Where We Go 1 We Go All Down the Rabbit Hole

In the darkness of the right wing internet  there grew a new form of hate and division.  Q Anon, an anonymous (that's the anon) poster who claims to have high level security clearance (the Q) and weaving a web of ridiculous and scary content that seems unbelievable to any rational thinker.  But the thing is that there are times when many people lose being rational as part of their daily lives.  Anons are not new and nor are people who claim to have inside knowledge that they share on the internet.  This kind of stuff occurred long before the internet.  Now it is just easier to make a connection to people because a typical internet post can go around the world if just a few right people want to promote it.  And this is what happened.  That which has lived in the dark corners of places on the web most people would never go, is now retweeted by the President and running for Congress and other offices as Republicans embrace it.  

It is hard to describe the Q entire conspiracy.  Like many the connections are amazing complex and while the original postings have grown more vague over the years, the supporters conclude very specific things.  I will get back to that.  But the over-arching theory of Q is that there is a world-wide child trafficking ring being run by prominent Democratic leaders and Hollywood celebrities.  Q has convinced the followers that Donald Trump is the savior of the children as he is working in conjunction with others to unmask this ring and bring people to justice.  Among those he is working with is James Comey, surprised?  Yes the entire Russian conclusion evidence was a set up to get Comey the power to ferret out the real criminals and thus was the start of finding the members of the ring.  Yes, but wait for it.  The other leader of the movement is John F Kennedy Jr.  Yes the son of our 35th President.  A man who tragically died in a plane crash in 1999.  The theory is that he has been hiding in Pennsylvania  and will emerge this summer to public life to run along side President Trump as his Vice-President.  They even have identified him at rallies pointing to a man who they say is him in disguise.  Now if you think that is bananas you are right.  It is.  But we are merely scratching the surface of this conspiracy.  

Maybe the most famous story was that of Comet Ping Pong.  The Q followers who saw John Podesta's emails seemed to think they were code for planning Satanic Sexual rituals with children.  Podesta often referenced pizza from Comet, a Washington DC pizza place.  The Q crowd saw pizza as a symbol for kids and that there were all manner of horrors going on in the basement of the family pizza place that involved up to and including cannibalism of children led by Hillary Clinton.  Even as I type this I find it hard to believe that very many people could believe this.  But one man took it seriously enough to drive to the pizza place with a gun demanding to see the basement.  The building has no basement.  How easily this could have ended more tragically than it did.  The man was arrested but the pizza place still suffers the aftermath.  Other incidence include someone who stormed a Cement company site, the blocking of Hoover Dam, and assassination attempts on Joe Biden.  More recently the internet was on fire for a couple weeks because the online discounter Wayfair has a handful of products whose prices seem outrageous.  The main one was an industrial cabinet that cost $10,000 which in their mixed up minds must have meant that it wasn't the cabinet that people were buying but a trafficked child.  The fever swept through the Q world and finding pillows and housewares with higher than normal prices were found.  A set of pillows with feminine names became a focal point and someone linked them to the actual names of missing children.  They were off to the races.  But, other retailers have similar cabinets at similar prices and one of the missing children named posted on social media that she was home and fine and that they are hurting the efforts of helping real missing children.  However, weeks later, you still see this pop up.  Facts don't seem to work with these people and the danger is that when you can't educate someone there is little hope.  What is worse is they have the ear of people who have actual power. 

A recent primary in Georgia promoted for the Congressional seat a woman who is deep into the Q conspiracy and promoting a variety of conspiracies including the death of Seth Rich and 9-11 being an inside job.  While at first the GOP supported her primary opponent they are now welcoming her to the party.  This is dangerous.  Even the current President is willing to embrace her and the ideas that she is vomiting all over the Republican party.  

Q is a lot like a cult that follows a central figure who cannot be wrong.  There are many times Q has made serious predictions about what is going to happen in this fantasy world and when they didn't come true the response was that it was purposeful misinformation to keep the perpetrators guessing.  And the followers believe.  This self-sealing model means if often used by those telling their followers the world will end on a particular date or some other fantastic failure.  It is an inoculation against criticism.  It is not new, it is an old trick to fool those that want to be fooled.  It is remarkable how many people are that foolish.  

You may like President Trump for the things you agree with that he has done.  You may be a good Republican who can't find a way to vote for Vice-President Biden I ask one thing.  Purge your party of this disease.  It clearly shows that the President's far from normal behavior is not the only problem that is hurting our country.  A cult with political aims, a lack of interest in reality and an anonymous leader or leaders who manipulate their followers like a well honed conman is not only a danger to your party but to the republic.  Stamp it out, it won't be long until they come for you.