August 1, 2018

"In the world in which QAnon believers live, Trump’s detractors, such as Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, wear ankle monitors that track their whereabouts."

"Press reports are dismissed as 'Operation Mockingbird,' the name given to the alleged midcentury infiltration of the American media by the CIA. The Illuminati looms large in QAnon, as do the Rothschilds, a wealthy Jewish family vilified by the conspiracy theorists as the leaders of a satanic cult. Among the world leaders wise to satanic influences, the theory holds, is Russian President Vladimir Putin. QAnon flirts with eschatology, fascist philosophy and the filmmaking of Francis Ford Coppola. Adherents believe a 'Great Awakening' will precede the final storm foretold by Trump. Once they make sense of the information drip-fed to them by 'Q,' they will usher in a Christian revival presaging total victory. The implication is that resolving the clues left by 'Q' would not just explain Trump’s planned countercoup. It would also explain the whole universe.... Some big names have bought into the fantasy. Roseanne Barr, the disgraced star of the canceled ABC revival that bore her name, has posted messages on Twitter that appear to endorse the QAnon worldview, fixating on child sex abuse...."

"‘We are Q’: A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump’s ‘MAGA’ tour" (WaPo).

200 comments:

Michael K said...

WaPooh is a deranged conspiracy cult.

Comanche Voter said...

Forget it Jake. It's the Washington Post.

The excerpt reads like a fever dream; or if I were still in Berkeley as I was in the late 60's, I'd say the writer was coming down off a bad LSD trip.

rhhardin said...

Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, Conspiracy Theory (1997)

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I love that movie!

Mike Sylwester said...

QAnon is Eric Trump.

tim maguire said...

We are Q

"We" is likely an exaggeration. But hey, as WaPo knows, fear-mongers gotta fear!

Quaestor said...

My mind-numbed minions at work.

Excellent.

Michael said...

Wow, another imaginary threat from another only vaguely existing right-wing conspiracy, to provide the daily frisson to true-believing WaPo readers.

rhhardin said...

Trump calls Rush for 30th year show

Quaestor said...

The National Enquirer had better watch its back.

chuck said...

> WaPooh is a deranged conspiracy cult.

Bezos' loonies. I haven't figured out if he doesn't care or is just nuts.

tim maguire said...

Is there a Star Trek TNG allusion in the name? And, if so, does that make it more or less likely that Q is a real group?

Rob said...

One doesn't need to be a conspiracy theorist to know that something awful happened between the first two Godfather movies and "Godfather III." The extraordinary director we knew as Francis Ford Coppola was replaced by an evil poseur.

The same thing happened to George Lucas between the first three Star Wars movies and the second three.

Look to the skies.

Sprezzatura said...

Back in that thread re DJT shopping, Buw noted this, re DJT fans w/ signs at the recent rally.


DJT attracts weirdos.

Infinite Monkeys said...

When Trump was in England, a couple of people walked behind a Sky News reporter while carrying an Irish flag with a "Q" on it.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

A conspiracy about a supposed conspiracy. How meta. And meh.

Chuck said...

Some people might call QAnon believers "deranged." I wouldn't. I'd call them users of the Althouse Amazon Portal.

Wince said...

The media that dutifully reported spurious statistics pointing to modern college campuses as raping fields are now decrying private assertions about pedophilia among Hollywood celebrities and the homeless?

Infinite Monkeys said...

Is there a Star Trek TNG allusion in the name?

Q is a reference to a top secret security clearance level.

BJM said...

Yeah..totally not an opposition plant.

Bezos' loonies. I haven't figured out if he doesn't care or is just nuts.

Neither, the WaPo provides Prog street cred as he amasses more wealth and control over a huge sector of the retail economy.


tim in vermont said...

DJT attracts weirdos

Does toying with fascist philosophy include dressing in black head to toe and disguising your identity to go to opponents' rallies with the aim of creating violence? Because that’s right out of Hitler’s playbook, except that the shirts were brown and they didn’t use the ironic name of AntiFa.

Big Mike said...

And here I assumed that “We are Q” referred to gay men who support Trump. Good thing we have the Post to invent a ... I mean, to enlighten us.

Not that I don’t doubt there are crazy people who support Trump, but there’s crazy and then there’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez crazy, and one might note that she is heralded as a rising star in her party.

n.n said...

#TooManyLabels... also projection. WaPo is QAnon, but, more so, has a history of fascist behavior, of colluding with the State to manipulate private parties. Journolists are QAnon and have conspired with the State and special interests, domestic and foreign, to disenfranchise Americans and deny civil rights. Also exaggeration for effect, and specifically extrapolation from small sets to liberal proportions.

buwaya said...

I think “Q” is real, in that it is a semi-official channel of fan service for Trump.
Whatever Q is seems to be close to the President, and he seems to not only know all about it but indulges it.

My working theory is that Q is a mix of fact and fantasy, an ongoing piece of literary creation, but one that is “real”, that is, sanctioned or owned by Trump. It is a superb work of art in its own right, in a unique, novel medium. The world-building in it is complex and not properly characterized by the Post.

Whoever does it has great talent. Ignore prose style, assume it is “realistic”, a narrative by the sort of person/persons it purports to be.
It stands comparison with the best political thrillers.

The messages out of Q are typically propagandistic - the Presidents enemies are evil scum, and that victory is inevitable.
In that respect it is a mirror image of the MSM narrative, but it bypasses those channels to tell an opposite story.
It remains to be seen which narrative will prove more correct.

tim maguire said...

Infinite Monkeys said...
Is there a Star Trek TNG allusion in the name?

Q is a reference to a top secret security clearance level.


