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Trump base latches onto ‘Q’ internet conspiracy cult
The Seattle Times ^ | August 2, 2018 | Marc Fisher and Isaac Stanley-Becker

Posted on 08/02/2018 9:37:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Energized by the internet persona Q’s complex web of conspiracy notions about the forces aligned against President Donald Trump, Q’s followers have spread virally online and now, in real life too, forming a movement known as QAnon.

From somewhere in the vast and mysterious “deep state,” a dissident agent rises up to give the people cryptic clues about how their heroic president will push back the forces of evil and make America great again. The renegade informant is known only as “Q,” and if he actually exists, it’s not as a character in a movie, but somewhere in the Washington, D.C., bureaucracy.

Energized by Q’s complex web of conspiracy notions about the forces aligned against President Donald Trump, Q’s followers have spread virally online and now, in real life too, forming a movement known as QAnon that is making itself visible at Trump’s rallies and other public gatherings.

QAnon is the latest in a string of conspiracy ideas that take hold of the public’s imagination in times of social stress and technological change. And QAnon is something new, a leaderless popular movement made up of people who believe in no one and therefore are willing to believe almost anything.

To believers, Q is a pseudonym for a well-placed U.S. government agent who is posting online distress messages and bits of intel, known as “breadcrumbs,” in an effort to save the country — and Trump — from hostile forces within the government. Q’s missives started appearing last October on 4chan, the mostly anonymous website where fringe ideas incubate and blossom....

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Conspiracy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: 8chantrash; cultofq; denounced; deplorables; hoax; internet; notaninsider; q; qanon; qisyoutubers; trump
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To: Ann Archy

“ARE there pedo arrests piling up??”

https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/06/justice-task-forces-arrest-2300-online-child-sex-suspects/148930/

https://thegrio.com/2018/06/07/sex-trafficking-sting-fbi-rescues-160-children-some-as-young-as-3-years-old/

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/june/texas-authorities-crack-down-on-child-sex-crimes-arrest-60-people


101 posted on 08/03/2018 3:44:38 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 trillion dollars.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Q has the same feel as the birth certificate talk early on.
Many FR members were convinced it was going to be the end of Obama.
In reality it was a story planted by the Hillary Team to distract the opposition.

Q is a distraction.

The only thing that is going to change the environment is charging someone in the FBI, CIA, DOJ, State Dept or Senate with Obstruction and eventually sending them to prison.

Frankly, the Opposition isn’t afraid of the GOP and won’t be until their is action.


102 posted on 08/03/2018 3:59:34 AM PDT by Zathras
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To: familyop

Interesting. I have noticed that some people don’t just fall for conspiracies, they actively seek them out and doggedly believe in them regardless of any contradictory facts or evidence. I’d never considered that tendency as a result of mental disorders before, but it makes sense.

As for Q...I looked at one of his musings and found it nonsensical. Maybe he throws in random words connected to current events, but that doesn’t make him some sort of prophet. I consider him a modern equivalent to Nostradamus—be nonsensical enough, and people will read all kinds of stuff into it. Whatever amuses people, I guess.


103 posted on 08/03/2018 4:02:05 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Reno89519

Bingo! This Q nonsense is just that.... Nonsense.


104 posted on 08/03/2018 4:05:59 AM PDT by rrrod (just an old guy with a gun in his pocket)
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To: buwaya

“Here’s the thing - look at this as a propaganda exercise, of the most effective sort, something that absorbs people. As a mystery-serial maybe. The mystery is the fun part. The puzzles, the figuring things out, and the heated discussions between fans and non-fans.

Builds a fan base and gets people invested in the drama. Its brilliant.“

——

Exactly. It’s inclusive nature is its draw. Like any conspiracy theory, any player (and yes, they’re players) can participate and try to unearth that Holy Grail of a golden clue that solves the riddle. It’s relatively harmless and will remain so unless and until one of them convinces himself that some future Q dropping is a call to shoot up a gathering somewhere.


