(Trump supporters displaying QAnon posters at Trump’s Make America Great Again rally on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at the Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa Florida. Photo by Thomas O'Neill/NurPhoto, via Getty Images.) The last few months have seen the emergence of a further mutated species of Republican, as QAnon supporters all over the country have been beating GOP incumbents in primary races. Thirteen candidates who have endorsed, given credence to or promoted QAnon conspiracy theory content have now
I am concerned about this group, on Twitter some refer to them as tin foil hat wearers, I don't. Cults are nothing to take lightly. I have seen many "Q" or "ask me about Q" car stickers. Honestly, this country is so fractured I don't know if we can, completely, heal. Time will tell.
PS I was in a small cult lead by a sociopath narcissist who reminds me way too much of Trump and when it fell apart it took another 10 years for it to fully fall to pieces.
Because the Tea Party wasn’t ignorant and violent enough...WHAT Republican Party? It’s been decimated (thank you Newt and Carl Rove! Trump is just the icing on the cake). Does anyone else feel the deja vu coming? Biden wins and Repubs spend 8 years screaming Benghazi or Russia Russia Russia and they get more and more violent. Ever notice how when Dems protest hundreds of thousands show up with their kids and wear pink hats? When Repubs protest they show up in small groups heavily armed. I am REALLY worried these nut jobs are serious when they talk about revolution. I don’t think they mean figuratively. (Thanks Amee - awesome piece!)
QAnon is another example of the fantasy that if we just don't acknowledge it, it will go away. In less that three years QAnon has progressed from being intentional hyperbole and almost satire into an authoritative entity. The roots, IMO, go as far back as Gingrich's GoPac Memo of 1990, when he provided examples of how Republicans should use different language to demonize Democrats' ideas, legislation, programs, and principles. (The memo is a little harder to find today, but here is a link: https://web.archive.org/web/20130902053532/http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html). Essentially, Gingrich taught Republicans how to lie convincingly about Democrats and, again IMO, opened the door to the creation of right-wing media and, of course, Fox News, which carried the false messaging well beyond semantics. The evolution of lying, misbranding, deliberate misunderstanding, hyperbole, on the right was unchecked by Democrats who've been back on their heels playing defense ever since. As the attacks grew more aggressive from the right, and people like Rush and Glenn and Alex took over the airwaves with entirely fanciful stories - because they found their audiences were sponges for them - it seems inevitable that QAnon or something similar would appear. The believers are cult-like, which makes them dangerous; QAnon has recently taken on a new mantle, that of a religion. The melange of evangelicals, anti-government types, armed militias dedicated to "restoring the Constitution," Oath Keepers with significant police and military membership, and white people afraid of everything makes this group unpredictable and an imminent threat to the elections in November. Thanks for bringing this forward; very few people have any idea of QAnon or even know it exists.
Thank you so much for bringing attention to this topic!
It is not getting enough of it.
Michael Flynn took the Q pledge, on the 4th of July. 😕
I have a friend I have known for 30 years, I am no longer in contact with her. She recently started texting me trying to save me, because I have anti Trump stuff all over my yard.
She has bought into this hook line & sinker. And I have had political influence with her in the past. My husband and I are up-to-date on so much. Since Trump we've been living & breathing it 🤦 we tag team news everyday. As you all know, it takes a team to keep up.
I am more concerned currently about the Candidates, that believe in this crazy horseshit & running for congress.
We need to make a list.
I know of 12 that have a shot.
Then we need to promote the Democratic rivals👊!
This is what we can do to help out.
It's easy to report a few posts, then report the account, and block.
You will see Q in most of their profiles.
As for my friend, I burn a candle for her now weekly. Praying, that she will wake up.🙏
There's an actual group, called anonymous they are doing their best also. Because of course the Qanons have tried to discredit their group. And it's not a specific set of people,
anyone can become anonymous.
If you follow them make sure it's the correct account.
A lot of copies, a lot of fakes.
For those that don't know, antifa just means anti-fascist.
Which I believe is all of us. Giving it a name like antifa makes it a boogie man outfit. something new at every turn and I expect were going to see a lot more before the November election.
Let's see if we all can keep these people out of office.
If you're a praying person, or just a believer in light energy.
