QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

I'm surprised we don't have a thread on the QAnon madness sweeping MAGAland.

Signs are that it is getting more rather than less traction.



An introduction for those unfamiliar with the phenomenon:
QAnon is a sprawling, shifting conspiracy theory that began life as an ultra-fringe concoction in the online message boards beloved of the alt-right but is now present in more mainstream platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit.

It is anchored in the baseless assertion that the all-seeing, all-powerful President Trump deliberately manipulated the Mueller investigation to target top Democratic politicians and Hollywood stars for their alleged involvement with pedophile rings, the "Deep State" and pharmaceutical companies aimed at enslaving the American people.

Followers believe that "Q," the alleged deep-throat highly-placed national security source, gradually reveals the extent of the conspiracy that is confirmed by a bizarre parsing of the president's own words.
The Q community believes that "the solution to the country’s problems is a brutal authoritarian crackdown against Trump’s enemies," View told me in a recent phone interview. At the same time, View notes, the Q community may just be attempting to bridge the ever-widening gap between what Trump supporters believed Trump would do and what he is actually doing.

It's a continuation of the "Lock her up!" chant at Trump rallies, when supporters hoped he would throw his opponents in jail - even execute them for treason. Rather than acknowledge the hyperbolic unreality behind Trump’s vitriol, the Q community simply maintained a narrative through-line, giving vent to their revenge fantasies and overcoming the cognitive dissonance that nothing of the sort has actually occurred.

The evocation of an eschatological break from perceived reality marks the basic essence of the Q phenomenon. There is a reckoning coming, referred to in places as the "reverse rapture": a revelation that means not only the end of the world but a new beginning. Constituents often withdraw from their lives and recount stories of fighting with their families over the existence of Q, anxiously awaiting the next "Q drop."
Last edited by Holman on Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Holman wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:15 pm I'm surprised we don't have a thread on the QAnon madness sweeping MAGAland.
It's been touched on in other threads but probably needs its own.

I'm not sure how many actually believe the core tenants of Qanon vs. how many are just looking to belong to some movement that vaguely matches their worldview.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by LordMortis »

Grand Rapids is absolutely shocking
Nope. Depressing? Yes. Shocking? No.

I can't speak to general prevalence. I also didn't even know Qanon was a thing until OO suggested it was.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by hitbyambulance »

this is how religions are born?
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by Jaymann »

hitbyambulance wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:05 pm this is how religions are born?
Only if the head honcho gets martyred.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by ImLawBoy »

This thread title made me wonder who was quitting Q-anon.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by LawBeefaroni »

ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:26 pm This thread title made me wonder who was quitting Q-anon.
I just keep seeing this:

Enlarge Image
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by Z-Corn »

The spot where that video ends is about how far the line stretched when I drove by at around 10:00 AM. By the time they opened the doors 6 hours later it was almost another mile down the street. Totally fucked up my commute home.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Z-Corn wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 4:21 pm Totally fucked up my commute home.
That's a small price to pay to be on the vanguard of the battle against the Deep State.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Qult

Post by Holman »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:29 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:26 pm This thread title made me wonder who was quitting Q-anon.
I just keep seeing this:

Enlarge Image
Changed "Qult" to "Cult" because it was giving me a headache.

I figure the odds are good that Trump, who never misses a chance to take credit, starts dropping little hints at rallies that "the people out there making sense of the Deep State are onto something, wish I could say more!"
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Kraken »

Grand Rapids is the reason the rest of the state can't have nice things.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

The fun/scary question is "Who is Q?" (or, really, who is in a position to post as "Q"?)

Somebody is, and he or she has a huge following. Whoever it is, they've got incredible influence in the Deplorablesphere.

The True Believers buy that Q is a highly-placed Trump administration officer (probably someone we've never even heard of, because Top Secret) tasked with apprising the Trump faithful of the progress of the eventual purge that will save America from Obama loyalists, Clinton partisans, Hollywood libruls, Feminazis, treasonous intellectuals, secret Muslims, voter frauds, and other non-White non-Right non-Americans. The drama they're expecting is one of mass arrests, literally in the tens of thousands.

The most plausible theory (based on the origins of the phenom) is that Q is a 4chan or other shitposter (or a cabal of them) who has crafted the greatest hoax in internet history.

If so, we're looking at a home-grown social-media propaganda operation to rival the Russians' own. It's kind of terrifying to believe that this is possible, but it's impossible not to.

