Patterico's Pontifications

8/19/2020

Trump Refuses to Condemn Q’anon: Hey, As Long As They Like Me, Right???

Filed under: General — Dana @ 6:37 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Because I’m disinclined to give any politicians the benefit of the doubt these days – especially those with a track record of proving themselves not deserving of such grace – I believe that Trump is utterly disingenous in the video below, and is, in fact, fully familiar with Q’anon, their nutty conspiracy theories, bigotry, and massive support for him. Much more so than he lets on in the video below:

I was laboring to transcribe Trump’s comments, only to discover that someone else had already done the heavy lifting:

Untitled

Here is a brief overview of Q’anon:

QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory and loosely organized network centered around the belief that the U.S. is controlled by a cabal of child sex trafficking, Democratic elites hell-bent on bringing down President Trump.

Followers believe these elites, led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, have gone so far as to manufacture the coronavirus to bring Trump down. They heed cryptic online dispatches of someone named Q who’s anonymous — hence QAnon — who claims the highest government security clearance.

QAnon adherence includes people young and old of many backgrounds who try to push their “deep state” narrative into the mainstream. They show up at Trump rallies in Q merchandise, shirts and hats. President Trump has retweeted Q-supporting accounts many times — including at least 90 times since the pandemic began, says Alex Kaplan of Media Matters.

It is simply appalling that the President of the United States is unwilling to wholly condemn this group. Not for a second do I believe that he doesn’t know what Q’anon is about. But of course, he won’t condemn it, or the people involved because that would not be in *his* best interest. How much support might he lose if he were to publicly disavow them? Better to be a weasel when confronted with questions about the group. It’s incredible that even after he is given a specific (and preposterous) example of their nuttery, he still refused to disavow them, and instead, played coy. This is shameful behavior by the President and should be immediately condemned by politicians on both sides of the aisle. But the Republicans should lead the charge in pushing back against the President, otherwise, we might as well assume that this is indeed what today’s GOP is all about, and this is the new level to which the party has sunk. However, none of this should really be surprising. After all, it was just a week ago when he offered his congratulations to Marjorie Taylor Green for winning the nomination in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Green is known for embrace of Q’anon conspiracy theories, and support of racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views:

Via Jake Tapper, comes this troubling reminder:

The FBI for the first time has identified fringe conspiracy theories as a domestic terrorist threat…

The FBI intelligence bulletin from the bureau’s Phoenix field office, dated May 30, 2019, describes “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists,” as a growing threat, and notes that it is the first such report to do so. It lists a number of arrests, including some that haven’t been publicized, related to violent incidents motivated by fringe beliefs.

The document specifically mentions QAnon, a shadowy network that believes in a deep state conspiracy against President Trump, and Pizzagate, the theory that a pedophile ring including Clinton associates was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant (which didn’t actually have a basement).

“The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts,” the document states. It also goes on to say the FBI believes conspiracy theory-driven extremists are likely to increase during the 2020 presidential election cycle.

I want to also note that, if you ever had doubts about Trump’s massive ego, vanity, and narcissism, this should remove them all. Because who else but a true narcissist like Trump would be flattered by the suggestion that a group of established crazy and dangerous fringe-conspiracists believes that he is here to save the world from evil? The reporter’s question was a straight-shot appeal to his vanity, so how could he possibly condemn them? They love him! They need him! They see him as the savior! How could someone like Trump resist such an appeal, and say no to that? And most importantly, why on earth would he consider condemning an organization that loves him that much? After all, this is his lifeblood that we’re talking about.

–Dana

131 Responses to “Trump Refuses to Condemn Q’anon: Hey, As Long As They Like Me, Right???”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (292df6)

  2. I have to agree that Mr. President Donald is in a fact a “stable”-genius. Nobody can pile as much horse manure, and as high, as he can.

    nk (1d9030)

  3. He does know how to grab attention- don’t he. Biden could grab some headlines, too– the day he leaves Delaware.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  4. Trump only cares about Trump. He does and says things that will help Trump. Nothing else.

    Time123 (9f42ee)

  5. if these qanons like mr president donald who totally belongs on mount rushmore then they must be some very fine people

    very fine people indeed

    Dave (1bb933)

  6. O.M.G. older than dirt: Hillary has been shooting her mouth off since her essay in a June, 1969 issue of Life Magazine, which featured a story on the Apollo 10 moon mission. Apollo 10 is log forgotten and two of the three young men who flew it are log dead.

    One look at the 2020 HRC and you can see why Bubba chased skirts.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  7. ^log = long

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  8. Tapper needs no reminder to be thought troubling.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  9. The poor deluded people don’t know that the real Donald Trump was kidnapped by Slovenian pedophiles and replaced with a reptilian in a plasti-skin suit, Mr. Dave.

    nk (1d9030)

  10. Memo to Nancy Pelosi: moisturizer.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  11. thats a real game changer mr nk

    youd think people with that kind of technology could have done a better job on skin tone and hair though

    Dave (1bb933)

  12. Hey… it’s Ren and Stimpy!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  13. On the one hand, a Trump win would make the Democrats rwconsider their far Left. On the other hand, a Biden landslide would discredit Trump and Trumpism.

    Hard to choose.