105 posted on 08/03/2018 4:11:19 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Liberals, piss off. That is all.)
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To: JonPreston

More to be learned in reading Travis McGee novels than all ‘Q’ post put together.


106 posted on 08/03/2018 4:28:02 AM PDT by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: j.havenfarm

Well said. The only good thing about the Q threads is that it keeps some juvenile men here occupied.


107 posted on 08/03/2018 4:30:21 AM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: Electric Graffiti; 2ndDivisionVet
What's harder to believe? You have two choices:
  1. Someone who has access to military intelligence is dropping clues to patriots about corruption in our government that has not been made public, or;

  2. A man who fought corruption in government and illegal immigration his entire adult life is a total fraud.


108 posted on 08/03/2018 4:36:06 AM PDT by poconopundit (MAGA... Get the Spirit. Grow your community. Focus on your Life's Work. Empower the Young.)
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To: Salvavida

It’s really funny to come to free republic and see the people that are reading Q and skeptical of the media and doing there own research and digging for the truth being constantly harrased by a bunch of sheeple fools that keep parroting the MSM talking points. I don’t even recognize this place anymore.

seriously do you find yourself on the same side of an issue as the new York times Washington post usa today CNN NBC Newsweek think progress New York magazine and the rest of the lib media often?

Sorry but I dont know many freepers that agree with the new York times about anything...

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1024747172829556741

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/01/qanon-trump-florida-rally-what-q-signs-mean/878642002/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/us/politics/what-is-qanon.html

https://heavy.com/news/2018/08/sarah-sanders-qanon-question-answer-video/

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-rally-qanon-conspiracy-theory-the-storm-85446651-6de5-4a6a-8943-2d14680c4702.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/01/we-are-q-a-deranged-conspiracy-cult-leaps-from-the-internet-to-the-crowd-at-trumps-maga-tour/?utm_term=.e2fa376890db

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/30/qanon-4chan-rightwing-conspiracy-theory-explained-trump

https://www.fastcompany.com/90212200/qanon-the-alternate-reality-that-was-front-and-center-at-trumps-rally

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/as-the-bizarre-qanon-group-emerges-trump-rallies-go-from-nasty-to-dangerous/2018/08/01/063ed6f8-9585-11e8-a679-b09212fb69c2_story.html?utm_term=.48a0d2b54d5f

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-qanon-705425/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6015627/Fans-bizarre-QAnon-cult-droves-Trump-rally-signs-t-shirts.html

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-tampa-rally-qanon-conspiracy-goes-mainstream-68037c87f50b/

https://www.newsweek.com/what-qanon-conspiracy-theorists-showed-support-trump-tampa-rally-1051708

https://splinternews.com/trumps-tampa-rally-was-full-of-insane-conspiracy-theori-1828015269

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/399801-trump-rally-attendee-holds-up-sign-linked-to-infamous-conspiracy

https://www.today.com/video/youtube-under-fire-for-allowing-conspiracy-theories-on-a-list-celebrities-public-figures-1289814083720

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/08/01/qanon-8chan-conspiracy-theory-trump-supporters-ath-vpx.cnn

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-hallie-jackson-covers-insane-qanon-conspiracy-theories-pizzagate-on-bath-salts

http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/12/qanon-4chan-the-storm-conspiracy-explained.html

https://harpers.org/archive/2018/06/the-wizard-of-q/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/opinion/qanon-trump-conspiracy-theory.html

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-conspiracy-theory-that-says-trump-is-a-genius/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/conspiracy-theory-donald-trump-genius-hilary-clinton-roseanne-barr-barack-obama-george-soros-america-a8293806.html