I would suggest protecting yourself daily.
Everyone I know that's in sucked into this, was non believing in anything good.
This is very well written and insightful, as usual, Amee. Trump has created a cult of extremists and they are growing more and more desperate/dangerous every day.
Being a geek and a cinephile, I'm constantly reminded of a certain movie...
Compare Trump World to The Matrix. The inhabitants of both are all blissfully unaware that they are not actually living in reality. Prolonged exposure makes it more difficult for their minds to escape from these worlds as well.
In one scene Morpheus tells Neo, "You have to understand: most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
The movie may be science fiction, but the underlying psychology that the story was built on runs parallel to what is going on in Trump's cult. Sadly, they've also convinced themselves that *we're* the ones living in the Matrix.
It amazes me about stupidity of Americans . It seems like we want to solve everything through bullets and/or gun touting sexualized power against the backdrop of “elites”, liberal groups, atheists, Jewish communities, anyone non-Christian . Capital punishment, law and order, militarized police forces. All for the purpose of protecting their vested interests. It almost feels like a combination of Cosplay, libertarianism, video gaming, Batman remakes, and “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” all in one. It’s really comical, but then again it isn’t comical. Those are real revolvers, hand guns, semiautomatics. Why does America have a fascination with violence as a means to have a democracy? It remains a mystery to me. Especially since we don’t even have a very robust healthcare system that can take in this internal war that Americans need to wage. Meanwhile, China continues to build its international strength, North Korea is totally undaunted by our foolishness, and Putin continues to pull strings in Russia. This seems to be the real situation while we run around trying to pin the conspiracy theory on fellow Americans. We are so foolish, Amee. Thanks again for your writings.
Thanks again Amee. This is yet another great post that hits on something not enough people are talking about. I recall a few years ago warning friends of mine to take this threat seriously. This is a more dangerous form of Charles Manson type blind faith because of the ability to use the internet to spread the stories. Once again the GOP are willingly putting people’s lives in danger without conscience.
Charles Manson was able to have a group of people commit murder for no other reason than he told them to. Q followers have already proven they will do whatever expected of them. (Pizzagate).
My greatest worry is the threat Q poses to Democratic leadership and candidates. I hope their security teams are taking this seriously.
good article. i've wondered about them. see people occasionally w/Q in their bios. never sure what they stood for. if it was really real or not. every now & then there is a posting saying Anonymous or Anon. is that the same? i ran across some on F/B accidentally one day (use for nieces' pics) & they sounded nuts. rattling off people's names i know on twitter. sounded a little ominous. i told the people, sure they thought i was a crazy. i know their posting names, not them, so crazy.
It’s disturbing the number of Americans that are buying into this. People have relinquished any form of critical thinking in favor of believing anything they read as long as it coincides with whatever negative bent they harbor. “If I read it on the internet it’s got to be true.”
For the rest of us, it’s just one face palm after another.
It’s positively jaw dropping that a greasy, mobbed up, fake entrepreneur turned game show host has managed to literally bamboozle his way to the highest seat in the free world.
I think the world is only just beginning to wake up to the fact humanity was not prepared for the potential damage the advent of the internet could reap.
For most educated people, we look to multiple responsible sources such as yourself to gather REAL information. But it’s never been more clear that there is a segment of America that is not interested in truth.
They KNOW he’s horrible, but he hates all the same things and people he hates, so truth is irrelevant. They know he’s mobbed up, they know he’s racist, misogynistic, and likely corrupt.. but he is their spirit animal.
Entire generations “dumbed down”, propped up in front of a TV watching some high paid producers scripted version of “Reality TV”, never even questioning it’s ACTUAL reality.
Most of Trump’s base voted for a man who doesn’t exist. A creation. A lie.
Qanon for all it’s nonsensical fact starved ridiculousness is the perfect weapon for a fictitious human being. Fertile ground for any hate monger like Trump.
At some point “free speech” and “dangerous lies” have to part company, or we are ALL doomed.
can anyone answer: is Qanon the same as the people who post under Anonymous? i've never heard of the Antifa people ever being convicted of a real crime, yet. always, stories & rumors, but nothing solid. all these little groups branching off, like those Proud Boys nuts, now those guys are scary.