    Of course, wishful thinking and stubborn entrenchment might make to opposite true. A Trump loss would lead to his partisans blaming everyone but themselves and a Biden loss would have AOC claiming the need a “real Democrat” next time.

    Either way, I think there is increasing need for a centrist party.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  14. Of course a new centrist party would have the QAnons claiming they were right all along.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  15. Nobody can pile as much horse manure, and as high, as he can.

    And apparently no pony.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  16. What was it called when hopkinson tried to murder the entire freedom caucus, and durbin and duckworth didnt stop him

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  17. the day he leaves Delaware.

    What makes you think he’s in Delaware? He’s probably at the Mayo Clinic getting a refurb.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  18. youd think people with that kind of technology could have done a better job on skin tone and hair though

    Reptilians come from a binary blue and red star system, Mr. Dave, and their eyes have not evolved to see colors the way we do, and they themselves have scales not hair.

    nk (1d9030)

  19. @17. This is possible– and we have no idea what tubes are being run up his pants legs for those 10 minute videos or if he can answer more than 4 questions a day– the one beyond what do you want for breakfast, lunch and dinner being the most important.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  20. Trump also congratulated Laura Loomer, conspiracy theorist nutcase.
    Trump and Greene and Loomer aren’t the problem. The GOPers who gave them pluralities in the primaries are the problem. They’re driving this party right into the ground.

    Paul Montagu (e41f4f)

  21. poor paul, do you need a tissue?

    mg (8cbc69)

  22. We know Obama has gone grey– but when did he go from black to ‘caramel’?

    Must be the Philadelphia lighting.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  23. Seriously, is QAnon kookier, more influential, or more dangerous than Prosperity Gospel cf. Paula White, Trump’s religious window-dressing?

    nk (1d9030)

  24. Sorry, Barack- I do not believe Plagiarist JoeyBee and Kamala ‘care about every single American.’

    Nope.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  25. Sorry, Barry– ‘democracy’ is wholly transactional.

    Your own DNC pitches for donations like pledge breaks for PBS.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  26. Trump and Greene and Loomer aren’t the problem. The GOPers who gave them pluralities in the primaries are the problem. They’re driving this party right into the ground.

    Yes, but there are how many senators and representatives who can push back – publicly – on this nonsense because they know it’s the right thing to do but won’t do it because their self-ambition takes precedence. What I want to know is, when Trump is out of office, do these spineless souls just think everyone will forget that they put self-interest first?

    Dana (292df6)

  27. Paula White is just one person worshipping his alter. Q’anon are untold thousands. There you go.

    Dana (292df6)

  28. Memo to Obama: Tooooooooooo long.

    Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  29. Welllll, looks like for tonight’s TeeVee, Klieg-Light-Kamala is ‘black.’ Tomorrow when the cameras are off she’ll be South Asian/Indian.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  30. As long as you’re having fun, DCSCA. Me, I haven’t watched or listened one single second. I just Google “coronavirus cases” every morning and that’s all I need, to know that I’m voting for Biden.

    nk (1d9030)

  31. well in that case i guess they did the best they could

    i bet the reptilians probably have very tiny vestigial hands too

    Dave (1bb933)

  32. What’s with that ‘nasal tone,’ Kammy?

    Do you have a cold or did you get tested for coke before going on air? Oh wait, that’s Joe’s line!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  33. I just Google “coronavirus cases” every morning and that’s all I need, to know that I’m voting for Biden.

    You mea yu’re voting against Trump.I gargle w/Lavoris and have Rice Krispies myself– and voting for The White Team.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  34. All kidding aside, Kamala is a surprisingly dull speaker– radio hash and static carry better.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  35. Well, no, otherwise I’d be voting for Kanye West who sings this song about all the women in Trump’s life.

    nk (1d9030)

  36. What I want to know is, when Trump is out of office, do these spineless souls just think everyone will forget that they put self-interest first?

    Trump’s Congressional GOP enablers will be judged by history. And his cult of MAGA bootlickers who in order to own the libs pretend with a straight face that Trump isn’t an abomination to every principle the founders stood for, not to mention to simple human decency, will be judged by their children and grandchildren, as today’s descendants of slave owners judge their ancestors.

    lurker (d8c5bc)

  37. Well, no, otherwise I’d be voting for Kanye West who sings this song about all the women in Trump’s life.

    They still call it the White House
    But that’s a temporary condition too
    Can you dig it, C.C.?

    Dave (1bb933)

  38. We know Obama has gone grey– but when did he go from black to ‘caramel’?

    Must be the Philadelphia lighting.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 8/19/2020 @ 7:32 pm

    This comment was brought to you by the color orange.

    🍊

    Dustin (4237e0)

  39. @38. This comment was brought to you by Harry Belafonte.

    FIFY.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  40. What I want to know is, when Trump is out of office, do these spineless souls just think everyone will forget that they put self-interest first?

    Yes. Pols have no shame.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  41. Via Jake Tapper, comes this troubling reminder: ‘The Bidens are normal.’

    No. They’re not. Plagiarism is not normal, Jake –especially to a good journalist. Respect for Tapper is gone.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  42. QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory and loosely organized network centered around the belief that the U.S. is controlled by a cabal of child sex trafficking, Democratic elites hell-bent on bringing down President Trump.