Oh, that's way more boring.

Safe bet: No one with a high-level security clearance joins internet groups named after high-level security clearances.

tim in vermont said...

Anybody who thinks that we should repeat Chavism in the US and expect different results than Venezuela got is, as the adage says, insane.

Michael K said...

Ron Desantis is not a member of Q

Chuck and WaPooh most disturbed.,

bagoh20 said...

Everyday they prove Trump right: "Enemy of the people."

Fernandinande said...

We are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence.

It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised.

n.n said...

They also believe that Stork delivers fetuses, offspring, babies at their convenience. That human life evolves from a moment of viability. The prophecy of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming. And that scientists have God-like perception and skill to assure accuracy outside of limited frame of reference.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Wake up, sheeple! All these organizations that supposedly control things are under the direction of the Build-A-Bear Group.

tim in vermont said...

If it is pro-Trump, then those guys with the Irish flag with “Q” on it were on the news demonstrating for Trump at the same instant that the chyron was nattering on about anti Trump demonstrations.

Fernandinande said...

So they killed him. Maybe.

Yancey Ward said...

Q does seem to have some level of security clearance- the level is unclear to me, but I do think he works in the government. I think it just as likely that Q is a Never-Trumper as a Trump supporter. In either case, it is an impressive demonstration of the power of the internet connectiveness we now share.

tim in vermont said...

Hah! I am a Florida Republican, and that sure puts Desnantis up there on my list. I have been away for a couple of months, so I am not following events down there. I guess I should look at the primary, but I guarantee you that I didn’t find that “insulting.”

sykes.1 said...

Q appears to be the only sane person in DC.

traditionalguy said...

Ever since the Conspiracy guys proved the fake Bush medical records were not typed on a Selectric, interner armies of fact checkers outing the fakes have been ridiculed as Conspiracy theorists.

How dare they know truth!

Chuck said...

Alex Jones, with that "amazing reputation," is making sure that InfoWars transcripts are being sent to Trump, at Trump's request:

https://www.newsweek.com/alex-jones-donald-trump-infowars-1045981

And the beautiful thing there is that you can believe Alex Jones, which looks terrible for Trump, or you can think that Alex Jones is a liar, which is always good.

tim in vermont said...

They used to say that “May you live in interesting times” was a curse. Who knew? Making your “times" great again!

Yancey Ward said...

Rob wrote:

"One doesn't need to be a conspiracy theorist to know that something awful happened between the first two Godfather movies and "Godfather III." The extraordinary director we knew as Francis Ford Coppola was replaced by an evil poseur."

Coppola was buried by the excess available to him after the two Godfather movies. You could see it starting with Apocalypse Now, but fully visible in Godfather III.

As for Lucas, he was never a great director, in my opinion. I never really liked Star Wars, but loved the following two movies, neither of which was directed by Lucas.

stever said...

I go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

tim in vermont said...

Outside of the WaPo, which has long since forfeited all credibility when it comes to Trump, where can I read about this ‘Q’?

Sprezzatura said...

Outside of the WaPo, which has long since forfeited all credibility when it comes to Trump, where can I read about this ‘Q’?

I first heard of it on Joe Rogan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD7MAnbIN2A

tim in vermont said...

You could see it starting with Apocalypse Now, but fully visible in Godfather III.

That’s ridiculous. Apocalypse Now is a great movie. Godfather III? That goes with the Duncacino ad, if you ask me.

gadfly said...

Blogger Char Char Binks said...
Wake up, sheeple! All these organizations that supposedly control things are under the direction of the Build-A-Bear Group.

. . . and Build-A-Bear is not just about bears anymore!

buwaya said...

The difference between conspiracy theories and "official" narratives are just that, the narrative built around the facts. One has official or institutional support, the other doesn't. This is very much like the narratives different countries build around their history. The "official" Spanish or Philippine view (or views) of their own history would seem odd to an American, in those places the national stories intersect.

What the British traditionally made of the American Revolution, for instance, is very different from the story American Revolutionaries told, and told their posterity.

In that sense "Q" is not a conspiracy theory, exactly, as it asserts many facts it has made up, or aren't in the public domain. In this it is more literature than conspiracy.

Otherwise it mainly uses what is in the public domain, if often underreported by the MSM, and inserts these in its frame.

tim in vermont said...

I never really liked Star Wars, but loved the following two movies, neither of which was directed by Lucas.

Words fail. There was only one good Star Wars movie, the one called Star Wars.

Yancey Ward said...

Tim,

Try Googling "Praying Medic".

buwaya said...

"you can believe Alex Jones, which looks terrible for Trump"

Listen to everyone. You never know what crank is going to turn into a hero.
Or rather who has the right, or better, frame in which to fit facts.
History is weird.

tim in vermont said...

Anybody who says that a movie with almost zero publicity and no proven audience that had people standing in line to see it weeks after it was released solely by word of mouth was not a great movie may have lost touch.

Francisco D said...

Chuckles the Smear Merchant is working hard today.

You must be sober, eh buddy?

Drago said...

buwaya: "Listen to everyone. You never know what crank is going to turn into a hero"

Indeed.

For some, Dershowitz is a hero for sticking to foundational principles, even when it costs him personally.

For others, like LLR Chuck, Dick Durbin and Stolen Valor Blumenthal are courageous heroes for sticking to their guns despite being exposed as typical hack leftists.

Yancey Ward said...

We just disagree, Tim. I think there is only one great Star Wars movie- The Empire Strikes Back, one good movie- Return of the Jedi, and dreck describes the rest of them.

Jon Ericson said...

