Q The Conspiracy - A Phenomenon

For background on today's rant, we recommend that you look up these YouTube channels: PrayingMedic, JustInformed Talk, SpaceShot76.

With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, time to turn our piercing eye on this Q-anon thing.  Perhaps you've seen the hashtags #Qanon or #WWG1WGA.  Maybe you're passingly familiar with this phenomenon.  If not, you're missing one of the most interesting internet memes I've ever seen, and I've been on the internet since before the web existed and there was any such thing as a browser.

I published an article a while back on the historical context of Q, and the phenomenon has gotten even more interesting since then.  What is pushing the intrigue into hyperbolic orbit are the recent "drops" from Q that promise some real July fireworks that can stand as a test of the Q's claims.

To fully appreciate this phenomenon, you will need a primer, as the insiders have developed a kind of jargon.  Many of the terms used by the Q-Anon come from a 1996 film called White Squall.  Phrases like "where we go one, we go all" (WWG1WGA), "the storm" and several others are lifted directly from the script.  Make of that what you will, but the fact remains.

Next, there are terms like "drops" (Q posts on 8chan - not 4chan), "proofs" (things Donald Trump does or says that ostensibly confirm Q's proximity to him), and "decodes" (the Anons decipher coded drops).  It is at this point that I direct the gentle reader to familiarize himself with  the Cicada 3301 phenomenon, which appears to be an early version of Q that I'll get into shortly.

The Anons are a secretive group of groupies that form a kind of priesthood.  They "decode" Q drops, do some rather interesting research in the public domain, and issue clarifications and predictions based on the drops.  A fictional allusion that would also fit the Anons are the Baker Street Irregulars who assisted Sherlock Holmes in gathering information.

A recent example of the proofs in action is the contention that on at least two occasions, Trump has spotted and acknowledged folks wearing Q t-shirts at rallies.  Another is a posted photo claiming to be a reflection off the back of Trump's iPhone of a lamp in the office on Air Force One.  Word is cryptic "proofs" like this help to avoid issues with national security laws.

So, here's the background so far:

Q began "drops" in late October of 2017, on an exclusive board on 8ch.net.  According to legend, this appearance coincided with the Las Vegas massacre and all of the speculation over conspiracies, official and otherwise.

The legend holds that the US military was on the verge of a coup against Barack Obama and the Deep State cabal that had taken over the federal government, beginning with the Bush I presidency.  Fearing that such a move would cause more problems than were manageable, the insiders decided to recruit Donald Trump as a "clean" outsider who could come in and "drain the swamp".  Let's set aside the fact that this seems like an enormous Hail Mary pass, the thinking is that Trump was a popular icon of the American Dream - rags to riches, self-made billionaire, man of the people, etc.

The legend continues that the Hillary Clinton campaign bought into this plan - without being aware - thinking that Trump would be a cake walk opponent in the general elections.  They did everything they could to both promote Trump as a viable candidate in the primaries, and to paint him as a buffoon, thus ensuring a Clinton victory in November 2016.  The rest, as we know, is not legend.  She lost.

What has ensued since then, according to Q Canon, is a massive covert war just under the public radar with the Bush-Clinton-Obama cabal on one side, aided and abetted by the GeezerMedia [my term], and Trump and his team on the other side.  If you use your Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring found in your jar of Ovaltine, current events can certainly be interpreted to support this reading.  But then, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Now, if you are unfamiliar with Cicada 3301, it is well worth your time to read up on it, especially in light of Q-anon.  In January 2012, a series of coded puzzles began appearing on various boards like 4chan and 8chan.  They were extremely byzantine, requiring vast historical, cryptographic, computer, linguistic, and geographic knowledge and/or exceptional research skills.  To date, no one knows (openly) who started Cicada 3301 or what the purpose was, though plenty of speculation goes to it being a recruiting tool, most likely for an alphabet organization within the 5-Eyes.