    Why would they want to do that. If Democrat elites wanted to destroy the GOP, what they would do would be to saddle the GOP with Donald Trump. Bill Clinton told Trump to run. Bill must spend several minutes each morning laughing his head off.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  43. What I want to know is, when Trump is out of office, do these spineless souls just think everyone will forget that they put self-interest first?

    No, they behaved like party politicians. To a working politician there is no sin greater than pulling down the party.

    “Thou shalt speak no ill of another Republican”. — Ronald Reagan

    In a space of 16 years, the GOP supported Goldwater, Nixon twice and Reagan. And Nixon, the outlier, they supported to a fault despite his support for massive bureaucracies and wage-and-price controls. And, after he fell, they paid for supporting him at the hands of people who LIKED massive bureaucracies and wage-and-price controls.

    But only because he fell.

    On the other side, they supported Bill Clinton, the perjuring sex predator. How many of them do you suppose “paid” for their support? Oh, wait, Bill is front and center again this year. BUt then he didn’t fall.

    You do not get ahead in a company by publicly attacking the CEO, not matter how terrible he is. You do not get ahead in a bureaucracy by publicly attacking the department head. Only if you want to find another career do you do these things. Why does anyone expect a party politician to operate by different rules. The same Senators who voted for Nixon’s EPA and Clean Water Act, voted for Reagan’s tax cuts and arms buildup.

    Anyone who doesn’t understand this doesn’t know crap about politics.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  44. I wonder how long DCSCA can go without using the words “plagiarism” or “Reaganomics”

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  45. “Thou shalt speak no ill of another Republican”. — Ronald Reagan

    ROFLMAOPIP

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  46. Reagan did not run negative campaigns in the primaries.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  47. I am late to the party regarding QAnon. However, I did read this article from The Atlantic today.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/

    It’s long but good. I love this part about conspiracy theorists:

    It’s a particular form of mind-wiring. And it’s generally characterized by acceptance of the following propositions: Our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places. Although we ostensibly live in a democracy, a small group of people run everything, but we don’t know who they are. When big events occur—pandemics, recessions, wars, terrorist attacks—it is because that secretive group is working against the rest of us.

    QAnon is clear evidence that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

    I used to think the internet was one of the greatest inventions ever. Now I am reconsidering.

    norcal (a5428a)

  48. Because I’m disinclined to give any politicians the benefit of the doubt these days – especially those with a track record of proving themselves not deserving of such grace – I believe that Trump is utterly disingenous in the video below, and is, in fact, fully familiar with Q’anon, their nutty conspiracy theories, bigotry, and massive support for him. Much more so than he lets on in the video below:

    Umm, Dana… how do you reconcile the above statement with the following:

    P.S. Commenter norcal questioned Biden saying that masks should be worn when “outside,” and whether he really meant it as a general “outdoors,” as if every time a person goes outdoors, they should wear a mask? He further pointed out that “in Nevada most people are not wearing a mask outside. Nevada is a swing state. If Biden pushes this, it will hurt him here”.

    I wondered, in response, given that it’s Biden we are talking about, did he clumsily use outdoors as in out of one’s home and in public places where one is in close contact with others? I am not usually generous toward these yahoos, but he tends to play fast and loose with descriptions and seems constitutionally incapable of being specific.

    and

    If I cut Biden slack for not meaning “outdoors” in general, but outside of one’s home and in a place where they are going to be in close contact with others, then I don’t think his statement is that ridiculous. He is going after his opponent’s weak spot (well, one of them), and it will resonate with people, both Democrats and I suspect even frustrated Republicans who have given up on Trump taking the lead in the pandemic.

    I also agree that people just want “normal”. Boringly normal. And that’s the other reason Biden’s mask mandate ploy will be accepted by a lot of people: because it’s normal. This is the other disadvantage Trump is in: People are so desperate for normal, that even questionable proposals or silly ones coming from Biden will be seen reasonable because the person proposing them is way more normal than Trump. I’m betting that this will be the standard of comparison on most things going forward.

    Dana (292df6) — 8/13/2020 @ 6:10 pm

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  49. Has this been mentioned before on patterico.com? Here is a link to Michael Flynn putting a QAnon twist on an oath:

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/michael-flynn-takes-qanon-oath-in-fourth-of-july-video-1.5012437

    It’s creepy to add a QAnon slogan to the end of the oath for taking federal office. Furthermore, I don’t know if any of the people in the video are actually taking a Federal office.

    norcal (a5428a)

  50. NJRob,

    I don’t see the need for comments to be squared.

    With that, it appears that Trump quite possibly had prior knowledge of Q’anon, in spite of his claims tonight. To what degree, it’s not clear:

    President Trump met with one of the leading promoters of the “QAnon” conspiracy theory in the Oval Office on Thursday.

    The Daily Beast first reported on Friday that YouTube conspiracy theorist Lionel Lebron was at the White House for an event and that during his visit he posed for photos with Trump in the Oval Office.

    “There simply are no words to explicate this profound honor,” Lebron wrote on Instagram while sharing a photo of him and Trump.

    Lebron is a leading promoter of a fringe far-right conspiracy theory that, among other things, claims some Democratic lawmakers are part of a globalist pedophile cult.