Twitter [today] releases ban?
Was Twitter told to by MSM to demonstrate impact?
Do you think they got the [4am] memo?
Coincidence?
All for a Conspiracy?
Enjoy the show.
Q
>>2391684
You are now mainstream.
Handle w/ care.
The Great Awakening.
WWG1WGA!
Q

Henry said...

"One doesn't need to be a conspiracy theorist to know that something awful happened between the first two Godfather movies and "Godfather III."

He got really old. That's something awful.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck is a bit out of sorts today given the unpleasant "welcome" provided to our #StrongCNNDefender's CNN personnel in Tampa yesterday.

Temujin said...

I don't know which cultist, fascist, anti-Semitic group to worry about more: QAnon, Socialists, Antifa, or University Professors with tenure.

Maybe I'll just wait for football season.

Yancey Ward said...

Tim, Star Wars broke major technical ground in the making of movies- in that regard, it was great and novel- that is what brought the audiences, but everything else about it is vastly overrated. The script and dialogue are awful- the acting is barely watchable.

There are literally hundreds of great, commercially successful movies that are terrible movies overall.

buwaya said...

A favorable, believers summary of Q, and in particular I think it makes the point of the messaging - and this ID of purpose does not require belief -

Q summary

"It teaches people to pay closer attention to the news and look for corruption ourselves."

"The entire premise behind Q is that information you research and discover for yourself will be much more truthful and meaningful than information given to you by someone else."

I.e., to be inquisitive, and open to use a different frame ("corruption") in which to fit facts.

Yancey Ward said...

Henry,

Coppola was only 51 when he made #3. That is older, but not really old.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Biotrekker said...

Never heard of them.
Can't be that many of them.
Washpo & co need fake enemies to gin fear up.

narciso said...

maybe they made it so bad, because it was too uncomfortably close with the bluhdorn sindona deal,

Chuck said...

Francisco D said...
Chuckles the Smear Merchant is working hard today.

You must be sober, eh buddy?


Are you a licensed psychologist? Psychiatrist? What state?

Nonapod said...

Most of these sorts of conspiracies are just hokem. But on rare occasions the wildest conspiracy theories turn out to be true. Sort of like how Boltzmann's equation indicates that given an infinite amount of time a gas in an enclosed space will assume every possible microstate no matter how unlikely each individual configuration may be. Because of this are brains have evolved to see patterns in chaos (or at least believe there are patterns).

buwaya said...

"Never heard of them.
Can't be that many of them.'

You're not looking in the right places.

roesch/voltaire said...

People who claim WashP is a conspiracy cult just don't read other sources that have reported on this: A&E, Huff Post, New Yorker back in March to name a few. To dismiss this report is a good example a derangement syndrome among Trump supporters.

buwaya said...

" Because of this are brains have evolved to see patterns in chaos"

This happened because its almost always useful to find patterns, because most problems we are called on to solve aren't chaotic, or not chaotic enough to evade systematic solutions. If we were programmed to find false patterns in everything then we would be making too many mistakes to survive.

Jon Ericson said...

We've already checked under the streetlight.

Darrell said...

You can probably count on one hand the people that truly believe crap like that. Most play along because it is obviously fictitious and amusing to them--like most of the Flat Earth Society. I never heard of the Q group and I doubt 99.9% of you hadn't, either, before today.

Nonapod said...

*our brains

buwaya said...

The MSM is itself a conspiracy cult roesch.
Your heroes Noam Chomsky and Antonio Gramsci said so, and they were right, each in their way.

buwaya said...

" I never heard of the Q group and I doubt 99.9% of you hadn't, either, before today."

We are, most of us, much too old for this.
But it is prevalent in tech and gaming circles.
My boys AND girl (no gamer, far from it) all knew about it.

narciso said...

You mean like when they allowed louis mensch, a column in the new York times, or virulently anti Israeli author, a guest column, he's a talent novelist,

narciso said...

that would be al aswany, so the world of fast and furious, where we armed not one but too cartels, for unspecified ends, when arms went similarly to islamist militias that murdered our ambassador in Libya,

Nonapod said...

If we were programmed to find false patterns in everything then we would be making too many mistakes to survive.

This is true of course. But even so, our pattern recognition is hardly infallible. We should always endeavor to be skeptical. We should try to avoid simply confirming our own biases.

tim in vermont said...

People who claim WashP is a conspiracy cult just don’t read other sources that have reported on this: A&E, Huff Post, New Yorker

Any other full throated anti Trump rags you want to add to your list?

tim in vermont said...

I wonder if the Q believers believe anything so crazy as Putin got Trump elected through 50K in Facebook ads, and Trump knows it and will sell out the US in gratitude?

Drago said...

Temujin: "I don't know which cultist, fascist, anti-Semitic group to worry about more:..."

Perhaps Jeremy Corbyn and the horrendously anti-semitic British Labor Party is..

buwaya said...

If you want the "respectable", academic world view that parallels that of "Q", and they are essentially the same other than in details, I refer you to Angelo Codevilla. The overlap is precise.

Drago said...

Looks like QAnon will be this week's "Worst Thing That Has Ever Happened Ever" lefty/LLR topic for the week.

narciso said...

I don't endorse their musings, but the post is just as willing to indulge other ones, based on less than sterling evidence,

re A&E, I remember back to 1988. when they went on their kennedy conspiracy jaunt, where they entertained the notion of a gunman who had been in prison on the date in question, as well as a deaf mute witness to the assassination,

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Stay WoQe!

Michael K said...

I refer you to Angelo Codevilla. The overlap is precise.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr Codevilla and attending several of his speeches.

His article on the Ruling Class is getting hard to find, as so many are adding essays analyzing it.

