General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBeing for the Benefit of Mr. Q
I told you about the walrus and me, man
You know we're as close as can be, man
Well here's another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul.
John Lennon; Glass Onion
I've read some OP/threads here regarding the curious phenomenon known as Q-anon. I suspect that I have been aware of Q for longer than most people on this forum. That, of course, does not make my opinion of the group any more valuable than that of anyone else. However, I may be able to put it into a slightly different context than most, and one that I believe is worth considering.
In my humble opinion, for whatever it is worth, two people have turned what started out as a prank into an effort to divide and discredit the republican base. The two attended college together in the 1970s, where they were politically active. In the decades since, while they have remained friends, one became more of a liberal-moderate Democrat, who has had a career in government before retiring last summer. The second one remained a progressive, though not as radical as he had been in his youth, as he had a career in human services.
The two have remained good friends over the decades, despite periods of time when they either talked on the phone (and now internet), or got together in various settings around the northeast. The presidency of Donald Trump is unacceptable to the pair. Thus, about 16 months ago, while sharing a smoke while listening to the Beatles' White Album, they decided to target and exploit the over-active imaginations of a vulnerable group of far-right space cats.
The ideal victims of such monkey warfare would be a sub-group that was convinced they had The Answer, with the group being small enough that each member reinforced the others' perception. This creates an environment that allows for perception management. It is especially easy if that small group is invested in conspiracy theories.
The para-human specimens that would mutate into the larger current movement within the bowels of the republican party was perfect. Most believed that the same forces that took JFK out were now targeting Trump. This caused the two Democrats to focus their attention on the character Mr. X from the movie JFK, who explained the Deep State to Kevin Costner's character in the park. Surely, the group would easily swallow the concept of a Mr. X contacting them, to say they did indeed have The Answer, and that their country sorely needed them to solve today's vast conspiracy to protect Trump. Hook, line, and sinker.
Since Mr. X was already taken, the pair opted for the letter Q. Relying upon the technical skills of the retired social worker's son, they found the best non-traceable manner to initiate the leader of the pack of jackasses. They started with information the group would find fit their concept of reality. Slowly, over time, they left bread crumbs that led the expanding group to wilder beliefs. Before they knew it, the group had grown in size and insanity beyond the two men's wildest dreams.
The two old buddies realized that opportunity knocked: if they could get the Q group to become visible, and identified with the new republican party, it had the potential to damage the republicans going into the 2018 mid-term elections. Just attending rallies especially Trump's events was not enough, Q informed the group. They had to have tee-shirts and posters to help deliver the message. The nation's future depended upon their heroic efforts to teach The Answer. Q & Associates in the intelligence community were counting on these brave patriots.
Now, as anyone and everyone paying attention has noticed, the media will frequently focus upon the gad flies who attend rallies and political gatherings. It's a way to disguise the discrediting of the larger group as entertainment. It's a tried and true practice that has been used against many movements, including the environmentalists'. It has been less often used against the rabid right; for example, the Tea Party was made to look patriotic, rather than idiotic. Not this time!
Thus, I believe that Democrats should make good use of Q-anon. Identify them as representing the republican party. Heck, refer to them as leaders. Keep in mind the Q mantra, used in response to the question, Can you prove any of this is true?
. You can't prove it's not true.
Fight the Good Fight, and keep a sense of humor,
H2O Man
Bradshaw3
(7,455 posts)I don't know any more than anyone else but it had occured to me that this might be a false flag operation with the ultimate intent to discredit (although it's hard to imagine the deplorables could be any more discredited) to their fellow repubs.
Also, if Q is eventually exposed as a goof orchestrated by college buddies maybe a few (probably very few) of the attendees of these hillbilly Nuremberg rallies as Maher calls them will realize they are also being taken in by drumpf, Jones, pastors, etc., although most would likely just find another outlet for their psychoses.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)greater with the Q-pods. The Tea Party was portrayed as anti-tax and big government, and they scared the republicans in DC. Thus, the republicans co-opted them. But the Tea Party mutated into Trump's base. The Trump base scares the republicans more than ever, and they dare not cross them. Note that most of the base remains firmly anti-Mueller. Yet the Q-pod is convinced that Mr. Mueller is actually on Trump's side, and attempting to protect Trump from the dreaded Deep State. Not all of them, but it is the belief of the majority.