    One “QAnon” theory that has been popularized by the president is the claim that the “criminal deep state” is operating behind the scenes of the government.

    ….

    Lebron said he received a “special guided tour of the White House” before getting the opportunity to take pictures with Trump, according to the Daily Beast.

    The news outlet noted that Lebron said in a video posted on YouTube that he did not speak with the president about the conspiracy theory.

    “I think we all know he knows about it,” Lebron said in the video.

    The White House and Lebron didn’t respond to request for comment for the Beast’s report.

    Dana (292df6)

  51. Boy, that QAnon. Next people will tell me that the national media is cheerleading for the Democrat Party.

    WaPo: Harris accepts historic VP nomination
    LAT: Kamala Harris accepts vice presidential nomination — and a place in history
    NY: It’s Harris’s Moment. The Expectations Are Historic.
    CNN: Harris makes history with vice presidential nomination.
    MS-NBC: Harris makes history, accepts vice presidential nomination in rousing speech
    Fox News: Chris Wallace pans Harris speech as ‘a lot of Democratic boilerplate’ that followed single ‘magic moment’

    Guess which one will be called “partisan”

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  52. Uh-oh, it looks like the reptilian satanists have gotten to LeBron, too:

    Lakers’ LeBron James Says He Will Campaign for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

    Dave (1bb933)

  53. @52 Quelle surprise.

    norcal (a5428a)

  54. @51 Technically it was historic. First time a black woman or a S. Asian of either gender has been on a major party ticket. “rousing” is a bit biased, but it’s MSNBC, what do you expect (also it’s inaccurate, it was a perfectly OK speech, but it wasn’t rousing).

    Nic (896fdf)

  55. well lebron has certainly been off his game lately mr dave and being a reptilian playing in a plasti skin suit would explain a lot

    its kind of obvious to anyone willing to do the analysis

    now that mr donald has lost his starting forward i guess harvardtrash ted will have to come in off the bench for team failmerica

    Dave (1bb933)

  56. *color blind reptilian

    Dave (1bb933)

  57. America’s electorate is 75% white. If you caught any of the messaging from the DNC, it totally alienated the ol’ Reagan Democrats- the third shift, blue collar ‘whiteys’ in Iowa or the Rustbelt or out on the dairy farms of Wisconsin, the farmlands between Pgh., and Philly and so on. The whole production might as well have been sponsored by Afro-Sheen. Scranton Joe, Wilmington Joe, Amtrak Joe, or Dead Beau ain’t gonna draw those Reagan Dems back from Trump with what they’ve pitched.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  58. Wallace was right. Chris— not George.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  59. @57 How do you explain Obama getting elected in the face of 75% white America?

    norcal (a5428a)

  60. @59. Ask Joe Biden– he summed it up PDQ in his infamous racist quote about Obama. Look it up.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  61. @59. It’s like asking the difference between Sidney Poitier and… Al Sharpton.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  62. @54. A triple play is a rarity, too- ‘historic’- but useless if you still end up losing the game.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. There’s a “Trump is Putin’s stooge” conspiracy theory that has backers right here in River City.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  64. Technically it was historic.

    Technically tomorrow is “historic.” And the next day and the day after that.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  65. @63 Yes. There are conspiracy theories on both sides.

    norcal (a5428a)

  66. I wouldn’t call Trump Putin’s stooge, but there’s more than ample evidence he panders to him.

    lurker (d8c5bc)

  67. mcConnell/mittens/sturdy oak branch/asap

    mg (8cbc69)

  68. There’s a “Trump is Putin’s stooge” conspiracy theory that has backers right here in River City.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 8/20/2020 @ 12:17 am

    Calling him Putin’s Puppet is over stating the case. But WOW is the senate report damning.

    Trump knew Russia was behind the leaks and didn’t care.
    Trump was negotiating a deal with Russia while running for president.
    Russia was trying to hurt Clinton, Damage our democracy, and help trump.

    The Committee found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian effort to hack computer networks and accounts affiliated with the Democratic Party and leak information damaging to Hillary Clinton and her campaign for president. Moscow’s intent was to harm the Clinton Campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump Campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the
    U.S. democratic process.

    The Trump Campaign publicly undermined the attribution of the hack-and-leak campaign to Russia and was indifferent to whether it and WikiLeaks were furthering a Russian election interference effort.

    During the 2016 U.S. presidential election cycle, Donald °Trump and the Trump
    Organization pursued a business deal in Russia
    .

    Michael Cohen, then an executive vice president at the Trump Organization and personal attorney to Trump, primarily handled and advanced these efforts

    Cohen kept Trump updated on the progress of the deal. While these negotiations
    were ongoing, Trump made positive public comments about Putin in connection with his
    presidential campaign. Cohen and Sater sought to leverage Trump’s comments, and subsequent
    comments about Trump by Putin, to advance the deal.