Francisco D said...

Chuckles asked: "Are you a licensed psychologist?"

Yes. I was licensed in two states. I am now retired.

I have a Ph.D. from a highly ranked Research 1 university and I easily passed the EPPP national licensing exam.

Did you ever pass the bar after your correspondence course?

I wonder if anything you say is true. You have zero credibility.

Michael K said...

To dismiss this report is a good example a derangement syndrome among Trump supporters.

Hilarious. The deranged leftist is annoyed that we do not accept his list of deranged leftist sources as valid.

Jon Ericson said...

"report" lulz.

n.n said...

most problems we are called on to solve aren't chaotic, or not chaotic enough to evade systematic solutions

In a limited frame of reference, where science is practiced. Everywhere else it is physical and human myths based on progressively circumstantial evidence, often diverse, but rarely independent.

buwaya said...

One reason Q seems "official" is that its messaging at its core is purest Trump.

Trump has, or had, interesting music in his rallies. The most telling one was "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot. A very eccentric choice of theme for modern American politics. It therefore said a great deal about what was in the minds of those who chose it. And their tendency towards multi-level communication, in this case to those curious persons who tend to notice. Nothing in Trumps public relations is thoughtless.

Q is really an extended riff on "Nessun Dorma".

Nessun Dorma

Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, oh Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth, I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

That sums up Q. The struggle is secret, in the darkness, and "Q", and the players in that game, are unnamed. The revelation of the secrets, at the right time, will bring victory.
And of course in consequence many will suffer.

JohnAnnArbor said...

There will always be conspiracy dorks, in placid times and in times of upheaval.

buwaya said...

"In a limited frame of reference, where science is practiced."

Hardly. This is constant and empirical, and universal in every endeavor.

John Pickering said...

Poor Ann gets shot down by posting an actual news story from the WaPo. Some of her readers abandon the reservation when she gets a little close to noticing their funny hats. Poor readers, such snowflakes! Of course as has been noted, also usually quite old. Very funny though, well done Ann.

n.n said...

Journolists. #PAnon

n.n said...

Obama, Clinton, DNC, #PAnon, foreign and domestic agents. #DAnon

Male and female. Masculine and feminine. #BAnon

Evolution, babies. #LAnon

Jon Ericson said...

Is that you Skipper?

“No plans to run. But I’m randomly in Boston today, and happen to have had lunch with someone who does a lot of work in New Hampshire. As he’d say, ‘Ya nevah know.'” --Skipper Biff Kristol

narciso said...

from the folks who embraced the gorilla channel, and 'fire and fury' I find certain skepticism humorous,

Francisco D said...

It's funny and ironic that the Left has come to embrace both McCarthyism and fear of Russia.

Fear of communism? Not so much.

Intellectual consistency has never been a hallmark of the Left. They seem to have co-opted many liberals, except for notable names like Dershowitz, Turley and Lieberman. Maybe Althouse should be on that list. (Chuckles is indignant).

Trump is not the problem. The existence of any opposition (such as Republicans and Libertarians) is the problem for the left, as well as history, math, real scientific research and simple logic. Am I leaving anything out?

Drago said...

Oh goody! Pickering has reappeared after his hilariously inept attempt to paint massive increases in US Energy production as being responsible for increases in world oil prices!

Pickering literally argued that!

That must have been so very very disappointing for LLR Chuck to see another of his lefty allies beclown himself.

On the other hand, what other result could be expected?

Jon Ericson said...

They're very close.

narciso said...

look they are chasing the laser pointer, but they tell us bob woodward's laser pointer, is significant,

buwaya said...

I have been a Q-fan since perhaps last November.
It has been an interesting trip.
I find myself looking forward to the denoument of "Q" much more so than to the last season of "Game of Thrones".

It will be written up, at some point, as a single volume, with massive commentary (it invites massive commentary), but that will be nothing like following the drama real-time.

narciso said...

which is more likely, the preferred narrative that brennan, comey and co, were concerned patriots, who took some shortcuts, in nabbing the great malefactor, who they paint like jurgen prochnow in judge dredd?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I wonder if the Q believers believe anything so crazy as Putin got Trump elected through 50K in Facebook ads, and Trump knows it and will sell out the US in gratitude?



50K in silly facebooks ads V. Hillary's 300 Million. Curses!

buwaya said...

Re- Codevilla "The Ruling Class" - its available on Amazon Kindle, $6.99
Its a slim book, as the thing is just a long-ish essay.

n.n said...

"most problems we are called on to solve aren't chaotic, or not chaotic enough to evade systematic solutions"

Hardly. This is constant and empirical, and universal in every endeavor.


Endeavor, where humans observe and function, maybe. Universal, no. There are systematic solutions with variable accuracy proportional to the scope of the established frame of reference.

The point of chaos is that it is a process or system that is uncharacterized (or insufficiently) and unwieldy, with progressive accuracy outside of a limited frame of reference, which assures science its utilitarian status. Everything else is at best myth based on limited circumstantial evidence and inference without systemic or constrained solutions.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

3 points:

1.) The QAnon info is a combination of publicly-available facts & wild, mostly-unsupported speculation. The exact mix varies by topic and over time. It's entertainment at best and the fact that mainstream Americans might be treating it as informative should be taken as evidence of just how far trust in the Media has fallen. (I blame the Media for that but even if you don't it's still noteworthy)
2.) It's a bit rich for nice normies, Leftist, and the Media to cluck about people believing fake info and/or mass delusions! C'mon. Is QAnon any crazier than, say Louise Mensch? Many of these same people believe we are LITERALLY a few years away from living in The Handmaid's Tale world.
3.) If I were the WashPo I'd have a little more humility when dismissing a "fixation" on child abuse. If someone a few years (or maybe months!) ago had been "fixated" on what they said was rampant but unreported sexual abuse/exploitation of women in Hollywood would the Media have written that off as crackpottery? Sure, but here we are, post-Weinstein.