We definitely weren't ready for what the internet can do to us. We never were, and probably never could be.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Freyland »

Holman wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:01 pm The fun/scary question is "Who is Q?" (or, really, who is in a position to post as "Q"?)

Somebody is, and he or she has a huge following. Whoever it is, they've got incredible influence in the Deplorablesphere.

The True Believers buy that Q is a highly-placed Trump administration officer (probably someone we've never even heard of, because Top Secret) tasked with apprising the Trump faithful of the progress of the eventual purge that will save America from Obama loyalists, Clinton partisans, Hollywood libruls, Feminazis, treasonous intellectuals, secret Muslims, voter frauds, and other non-White non-Right non-Americans. The drama they're expecting is one of mass arrests, literally in the tens of thousands.

The most plausible theory (based on the origins of the phenom) is that Q is a 4chan or other shitposter (or a cabal of them) who has crafted the greatest hoax in internet history.

If so, we're looking at a home-grown social-media propaganda operation to rival the Russians' own. It's kind of terrifying to believe that this is possible, but it's impossible not to.

We definitely weren't ready for what the internet can do to us. We never were, and probably never could be.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

Fascinating deep dive into QAnon at The Atlantic. Long and worth the read.
QAnon is emblematic of modern America’s susceptibility to conspiracy theories, and its enthusiasm for them. But it is also already much more than a loose collection of conspiracy-minded chat-room inhabitants. It is a movement united in mass rejection of reason, objectivity, and other Enlightenment values. And we are likely closer to the beginning of its story than the end. The group harnesses paranoia to fervent hope and a deep sense of belonging. The way it breathes life into an ancient preoccupation with end-times is also radically new. To look at QAnon is to see not just a conspiracy theory but the birth of a new religion.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

The Oregon GOP just held its primary for US senate. In her victory speech, the winner declared her allegiance to QAnon.
Republican Jo Rae Perkins, now the official challenger to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in November, acknowledged her Tuesday night primary win with a proclamation of her solidarity with acolytes of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

“Where we go one, we go all,” she says in a Twitter video, brandishing a “#WWG1WG” sticker with the group’s motto in hashtag form.

“I stand with President Trump, I stand with Q and the team,” she continues. “Thank you anons and thank you patriots. And together, we can save our republic.”
Incumbent Jeff Merkley has 45% approval but only 28% disapproval, so he'll probably be able to win against an actual crazy person.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Skinypupy »

I've got quite a few family members who are all-in on the Q stupidity.

It's fascinating to watch how they can twist every bit of information to fit into the overarching narrative of Trump as a hero who is unmasking the corrupt "deep state". The conspiracy is so large, so vast, and so flexible that there's literally nothing that takes place with any government in the world that won't fit into it somehow.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by gbasden »

I have a former coworker who is all in on Q, and I just can't fathom it. None of the things being proved untrue phases him at all. Not the fact that Comet Pizza doesn't have a basement, not the fact that Muller didn't somehow work with Trump to bring down the deep state, nothing. At least some cultists snap out of it when the date for the rapture comes and goes.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

gbasden wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 6:32 pm At least some cultists snap out of it when the date for the rapture comes and goes.
They don't, though.

I hope this won't offend anyone, but it's worth remembering that the Seventh Day Adventists began with the prophecy that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844. A multitude of scriptural justifications were offered for this truth. In what is called "the Great Disappointment," it did not come to pass.

Today there are 25 million Seventh Day Adventists.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by msteelers »

I had a co-worker who was all in on the Q-Anon stuff. He was a nice guy, but over the years I knew him he got further and further disconnected from reality. By the end I didn't feel comfortable being near him.

I had to sit through multiple lectures about how this Q guys is really smart and is correctly predicting everything.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by hepcat »

Oddly enough, even my Trumper coworkers don’t buy into the Q stuff. At least as far as I know.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Daehawk »

Is ironic the right word to use here in that if rapture did in fact come then people like these Q folks would be the ones left behind to suffer?
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

Oh hey look: Michael Flynn is QAnon.



(I guess he would be a fool to let the grift pass him by.)
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Alefroth »

That dress though.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Kasey Chang »

Meet QAnon Karen... She walked into Target and filmed herself dumping every facemask on display to the ground, claimed Trump sent her, claims to be wearing a $40K Rolex Watch, claims to be a QAnon spokesperson... and basically rants incoherently to the staff, then left.

