We've written for years on C&L of how much of a crackpot Ron Paul was while he served in Congress -- and still is. His rise to pseudo-political prominence came after he was a frequent guest and peddler of the 9/11 inside job conspiracy theories led by Alex Jones and his ilk. Yesterday The Ron Paul Institute published a piece called : Charlie Hebdo Shootings: False Flag?

The Charlie Hebdo affair has many of the characteristics of a false flag operation. The attack on the cartoonists’ office was a disciplined professional attack of the kind associated with highly trained special forces; yet the suspects who were later corralled and killed seemed bumbling and unprofessional. It is like two different sets of people.

If you read the whole thing you'll be sickened by it and it has caused quite a stir today from some of his libertarian allies like Matt Welsh at Reason Magazine. The Weekly Standard was equally horrified by this screed too.

It shouldn't surprise anyone who has covered Ron Paul in the past, but most of the media only focused on Paul's popularity rise during the 2008 Republican presidential primaries and never bothered to ask why he was able to raise so much money with his "money bombs.' Being a right wing extremist or a conspiracy theory nut pays good dollars and Ron Paul capitalized on it big time.

Senator Rand Paul, (his son) is no slouch when it comes to conspiracy theories either, but I do wonder if the media will ever ask Rand about his father's nutty proclivities? Don't hold your breath.