Jon Ericson said...

Three_Days_of_the_Condor final scene

narciso said...

one of the more bizarre manifestation of the narrative, which wrecked homeland, sole survivor and quantico, the last had the speaker of the house, rise underwood like to the presidency through a series of murderous plots, to be revealed to be a Russian pawn, interesting his choice of diction, re 'dark money' and prison incarcerations were the mark of a progressive,

n.n said...

I believe that it was journolists at WaPo that conceived and birthed #RAnon.

Michael K said...

"
I have been a Q-fan since perhaps last November. "

It looks interesting.

The "Intellectual Dark Web"seems to be a thing my leftist daughter is interested in.


THE FIRST DISTINCT intellectual movement to have emerged during the Trump presidency is not the alt-right, which rose to prominence during the 2016 campaign. Nor is it democratic socialism, the egalitarian platform that many young progressives have embraced since the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Instead, this movement may well be what some are calling the “intellectual dark web.” It is a heterogeneous group, bringing together neuroscientists, biologists, and psychologists with entrepreneurs, comedians, and sports commentators. Some claim to lean to the left, others to the right. There is nonetheless a common enemy that unites them. Despite their various differences, all members of the movement believe their ideas are being stifled by an epidemic of “political correctness.”
Unlike the actual “dark web” of hidden online networks, this one requires no specialized software to be made accessible. Its ideas can be found in best-selling books and media channels with millions of subscribers. Mathematician and financier Eric Weinstein coined the term intellectual dark web, and he meant to point out not that this group is obscure — it isn’t — but that its figures all pride themselves on upturning conventional beliefs.


Sam Harris.

narciso said...

I'm given to understand the modern incarnation of condor, is even more paranoid than the 1973 predecessor, well it stands to reason doesn't it, ironically the x files fell flat in their utilization of the material, aliens yes, voter fraud, unpossible,

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How is the pro-democrat hack press not a real conspiracy? Every night they lace innuendo as news. Right to our faces.

buwaya said...

"& wild, mostly-unsupported speculation"

Its not speculation, it is explicit invention.
Q asserts many things as facts that cannot be checked - though Q implies they will eventually be verified.

One thing about the persona of Q is that Q says that everything is known - to them.
Q is a character, a maybe-unreliable narrator, who claims a sort of omniscience.

narciso said...

speaking of unpossible things,

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/07/31/vfn-cnn-uses-leaks-of-podesta-referral-to-defend-integrity-of-mueller-investigation/#comments

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I on team Q-Oligarch. I sail the yachts and talk about.... Trump.

Oliver said...

Even if Q is completely made up - LARPing, as the kids say - the dedication to the character as well as the accurate predictions (or spot on cold-reading) is as good as real to me.

Where we go one, we go all.

Robert Evans said...

"Press reports are dismissed as “Operation Mockingbird,” the name given to the alleged midcentury infiltration of the American media by the CIA."

Alleged? : Alleged: (of an incident or a person) said, without proof, to have taken place or to have a specified illegal or undesirable quality.

What we need is some sort of senate committee to investigate this alleged CIA Operation and see if there is any proof [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee

Nonapod said...

"Intellectual Dark Web" seems like kind of a misnomer. The "dark" part of it makes it seem like these are people who are trying to operate clandestinely or something. It's not like Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, and Ben Shapiro are trying to hide or something.

narciso said...

I would call it samizdat, if people were more familiar with east bloc intellectual developments, in the pre revolutionary realm there were many such pamphleteers no,
tom paine, was nowhere near the only one,

traditionalguy said...

Q is probably a Navy man who worked with Admiral Rogers and his MI guys. He seems to be emotionally connected to JFK Sr and Jr. who were enemies of Q’s enemies. He sees Trump’ election as a military counter coup that has all the secret data on all the crooks in The globalist mafia who are soon to be tried before military tribunals.

My wife says wait and see if he pulls it off before he is assassinated. But in the meantime the FBI cover and the CIA every army, navy and Air Force are being defanged. And world trafficking in boys and girls for sex by the three ruling family groups is being shut down
And hundreds of power players in governments and businesses are
Resigning for no reason.

narayanan said...

WIKIPEDIA ...
A Q Clearance (or Q-type clearance) is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance that is roughly comparable to a United States Department of Defense Top Secret clearance with Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Access (TS-SCI). It is the most permissive clearance granted by the United States Government, acting as the sole means of access to the vast compartmentalizations Top Secret and Secret Restricted Data, and DOE "security" areas.

asking for friend - Don't Brennan Comey et al have "Q clearance" still?

narciso said...

I remember a roman a clef, that peter benchley (before he wrote about sea based predators, he was a white house correspondent) wrote back in the 90s, about a white house staffer who acquires such a clearance, which allows him access to a cornucopia of secret information,

John Pickering said...

Turns out lots of Ann's readers are Q fans! Well done! How does the group stand on this poll:

A Yahoo Finance/Survey Monkey poll finds 11% of Republicans say it would be appropriate for Russia to intervene in the upcoming U.S. elections on behalf of Trump and Republicans, and 29% say it would not be appropriate, but it wouldn't be a big deal.

That's 40% of Republicans! Come on Ann!

buwaya said...

