CONSPIRACY THEORIES: LEFT vs RIGHT

@thatoneguy

When did this happen? Only thing even remotely like that was the “pizzagate” bullshit which stemmed from John Podesta’s relationship with a gay restaurant owner who posted weird pics of children and pizza on social media. Some on the right immediately thought this was proof of a pedophile ring in DC, but I never heard about “blood rituals” etc.
I responded to this, above, but in addition to that ...

This “fringe” group has had much more impact than you’d think, because Trump has egged them on (in addition to what he said in the Ukraine call…)

 

A week after the FBI designated internet conspiracy theories like QAnon a potential domestic terror threat, the Trump campaign put out an ad featuring signs that supported the theory. The ad has since been deleted, but its impact on the conspiracy theory cannot be reversed
Trump campaign promotes QAnon conspiracy theory after FBI calls it a threat to domestic terror

 

They are literally dangerous.

QAnon jumped into the public eye when believers began appearing at Trump rallies with Q-related shirts and signs in an attempt to thrust their message into public discussion. They have been successful: The president has amplified Twitter accounts that promote the theory, invited prominent believers to the White House and the Trump reelection campaign recently released an ad in which QAnon signs are visible. In 2018, a man used an armored truck to block traffic at the Hoover Dam while holding a sign demanding action on a QAnon priority. And earlier this year, a man allegedly killed reputed mafia boss Frank Cali while attempting to perform what he apparently described as a QAnon-inspired citizens arrest.
I understand the temptation to dismiss QAnon. Here’s why we cant

 

 

 

I don’t know what Putin’s hold over T rump is. Maybe it is as simple as T rump admires how Putin wields power. But, whatever it is, there does seem to be something that keeps T rump doing things that are on Putin’s wish list.

Maybe T rump is just a “useful idiot” and Putin is a master at exploiting that.

The Trump-Russia conspiracy story that I think is false, and have always believed is false, is that Trump is an actual spy– that is, an agent.
Lol, who would believe that? The man is dumb as a box of bricks. You know why he helps Putin? Because Putin says nice things about him, unless Trump displeases him, then Putin says bad things about him, until Trump pleases him again. It's not rocket science. You can work the tool like a puppet. You just have to get up his ass a little to do it.
Lol, who would believe that? The man is dumb as a box of bricks. You know why he helps Putin? Because Putin says nice things about him, unless Trump displeases him, then Putin says bad things about him, until Trump pleases him again. It’s not rocket science. You can work the tool like a puppet. You just have to get up his ass a little to do it.
Trump does nothing to help Putin, unless not consistently bashing him equals “helping”.
etc. I responded to this, above, but in addition to that …

This “fringe” group has had much more impact than you’d think, because Trump has egged them on (in addition to what he said in the Ukraine call…)

 

A week after the FBI designated internet conspiracy theories like QAnon a potential domestic terror threat, the Trump campaign put out an ad featuring signs that supported the theory. The ad has since been deleted, but its impact on the conspiracy theory cannot be reversed
Trump campaign promotes QAnon conspiracy theory after FBI calls it a threat to domestic terror

 

They are literally dangerous.

QAnon jumped into the public eye when believers began appearing at Trump rallies with Q-related shirts and signs in an attempt to thrust their message into public discussion. They have been successful: The president has amplified Twitter accounts that promote the theory, invited prominent believers to the White House and the Trump reelection campaign recently released an ad in which QAnon signs are visible. In 2018, a man used an armored truck to block traffic at the Hoover Dam while holding a sign demanding action on a QAnon priority. And earlier this year, a man allegedly killed reputed mafia boss Frank Cali while attempting to perform what he apparently described as a QAnon-inspired citizens arrest.
I understand the temptation to dismiss QAnon. Here’s why we cant


QAnon fell apart fast didn’t it. It was never anything more than internet silliness like Alex Jones.

 

 

 

QAnon and Alex Jones perpetrated more than “just silliness” on the internet. And if they fell apart, I imagine they can reconstitute faster than ISIS after a T rump boondoggle. A wee bit of under the table support from the Alt Right, and they’re back in business.

Trump does nothing to help Putin, unless not consistently bashing him equals “helping”.
Day 1 in the White House he had his team working on lifting sanctions on Russia. On day 295 he openly sided with Putin over literally all of our intelligence agencies. On day 374 his administration announced that it would not be implementing legally enacted sanctions against Russia as mandated by the bipartisan bill passed by Congress. On day 698 his administration announced that they were lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs. On day 990 he started pulling troops out of Syria, allowing Russia to increase their influence in the region. He still

So I’m confused as to when you believe he stopped helping Putin.

@Widdershins

 

Lol, who would believe that? The man is dumb as a box of bricks.
I agree, but actually lots of people on "our" side have referred to the possibility that Trump is a "Russian agent" (as opposed to a Russian asset).
A number of commentators and critics have labeled President Trump an Agent of the Russian Federation. It is often not clear if they mean that he is unwittingly adopting Russian propaganda, knowingly doing the bidding of the Kremlin or is an out-and-out controlled secret asset of the Russian intelligence services. All are sordid. Some are merely repulsive while others are illegal and even treasonous (in the common though not legal understanding of that term). Even former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe answered, “I think it’s possible” when asked if President Trump might be an asset of Russian intelligence
https://www.justsecurity.org/63660/is-trump-a-russian-agent-explaining-terms-of-art-and-examining-the-facts/

 

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@thatoneguy

QAnon fell apart fast didn’t it. It was never anything more than internet silliness like Alex Jones
When did QAnon fall apart? I'm pretty sure 2 of those links are from this month. This isn't past tense, it's present tense.

