The baseless conspiracy theory, which imagines Trump in a battle with a cabal of deep-state saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex, helped drive the [January 6th] events and facilitate organized attacks.... QAnon devotees joined with extremist group members and white supremacists at the Capitol assault after finding one another on Internet sanctuaries: the conservative forums of TheDonald.win and Parler; the anonymous extremist channels of 8kun and Telegram; and the social media giants of Facebook and Twitter, which have scrambled in recent months to prevent devotees from organizing on their sites.
That has QAnon devotees as one of many sets of people who joined together. I can't tell what the proportions were or even when these sets merged into a single action. I'll read on.
QAnon didn’t fully account for the rampage, and the theory’s namesake — a top-secret government messenger of pro-Trump prophecies — has largely vanished, posting nothing in the past 35 days and only five times since Trump’s election loss....
So, there's no person called QAnon who's leading or purporting to lead any of the recent actions. We're just calling some leaderless group "QAnon devotees." Please note that I am merely interpreting sentences I'm reading in WaPo, not making any statements about anything I know or believe.
On fringe right-wing platforms and encrypted messaging apps, believers are offering increasingly outlandish theories and sharing ideas for how they can further work to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 contest — with violence, if necessary. The fervent online organizing seen ahead of last week’s assault has begun building again....
This is a frustrating read. I am searching to understand the extent to which the January 6th event was planned, and now I see that they are doing it "again," but what are they doing again? What was the organizing? I see that it was "online" and "fervent," but I don't know what they did before they showed up in person and did what they did. And how do I even know that the fervent on-line people were the same set of people who showed up in person?
[ADDED: The end of the article discusses some individuals who participated in the breach of the Capitol and who also followed QAnon theories.]
Frustratingly, this article purports to shed light on the workings of conspiracy thinking, but the article itself indulges in the mechanisms of conspiracy thinking!
Thousands more have flocked to QAnon-affiliated spaces on the private-messaging app Telegram. One 12,000-member channel was so overrun with new members that those behind the forum temporarily froze the chat feature....
Is 12,000 a big chat group? I'm willing to believe QAnon is a big and dangerous force, but this article isn't giving me enough facts. There are conspiracy theorists talking on line, and January 6th happened — connect it up!
In 2017, a writer on the anonymous message board 4chan, styling themselves as Q, wrote posts spinning a dark and cryptic fantasy — detailing how Trump was working tactically to dismantle the “deep state” cabal that controls much of the world. For years, QAnon spun a tale in the militant language of good against evil, promising that Trump, a soldier messiah, would strike down a global cabal of pedophile politicians and Satanist media elites in a day of reckoning called the “Storm.”
The siege, for some believers, was seen as that online theory coming to life....
Some believers! And who are these people? As it reads, it seems that there was some vivid conspiracy theory on line, and whatever happened on January 6th happened, and some people who believed in the conspiracy theory also believed that what happened on January 6th had to do with the conspiracy theory. That's not connecting it up! That's saying that some conspiracy theory people fit new information into their conspiracy theory. Yeah, that's how conspiracy theory people think!
Much of QAnon devotees’ energy has in recent months flooded to false allegations that Trump had been robbed of an election victory. The QAnon-boosting attorneys Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood led a failing pro-Trump attempt to overturn the election. The QAnon conversation online had pivoted from taking down a global cabal to targeting a more specific mission: “Stop the Steal.” So when Trump invited supporters to Washington for mass demonstrations on Jan. 6, the day Congress was set to certify Biden’s victory, researchers said pro-Trump agitators and QAnon believers saw it as a demand for action. “Be there,” Trump tweeted last month. “Will be wild!”
I await further investigation and hope they can be conducted with professionalism.
Posts
93 comments:
"The baseless conspiracy theory, which imagines Trump in a battle with a cabal of deep-state saboteurs ...."
Baseless conspiracy theory? The WaPoo must have erased from their memory the Obama administration/FBI/NSA/CIA spying on the Trump campaign and administration. Easy to do in this environment of "cleansing".
Doesn't believing QAnon is real and plotting to do things make one a part of the conspiracy?
WashPost: Much of QAnon devotees’ energy has in recent months flooded to false allegations that Trump had been robbed of an election victory.
Oh, well, that settles it for me. If the WashPost calls these allegations false, they must be.