    Cohen made contact in January 2016 with a Russian Presidential Administration aide to Dmitri Peskov, a senior Kremlin official and key advisor to Putin. Cohen discussed the project in detail and reported to Trump that he had done so. Cohen and Sater continued negotiations through the spring of 2016.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  69. 52, Akron’s own LeBron James probably knows a few people with gigs at corporate or in the vaunted 3rd shift at a certain tire company.

    urbanleftbehind (534fa5)

  70. Here’s hoping this link works, Dana. It is a report from NBC News, so maybe it should be taken with a grain of salt.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/how-three-conspiracy-theorists-took-q-sparked-qanon-n900531

    The report tracks closely with an article I read the other day on The Daily Beast, and probably served as the source for the article.

    Basically, the mysterious Q began posting cryptic messages in the form of riddles on 4Chan. The three conspiracy-theorists, who are named in the report, took it upon themselves to decode Q’s messages, coordinated together and collaborated to form a business model, though which they take donations for their followers, and expanded their messaging network from 4Chan to 8Chan, Reddit, YouTube, and various other conspiracy sites as they sprung up across the dark web. Their business plan was simple. They organized their network like a video game, leaving clues for their followers and urging them to conduct their own research, then report back to the messaging boards. Thus, QAnon was born and spread rapidly throughout the Internet on fringe-conspiracy sites.

    Einstein once famously said, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. I’m not so sure about the universe.” Truer words have seldom been spoken.

    But to your point, of course Trump is not going to disavow QAnon. Not because the whacko conspiracy kooks that embrace Q love him or worship him as the Savior of the World, but because he knows, deep down inside, he’s going to need all the votes he can get come November. More, because should he lose, he trusts QAnon will embrace whatever wild excuses and accusations he makes of fraud (mail-in and otherwise), a rigged election, a deep state cabal of traitors and conspiracists, evil Democrats, weak-kneed Republicans, betrayers, backstabbers, corrupt officials, what have you, and use their messaging boards to sow chaos, dissension and discord in the aftermath. It will not be pretty. Trump is himself a self-serving conspiracy theorist, after all, with the biggest, most public stage of any of them. Also, because I think, to a certain extent, he’s afraid of QAnon. Who knows what kind of insane rage they would unleash, if he were to renounce them? The backlash terrifies him.

    Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1)

  71. Epstein wexner apollo group nxim which includes gillebrand two leading families in mexico, nassar and fitz

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  72. Thats just one of several skeins how about comey mueller and co, providing protection for major money launderers like hsbc and deutsch bank.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  73. Our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places. Although we ostensibly live in a democracy, a small group of people run everything, but we don’t know who they are. When big events occur—pandemics, recessions, wars, terrorist attacks—it is because that secretive group is working against the rest of us.

    I believe most of that:
    Our lives are controlled by plots hatched in secret places.
    Yes, yes they are.
    Although we ostensibly live in a democracy,
    A democracy which needs a Civil Wall that killed 500,000 Americans to keep it together is not a democracy.
    a small group of people run everything,
    It’s actually a pretty sizable group.
    but we don’t know who they are.
    Yes, we do, just not the position of the individuals in the top of the hieararchy. They include the Fortune 500, the military, and the civil service.
    When big events occur—pandemics, recessions, wars, terrorist attacks—it is because that secretive group is working against the rest of us.
    Sometimes, maybe, but mostly because they cannot control everything.

    nk (1d9030)

  74. Civil *War*

    nk (1d9030)

  75. You forgot about aspida, so quickly. P2 , the actions against harold wilson

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  76. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis killed the American experiment and Theodore Roosevelt burned down the laboratory when he created the federal civil service. Woodrow Wilson and FDR plowed over the ruins and salted the earth.

    nk (1d9030)

  77. Why couldn’t she have thought of this, say, 2 weeks ago…
    http://abc7chicago.com/flint-michigan-water-crisis/6379585/

    urbanleftbehind (534fa5)

  78. Honestly, it is just as likely as not that both QAnon and Antifa are creations of the Inner Party. To 1) provide a vent for the dissidents and 2) identify, and vaporize or co-opt, the ones who show leadership and organizational skills and might possibly turn out to be truly dangerous.

    nk (1d9030)

  79. Call me crazy, but I’d prefer a president who’s anti-QAnon and pro-Goodyear.

    lurker (d8c5bc)

  80. Well, this is heartening.

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands

    Bannon and his corrupt cohorts of the We Build the Wall movement have been indicted by the SDNY for defrauding investors.

    Sounds like fire for a QAnon rampage. And what does conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Trump have to say about this?

    Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1)

  81. @69 Time123 every “commission” like these are mostly worthless because it’s a political document that both parties get a say…and even then there’s a lot of nuance here. It’s all done to “keep the peace” between the parties by allowing each side to get their digs in, despite the facts on the ground.

    Here we have a report with a last section that actually admits Steele’s dossier was completely fabricated, even as the first 3/4 of report is spent looking into those very claims.

    It doesn’t establish any crime, just like SCO Mueller couldn’t, but throws out the usual Democrat conspiracy theories in order to smears Trump campaign officials by innuendo.

    We’d be better served to wait till Durham completes his investigation… Clinesmith plead guilty to corrupting the evidence used by the Crossfire Hurricane team to fraudulently secure a FISA warrent is going to cast a shadow over the players here.

    whembly (c30c83)

  82. In the Trump era, evil hides in plain sight. Perhaps that is the most effective disguise of all — the evil that wears its racist villainy with pride. Even the lies don’t even bother seeming true.