The more you learn about Cicada 3301, the more parallels you find to the Q-Anon phenomenon: encoded messages, research, a single source point, a bunch of cyber-jockeys going nuts with excitement.  If you buy the entire Q-Anon legend, then the 2012 start date wuld seem oddly coincidental with a purposed military coup during the Obama regime - particularly Round 2 - and the hatching of a plan like this one to "red-pill" the masses.

The plan would be easy to dismiss without someone in the presidency willing to throw the power of the office behind it.  Otherwise, it could be easily dismissed as just more conspiracy theory noise. Cicada 3301 recruited the Anon teams and put them in place, and Trump is certainly theatrical enough, with an appropriate poker face, to pull off a public narrative that is bread and circuses, while covertly running a massive operation to take down nefarious elements within the federal government.

All circumstantial, I grant you, but at what point does the evidence pile up high enough to be taken seriously?

So, here's where things stand at the moment:

• Mass resignations of Congressional Representatives and Senators, as well as CEOs of major companies (think Google); 
• thousands of arrests of child porn and sex rings (PizzaGate figures heavily into the legend, see John Podesta WekiLeaks email); 
• ANTIFA and their ilk; 24/7 bashing of the Trump administration in the GeezerMedia; 
• sweeping replacements of activist judges and Attorneys General across the country; 
• complete clean-out of upper management in key federal agencies;
• the latest hubbub over Imran Awan plea deal and what - exactly - the feds got in return (think servers and Seth Rich).

The list goes on, but you get the idea.  And it's not limited to the US, as Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany and other countries have turned sharply to the nationalist/populist camp, as well.  These are facts.  How you interpret them is up to you.

The Q phenomenon started off quietly enough.  Q is purportedly an individual or group close to the president using 8chan to send leads to information ("crumbs") that is publicly available though ignored by the GeezerMedia.  It requires slow dissemination and grass-roots realization to initiate the "Great Awakening," also known as "red pilling," in order to side-step shock and backlash.

If you are a fan of spy novels and you aren't following the Q-Anon story, you are missing probably one of the greatest plots ever conceived.  Honestly, whether you buy into Q-Anon or not, it is addictive.  Are the Black Hats really bad?  Are the White Hats really good?  Do you know what you think you know?  Is Q real?  Does Trump sanction Q?  Will the Deep State actually be sent up the creek in public trials that will make Watergate look like a Sunday picnic?  Stay tuned...!

There are surprising plot twists, shocking revelations and nefarious characters who threaten the entire planet.  There's high technology and boots on the ground.  Answers are hiding directly in front of you, but only future revelations will make the current situation clear.  As Q likes to say, "The future proves the past."  Will the stunning predictions come to pass, or will the whole thing crumble into a footnote of internet history?

I might be tempted to dismiss the whole thing, except that I bought into Clif High's webbots years ago.  As anyone who has followed his work over the years knows, the Secrets Revealed meme has played a starring role in the ALTA reports for more than five years.  The Q phenomenon fits almost perfectly into those predictions, in a way and with language that seems to eerily presage the form and function of Q-Anon.

This is one of the most sophisticated media campaigns I have ever witnessed.  It is entirely free, using open resources on the internet.  It relies entirely on a growing underground of folk "in the know" to take the meme viral.  It appeals to a broad demographic spectrum, who come at it from many varying points of view.  People have invested vast amounts of their own time and money into promoting the phenomenon.  It is, well...at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, one of the most amazing media phenomena I have seen in my 40+ years as a media professional.

If you are a psychologist, sociologist, demographer, marketing/PR professional, cryptographer, MBA, media specialist, or just a fan of human behavior, and you are not following the Q-Anon phenomenon, you are missing what will likely become a case study of mythic proportions that will fill textbooks for years to come.  Viral campaigns of the past only wish they had achieved this kind of interest and devotion.

If you are just joining the fun, don't worry.  The whole thing seems to be building to a huge climax in the near- to mid-term (October Surprise?), and by the time it hits the mainstream, you will have missed much of the "pure" development - before it becomes clouded with truck-loads of academic gobbledy-gook and political spin.

Looking for a great summer novel for the beach or lake house?  Just type Qanon into your favorite search engine and settle in for some fascinating clicking.