Back to building the canal, comrade. Or you'll get another tenner.
THEOLDMAN
Give me a break. Everybody knows this shit, but the Clintons have made discussion off-limits in the media.
Today, Sarah Hoyt wrote on Instapundit, "They think Trump was only elected and defeated them despite their fraud games (and defeated them a second time despite their Covid-19 psy ops) because he has Svengali-like powers."
But I'm supposed to ignore the fact that in 1998 Andrew Breitbart - when asked what's his beef with liberals - OPENED BY SAYING THEY USE "PROJECTION" AND ACCUSE YOU OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
I don't know what QAnon is about - and I ain't joined nothin' - and I've been here saying it from the beginning.
This is so much of the strawman fallacy. The Left sets up something meaningless and then knocks it down. Or exaggerates it. Obama was a pro at the strawman fallacy.,
Watched a little CNN this AM. 1-6 was an “insurrection” just like the Civil War. I kid you not!
BLM and Antifa reshaped the Democrat party into the Communists they really are....
"I don't know what QAnon is about - and I ain't joined nothin' - and I've been here saying it from the beginning."
LOL Neither do I. Can't be all that influential. But it is the WaPo. The greatest....yada, yada.
CNN was just pounding the notion that the election was fair. Prove it!
The burden of proof regarding the fairness of the election is now on the Dems. Should be easy to prove because it is so, so obvious.
The Venn diagram of those who think Antifa is organized and in control of their rioters and those who think QAnon is organized and in control of their rioters are two independent circles.
Your comments here will bear that out.
David Begley said...
"The Left sets up something meaningless and then knocks it down."
"The worried well": Whole Foods shoppers, with no illness, who take homeopathic medicines - which contain no ingredients - to make them feel better.
Recycling: Whole Foods shoppers, with no trash problem, sorting their garbage by hand - and taxing themselves to force themselves to do it - to make them feel better.
I could go on. Welcome to the NewAge.
America is under occupation. Washington Post is one of the papers controlled by the occupiers. You can't get truth from an oppressor unless you force it out of them.
Another thing:
Am I supposed to ignore stories that say QAnon and the antivaccine cult are getting together?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact the antivaccine cult is led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr now?
Or that liberal Elle MacPherson now goes with Andrew Wakefield, who started the antivaccine belief system?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey used to lead antivaccine rallies, but - even after he played Biden to ridicule Trump on SNL - NOBODY MENTIONS HIS ROLE IN THE ANTIVACCINE MOVEMENT?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Bill Maher is an antivaccine guy?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Robert De Niro - who also got a job on SNL ridiculing this President - promoted the movie "ANTIVAXXED""?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Oprah introduced the antivaccine idea to America?
I only ever hear about QAnon from the left, who think it's a thing.
Have no idea what qanon is, I am a way above average consumer of news. I ONLY ever see it referenced by leftist loons attempting the change the subject. I used to listen to CNN and MSNBC for maybe an 4 to 5 hours a week, it was only mentioned as an attempt to rebut some facts they couldn't get around. I no longer listen or watch on TV. The propaganda is of the charts, lies of omission abound. I used to believe I could learn how the leftist thought. I got it figured out. Power. Everything else is expendable.
That Pelosi delayed wuhu flu relief to win an election should have shown the Democrat hand.
The baseless conspiracy theory
see? it's Not JUST a conspiracy theory, it's a BASELESS conspiracy theory
there is NOTHING TO SEE HERE, folks... Just Move Along
as opposed to Every conspiracy theory that the anti trumpers came up with!
Quæstor reporting for duty. I've been here a long time, a scary span of years. Some people call me Q, have for years. Must be that ligature that throws 'em. Intimidatin', ain't it? Easier just to type Q.
I'm here this fine morning to declare I ain't got nuthin' to do with QAnnon. Or maybe that's just what I want you to believe. (All them thar double negatives, y'know?)
Intimidatin', ain't it?
Hangin' up muh spurs, now. Think I'll mosey over to the breakfast table and put aside the gunslinger lingo.
Intimidatin', ain't it?
dbp said...
I only ever hear about QAnon from the left, who think it's a thing.
It IS a thing - their thing.
Looking back over my near seven decades of life, this endless stream of malevolent bullshit emanating from the Left is one constant.