    Can you tell I am tired of this President and his sheer endlessness? He’s working on his fifth term right now, right?

    Appalled (1a17de)

  83. @81

    Well, this is heartening.

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands

    Bannon and his corrupt cohorts of the We Build the Wall movement have been indicted by the SDNY for defrauding investors.

    Sounds like fire for a QAnon rampage. And what does conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Trump have to say about this?

    Gawain’s Ghost (b25cd1) — 8/20/2020 @ 7:10 am

    Not surprised… Bannon was in too deep with Kolfage.

    People tried to warn him, but he didn’t listen.

    Even bloody Kris Kobach left that group shortly after joining!

    whembly (c30c83)

  84. For music fans, this fellow’s voice hit lowest notes on record. The musicians among us may’ve heard of the legendary “Brown Note”… a note so low it will cause the listener to soil themselves…

    https://youtu.be/xtAltg0ZIrY

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  85. @69 Time123 every “commission” like these are mostly worthless because it’s a political document that both parties get a say…and even then there’s a lot of nuance here. It’s all done to “keep the peace” between the parties by allowing each side to get their digs in, despite the facts on the ground.

    They don’t allege that laws were broken by the trump campaign, they do make very clear their findings about some of the things that have been in dispute.

    Russia Hacked the DNC to help Trump & Hurt Hillary.
    Trump was trying to work a business deal with Russia while running for president.
    The Trump campaign (through Roger Stone) was coordinating with WikiLeaks.
    There were legitimate CI concerns with the transition team.

    You’re free to accept it partly or entirely as you see fit. But it was produced by a republican lead committee with subpoena power. I think it’s far more complete and reliable than the news articles from RCP/The Atlantic/WaPo/The Federalist/whoever.

    Nothing I’ve seen counters the IG report or the SC report. If Durham produces new / different information I’ll be happy to take a look when it’s available.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  86. Trump knew Russia was behind the leaks and didn’t care.
    Trump was negotiating a deal with Russia while running for president.
    Russia was trying to hurt Clinton, Damage our democracy, and help trump.

    And, this election, China (and US companies utterly dependent upon China) are pulling out all the stops to defeat Trump. But not one peep about that from Biden and the chance that this will be investigated is small.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  87. At the DNC, they’ve been pushing a claim that Trump is conspiring to prevent mail-in votes from being counted.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  88. The real issues in this election:

    Four more years of Trump’s self-involved incompetence
    vs
    Four years of Democrat smug self-righteous condescention

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  89. At the DNC, they’ve been pushing a claim that Trump is conspiring to prevent mail-in votes from being counted.

    You mean the plan that Trump himself announced?

    Dave (1bb933)

  90. And, this election, China (and US companies utterly dependent upon China) are pulling out all the stops to defeat Trump. But not one peep about that from Biden and the chance that this will be investigated is small.

    1). What’s China been doing? Either directly or through intermediates?
    2). Why hasn’t the DOJ taken action? If China is interfering our current administration should do something about it. Obama’s weak response is part of how we have this cluster*&)*$ with Russian interference.
    3). You’re sort of trying to ‘whatabout’ on the Russian interference.

    Time123 (7cca75)

  91. poor paul, do you need a tissue?

    Did you vote for Trump in the 2016 primaries, mg?

    Paul Montagu (77b4c1)

  92. First, Trump didn’t raise the Qanon thing. A journalist sprung it on him, in much the same way George Stephanopolis sprung “restricting birth control” on Mitt Rommney. Bring up a minor issue, wait for a gaffe, and elevate to the spotlight.

    Next, the media treatment (exposure, debunking, discrediting) of Qanon is in much the same way they treat Black Lives Matter, True the Vote, the Tea Party Movement, etc. There are real concerns that spawn growing movements. The growth attracts and includes fraudsters. And the media chooses to quote or highlight the fraudsters to discredit the whole movement. I could go to examples on BLM in particular but let’s look at Qanon and the “Deep State”.

    When Thatcher was Prime Minister, the BBC ran a TV comedy about the elected government versus the permanent civil service — “Yes, Minister”. The WHOLE POINT of the humor was the truthful emphasis of conflict between political policy as promised by elected officials responsive (pandering) to voters, and the resistance by permanent secretaries, under secretaries, deputy under secretaries — all of whom acted in their OWN interest not the governments’ or the voters’. The permanent bureaucracy is EXACTLY the same as tht “Deep State”, and the hope that a leaker — from BBC-TV, the Bernard Woolsey character — might be assisting the minister or prime minister in accomplishing needed tasks is a really inspiring idea.

    The media now sneers at the idea that the permanent bureaucracy might be self-serving; or that political leaders (of the GOP) might have policy goals worth pursuing. So they sneer at the whole idea of a leaker.

    I’m sure there are fakes and frauds in the Qanon movement. But heaven knows every episode of the 1980s comedy carried a nugget of truth, and I suspect every “leak” or “drop” of the Q stuff is similarly intended as a plausible fiction rooted in repeated experience.

    pouncer (b0e023)

  93. QAnon hurts Trump. The upshot of it all is that Trump will defeat the evil conspirators without their help, very soon. Always very soon.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  94. 91. Time123 (7cca75) — 8/20/2020 @ 9:13 am

    1). What’s China been doing? Either directly or through intermediates?