The cool kids are the romantic rebels Pickering.
The followers of the samizdat. The secret handshakes, the coded knocks.
The uprising against "the man".
That Trump, of all people, put himself at the head of this says something about the sheer imagination in that movement.

narciso said...

I imagine there had to have been a similar subterranean space back in the phillipines no?

Drago said...

Good move on Pickerings part to leave behind his economically illiterate and bizarre supply and demand illogic.

Drago said...

By the way, we have democrat congressmen now openly claiming US votes are counted in St Petersburg!

LOL

Because of course they did! They have to keep ratcheting up their bizarre conspiracy claims to keep the Pickerings and LLR Chuck in line.

narciso said...

across the pond, they prove William goldman out 'no one knows anything (originally it was in Hollywood, but it's migrated)

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/997424/Brexit-news-new-Prime-Minister-Michael-Gove-Boris-Johnson

Jon Ericson said...

Please give us another sample of your writing, John.

buwaya said...

"I imagine there had to have been a similar subterranean space back in the phillipines no?"

Strangely perhaps, no not really. Secrets are difficult in a communal, highly connected society, where everyone knows, or likely is related to, someone on the "other" side. And there is such a profusion of sides that interests overlap in a complex tangle.

Subversion is conducted in the open, secrecy does not protect subversives, but rather connections of family and interests.

traditionalguy said...

Q’s biggest challenge has been that most people refuse to believe the level of corruption of and total evil seen in a Drug Cartel (and one that has most politicians bribed or caught in pedo blackmail trap) has been ruling inside the USA for over 50 years. People would much rather not know about that. But the info is out now.

Rick said...

I looked through 5 pages of the twitter feed the WAPO highlighted as proving the Tampa crowd was full of people wearing Q caps and T-shirts.

Zero instances.

hombre said...

Pickering (1:54): “That’s 40% of Republicans! Come on, Ann!

Meanwhile, 75% of Democrats approved of the Obama administration’s interference in elections in Israel and Ukraine and its $1.8 billion cash financing of the Khameini dictatorship in Iran. The other 25% remain comatose. Lol.

Infinite Monkeys said...

I never heard of the Q group and I doubt 99.9% of you hadn't, either, before today.

We're the .1%, just waiting to see if the future proves the past.

Jon Ericson said...

Old, and a long read, but there are photos.

Francisco D said...

"That's 40% of Republicans! Come on Ann!"

Math is hard for lefties, Pickering. Maybe you should stop trying before you hurt your brain.

Michael K said...

Everybody knows that Desmond Llewelyn was Q.

buwaya said...

Jon,

True. This is a longstanding theme from Trump. It all fits "Q".
Which is why I think Q really is a Trump comm channel.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“DJT attracts weirdos.”

An understatement.

Chuck said...

Francisco D said...
Chuckles asked: "Are you a licensed psychologist?"

Yes. I was licensed in two states. I am now retired.

I have a Ph.D. from a highly ranked Research 1 university and I easily passed the EPPP national licensing exam.

Did you ever pass the bar after your correspondence course?

I wonder if anything you say is true. You have zero credibility.


Right. See, the reason that I asked is because for all of your claims that I am mentally ill (we've never met), and that I am a drunk, and not really a lawyer, etc., etc.... I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities. It is all clearly violative of your professional ethics.

I still want to do it, but it seems pointless if you are retired.

buwaya said...

Interesting circumstance, that is rather meta I suppose, but says something, about the well-known MSM coordination and a certain - prescience -on the part of Q.

Q has been predicting for some time that the MSM will slam qanon in a coordinated rush.

And so it has, overnight.

buwaya said...

It is Trump vs the MSM in another, less-constrained front.

There really is a series of secret struggles ongoing, which we can only dimly see.
Both sides signal on multiple levels.

Infinite Monkeys said...

Inga said...

I thought you left.

gerry said...

Some believe in Q. Others believe in Karl Marx.

Sad.

Rick said...

[“DJT attracts weirdos.”]

An understatement.


Meanwhile the left has been blathering on about The Handmaid's Tale since at least 2012 and has passed laws using FUD that women on American college campuses experience sexual assault at rates greater than those of the Congo during its civil war.

Scott Patton said...

It's Alex Jones' half brother Quincy.

Darrell said...

I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities. It is all clearly violative of your professional ethics.

I still want to do it, but it seems pointless if you are retired.


Chuck elevates his on-line Dick status to a whole new level.

Inga...Allie Oop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I thought you left.”

I seriously considered doing so, but most likely I’ll never leave the comments sections here. Too many very interesting things will be happening this year, I suspect and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to say “I told you so”.

Besides, I’m emulating Michael K who has said he was leaving at the very least five times in the years I’ve been commenting here.

Drago said...

Inga: " I suspect and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to say “I told you so”."

Well, you sure showed us on Nov 8, 2016 and with that hoax dossier that proved all Trump voters were Putin stooges and traitors. Especially the majority of military members, both active and retired, who voted for Trump.'

Keep up the excellent work....

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Actually I could say “I told you so” regarding the subject matter of this blogpost. I’ve long told you folks how the DJT cult is riddled with conspiracy theory nuts.

Rick said...

I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to say “I told you so”.


You'd have to be right about something first. I suppose that's what you mean by you'll "never leave".

Inga...Allie Oop said...

And along comes The Propagandist to push another conspiracy theory about the Dossier. Right on time, of course.

Jon Ericson said...

Inga is a LARP.

Jim at said...

That's 40% of Republicans! Come on Ann! - Pickering

I think it's safe to say the other 60 percent don't give a shit about your Russian fantasies.

Drago said...

Inga: "I’ve long told you folks how the DJT cult is riddled with conspiracy theory nuts."