Styles, fashions, trends will come and go, but the mental disorder that is liberalism festers and debilitates this nation.
Democracy Dies In Darkness is a goal, not a warning.
My mind must be disordered:
Harry & Meghan said they wouldn't live here under Donald Trump.
Trump is President.
They live in a mansion in Los Angeles - with Oprah's help - and the media says nothing but encouraging things.
Anybody else suffering symptoms?
I still have no idea what QAnon is. I have heard of it but what it is escapes me. I have asked many family and friends about it and they don't know either. I don't think it is as big as cult as believed by the left.
I'm pretty sure CNN-watchers have heard more about and from QAnon than the vast majority of Trump supporters.
Unmentioned: the fact that the DC protest that turned into a riot was largely planned on Facebook and Twitter.
I listened to Megyn Kelly's podcast with John Matze (Parler CEO), Chris Best (Substack founder) and Glenn Greenwald (civil liberties journalist) yesterday. Very impressive. The bottom line is that Twitter and Facebook are deflecting the heat from themselves, and Amazon was happy to join the group and destroy Parler.
MountainMan said...
'I don't think it is as big as cult as believed by the left.'
Is nobody reading my posts? Then how can you say this when I asked:
Am I supposed to ignore stories that say QAnon and the antivaccine cult are getting together?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact the antivaccine cult is led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr now?
Or that liberal Elle MacPherson now goes with Andrew Wakefield, who started the antivaccine belief system?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey used to lead antivaccine rallies, but - even after he played Biden to ridicule Trump on SNL - NOBODY MENTIONS HIS ROLE IN THE ANTIVACCINE MOVEMENT?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Bill Maher is an antivaccine guy?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Robert De Niro - who also got a job on SNL ridiculing this President - promoted the movie "ANTIVAXXED""?
Am I supposed to ignore the fact Oprah introduced the antivaccine idea to America?
Just have to say I am massively disappointed that QAnon and its devotees have never deigned to invite me to join their club. Perhaps it is because I was against Trump before I was for him.
What in the world will Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, CNN, WaPo, and the NYT kvetch about when Trump moves on to his new thing?
clint said...
"I'm pretty sure CNN-watchers have heard more about and from QAnon than the vast majority of Trump supporters."
You guys are ignoring me:
THEY'RE THE SAME DAMN PEOPLE.
Q Anon, is he that guy that popped in and out of the Enterprise and messed with Captain Picard?
"I only ever hear about QAnon from the left, who think it's a thing."
Agreed. Same with "dog whistles." Likewise, "baseless," "without evidence," "false" & (my favorite) "debunked." All breezily deployed as self evident and beyond questioning.
How can anybody ignore the fact Trump Hater Chris Cuomo is married to this fruitcake?
Crack--you are on a roll!
Anybody ever looked into Dr. Oz's wife - as a clue to how a heart surgeon becomes a quack?
Amadeus 48 said...
"Crack--you are on a roll!"
Yeah, but Ann doesn't think so enough to highlight the points I'm making, so they enter the national dialogue.
Neither is Glenn Reynolds - or anybody else.
They're fighting fire with fire - I wanna try WATER.
I went back and re-read Althouse's pull quotes. Could be elsewhere in the article, but there is not a single piece of quoted Qanon content. It's all allegation with no support.
Where's Rush Limbaugh - he reads this blog:
DO IT, RUSH.
In the last week my anti-Trumper friends have all begun quizzing me about QAnon.
The great Trump to QAnon pivot has begun.
Right after the impeachment, Trump will soon be "revealed" as an insigificant dope who was never really running the country.
"Blogger dbp said...
I only ever hear about QAnon from the left, who think it's a thing."
On the alt-right they are known as Qtards wherever they actually pop up beyond being the Left's current favorite straw man.
The same with the Boogaloo Bois, which the FBI, who brought us the Steele dossier, James Comey, Peter Strok and Lisa Page, have similarly been passive-aggressively pushing as the terror fear du jour.
Makes one long for the days the powers at the national police merely dressed up in women's clothes instead.
While I don't believe it, the problem with QAnon is that the "crazy conspiracy theory" has a strong basis in reality, with high profile pedo stories like Jeffrey Epstein's guests on Lolita Island, the BBC brass covering for Jimmy Saville, or the Hollywood machine putting boys in front of predatory men.