Yeah, I had never really made the connection to conspiracy theory before, but you are right. There are a TON of “evil genius” conspiracies, even in the media. They often attribute some sort of plan to his actions, like committing crimes right out in the open for all to see so he can claim, “If it was illegal why would I do it in the open?” The man works from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and poop tweets at 3 AM. He is constantly making important decisions on a whim. Most of his staff is in an “acting” position because he’s too lazy to go through the process (which, by the way, totally subverts Senate authority to confirm nominations. Republicans would have had a HUGE problem with that if Obama had done it instead of bothering to get people confirmed). It has been said openly that he hates to plan and doesn’t want information. There is no “evil genius” behind the things that he does. Republicans have always wanted a business man as president and now they have one. And he thinks he’s running a business instead of a country. I’m just waiting for the day when he attempts to file bankruptcy on the country and walk away with the profits.

@widdershins

I recall clearly during his campaign, when he suggested the US save money by not paying debts to other countries…

Which would be a “strategic bankruptcy”…

Which would trigger a worldwide market crash & a Depression

 

One guy said: Trump does nothing to help Putin, unless not consistently bashing him equals “helping”.

TimB: Really? You don’t want to rethink that assertion? Trump just helped Putin establish a solid foothold in the Middle East, giving over control of Syria to Putin, among others.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-applauds-russia-victory-syria-handing-platter-2019-10

And https://themoscowproject.org/reports/putins-payout-10-ways-trump-has-supported-putins-foreign-policy-agenda/

And https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/09/trump-response-ukraine-russia-zelensky-putin/

What world are you living in to declare that T rump does nothing to help Putin? T rump is Making Russia Great Again.

 

 

I’m glad I’m not the only one who did a double take on that stupid statement.

TimB: Really? You don’t want to rethink that assertion? Trump just helped Putin establish a solid foothold in the Middle East, giving over control of Syria to Putin, among others.

And https://themoscowproject.org/reports/putins-payout-10-ways-trump-has-supported-putins-foreign-policy-agenda/

And How Trump’s Response to the Ukraine Scandal Helped Russia – Mother Jones

What world are you living in to declare that T rump does nothing to help Putin? T rump is Making Russia Great Again.


Russia has had a military presence in Syria for decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_naval_facility_in_Tartus

Not to mention the two nations have been allies for a long time, so “establishing a strong foothold in the region” is a specious claim at best.

 

Sorry I responded to oneguy at all. A little slight of hand, redefining the word “region” and suddenly, he sounds like he has made a point.

So impulsively giving over all of that northern territory of Syria, to the Turks to divide up with Assad and Putin and betraying (and thus losing forever) one of our few reliable and competent allies in the Mid East (the Kurds), and thereby showing that the US is not to be trusted by enemies or allies. None of that is to Putin’s advantage?

The Turks seem to be quite cozy now with the Russkies, too. The Turk leader, Jerdogan, or whatever his name is, made Trump his whiny little bitch, and T rump gave him a proxy unconditional surrendering up of the Kurds. Then T rump gushed, afterwards in his praise of the Turk. Now T rump has lifted all sanctions on Turkey.

Putin doesn’t get a hardon when he can be involved in the US being undermined by a fellow NATO member?

Iran now will have direct access to strike at Israel that it did not have previously. Idk if Putin cares about that, but since it endangers our other ally in the region, I would guess that he likes it.

You do have to love the old, “Nothing has changed” argument.

There was no problem with the lead in the drinking water in Flint. We ALL have lead in our bodies. It wasn’t bad that Hitler killed a bunch of people. EVERYBODY dies. Going to the moon wasn’t any big accomplishment. We’ve been looking at it for millennia already from here. It isn’t bad that CO2 levels are rising. They rise and fall over the course of centuries and millennia all the time. It isn’t bad that the ice caps are melting. They weren’t always there. Russia doesn’t get more power by moving more troops into more of Syria. They’ve always had some troops somewhere in Syria. Nothing has changed.

I would love to know what’s going on in the heads of these people to try to just deliver a ridiculous premise in a way that sounds vaguely reasonable. What, exactly, do they hope to gain by this? They obviously must know that it’s still a ridiculous premise and they’re not going to convince us otherwise. So why say it? What to they get out of coming here, saying something stupid and convincing nobody with it? I have to know!

Maybe they are just delivering probes to see which inane, deceptive talking points they can pass off or get away with. They don’t need to convince everyone, but if they can pick up a new believer, here and there… then the liars can continue to rule.

Tim, you bum me the hell out. You always go to the darkest, scariest, most depressing place that I had never considered and then you take me with you.

Our fears are often road signs to where we need to go. Glad to have your company.