George Smith: Remember QAnon?

QAnon: It was/is a conspiracy theory creation of three ultra-conservative Trump supporters — a YouTube video creator and two moderators on “4chan,” an extreme internet message board. These three having-fun-wild-and-crazy-guys picked an obscure internet post by “Q” and used this anonymous doom-and-gloom messenger to create cryptic videos, start an social media community, form a business, and worked to legitimize the rambling theories based on the “Q” persona.

At the beginning of the I-know-something-you-don’t-know scam, “Q” claimed to be a high-ranking military officer, giving added credibility to the off-the-wall pronouncements, thus giving birth to the “QAnon” movement. Due to the sensational “news” promoted through “Q” messages, the theories espoused quickly made its way from just what-does-that-mean? messages to news stories on major outlets to Q-speak mentions at rallies by President Donald Trump.

To this day, there has been no mention of the identity of the original “Q” might be; was there really a “Q” and, if so, did the three nattering nabob of negativity (thank you former vice president Spiro Agnew for that literary gem) just borrow his/her thoughts to make money and use people’s brains and errant thoughts as a playground?

QAnon posts were taken as gospel by brainwashed or brain-addled right-wing extremists and included stories about a Washington, D.C. pizza shop being a pedophilia hangout, Trump fighting a “top-secret war” against Hillary Clinton’s criminal enterprise, as well it crediting believers for being vigil and combatting assassination attempts.

“Q” has even placed direct blame on devastating wildfires in the west on on opponents of Trump’s re-election campaign. No theory was too wild, no plot too outrageous to dump on the ignorant masses.

Why does anyone pay attention to the breadcrumbs of disinformation left by “Q”? The organizers created a game, of sorts, where clues, sometimes in the form of cryptic riddles, are scattered like wind-blown chaff into the social media environment. The basic premise seems to be fairly simple: To perpetuate the theory that Trump is the leader of a movement to roust out evil-doers in business and government, that he, and he alone, is the nation’s savior.

“Q” signs are evident at Trump rallies, a sign the movement is still very much alive, at least in the minds of conspiracy theorists. Trump has been accused/praised for supporting the movement. In 2020 at a Wisconsin Trump rally, news stories quoted a 63-year-old woman who believed the president had traced the shape of the letter “Q” with his fingers as a covert signal to followers of QAnon.

Diane Jacobson of Racine, Wisconsin excitedly asked, “Did you see the ‘Q’? He just did it!” Videos of the incident do show Trump making the “okay” sign, which some interpret as his personal acknowledgement of the movement.

There are countless provocateurs promoting QAnon information, and the bottom line on why “Q” is still popular in certain clichés is … money. In cyberspace, “clicks,” “views” or “subscriptions” can equate to an influx of money.

Prior to QAnon, several other sites — like FBIAnon — claimed top-secret information from a highly-placed “analyst and strategist” at that agency about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Another was HILAnon (High Level Insider), which claimed Princess Diana was murdered because she knew about 9/11 before it occurred and was trying to stop the attack on the World Trade Towers.

Okay, dumb, right? But who does not love a puzzle, a riddle, knowing something other folks don’t know?

What started out as a game and a money-maker for conspiracy theory entrepreneurs blossomed into a global network of podcasters, YouTube videographers, and watch-me ego-centeriats that hunt followers on social media platforms.

How far does the pronouncements of QAnon creators and curators reach? And, does anyone care? A simple video posted by a South African conspiracy theorist has been viewed more than 300,000 times.

It’s time to get real; The FBI issued a warning that fringe conspiracy groups like QAnon fall into the domestic terrorist category. Facebook and Twitter (now known as “X”) have taken punitive action, removing thousands of QAnon-linked accounts in the last couple of years.

The truism of this exercise in futility is that these QAnon activists flatly state America is run by a corps of pedophiles and Satan-worshippers who run a global child sex trafficking operation. Various sites purport Trump is the sole practitioner of finding the way to stop this movement.

“Q” is still posting on several unfettered sites, and as long as there is money to be made by posting blatant nonsense, the practice of deception-by-proxy will continue.

If you’re a “Q” follower and believer (as we say in the South)… bless your heart.