The Hollywood stuff is particulary awful with Cory Haim's suicide and Cory Feldman's self destructive behavior as examples of the trauma. You got Kevin Spacey trawling for underage boys. X-Men director Bryan Singer's parties were purposefully set up to get underage boys intoxicated and pliable.
So you can see how a conspiracy theory of an international cabal of pedos can get some traction. There is more to work with here than with "lizard people" or "vaccines cause autism" or "Bush did 9/11".
This is a frustrating read. I am searching to understand the extent to which the January 6th event was planned, and now I see that they are doing it "again," but what are they doing again? What was the organizing? I see that it was "online" and "fervent," but I don't know what they did before they showed up in person and did what they did. And how do I even know that the fervent on-line people were the same set of people who showed up in person?
WaPo's readers want the gory details of QAnon, it gives them a pleasant fright like when you read a ghost story. But WaPo has to be careful, they can't let on that the QAnon types are a small percentage of Trump supporters lest they make the effort to impeach Trump look shakier than it already looks.
Kevin said...
"The great Trump to QAnon pivot has begun."
How can there be a Trump to QAnon pivot when QAnon contains the antivaccine m movement led by liberals?
"The Capitol siege may just be the start."
Perhaps the shortest siege in history.
Democrats always need something to be scared to death of. Climate change is too far in the future for most people to get worked up about. Covid isn't going to last forever. Once people get vaccinated the fear factor goes way down.
So they look for the next terror. And they think they've found it in an organized right wing domestic terror movement.
I'm bored.
Whew! Like so many here, I've never heard anything about Qanon and neither have my friends. The fact that Google knew enough to Redline my misspelling of Qanon begs the question. If it was such a "thing", the info systems have more than enough tracing data for it. A complete outline for it. No mysteries. Is Qanon (there it goes again), stealthy like "The Virus"?. Masters of the universe control item, I'd say.
On second thought, Trump did start Antifa! BLM too! He employs so many more people of color than any elected politician in history, it has to be true!
Hey this is fun!
'Quite frankly terrifying': How the QAnon conspiracy theory is taking root in the UK
The pandemic is amplifying the U.S. anti-vaccine movement — and globalizing it
QAnon believers spread false claims about COVID-19 vaccine touted by Trump
Here's a picture of the antivaccine leadership in Hollywood, that Trump and America got the idea from.
Point out the conservative.
Chuck was a big QAnon citer.
You can stop paying attention to them.
And here's Jim Carry's 2007 NewAge tie-in, in case you're wondering.
"You see, Carrey has found spiritual enlightenment, and it's so awesomely awesome that he just has to tell you about it. For hours. Even if you didn't ask."
I was led to believe, when your shit adds up - and you include links and documentation - it was supposed to matter.
I've been badly misled.
QAnon is Eric Trump.
When I’m attacked on Twitter by Dems they frequently claim I’m a follower of QAnon. I never heard of the guy!
The very existence of a group called QAnon is a conspiracy theory in and of itself. It appears to be a relatively small group of relatively unorganized individuals who are conspiring to promote some far out theories. People conspiring is a conspiracy.
BLM is also conspiring to promote Marxism, denigrate the nuclear family, undermine western values and extort millions from cowardly corporations. As is Antifa etc. The notion that they exist is a theory of conspiracy -- or conspiracy theory.
This notion that "conspiracy theory" equals "not true" is a linguistic trick to discredit political enemies.
Mike Sylwester said...
"QAnon is Eric Trump."
How can that be, when he hates the left, and the antivaccine movement it's absorbing is the left his father denounced?
Stick to what we can PROVE.
Many/Most people in my area range from moderate conservative to far right. Maga hats, trump shirts, etc. Some went to DC last week, I've heard them talk about going. Trump signs are still being displayed. I've never heard any of them mention Q.
QAnon is just an idea . . .
"QAnon reshaped Trump’s party"
Huh? Most people in the party don't know what it is. Probably most officials in the party -- governors and state legislators and new reps -- would be happy to proceed with out Trump and have nothing to do with Q whatever.
What do you call a prog hit piece that cooks up a conspiracy theory about a conspiracy theory?
It's part of the lefty effort to delegitimate anything and everything connected with Trump and January 6.
