We should be proud: or not

by: Thurman Hart

Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 06:58:10 AM EDT

Candidates invariably say they're speaking the plain truth to voters, but Jeff Boss is one candidate who can claim to be an actual "truther." That's the name that 9/11 conspiracy theorists have given themselves, and Boss is a member in good standing. On the ballot in New Jersey both as an independent Senate and presidential candidate, Boss claims to have extensive personal knowledge of the events surrounding the terrorist attacks seven years ago.

It's tough to glean from his website, which is virtually impossible to navigate because it was so hastily thrown together, but Boss insists that prior to 9/11, one of his relatives with knowledge of national security matters described a scenario in which the government planned to fly airplanes into buildings.

Boss's paranoia is so extreme that it?s difficult to piece together his claims, but they mostly revolve around his cataloguing of several attempts on his life, all of which he believes were carried out by the National Security Agency. He regaled me with stories of finding suspicious items underneath his car that he believes to be bombs, and insists he has been the target of NSA surveillance.

"I've been told by a lot of people that my phone calls and e-mails are not working properly, and I had a private security company check out my car, and they said it was bugged," Boss says. "And last week I had my mother?s car in the auto body shop and the mechanic told me some surveillance equipment was found, and that the car was probably set up to kill me."

When I asked if he had some sort of documentation he could send me, he refused to correspond electronically, explaining that the government intercepts his e-mails. But he did claim to have some letters from mechanics backing up his claims. Oddly, Boss told me the attempts on his life have tapered off since he began running for office and speaking publicly about his knowledge of the elaborate government cover-up.

He described himself as someone who's really shaking things up by confronting the truth-meeting with voters daily, appearing on local newscasts and generating buzz. But when I contacted the campaign of his opponent, Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, they didn't appear to be overly concerned about Boss?s candidacy. And why is that, I asked. They explained they?d never heard of him.

Last month, Boss, convinced that the government was trying to shut him up, sought to delay the election, and posted this ominous update on his campaign website:

AN INJUNCTION TO POSTPONE THE GENERAL ELECTION HAS BEEN FILED IN FEDERAL COURT ON GROUNDS THAT THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY HAS PREVENTED ME FROM HAVING A FAIR ELECTION. A $400 MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED ALSO SEE JEFFBOSS4SENATE.COM
E MAIL AT JEFFBOSS1@AOL.COM OR CALL ME AT HOME 201-662-1303

BE AWARE THAT PEOPLE ARE TELLING ME THAT THEY CALL AND SPEAK TO ME BUT I NEVER HAVE SPOKEN TO THEM. MY PHONES AND E MAILS ARE BEING REROUTED BY THE NSA.

As to why Boss has decided to run for president and the Senate simultaneously, he explained that he had a grasp of the harsh realities of presidential politics. "I'm running for president because I'd hoped to get the message out about what's really going on in our country, but it does not look good at this time," he says. "The Senate is my back-up. I figured if I got some national attention for the presidential run, I?d probably win the Senate race."

I got my practice ballot in the mail yesterday, so consider this a "my relatives are crazier than yours" sort of thing.