The more public they group becomes, and the more their paranoid group delusions are aired, the better for Democrats. Indeed, I believe it is a most creative response to republican (and Russian) efforts to divide our party. But perhaps that is because I was a member of YIPPIE! in the 1970s, and studied monkey warfare closely.
malaise
(267,823 posts)Thanks - I'm totally clueless about them.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)venture a guess about what will happen in the first week of September, it will be Q informing the group that he has some evidence that they have been infiltrated by "the enemy." Those who believe that they have The Answer become paranoid rather easily. Even intelligent groups of people can be manipulated, as the experiences of the Black Panthers, AIM, and other groups found. But it's much easier with a herd of idiots.
Q might tell them that they need to keep this information secret. That leads to rumors. Rumors lead to suspicions. Suspicions result in interesting group dynamics. By late October, they will provide entertainment for Democrats.
Just my speculation, of course.
malaise
(267,823 posts)but this could be fun to watch.
Bradshaw3
(7,455 posts)The Democratic political prankster who died earlier this year. And the Yippies were very good at political theater. Saw both Jerry Ribun and later Abbie speak in the early 70s.
I think you may be right about the Q pods. They are so far out there that even the repubs who stick with drumpf because of taxes, etc. may have to take a step back, or at least be less motivated to vote, which is also a good thing.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)Dick or Jerry. But I knew Abbie. One of the times we hung out, I gave him a large projectile point, circa 2200 bc, that I had found the day before. He was a character, with a fantastic grasp of sociology. We had a blast back in the good old days!
Bradshaw3
(7,455 posts)I only saw Abbie speak that one time but really liked him. He was down to earth, funny of course, and like you said a character with a grasp of many topics.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)(underground), Abbie was active on environmental issues near the Hudson. As you know, he was even given an award by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Also around that time, he developed a friendship with Tommy "the Rabbi" Trantino, who was incarcerated with Rubin Carter in New Jersey. I came to be friends with Tommy through Rubin, and some of their activities would, years later, help free Rubin. But at the time, they were both sent to the Vroom building as punishment. I'm going astray here .....next thing you know, I'll be blabbering on and on about Dennis Banks at Onondaga.
I did get to spend time with Abbie after he re-surfaced, too. We had a lot of laughs.
peekaloo
(22,977 posts)After her guest explained the Trump/Mueller/Clinton/Obama angle she looked both petrified and stunned that anyone would buy this b.s. and remarked, "Wow, that took a lot of thinking."
I like her and literally laughed out loud at her remark.
I've always liked Ms. Woodruff. I think her response to her guest's theories is typical of what normal people's will be in the months leading up to the election. I anticipate that Trump will embrace them, however.
salin
(48,954 posts)Perhaps coincidence, or perhaps an advisor (think Miller) suggested it. I imagine Miller finds these folks his version of "useful idiots."
coeur_de_lion
(3,666 posts)I always knew you had it in you.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)This is surely far too complicated for me to understand or put into motion.
Do you recall, many years ago, when a now-long gone DU entity was convinced I was, in her words, a "political operative"? Gracious!
coeur_de_lion
(3,666 posts)Qanon was until I read this.
Now I have to check it out .
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)We need some humor as the elections approach.
coeur_de_lion
(3,666 posts)My eyes! I can't read anymore.
#QAnon is a support group for those who believe "gullible" is not in the dictionary.
Do I have it right?
More
FISA.
FISA.
FISA.
[20]
There is a reason why we needed to go mainstream prior to the EVIDENCE being dropped.
You have more than you know.
D5.
WWG1WGA.
Q
#Qanon
When the greatest democracy in the world can be so corrupted by the #deepstate as to falsely document a black Kenyan and install him as POTUS we are only reminded of the power of our adversary. #QAnon #NeverForget
ALERT: @QAnon76 has been detected of contributing to suspected illegal web activity against the United States and its citizens. Multiple web signatures indicate tweets are originating from Eastern Europe/Russian territory. #QAnon
The only way someone could possibly say Q was not legitimate is if they had never read or researched the #QAnon info drops. The truth is out there. Its really a matter of how conscious are you striving to be? Think you know it all?? Believe the MSM?? #StayWoke
Maybe Barack Obama will spend his 58th birthday at the lovely, seaside resort of Gitmo!! #Qanon #TheGreatAwakening
:large
underpants
(182,279 posts)I figured it was a prank. Easy targets.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)I am not surprised that you would be the first to figure this out. Yet we must take care in what we say, as everything Q says is highly classified! Ha!