    China actually is mostly interfering in down ballot races.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  95. @95-
    How so, and what races in particular?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  96. nk (1d9030) — 8/20/2020 @ 6:55 am

    Honestly, it is just as likely as not that both QAnon and Antifa are creations of the Inner Party. To 1) provide a vent for the dissidents and 2) identify, and vaporize or co-opt, the ones who show leadership and organizational skills and might possibly turn out to be truly dangerous.

    QAnon feels to me like it’s trying to defeat Trump. Everything they do hrts Trump – it doesn;t mobilize Trumpists – it tells them Trump there are dissidents in the Deep State and Trump will defeat the the Deep State bad actors soon, aided by members of the Deep State are are on his side. So no need to persuade other people to vote for Trump. Good things are happening without their help. That’s the message. (and, as a bonus, it makes anyone who listens to that look like an idiot so they can’t persuade anyone.)

    Antifa is probably getting paid by someone – maybe by some gangs. Some people involved may have hoes of getting government money.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  97. like the ten million behind fusion gps, or the 50 million dollar fund with dan jones, recycling fusion stories, which this place has fallen hook line and sinker every single time,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  98. USPS Headquarters Tells Managers Not to Reconnect Mail Sorting Machines, Emails Show
    Shortly after USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a public statement saying he wanted to “avoid even the appearance” that any of his policies would slow down election mail, USPS instructed all maintenance managers around the country not to reconnect or reinstall any mail sorting machines they had already disconnected, according to emails obtained by Motherboard.

    “Please message out to your respective Maintenance Managers tonight. They are not to reconnect / reinstall machines that have previously been disconnected without approval from HQ Maintenance, no matter what direction they are getting from their plant manager,” wrote Kevin Couch, Director of Maintenance Operations. “Please have them flow that request through you then on to me for a direction.” A subsequent email sent to individual maintenance managers across various regions forwarded that request along with a single sentence: “We are not to reconnect any machines that have previously been disconnected.”

    The emails confirm what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi relayed from her conversation with DeJoy yesterday, that the USPS’s stated “suspension” of these new policies does not mean reversing them……
    …….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  99. Meanwhile netflix is pushing child pornography,

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  100. When will teh 0bamas he asked to denounce the child pornographers at Netflix?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  101. Its bad enough the reacharound they gave the castro regime, with the wasp network.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  102. Netflix has been weird this summer…lots of French baudy contact, overtures to the Southeastern Swing States (Outer Banks, Sweet Magnolias, Teenage Bounty Hunters – another twerkfest), and kicking Ken Burns docs to the curb, which pisses my daughter off.

    urbanleftbehind (534fa5)

  103. Mnuchin admitted funded some carp like the purge along with brett rattner.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  104. Well theres also gay eternal vampire mercenaries, hard rains gonna fall, that makes noah seem like a noreaster.

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  105. Irony alert:

    NASCAR’s Trump 2020 car must use Goodyear tires, despite president’s call for boycott

    After President Trump on Wednesday encouraged his supporters not to purchase Goodyear tires over what he perceived to be anti-Trump bias in the company’s employee training materials, White House observers were quick to point out that the presidential limousine is outfitted with that particular brand of tires. Trump said later Wednesday that he was open to swapping out the tires.

    The Trump 2020-branded NASCAR entry driven by Corey LaJoie doesn’t have that option: Under a deal first established in 1997 and extended in 2017, all teams in NASCAR’s top three racing series must use Goodyear tires.
    ……
    LaJoie,…..sits 29th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings with one top 10 finish at the Daytona 500…..
    ………

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  106. Mnuchin might be a Time Man of the Year for how willing he was to let loose with Stimuli, as compared to his miserly turnaround of the California mortgage bank back in the late 00s.

    urbanleftbehind (534fa5)

  107. The bank schumer sank you mean?

    Bolivar di griz (7404b5)

  108. yes, deniro’s restaurants, media matters, axios, and the tampa tribune were really hurting,

    I would have thought with all the fundamental transforming going on,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  109. does the tides foundation, pay you monthly or biweekly rip?

    https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/20/leaked-audio-shows-goodyear-lied-endorsed-blm-while-banning-blue-lives-matter/

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  110. First, Trump didn’t raise the Qanon thing. A journalist sprung it on him

    A day or two after he effusively praised the very well-known QAnon nutcase who’s headed for a GOP seat in congress.

    When he’s not golfing, Trump does little else but watch talking heads on cable news, so to suggest he didn’t know about something that has been so widely reported over the last week is dumb.

    Dave (1bb933)

  111. Both his and TC’s dads fled the old regime, parked themselves sin papeles until it was cool to come out of the woodwork as political exiles escaping the old regime. Of course the 86ers multiplied the strategy by an order of magnitude through a 1-time touchback.

    urbanleftbehind (abfd11)

  112. the squad has supported rioters and terrorists, in the case of omar, she’s actually supported by an al shahaab financier, the burning of minneapolis, might well have been ill considered,

    now as long as netflix mainstreams carp that would have made the citizens of gomorrah blanche, that the real life hell fire club, had a varied clientele, that covers a global rolodex,

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  113. Heather Macdonald tells it like it is…

    https://www.city-journal.org/academia-systemic-racism

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  114. 113… I had thought some dipschiff HR person had perhaps gone off the rails and allowed his/her personal feelings to dribble onto a PPT, but apparently not.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  115. ‘Like Armageddon’: Rotting food, dead animals and chaos at postal facilities amid cutbacks
    Six weeks ago, U.S. Postal Service workers in the high desert town of Tehachapi, Calif., began to notice crates of mail sitting in the post office in the early morning that should have been shipped out for delivery the night before.