Two weeks ago, I just assumed Qanon was something like 99% bullshit. Today, I'm less certain of that, entirely on the basis of the crazy-ass shit big tech and the incoming Biden-Harris admin are doing. They seem very scared, and the comms disruption is so quick and so total it only makes sense in the context of these guys planning further brutish reprisals against Trump and his supporters, or if they're worried about a big move from Trump.
The whole Q thing reminds me of the way people make fun of hard core Christians. I've grown up with and interacted with many very serious Christians over the years (we Catholics lumped them all together and called them Pentecostals regardless of what they called themselves).
I've never, in my recollection, heard from them that the Earth or universe is 6000 years old. I went to Catholic grade school and have no memory of being taught the Earth is 6000 years old. The people that hate the religious constantly push that idea when mocking the object of their hate.
Strawman, Poisoning the well? There's probably a word for it. I'm not saying that some religious people don't believe that 6000 year old thing, just that it is that one thing gets latched onto and then used to generally discredit the whole.
I do so enjoy hearing about how the other side is full of crazy conspiracy theories from people who still believe that Trump is a secret Russian agent.
Is Trump the evil mastermind, or more of a dupe, standing in the middle of things
Someone pointed out yesterday that the Articles of Impeachment (Trump masterminded an insurrection against the government) was just a slight rewording of the Resolution calling on VP Pence to remove the President under the 25th Amendment (Trump is a dangerous dupe not mentally capable of being President). The rewording was that he was no longer a dupe that could be controlled but the mastermind culpable of high crimes and misdemeanors.
In that sense, WaPo is accurately reporting the news.
As for QAnon, maybe one day there will be pictures of people attending a QAnon meeting, or perhaps the RNC chairman holding up a book by QAnon and claiming it is what Pelosi fears. Until then, I have no idea who or what QAnon is other than a boogeyman for the media.
Christopher said...
"I do so enjoy hearing about how the other side is full of crazy conspiracy theories from people who still believe that Trump is a secret Russian agent."
Here is a man with his head on straight.
I don't see how intelligent people can know this.
And hear Bill Clinton say this.
While knowing this is Silicon Valley - by their own admittance.
But still saying they don't know what's happening.
...and now I see that they are doing it "again," but what are they doing again?
As has been posted, They are camping out in the tents across the street.
Why bother with this bullshit? Other than a few remaining Democrats, supporters from my years as an elected Democrat, all my friends are Republicans, Trump supporters, or both. I have never heard any of them mention, let alone discuss, QAnon.
QANon, like “white supremacists”, is mostly a Democrat Mediaswine prop to demonize Trump supporters.
The WaPo is preparing the ground for suppression of Trump supporters.
David Begley said...This is so much of the strawman fallacy. The Left sets up something meaningless and then knocks it down.
You hit the nail on the head, but there is more.
I do not know anything about QAnon, but apparently the Left does. I have never met a Nazi, White Supremacist or Bugaloo Boy, but leftists know tons of them.I have never seen racist graffiti, but it is apparently prevalent on college campuses.
It is very useful to have these bogeymen to justify the totalitarian aims and actions of the Left. It keeps the liberals in line and forces thoughtful liberals to pause and sometimes take on the mantle of "cruel neutrality".
I despise, detest, and distrust the WaPoo. Can anyone tell me what QAnon is? Other than the BUGBEAR the left is saying it is?
People need to be given credit for being able to think and evaluate information on their own.
Qanon is ridiculed by a lot of alt right conservatives. Qanon is right twice a day. qanon is the fringe of the fringe. Comparable to Chem Trails. Its fun to read for awhile but one soon recognizes the loone tune aspect of it. The left media blows their following out of proportion.
The PsyOps of hatred perpetrated by the Dems throughout Trump's term runs out of gas w/Trump leaving. And while I like the idea of Citizen Trump banging the Dems for 4 years, which they richly deserve, I believe the longer he stays visible, the longer he's a convenient distraction for their continuing destruction of American meritocracy.
Just add me to the many here who has never seen a post from QAnon except when quoted from a left wing article.
Perhaps he/she has a sophisticated algorithm that says excluded all posters from Althouse. (with the exception of Inga)
The only place I've ever heard about Q is from liberal media.
Whatever.
I like to win:
UNPROMPTED: For those on the right, here's Andrew Breitbart explains why the left ain't shit.
