulli’s insanity popular in fringe conspiracy circles; he also enjoys quite a bit of an audience at the intersection between the Tea Party and the religious right (ok, that would presumably count as a fringe conspiracy circle). In 2013, for instance, he was a keynote at the Pikes Peak Prophecy Summit with the talk “On the Trail of the Nephilim: The Mysterious Skulls and Skeletons of Peru”. Other keynotes included Jonathan Cahn (“The Harbinger Continues & The Mystery of the Malkosh”), the WND’s Joseph Farah (“After the Harbinger: The Prophecy Continues”), no less, Stanley Monteith (“Secret Agenda”), Chuck “Peanut Butter Argument” Missler (“The Denizens of Metacosm”), Gary Stearman (“First Trump Last Trump: Defending the Rapture”), Mark Biltz (“Signs in the Heavens: Blood Moons Are Coming to Israel”), Bob Cornuke (“Biblical Archaeology: A Police Investigator’s Perspective”) and Bill Koenig (“The White House’s Role in Israel and the Middle East”).

Diagnosis: Utterly deranged religious fundamentalist who has also adopted most of the whale.to-style conspiracy theories you could possible imagine – one step more deranged than the Alex Joneses of the Internet, in other words. Marzulli is nevertheless loud enough to have managed to attract an audience, but although he is perhaps not completely harmless, his impact zone remains fairly limited.

#1945: Gary Marx

At least we’re not in danger of running out of religious extremist loons anytime soon. Gary Marx is the executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition (at least the name suggest a certain dim awareness of a potential conflict between freedom and their version of faith); that’s Ralph Reed’s new group, which is as insanely looney and scarily influential as you'd expect.

Marx claims that democracy no longer exists because of gay marriage. In 2013, he said that the Supreme Court’s rulings on DOMA and Proposition 8 have made our democracy only an illusion and accused the court of “dismantling American democracy” and turning America into “a nation where democracy is a mere visual effect used to spawn a perception of self-rule that no longer ultimately exists.” Apparently, the courts undermine democracy because “traditional marriage activists” ostensibly “vastly outnumber their opponents”, which is, incidentally, demonstrably false, but does show that Marx doesn’t really understand the role of the courts or the Constitution. (Marx apparently even believed that when courts rule against what he perceive to be majority opinion they “trump Constitutional principles”; no, he doesn’t understand this at all; not that anyone would ever suspect him of being intellectually honest about these things in any case.

Marx is primarily associated with his position as director of the wingnut Judicial Confirmation Network, a group that putatively combats “judicial activism” (i.e. decisions they don’t personally agree with), but which in reality seeks precisely to influence court nominations so that appointees would not too slavishly adhere to the Constitution when the Constitution comes into conflict with how Marx thinks society should be organized, which it frequently does. Marx was formerly head of the Virginia Christian Coalition and the day-to-day coordinator of evangelical support for President W’s reelection campaign. He is also a Pat Robertson’s Regent “University” alumnus.

In 2012 Marx supported Tony Perkins for Senate, calling Perkins “a thoughtful public policy leader, credible candidate for U.S. Senate.” Lunacy comes no more deranged than calling Tony Perkins a “thoughtful public policy leader”.

Diagnosis: Deranged Taliban-style activist, who – like so many likeminded people – like to pretend to defend freedom and the Constitution while (fervently) doing the exact opposite. Marx is nevertheless one of the movers and shakers of the religious right, and worrisomely influential.

#1944: Greg Marvel

Greg Marvel is President of the Board of Education for the San Ramon Unified School District. He is also an anti-vaxxer. In fact, Marvel claims to be “a strong believer in the use of vaccines.” However, he said of Leslie Manookian’s antivaxx propaganda movie The Greater Good (review here) that “it presents a balanced argument, with national experts advocating for universal vaccination, while others in the film present cautionary arguments.” If you think the conspiracy ravings of The Greater Good presents a “balanced argument”, you are delusional. And anti-vaccine. Given that he is also a school board president, the fact that he sees The Greater Good “as a starting point for each viewer to begin the discussion within their own families about the benefits and risks associated with vaccinations, and thus strongly recommend that every parent watch this film,” is deeply problematic. One also wonders whether it is considered within the scope of his role to send a letter on school board stationary praising the film to antivaccine groups. Well, the antivaccine Canary Party used Marvel’s endorsement for all it was worth.

Of course, such actions from a school board president should, in a reasonable world, lead at least to some serious criticism. Instead, since San Ramon is apparently a hotbet for antivaccine activism, he received support. Nancy Sheets, “a credentialed school nurse” in the San Ramon district endorsed the conspiracy flick, too.

Diagnosis: Wtf, San Ramon? Greg Marvel is a conspiracy theorist with a penchant for pseudoscience, and a danger to your children and community (Nancy Sheets, too). Get him out.