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2018/04/06/the_conspiracy_theory_that_says_trump_is_a_genius_439119.html

http://metro.co.uk/2018/04/09/people-claiming-trump-secret-genius-pretending-collude-russians-7452136/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/31/the-conspiracy-theory-behind-a-curious-roseanne-barr-tweet-explained/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/04/09/the-crisis-in-journalism-thats-helping-trump/?utm_term=.b303dbe749fd

http://www.newsweek.com/how-storm-biggest-fake-news-story-796725

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSAxcQ5VL5c

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/31/politics/roseanne-barr-conspiracy-tweets/index.html

https://thinkprogress.org/rosanne-barr-promotes-pro-trump-conspiracy-theory-d52a65887183/

http://www.newsweek.com/roseanne-barr-tweets-about-right-wing-qanon-conspiracy-theory-867983

https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/roseanne-qanon-explainer?utm_term=.kkxvYjNeP#.nqg3P8mw7

https://medium.com/@willsommer/roseanne-barr-is-tweeting-about-qanon-a-new-pizzagate-style-conspiracy-theory-234526f52e54

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/381123-roseanne-barr-faces-social-media-backlash-over-trump-conspiracy-theory-tweet

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/roseanne-president-trump-has-freed-children-pimps-all-world-1098812

https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/05/18/conspiracy-theories-texas-santa-fe-shooting/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dark-parts-of-internet-celebrate-capital-gazette-shooting_us_5b3547bae4b007aa2f7e7226

Coordinated?
All For A LARP?
[ATTACKS WILL ONLY INTENSIFY]
Ask yourself, WHY?
Q


109 posted on 08/03/2018 4:37:29 AM PDT by edzo4 ("Well I truly would be thrilled if all/most of the Q stuff turns out to be real")
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To: Reno89519
As I’ve written before, this crackpot conspiracy BS is going to bite people. I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t turn out to be some kid in his parent’s basement. Or, worse, some Never Trumper or Democrat playing people. Either way, anonymous sources and authors is bad news and often lead to bad results: Fake News.

You're not alone in that thinking.

110 posted on 08/03/2018 4:44:30 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Fai Mao
I thought Q made gadgets for James Bond? Honestly, the name is the biggest tip-off that this is all fiction

And yet, some are so wrapped-up in their bubble wrapped fantasy world they still don't get it.

111 posted on 08/03/2018 4:47:56 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Dogbert41

I don’t believe Q, but I think there may be something to pizzagate. Possible connection to child trafficking, and democrats so desperate to keep the border open so more children can be stolen or sold. $$$$$.


112 posted on 08/03/2018 4:52:31 AM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’m seeing too many of these stories to discount the idea that Q is broaching something these folks are scared to death of becoming public knowledge.

I have no informed opinion as of yet, but...


113 posted on 08/03/2018 5:03:46 AM PDT by MortMan (The white board is a remarkable invention.)
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To: Kartographer
This Q is from last night. So much here, so little time.


114 posted on 08/03/2018 5:15:29 AM PDT by JonPreston
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

from clingers to latchers now .


115 posted on 08/03/2018 5:16:20 AM PDT by ßuddaßudd ((>> M A G A << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if he's white?")
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To: 100American

And obviously there is far more to it if the MSM is so worried they have begun taking up lots of time talking about it. If it was not a threat, why would they do so....
__________________________
Suddenly, the MSM have our interests at heart by calling out the Q movement. Give me a break! The truth is the movement has grown to millions worldwide - a critical mass that the MSM has decided in their 4 a.m. coordination meetings they must try and stomp out. Their classic favorite meme is “ right wing kook conspiracy.” When you start drawing flake like this, you know you are over your target.


116 posted on 08/03/2018 5:17:01 AM PDT by iontheball
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To: JonPreston
Something BIG is about to drop.

Yes, I took care of that first thing this morning.

117 posted on 08/03/2018 5:31:00 AM PDT by Fightin Whitey
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To: Conservative Gato

“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

And anything can be made to look like anything you want.


118 posted on 08/03/2018 5:32:06 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: 100American; drypowder
You are just too intellectually lazy to stray off the ranch of what you have been consuming for decades Oh well, you have stated your position and I am sure you will find some others here to commiserate with An then when the dam breaks you will most like try to grab a seat on the bandwagon like you already were there Your choice, by your words shall you be known


119 posted on 08/03/2018 5:38:52 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: Simon Green

Nice hat...where can I get one?


120 posted on 08/03/2018 5:41:26 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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