UNPROMPTED: For those on the left, here's a Democratic socialist to explain why the left ain't shit.
UNPROMPTED: Here's yet another comedian in 2017 (after Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Chris Rock, etc.) saying it's all the left's fault - because they're bullies.
UNPROMPTED: Here's Bill Clinton admitting he listens to a cult leader who tells him what to do with us.
UNPROMPTED: And here's evidence there's cults in Silicon Valley
Why would I need QAnon to come to these conclusions?
WaPo of 16 trimesters of witch hunts, warlock trials, and protester fame, is still spinning the Bugaboo! narrative?
Around half a million assembled to back the President calling for an audit of irregularities, perhaps fraud, in several Democrat jurisdictions, and subsequent certification. Hundreds, perhaps, who may or may not be "Trump supporters", protesting. Demos-cracy is aborted in darkness, behind a wall, at the Twilight fringe.
Raise your hand if you know anything about Qanon - or whatever it is - other than the bullshit you hear from the left.
That's what I thought.
The Crack Emcee said...
“……But I'm supposed to ignore the fact that in 1998 Andrew Breitbart - when asked what's his beef with liberals - OPENED BY SAYING THEY USE "PROJECTION" AND ACCUSE YOU OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
It’s as simple as that – SJWs (and Dems - BIRM) always project. Analyze their speech/actions based on that premise.
PS: I’m reading your posts, FWIW. After having visited your blog I understand better what you’re getting at.
But QAnon never goes swimmin' with bow-legged wimmin', so there's that...
KellyM said...
"I’m reading your posts, FWIW. After having visited your blog I understand better what you’re getting at."
"The Macho Response" is basically one big years-long PTSD episode - from living through this shit, alone.
Thank you.
KellyM said...
"I’m reading your posts, FWIW. After having visited your blog I understand better what you’re getting at."
"The Macho Response" is also a great archive of where we've been.
So, who were those clowns who swarmed the Capitol and killed the policeman? The only person I’ve seen identified was the air force veteran who got shot by some cop, who has not been identified. He certainly could not have feared for his life. This was not proper crowd
control. If all is revealed the shooter will probably Turn out to have been hired to fill a quota.
See the damage the Comey crew did? I don’t think we’ll ever hear the real story, and I wonder how much time is spent on investigating and how much time is spent on covering up.
Scott Patton,
FYI the only person I know who believes dinosaurs and humans roamed the Earth at the same time is a staunch Roman Catholic and a computer network engineer. Everyone I know who believes the Masons are secretly running the world is a Roman Catholic. I’m married to one.
And it’s only Roman Catholics debating whether Francis is a Pope or the anti-Pope. My wife’s family? Anti, unanimously. Where do you find yourself on that debate? As a heathen Protestant my opinion which doesn’t count is that a Pope cannot resign except by death so whether or not Francis is the prophesied anti-Pope he’s not a legitimate Pope. Many Catholic theologians agree with that.
"I await further investigation and hope they can be conducted with professionalism." You'll have a long, long wait. Our media volunteered to play Pravda to the Democrats Communist party and that's all you'll get from here on out.
“I await further investigation and hope they can be conducted with professionalism.”
I dunno. Are Truth & Reconciliation Commissions usually conducted with professionalism or with fanaticism?
Yesterday, my Chinese gf asked me if I had heard of Simon Parkes. I hadn't. She said that she had been told to check him out. So, we both did. She listed to some YT program that had over 1 million views in 24 hrs, while I checked him out online. After 5 mins, my gf turned it off. The guy is a loony. I still do not know what QAnon is but, after the little I heard and read, I have zero interest in finding out.
In my search for entertainment alternatives to Twitter I have been looking at both Parler and Gab. Gab has many QAnon posters but I do not recall seeing a single one on Parler. Parler does not have groups so I have no idea what folks claiming there is one were seeing. Facebook or Reddit have the sort of communities that could be used to organize. Parler does not. Gab apparently saw this coming and can't be shut down Gab because they have their own servers. They are working on ways to accept contributions that are not subject to pressure.
To the extent I have looked at QAnon postings on Gab they do not seem a bit nuttier or more interested in violence than the advocates of Critical Race Theory I've seen on Twitter. Admittedly my exposure is usually curated by folks like James Lindsay (@ConceptualJames) or Chris Rufo (@realchrisrufo) who are doing their best to alert people to CRT's harmfulness.
