The Republican Party is currently under siege from a far-right conspiracy group called “QAnon.” The foundation of their beliefs is that people in Hollywood and the Democratic Party (specifically Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros) are part of an illegal child sex trafficking ring and are part of this deep state that seeks to overthrow Donald Trump and his supporters. This alleged deep state also worships Satan according to some QAnon supporters. 

Over the last couple of weeks on Facebook, I have seen some of my conservative friends post about illegal child sex trafficking and how it is such a pervasive problem in our society. I don’t doubt that some of it goes on and that it’s an incredibly disturbing, evil practice. But, I was also wondering why my conservative friends were all latching onto this particular issue. Their posts reeked of possible conservative conspiracy theory propaganda BS, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. When I learned about QAnon, I was like “Aha! This is probably the source.”

What’s even more alarming is that we will likely start seeing QAnon supporters in congress. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an avid QAnon supporter who has spouted racist remarks about African-Americans, Jews, and Muslims, won the GOP primary seat in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. A district that is heavily Republican. 

It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party will navigate this since many Republicans in congress are already starting to distance themselves from this lunacy. At the same time, Donald Trump has embraced QAnon and tweeted enthusiastic support for Greene upon her victory in the GOP primary. So, there’s a delicate balance that the Republicans feel they have to play even though the obvious answer is to call out QAnon for the quackery that it is. 

The best thing that can happen is for Trump to lose to Biden in November in an overwhelming defeat. This will send a strong message that Trumpism failed and that anything related to it is also doomed for failure. If Trump wins in November, that will only add more fuel to the fire for QAnon and other future conspiracy theories/groups that are certain to follow. 

(Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Opinion | The QAnon Rot in the GOPThe internet conspiracy theory's spread shows that the Trump-era GOP has weakened antibodies against kookery.www.politico.com

Further reading:

Here is the Wikipedia page about QAnon

Via POLITICO: McCarthy faces QAnon squeeze

Via The Washington Post: QAnon supporter, with Georgia primary victory, is poised to bring far-right conspiracy theory to Congress.

When I was on my LDS mission in Minnesota over 10 years ago, there was a less active member who had schizophrenia in one of my areas. I was actually serving in Wisconsin/Michigan at the time. He was taking medication and would routinely espouse crazy conspiracy theories like the sun was getting bigger and that we were under attack from some crazy-ass aliens. Our nickname for him was “Crazy Jason” because he was, well, crazy. 

What’s alarming is to see ideas like the ones Crazy Jason was espousing enter the mainstream and be supported by elected officials and even worse, the president of the United States. It’s downright frightening. We really need a change in the White House and nip this craziness in the bud. 

The more information the better. Do what you will with it.
Freedom of speechs basic meaning is the ability to provide and the freedom to discern information.

Everything is a conspiracy and yet nothing is. Is the whole #WWG1WGA cultish?

It seems very cultish to me. What is good is people are bringing it to light. On the other hand, it’s alarming that it has gained enough traction that it’s been needed to be addressed at all. If that makes sense.

I would say I’m less concerned that QAnon is out there and more concerned that it is gaining any traction. People are free to believe what they want. But, it should alarm people if baseless conspiracies are given credibility that they don’t deserve.

Very alarming and creepy!

Ok, so a light just went off in my head. A cousin of mine who has been posting this anti-child sex tracking stuff is all in on QAnon. She posted a video about it on Facebook a little while ago. I couldn’t remember what the organization was, but now that I think about it, it involved the letter Q. Absolutely nuts.

Very much so.

Only if Trump loses big time will this idiocy stop. If this sort of conspiracy thinking starts infiltrating the USA government I can’t see how the country can stay powerful if they can’t even get their facts straight. Imagine a country led by flat earthers. This is the equivalent of that.

So true. Biden doesn’t just need to win. He needs to win big so as to send a strong message that this kind of lunacy won’t fly.

I’ve heard some things saying Trump would be an even bigger menace if he lost the presidency but not by much. He’d wreak havoc in so many ways though maybe fighting off the law cases could keep him busy. I think if he loses he will try to leverage his position to get clemency protection.