LOL

Russian Collusion/Hoax Dossier conspiracy theorist Inga who literally calls all opponents Russian paid trolls is taking timeout to lecture others on conspiracy over reach!

Absolute zero self-awareness.

Unbelievably hilarious at a time when democrat congressman are claiming US votes are being tabulated in Russia!

Awesome.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“You'd have to be right about something first. I suppose that's what you mean by you'll "never leave".”

I told you folks Obama would win twice. I was right. I told you so. Ha.

Jon Ericson said...

Mainstream = when you are now the news.
Mainstream = when a WH pool reporter asks about you.
Mainstream = when coordinated attacks (waves) against you continue to occur.
Game Theory.
Q

Rick said...

I told you folks Obama would win twice.

If I was stuck in six year losing streak I wouldn't consider it a skill-marker. But then I have actual skills so I don't need to pretend.

Drago said...

Inga: "I told you folks Obama would win twice. I was right. I told you so. Ha."

My gosh! How did you do that when no one else anywhere thought he could win.....

LOL

Next up: Inga harkens back to all those times she predicted, against all odds, the coming of a new day....almost like clockwork...

Jon Ericson said...

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Joseph Goebbels

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“But then I have actual skills so I don't need to pretend.”

Yes you are very good at being a little whiny pussy.😼

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Joseph Goebbels

Exactly what Trump has been doing and very few of you noticed.

Rick said...

Inga said...

Yes you are very good at being a little whiny pussy.😼

8/1/18, 3:44 PM


I see you've brought out your biggest intellectual argument. Maybe you should stick to telling your kids you're not like everybody says, like dumb. You're smart!

Jon Ericson said...

Ooh, an emjoi!

Rabel said...

Never heard of Q or Qanon but Google shows me that stories appeared almost simultaneously at the Post, the Times, Vox, NBC, etc., etc., etc.

That seems like a conspiracy. Somebody should look into it.

buwaya said...

"That seems like a conspiracy. Somebody should look into it'

(Q)uite !

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Maybe you should stick to telling your kids you're not like everybody says, like dumb. You're smart!”

Just like Trump, your President.

“I’m like really smart! I know words, bigly!”

Rabel said...

And it's worth noting that Laslo Spatula broke cover on the same day! Coincidence? I think not.

Drago said...

Oh, I see Inga has circled back to the Trump is dumb democrat play out of the playbook.

This usually leads to a discussion about who the "real leader" of the republican party is.

If you are thinking that this looks very familiar, thats because you've seen this over and over going back 50 years.

Francisco D said...

If you want to know about conspiracies, read up on John P. Carlin, the young DOJ Assistant Director in the National Security Division. Why did he resign after failing to contradict Adm. Mike Rogers (NSA Director) FISA 702 surveillance review?

Why did Trump move his transition out of Trump Tower the day after Adm. Rogers visited him? Hint: It was because Rogers told him that his group was being surveilled through improper FISA warrants and the Obama group misuse of unmasking. James Clapper wanted Rogers fired because he did not get his permission to visit Trump. There are many more conspirators.

Just to make it juicy, guess what job Carlin had before going to DOJ.

Wait for it ...

... He was chief of Staff for the FBI Director who was ...

This is unbelievable ...

Robert Mueller!

n.n said...

stories appeared almost simultaneously at the Post, the Times, Vox, NBC, etc., etc., etc.

That seems like a conspiracy.


It requires many, but not necessarily diverse (i.e. colorful), journolists to spin a ball of yarns. #Journon is a superset of #WaPon... #WaPoff

n.n said...

stories appeared almost simultaneously at the Post, the Times, Vox, NBC, etc., etc., etc.

That seems like a conspiracy.


Conspiratorial or incestuous? Trans-ethical and trans-social relationships are trending and are a latent modulus favored for a forward-looking politically congruence.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

I'm enjoying the show.

Jon Ericson said...

The more you know.

Michael K said...

Exactly what Trump has been doing and very few of you noticed.

The bedpan commando strikes again !

Oh, the pain !

Where are my opioids, Ritmo ?

Michael K said...

I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities. It is all clearly violative of your professional ethics.

Would you like mine, too Chuck?

What is that Michigan Bar Association number to report crazies ?

Come on Chuck. You act like a dick and get ridiculed.

Trump Derangement is gonna be in DSM VI

Francisco D said...

"I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities. It is all clearly violative of your professional ethics."

What a little weasel you are, Chuckles.

I am tempted to let you report me so that I can sue you for slander and harassment. Will you represent yourself?

If so, I bet it will be a big payday, if you have any money.

Earnest Prole said...

Garden-variety conspiracy lunacy, no better or worse than the competition.

dbp said...

I'm sure there are a lot of conspiracy nuts out there. I have to wonder how many though; I am pretty right-wing, but I always hear about the conspiracy nuts from left-wing media outlets.

gilbar said...

"I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities.

remember, this is a LLR that challenged people to bet him whether or not he was a 'real' lawyer; But would only accept the bet (that he himself offered) for $1,000,000. When i pointed out, that *IF* he was 'really' a lawyer, if should be willing to bet Any odds for Any Money; since HE knew it was true.
And the LLR said: "They'll have to pay that much to find out my real identity"

Now, he wants to find out other people's identities so that he can 'report' them to the 'authorities' for being "mean"

Some people think that this LLR is mentally ill; since seems likely. I have come to the conclusion that he is an imaginary character that was invented to make anti-Trumpers look deranged. I think the creator of this LLR is actually a Big League Trump Supporter

Quaestor said...

Inga wrote: Just like Trump, your President...