I am extremely disturbed at the idea that platforms can be put out of business by their vendors with little or no recourse. I find the way Twitter behaved during the run up and following the election as inexcusable. I have no objection to neutral rules enforced in a transparent fashion, but they have behaved with ludicrous unfairness.
Gospace,
The answer to: "Where do you find yourself on that debate?" I am no longer practicing, and as a fellow heathen, also have no opinion. However, he has the hat, so that must count for something.
Crack, are you suggesting that New Age Anti-vaxers are Agent Provocateurs who instigated the assault on the capitol building?
There's one commenter on Instapundit who constantly pushes Q stuff. Everybody else laughs and wonders where the takedown of the deep state he's been promising is. It's the only place I've seen anyone push Q as serious that I can think of.
Reading the bit about people thinking Trump's call for protest was a secret signal for an insurrection where 100 people stormed the Capitol and 50,000 waited outside makes me think Trump is to blame for the "insurrection" the way Jodie Foster is to blame for the attempted assassination of Reagan.
For some reason the WaPo story about Qanon reminds me of Braid Paisley's 2007 country hit "Online":
I work down at the pizza pit
And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad
I'm 5'3 and overweight
I'm a Sci-Fi fanatic
Mild asthmatic
Never been to 2nd base
But there's a whole another me
That you need to see
Go check out MySpace [for the youngsters, this was a failed "Facebook" type of service]
'Cause online I'm out in Hollywood
I'm 6'5 and I look damn good
I drive a Maserati
I'm a black belt in Karate
And I love a good glass of wine
It turns girls on that I'm mysterious
I tell 'em I don't want nothing serious
'Cause even on a slow day I can have a three way
Chat with two women at one time
I'm so much cooler online
So much cooler online
I get home, I kiss my mom
And she fixes me a snack
I head down to my basement bedroom
And fire up my Mac
In real life the only time I
Ever even been to L.A.
Was when I got the chance with the marching band
To play tuba in the Rose Parade.
Online I live in Malibu
I posed for Calvin Klein, I've been in GQ
I'm single and I'm rich
And I got a set of six pack abs that'll blow your mind
It turns girls on that I'm mysterious
I tell 'em I don't want nothing serious
'Cause even on a slow day I can have a three way
Chat with two women at one time
I'm so much cooler online
Yeah I'm cooler online
When you got my kinda stats, it's hard to get a date
Let alone a real girlfriend
But I grow another foot
And I lose a bunch of weight every time I log in
Online I'm out in Hollywood
I'm 6'5 and I look damn good
Even on a slow day, I can have a three way
Chat with two women at one time
I'm so much cooler online
Yeah I'm cooler online
I'm so much cooler online
Yeah I'm cooler online
ken in tx said...
"Crack, are you suggesting that New Age Anti-vaxers are Agent Provocateurs who instigated the assault on the capitol building?"
No, I have said nothing regarding the Capital, beyond I'm not surprised - and hardly embarrassed - by it. That more Americans aren't outraged surprises me, and makes me wonder, about the levels of indoctrination we're living with.
I mean, when Americans don't get weird about a political party committing rape and murder, we got a problem, no?
Can anyone tell me exactly what QAnon really is???????? Since no one has...
And Wikipedia is questionable.
I've seen QAnon posts from time to time. They seem to think that a lot of powerful people are pedophiles. I think they had something to do with the wacky Pizzagate theory a year or two back. Apart from that, I don't know who or what they are.
Excerpting heavily from one-sided tabloid like WaPo and NYT(abloid) under the guise of interesting things you read makes a mockery of your extreme neutrality mantle you presume wear. Either provide your extremely neutral analysis or balance it out by finding “interesting” sources from the other side.
QAnon is becoming a catch-all term for anything that can be dubbed a "rightwing conspiracy theory," in the same way that the "Proud Boys" became a catch-all term for militant rightwing street fighters.
BTW, if Antifa isn't an organization but a tactic, then maybe "Antifa" was behind the capital riot, since whoever started it was following the Antifa playbook, even if they came from the other side of the political spectrum (and now it looks like Antifa may have had more of a role in Washington last week than was now thought).
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