I am concerned about this group, on Twitter some refer to them as tin foil hat wearers, I don't. Cults are nothing to take lightly. I have seen many "Q" or "ask me about Q" car stickers. Honestly, this country is so fractured I don't know if we can, completely, heal. Time will tell.
PS I was in a small cult lead by a sociopath narcissist who reminds me way too much of Trump and when it fell apart it took another 10 years for it to fully fall to pieces.
Because the Tea Party wasn’t ignorant and violent enough...WHAT Republican Party? It’s been decimated (thank you Newt and Carl Rove! Trump is just the icing on the cake). Does anyone else feel the deja vu coming? Biden wins and Repubs spend 8 years screaming Benghazi or Russia Russia Russia and they get more and more violent. Ever notice how when Dems protest hundreds of thousands show up with their kids and wear pink hats? When Repubs protest they show up in small groups heavily armed. I am REALLY worried these nut jobs are serious when they talk about revolution. I don’t think they mean figuratively. (Thanks Amee - awesome piece!)
QAnon is another example of the fantasy that if we just don't acknowledge it, it will go away. In less that three years QAnon has progressed from being intentional hyperbole and almost satire into an authoritative entity. The roots, IMO, go as far back as Gingrich's GoPac Memo of 1990, when he provided examples of how Republicans should use different language to demonize Democrats' ideas, legislation, programs, and principles. (The memo is a little harder to find today, but here is a link: https://web.archive.org/web/20130902053532/http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html). Essentially, Gingrich taught Republicans how to lie convincingly about Democrats and, again IMO, opened the door to the creation of right-wing media and, of course, Fox News, which carried the false messaging well beyond semantics. The evolution of lying, misbranding, deliberate misunderstanding, hyperbole, on the right was unchecked by Democrats who've been back on their heels playing defense ever since. As the attacks grew more aggressive from the right, and people like Rush and Glenn and Alex took over the airwaves with entirely fanciful stories - because they found their audiences were sponges for them - it seems inevitable that QAnon or something similar would appear. The believers are cult-like, which makes them dangerous; QAnon has recently taken on a new mantle, that of a religion. The melange of evangelicals, anti-government types, armed militias dedicated to "restoring the Constitution," Oath Keepers with significant police and military membership, and white people afraid of everything makes this group unpredictable and an imminent threat to the elections in November. Thanks for bringing this forward; very few people have any idea of QAnon or even know it exists.
Thank you so much for bringing attention to this topic!
It is not getting enough of it.
Michael Flynn took the Q pledge, on the 4th of July. 😕
I have a friend I have known for 30 years, I am no longer in contact with her. She recently started texting me trying to save me, because I have anti Trump stuff all over my yard.
She has bought into this hook line & sinker. And I have had political influence with her in the past. My husband and I are up-to-date on so much. Since Trump we've been living & breathing it 🤦 we tag team news everyday. As you all know, it takes a team to keep up.
I am more concerned currently about the Candidates, that believe in this crazy horseshit & running for congress.
We need to make a list.
I know of 12 that have a shot.
Then we need to promote the Democratic rivals👊!
This is what we can do to help out.
It's easy to report a few posts, then report the account, and block.
You will see Q in most of their profiles.
As for my friend, I burn a candle for her now weekly. Praying, that she will wake up.🙏
There's an actual group, called anonymous they are doing their best also. Because of course the Qanons have tried to discredit their group. And it's not a specific set of people,
anyone can become anonymous.
If you follow them make sure it's the correct account.
A lot of copies, a lot of fakes.
For those that don't know, antifa just means anti-fascist.
Which I believe is all of us. Giving it a name like antifa makes it a boogie man outfit. something new at every turn and I expect were going to see a lot more before the November election.
Let's see if we all can keep these people out of office.
If you're a praying person, or just a believer in light energy.
I would suggest protecting yourself daily.
Everyone I know that's in sucked into this, was non believing in anything good.
Thank you again Amee, so very much!
You Rock👊👏
This is very well written and insightful, as usual, Amee. Trump has created a cult of extremists and they are growing more and more desperate/dangerous every day.
Being a geek and a cinephile, I'm constantly reminded of a certain movie...