Brother Buzz
(36,216 posts)Sweet, and something I can wrap my hear around. My question is what happens next. How does it end?
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)of build-up, followed by the insertion of paranoia. When, in early September, Q informs the group's leaders that they have been infiltrated by the darkest forces of the Deep State -- and instructs them to keep this information super top secfret, only to be shared among the trusted elite -- both suspicions and rumors will spread quickly.
That, I will speculate, shall be Phase Two. I could be wrong, of course. But I doubt it like hell.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Hmm, except a lot of these kooks are also gun-nuts...
It's like a horoscope or an 8-ball to some people who interpret these little snippets. I noticed that at least one Bundy supporter took it very seriously. Q was sending her messages about their cause, and sometimes she spoke to Q directly on her live Twitter feed as she attended to the Bundy cause.
That was a while back though, and I'm sure the Q movement has evolved. How entertaining (if pathetic) to see other Q followers at Trump rallies.
tblue37
(64,980 posts)prevent the MSM from playing bothsiderism or from trying to "understand" rightwingers and treat them "fairly." If liberals waved such obvious BS right out there in front of everyone, the Democratic Party, its leaders and a vast majority of its members, would loudly denounce them, while the MSM would run nonstop stories treating a tiny fringe group of conspiracy theorists as the voice of the entire party.
But as with the birthers, the GOP leaders stay quiet about how ridiculous the conspiracy theory is, and the MSM doesn't treat the believers with the scorn they clearly deserve. Instead, they politely look away, and when cornered, the GOP leaders pretend they don't know about the nonsense, or in all too many cases buy right into it and shout it from the rooftops themselves. The few who do denounce it will do so quietly, couching their disagreement in weasel words, like "unhelpful" or "disappointing."
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)The birthers never won a presidential election alone. The "tea party" was much more powerful. Admittedly, there was significant overlap of birthers within the tea party, but they were still on the fringe. Today, the republican party has more divisions, and these are the points where we should apply pressure.
Media coverage of the tea party was largely focused on Town Hall (group) events. The majority of these took place shortly after -- rather than before -- elections. This is a significant distinction that offers a very real opportunity for Democrats. And while the formal party structure does not have a history of monkey warfare, there are many within the grass roots who have such skills.
The goal between now and early September is to encourage Q-anon members to show up at Trump rallies, and identify themselves by way of tee-shirts and posters. The "Q" will stick in the public's minds. The media will interview the group's members at rallies, and its leadership in studio. Thus, their foolishness will be associated with the Q in the public's minds.
This sets up Phase Two, when in early September, a large dose of paranoia is injected into Q-anon. This will include Q telling the group's leaders they have been infiltrated by the Deep State .....including identifying what republicans are "the problem."
kentuck
(110,950 posts)Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)Thus, one must inevitably conclude that the Q faction is yet another symptom of republican derangement under the misleadership of Dirty Donny, the republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief and his russian handlers.
kentuck
(110,950 posts)I haven't completed my studies on that one yet.
H2O Man
(73,329 posts)sets up the fall Q Factor in the November elections.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)H2O Man
(73,329 posts)nolabear
(41,915 posts)Great premise, though, Although unlike those who happily follow Qs tales, Ill hang back and watch things unfold. And baby, if it IS true youd better be working on the book NOW. 😃
salin
(48,954 posts)It is a very interesting (in a pathetic sort of way) phenomenon. Were it a big troll, and one partially bridled, it would be the thing that legends are made of. Not the actual Q phenom but the pulling off of such an effective prank.
malaise
(267,823 posts)janx
(24,128 posts)is simply a spewing of an algorithm over and over again. Some of the bread crumbs seemed repetitious during the couple of times I looked at them. I pictured a computer science student doing this as a kind of experiment. I wonder if that's how the kid carried it out.
?