I note that Inga is once more resorting to spurious quotes. Well here's a non-spurious Inga quote with date/time metadata:

"I disavow and utterly condemn any and all violent physical attacks, whether lethal or not, on Democrats for political reasons."

5/18/18, 10:15 AM CDT

Quaestor said...

glibar wrote: I think the creator of this LLR is actually a Big League Trump Supporter.

I doubt a "Big Leaguer" would resort to a sock puppet when a cursory glance at the utterances and deeds of actual anti-Trumpers provides incontrovertible evidence of actual insanity.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

However, that's not to say that LLR Chuck is genuine. He's neither a "life-long Republican" nor a lawyer. At best he's a paralegal in the employ of a minor ambulance chaser and fixer of parking fines.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

The side debate on the merits or lack of same of the Star War mythos/merchandising empire is sounding like an imbroglio among the most nerdish nerds to ever lurk in the dark corners of a Comic-Com event in Boise, Idaho. Please drop it. De gustibus non disputandum est.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Douglas B. Levene said...

Conspiracy theories are the best theories. Especially ones about the Rothschilds and the evil Joooos.

Aussie Pundit said...

The anti-semitic angle is the clue that it's bullshit.

n.n said...

the evil Joooos

White Privilege was a segue from Jew Privilege. The progressives did not miss a beat, but, to their discredit, the trains are over-budget and do not run on time, and human and civil rights are denied to native Posterity, selectively.

Sam said...

I think the reason there's a bunch of Q-Anon stories in the media at the same time, is that there were a whole bunch of pictures of attendees at the Tampa rally sporting Q t-shirts, signs, etc. Seems fairly straightforward - but has Occam's Razor been refuted recently and I wasn't informed? ;-)

buwaya said...

The Q signs and shirts were prominent in several prior Trump rallies - he even called them out at the time.

buwaya said...

For what its worth, I have never seen anything antisemitic in Q, or anything that can be so construed. There are alt-sites that are decidedly antisemitic, or for which one coukd make a good case.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Math is hard for lefties, Pickering


Dear John Pickering,

What a lot of hate you have in your heart, John.

Does it hurt you? Does it burn?

Or is it the only thing keeping you warm at night?

DiGi377 said...

Been enjoying the Q show for several months now. I've wondered if it's been some kind of psychology experiment to study how ideas and opinions can be shaped and movements created over the internet - how anonymous strangers can be brought together to support and promote "a cause". The Socratic questions have engaged ppl to research and ask questions rather than only go by MSM fodder. Though the desire to join all the dots has resulted in a lot of outlandish speculation. But at the same time connections have been unearthed that make me go "Hmmmm, that's curious. Lets see how this plays out" and so I keep reading to see what happens next. It's quite entertaining especially when you contrast the Q narrative to that offered by the media - it's rather like being in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Inspiring ppl to research current events and ppl in the news is overall a good thing. Praying Medic (youtube) is one of the better analysts if you don't want to wade thru 8chan boards. As the home of Q is an 8chan board, the wishlist of targets discussed as deserving of justice is diverse and provocative. Ppl will project their own pet concerns (eg chemtrails, Zionism) onto the Q message of "justice is coming soon" - which adds another layer of kookiness to the wild west anarchic feel of the boards.


It's a magnificent epic work in progress that probably should be turned into a novel. Or a series. Or a movie! All the naysayers need to remember that the devotees are much more emotionally invested than say the typical conspiracy crank tuning into Art Bell's show. And the emotions driving the believers are powerful, noble ones : The desire for justice, to right wrongs, to have good win over evil. The cleanup of corruption, restoration of public trust in government, the end to human trafficking and rescuing of children. Powerful universal themes that will drive the Q phenomenon forward regardless of outside skepticism and derision. The MSM's articles prove the MSM are dummies at their jobs and lack any insight. Writing off a growing online populist movement hungry for justice and righteousness as deranged, "dark" and crazy? A smart leader would harness this energy and turn it into support.

Yancey Ward said...

Chuck, you wrote:

"Right. See, the reason that I asked is because for all of your claims that I am mentally ill (we've never met), and that I am a drunk, and not really a lawyer, etc., etc.... I wanted to report you to your state licensing authorities. It is all clearly violative of your professional ethics.

I still want to do it, but it seems pointless if you are retired.
"

Chuck, do you really not understand how the above comes across to normal people?

Aussie Pundit said...

For what its worth, I have never seen anything antisemitic in Q, or anything that can be so construed
I have to admit that I can't dig up anything on demand; so maybe I have mixed up Q with other alt-right voices. Could have sworn that there was an anti-Zionist angle to the whole thing but maybe have mis-remembered.

Oliver said...

Hilarious how so many Democrats write Q off as a "fringe conspiracy theory", and yet they seem so utterly terrified that his premonitions will come to pass, as they have. Past proves present.

Tick, tock.

grackle said...

DJT attracts weirdos.

Yes, indeed! He attracted more than 60 million of those weirdos in the last election. That’s a hellova lot of weirdos. Or should I say, “deplorables”?

As for QAnon:

I kept seeing QAnon references awhile back so I decided to look into it. Vague postings that are read like tea leaves by a fortune-teller are what I found. And many of the “interpreters” seem to be in fundamental disagreement on what these ambiguous, cryptic missives mean.

I want concrete, verifiable information from my anonymous informers, not enigmatic object lessons on how to research the internet and think for myself. I need specific predictions of, say, the Scott Adams sort. It took me about an hour of research to know that QAnon-watching offered nothing to me.

However, I do not begrudge others of an apparently harmless pastime and I will always try to remember to entertain the notion that I could be wrong.