Compare Trump World to The Matrix. The inhabitants of both are all blissfully unaware that they are not actually living in reality. Prolonged exposure makes it more difficult for their minds to escape from these worlds as well.
In one scene Morpheus tells Neo, "You have to understand: most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
The movie may be science fiction, but the underlying psychology that the story was built on runs parallel to what is going on in Trump's cult. Sadly, they've also convinced themselves that *we're* the ones living in the Matrix.
Amee, there was a New York Times podcast “The Daily” hosted by Michael Barbaro about this topic. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/podcasts/the-daily/trump-qanon-conspiracy-theory.html
It amazes me about stupidity of Americans . It seems like we want to solve everything through bullets and/or gun touting sexualized power against the backdrop of “elites”, liberal groups, atheists, Jewish communities, anyone non-Christian . Capital punishment, law and order, militarized police forces. All for the purpose of protecting their vested interests. It almost feels like a combination of Cosplay, libertarianism, video gaming, Batman remakes, and “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” all in one. It’s really comical, but then again it isn’t comical. Those are real revolvers, hand guns, semiautomatics. Why does America have a fascination with violence as a means to have a democracy? It remains a mystery to me. Especially since we don’t even have a very robust healthcare system that can take in this internal war that Americans need to wage. Meanwhile, China continues to build its international strength, North Korea is totally undaunted by our foolishness, and Putin continues to pull strings in Russia. This seems to be the real situation while we run around trying to pin the conspiracy theory on fellow Americans. We are so foolish, Amee. Thanks again for your writings.
Great expose, Amee. QAnon scares the crap out of me.
Thanks again Amee. This is yet another great post that hits on something not enough people are talking about. I recall a few years ago warning friends of mine to take this threat seriously. This is a more dangerous form of Charles Manson type blind faith because of the ability to use the internet to spread the stories. Once again the GOP are willingly putting people’s lives in danger without conscience.
Charles Manson was able to have a group of people commit murder for no other reason than he told them to. Q followers have already proven they will do whatever expected of them. (Pizzagate).
My greatest worry is the threat Q poses to Democratic leadership and candidates. I hope their security teams are taking this seriously.
I don't think it will last like all cults it will end.
good article. i've wondered about them. see people occasionally w/Q in their bios. never sure what they stood for. if it was really real or not. every now & then there is a posting saying Anonymous or Anon. is that the same? i ran across some on F/B accidentally one day (use for nieces' pics) & they sounded nuts. rattling off people's names i know on twitter. sounded a little ominous. i told the people, sure they thought i was a crazy. i know their posting names, not them, so crazy.
It’s disturbing the number of Americans that are buying into this. People have relinquished any form of critical thinking in favor of believing anything they read as long as it coincides with whatever negative bent they harbor. “If I read it on the internet it’s got to be true.”
For the rest of us, it’s just one face palm after another.
It’s positively jaw dropping that a greasy, mobbed up, fake entrepreneur turned game show host has managed to literally bamboozle his way to the highest seat in the free world.
I think the world is only just beginning to wake up to the fact humanity was not prepared for the potential damage the advent of the internet could reap.
For most educated people, we look to multiple responsible sources such as yourself to gather REAL information. But it’s never been more clear that there is a segment of America that is not interested in truth.
They KNOW he’s horrible, but he hates all the same things and people he hates, so truth is irrelevant. They know he’s mobbed up, they know he’s racist, misogynistic, and likely corrupt.. but he is their spirit animal.
Entire generations “dumbed down”, propped up in front of a TV watching some high paid producers scripted version of “Reality TV”, never even questioning it’s ACTUAL reality.
Most of Trump’s base voted for a man who doesn’t exist. A creation. A lie.
Qanon for all it’s nonsensical fact starved ridiculousness is the perfect weapon for a fictitious human being. Fertile ground for any hate monger like Trump.
At some point “free speech” and “dangerous lies” have to part company, or we are ALL doomed.
can anyone answer: is Qanon the same as the people who post under Anonymous? i've never heard of the Antifa people ever being convicted of a real crime, yet. always, stories & rumors, but nothing solid. all these little groups branching off, like those Proud Boys nuts, now those guys are scary.
It's dogmatic rhetoric...it's the end of their World and they know it, and I feel fine!!!