This resonated with me:

Perspective | I'm dating a conspiracy theorist. But it feels like I'm the one going crazy.I've been asking myself: Does it matter that I can't take many of his beliefs seriously?www.washingtonpost.com

When my mom came down with paranoid schizophrenia and got obsessed with conspiracies, we used to say of people like her "they have mental health conditions and need help." But the conspiracy theories that wrecked her life and took her from her career as a Cornell-educated cancer researcher, were actually somewhat plausible: she believed the Russians may be bugging our telephone lines.

Now when people promote insane conspiracy theories about alien sex or whatever, we shrug and say "oh, someone's been in Facebook Groups or watching Fox News." And yet those conspiracy theories are less plausible than my mom believing in Russian spying.

Or, we say, freedom of the press, let the reader beware. The problem with that, as every doctor can attest, is the death and despair that follow. Even Twitter, which was founded on the idea of freedom of expression, has to put warnings on some conspiracies — like Covid is a democratic hoax and will disappear — or block the accounts of people who post that stuff to keep too many people from dying.

Conspiracy theorists and those who promote them work really hard to undermine attempts to stop people from believing it. All attempts to stop them are used as evidence to support the ‘truth’ of the conspiracy. How many times have we read “what the _________ don’t want you to know”? Evidence or lack thereof is unimportant. Reasonableness and plausibility are plenty good enough. It’s an uphill battle against this and it’s unlikely to slow until the whole pandemic is over. When people are stressed and there’s no simple answer they go looking for one. It helps them make sense of the world and feel in more control. Ignorance is bliss. Critical thinking is in short supply. Common sense isn’t good enough as common sense often leads us astray.

Here’s a good article albeit disturbing.

Evangelicals are looking for answers online. They're finding QAnon instead.The first family to quit Pastor Clark Frailey's church during the pandemic did it by text message. It felt to Frailey like a heartbreaking and incomplete way to end a years-long relationship. When a second young couple said they were doubting his leadership a week later, Frailey decided to risk seeing them in person, despite...www.technologyreview.com

It’s. Beyond me. I. Just. Can’t. My mind goes blank.

But good on Twitter:

Twitter removes QAnon supporter's false claim about coronavirus death statistics that Trump had retweetedTwitter on Sunday took down a tweet containing a false claim about coronavirus death statistics that was made by a supporter of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory -- a post that President Donald Trump had retweeted earlier in the day.www.cnn.com

Wow, Trump cares about nothing but himself. The beautiful irony here is that Trumps own ineptitude and failed actions on the covid-19 thing has likely cost him a billion dollars in lost asset value. I take some solace in that.

I’m getting worried that his strategy of blaming democrats for violence in the cities is working. Some white women in focus groups are reportedly deciding to vote Trump because they feel unsafe.

When people are ignorant they’re ignorant. What can you do? If they hadn’t gmfigured it out after the first six months then there wasn’t much hope. Merely just beating Trump would be a massive loss in my mind. The world watches in pity is what it has come to. Many don’t see the USA as powerful anymore but rather see it as falling apart. Great for dictatorships and other ideologies to show in order to reduce the desire for democracy.

The GOP still isn’t saying outright that Qanon is a conspiracy nutcase. USA is headed for more serious problem than the current situation. This stuff doesn’t end even if Trump is voted out.

Pence drops plan to go to fundraiser hosted by QAnon backers - NBC NewsThe baseless conspiracy theory alleges President Trump is battling an entrenched bureaucracy and sex trafficking ring run by pedophiles.apple.news

This is insane.

'This is f---ing crazy': Florida Latinos swamped by wild conspiracy theoriesA flood of disinformation and deceptive claims is damaging Joe Biden in the nation's biggest swing state.www.politico.com

Mural in Australia;

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.Subjects: Warfare, MilitaryAuthor: Sun Tzu

Fortunately, I haven’t met any QAnon supporters. This sounds awful:

Friends And Family Members Of QAnon Believers Are Going Through A "Surreal Goddamn Nightmare"Almost 200 people told us what it's been like to lose a loved one to the mass delusion. Here's what they said.www.buzzfeednews.com

Very sad indeed. Sadder still that Republicans who know better are promoting it. It’s really not unexpected for conspiracy beliefs to rise during a pandemic though it doesn’t make it any less tragic. Very sad article.