Idiotic Conspiracy Theory Claims Episode Of 'Family Guy' Predicted Boston Marathon Bombing

One of the sadly predictable side effects of any disaster is that within hours of the event crackpots from all sides of the political spectrum will be claiming the event was some sort of secret conspiracy involving the government, big business, illegal immigrants and lizard people.

If there's a "go-to" person in the conspiracy movement it's radio host Alex Jones, who describes himself as an "aggressive constitutionalist" and libertarian. He believes the U.S. government was responsible for The Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11. He believes David Koresh and the Branch Davidians were killed by the ATF and at one point tried to build a Davidian temple as a tribute to the group. Most recently, he's argued that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary might have been the result of a plan by anti-gun enthusiasts to use a mass shooting as a catalyst for tighter gun control. He made a memorable appearance on the Piers Morgan CNN talk show, which quickly devolved into a lot of shouting and speculation by Jones on what flag Morgan would have on his tights if they wrestled.

It didn't take long for Jones to insert himself into the coverage of the Boston Marathon shooting, first by having an associate ask Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick last night if the bombing was a "false flag" operation to take away civil liberties. By today, he had moved on to a claim that a video from a recent episode of "Family Guy" predicted the bombing.

The video he posted (which has since been removed by YouTube) includes a couple of clips edited together from the "Family Guy" episode "Turban Cowboy." It mentions terrorism and a bombing at the marathon and there are a few moments that are eerily reminiscent of the actual events. But no one seriously believes Fox or "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane had any advance knowledge of the event. Any more than anyone believes producers of the Fox drama "The Lone Gunmen" had any advance knowledge of 9/11 when they showed a plane plowing into an office building in the show's pilot.

But logic doesn't seem to enter into Jones's calculations when it comes to terrorists events. He believes in what he describes as "predictive programming," which argues that not only do large conspiracies happen on a regular basis, the perpetrators put hints of their machinations in popular culture for supporters and the curious to discover.

By early Tuesday afternoon Seth MacFarlane had posted this on his twitter feed:

"The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent. The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims."

With any luck the mainstream media will ignore this sorry excuse for a radio host and focus their attention to uncovering the people truly responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings.

UPDATE: Alex Jones responded to Seth MacFarlane's comments on Twitter:

"Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon which made fun of terrorist bombings and depicted mutilated Boston Marathon runners...."

"yet he is labeling people who merely talk about the episode as abhorrent."