She then filmed the cops who went to her home and arrested her.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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gbasden wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 6:32 pm I have a former coworker who is all in on Q, and I just can't fathom it. None of the things being proved untrue phases him at all. Not the fact that Comet Pizza doesn't have a basement, not the fact that Muller didn't somehow work with Trump to bring down the deep state, nothing. At least some cultists snap out of it when the date for the rapture comes and goes.
Conspiracies are "self-sealing". ANYTHING can be explained away by adding on some MORE elements of conspiracy. They thrive on circular logic.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:45 pm Meet QAnon Karen... She walked into Target and filmed herself dumping every facemask on display to the ground, claimed Trump sent her, claims to be wearing a $40K Rolex Watch, claims to be a QAnon spokesperson... and basically rants incoherently to the staff, then left.

She then filmed the cops who went to her home and arrested her.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by LordMortis »

It's classified. Call Trump, I work for him. He'll tell you. I'm wired for Trump. Millions of people are watching you. I'm wired on Instagram.

Wow.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by El Guapo »

Holman wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:21 am Oh hey look: Michael Flynn is QAnon.



(I guess he would be a fool to let the grift pass him by.)
I realize that this is not the most important thing, but I want to know what's going on with the word bubble dress that the woman on the right is wearing. Is that a word bubble (or whatever it's called) derived from Trump's tweets, or something like that?
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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We are so fucked.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

The thing itself:



The essential struggle he proposes is QAnon vs protesters (that is, protesters against police brutality).

He absolutely knows the QAnon narrative (having retweeted it many times), and he's endorsing it here.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Tao »

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who will in all likelihood very soon hold a Congressional seat appears to fully believe and support the QAnon movement. There are enough people, at least in Georgia that support these ideas to win her the recent runoff. Trump will take every vote he can get.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Holman »

The Texas Republican Party, headed by disgraced Iraq veteran/nutjob Allen West, has adopted "We are the Storm" as an official motto.

The party is denying that the slogan has anything to do with QAnon (even though it's one of their top catchphrases).
Facing questions about its use of the slogan “We Are the Storm,” a rallying cry for QAnon adherents, the Texas Republican Party is defending its adoption of the language, saying it was drawn from a poem and had nothing to do with the internet-driven conspiracy theory that claims President Trump was elected to save America from pedophile Satanists.

The state party was responding to a report in The New York Times on Thursday about how a small but growing number of Republicans nationwide have signaled support for QAnon, a movement that the F.B.I. has warned could inspire domestic terrorism. The Texas Republican Party’s use of the slogan was cited by some prominent Republicans there as an example of how some in the G.O.P.’s leadership are opening the party to QAnon followers by adopting language used by the movement.
This is like someone defending a swastika as their trademark because "actually it's a Hindu symbol for good luck."

EDIT:

West and the Texas GOP have offered contradictory origins for the phrase:

West:
West, a former Florida congressman, indicated he drew inspiration for the slogan from an unattributed quote that he likes: "The devil whispers to the warrior slyly can it withstand the coming storm. The warrior responds, 'I am the storm.'"
Texas GOP:
The “We Are the Storm” poem is one of Chairman West’s favorite quotes to use in speeches. He and the entire Texas GOP will not be bullied by partisan leftists in the media into ceding powerful phrases with biblical roots — taken from Psalm 29 — to Internet conspiracy groups.
(You have to twist yourself in multiple knots to see Psalm 29 as the source for either West's quote or "We are the Storm." In the psalm, The Lord is likened to a storm. "We" are not, and there's nothing about the devil or warriors in it at all.)
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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They're like troopers...in the storm.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Isgrimnur »

Too bad they haven’t seen any ghost riders in the sky. Though some of them, no doubt have brains squirming like toads.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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$iljanus wrote: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:36 pm They're like troopers...in the storm.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Smoove_B »

It's totally not a QAnon reference.

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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

Post by Carpet_pissr »

The neighbor behind me has a workshop/garage/"entertaining" area that abuts my fence, and I noticed he put up this huge flag last week, which I didn't recognize. It was blue and had some writing around the logo which I couldn't make out without going to my fence and just gawking (thankfully it's hidden from view from my yard unless you are real close to the fence). I finally made out a huge "Q" in the middle. I don't even want to know what the phrase around the Q is.
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Re: QAnon Qonspiracy Cult

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Carpet_pissr wrote:The neighbor behind me has a workshop/garage/"entertaining" area that abuts my fence, and I noticed he put up this huge flag last week, which I didn't recognize. It was blue and had some writing around the logo which I couldn't make out without going to my fence and just gawking (thankfully it's hidden from view from my yard unless you are real close to the fence). I finally made out a huge "Q" in the middle. I don't even want to know what the phrase around the Q is.
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