I relentlessly dunk on QAnon and the people who monetize it. But I also take it really seriously, and feel immense sympathy for those caught in its blast wave. I contain multitudes.
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The Paul Furber ----> Ron Watkins theory for who was making Q drops definitely isn't perfect, but it's as close as we're likely to get. I've always believed nobody knows who made every single drop, and it's likely Ron had collaborators.
I do take issue with the article's idea that Furber was overlooked. I wrote about him in THE STORM IS UPON US, Cullen interviewed him, and he's talked about in the Reply All episode I was on. But he does kind of vanish once Ron is in the picture.
Any theory other than Furber starting Q and Ron having a major role in writing and posting the drops on 8chan/8kun has an exceptionally high bar to clear.
One day, these people might face accountability for what they did. But without them confessing, it's unlikely.
MTG is not stupid. She knows what the Gestapo is, and that it's not cold soup. She does this on purpose to draw mockery and derision from liberals who she can turn around and say are trying to cancel her.
She's done it before. Misspelling "Columbus Day," not knowing the difference between "your" and "you're." Boebert does it too. Remember "imeach Biden"?
They're shitposters. They thrive on being mocked and insulted, because it makes them feel alive and drives up their engagement.
Like Trump, some typos are probably the result of just not giving a shit. But come on. "Gazpacho police?" You're being played for clicks and feigned outrage.
Rogan signing with Spotify is the media equivalent of Albert Pujols going to the Angels, right? An ill-advised huge money contract for a superstar that quickly becomes a millstone around the neck of everyone involved.
Pujols couldn't play up to the expectations of the deal, and the Angels kept spending more dumb money to justify what they had already spent.
Likewise, Rogan not only hasn't brought new subscribers to Spotify, he's cost them more money - and prestige in justifying what they already gave him.
Mel Mermelstein is one of the only people to ever successfully take a bogus "I'll pay you to prove me wrong" challenge and get his money - only because he sued the IHR, winning both the "challenge" and additional damages. An absolute hero in every sense of the word.
Such "I'll pay you to prove me wrong" challenges are a hallmark of cranks. They dangle big money to prove things that have already been proven, like evolution or the Holocaust happening. But the "proof" is judged by the crank. And weirdly, they always win. Except this time.
in 2017, RFK Jr. and Robert De Niro teamed up to offer $100,000 to anyone who could "prove vaccines are safe." Well, vaccines are safe, so that's easy money, right?
To my knowledge, they never paid a dime out. But they got plenty of PR for their bogus stunt.
I'm not debunking every lie and mistake in Jim Stewartson's new manifesto. But since he brought this old blog post up AGAIN, it's clear he didn't actually read it. He calls it proof I "hate Hillary Clinton" because the title is "End of the Line for the Clinton Gravy Train."
If he'd read it, he'd know the post is about how HRC leaving politics and Dems retaking the House meant that the giant grift industry around fake Hillary "scandals" would have to focus on something else. Which it did, in the form of QAnon, and later COVID and "stop the steal."
Uranium One was a huge driver of RW media. To think my mention of it in an obscure blog post was "predictive programming" for a virulently anti-HRC conspiracy launching a few days later, while CLEARLY not having read it, is a perfect example of the sloppiness of Jim's "work".
Some news! I'm curating another class for Chapter, featuring articles and videos I've put together, along with my own insights and access for Q&A sessions.
This time around, we're doing pop culture conspiracy theories, focused on four big ones:
#1 is the persistent theory that Tupac Shakur is still alive and hanging out...in a bunch of different places. We'll talk about why we love dead celebrity sightings, other supposedly still living musicians, and of course, Elvis.
Conspiracy theory #2: Kurt Cobain was murdered on the orders of Courtney Love because he was going to disinherit her. Or maybe it was the CIA. Or someone else. Why do "mysterious deaths" fascinate us, even when there's no real mystery about them?