    At a mail processing facility in Santa Clarita in July, workers discovered that their automated sorting machines had been disabled and padlocked.

    And inside a massive mail-sorting facility in South Los Angeles, workers fell so far behind processing packages that by early August, gnats and rodents were swarming around containers of rotted fruit and meat, and baby chicks were dead inside their boxes.
    ……
    Until this week, the postal service was implementing a sweeping plan to remove 671 mail-sorting machines, or about 10% of its total, from facilities across the U.S. — including 76 in California. Officials also slashed overtime pay and imposed a new policy that could delay outgoing mail.

    The cuts have had a ripple effect in California, snarling the operation of one of the biggest mail-processing facilities in the country and delaying the delivery of prescriptions, rent payments and unemployment checks. Some people have complained of going days without receiving any mail at all.
    …….
    At least five high-speed mail-sorting machines have been removed from a processing plant in Sacramento, according to Omar Gonzalez, the Western regional coordinator for the American Postal Workers Union. Additionally, two of the machines have been removed in Santa Ana and six in San Diego, Gonzalez said.
    ……
    Inside one sprawling facility at Florence and Central avenues in Los Angeles, which serves 92 L.A.-area post offices, seven delivery bar code sorters were removed in June, leaving three, Gonzalez said.

    Each of those machines, which would handle mail-in ballots, can process up to 35,000 pieces of mail per hour.
    ……
    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Wednesday that DeJoy informed her he did not intend to restore the removed sorting machines or blue mailboxes that have been removed in several cities, nor did he have plans to allow for adequate overtime for workers.
    …….

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  116. @113-
    Tides Foundation? Never heard of it.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  117. Something to do with the ocean?

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  118. Pulling your chain, bolivar. They don’t pay me, though. Sadly.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8)

  119. @120 I will testify about the sacto mail centers. All my packages process through there and things are MUCH slower than they were not that long ago. I had a package I was tracking stuck somewhere in sacto for a week and that has never happened before. Fortunately I don’t order perishables in the mail. The plural of anecdote isn’t data, but there are my two cents.

    I wish they would quit fking with the postal service. It was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, better than any postal service in any other country, STOP BREAKING IT.

    Nic (896fdf)

  120. (well, not quite all, I have some process through an Alameda postal center, but most.)

    Nic (896fdf)

  121. 124… and well they shouldn’t.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  122. interesting details,

    The first of the founders, Hastings, is the great-grandson of Alfred Lee Loomis and Ellen Holman Farnsworth. Loomis was an investment banker and scientist involved in development of radar and the atomic bomb, and also helped develop the electroencephalogram and studied brain waves with it. His laboratory was a meeting place for many very famous scientists like Einstein, Fermi, Bohr, Heisenberg. His cousin was Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War for Taft, FDR, and Truman, and Secretary of State for Hoover, and who oversaw the Manhattan Project which created the atomic bomb. One of Alfred Lee Loomis’ children–Henry Loomis, Reed Hastings’ grand-uncle, was the director for the Voice of America under Eisenhower, and president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting under Nixon, both of which are public broadcast arms of the U.S. government (foreign and domestic, respectively.) . Henry Loomis also directed research for the United States Information Agency and served on the board of the Mitre Corporation, who worked with the CIA and DoD. Alfred Lee Loomis also predicted the Great Depression and bought a ton of gold beforehand, then got even richer by buying the stocks of companies at their lowest.

    bolivar de gris (7404b5)

  123. 115. Dave (1bb933) — 8/20/2020 @ 1:07 pm

    A day or two after he effusively praised the very well-known QAnon nutcase who’s headed for a GOP seat in congress.

    How often does a president or endorse, or rry to help win, a candidate of his own party?

    And there’s also that Trump apparently likes to play with people.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  124. Nic (896fdf) — 8/20/2020 @ 3:06 pm

    Fortunately I don’t order perishables in the mail. The plural of anecdote isn’t data, but there are my two cents.

    There is something going on, but mostly what’s going on is that mail gets delivered a day or two later than it used to be.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/business/economy/postal-service-changes-dejoy.html

    Since the changes were put in place, large institutional Postal Service customers have reported mass mailings routinely arriving at home addresses a day or two later than their intended delivery date, said Michael Plunkett, the president of the Association for Postal Commerce, or PostCom.

    His group represents catalog makers, banks, phone companies and other businesses that produce and send large quantities of mail. He attributed the delivery delays to the cutting of overtime and truck trips between processing plants and post offices.

    “It appears as if they made these changes without taking into account the effect that it might have on service,” he said

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)

  125. Nic:

    I wish they would quit fking with the postal service. It was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, better than any postal service in any other country, STOP BREAKING IT.

    I think the cause is pressure Congress (and the president) put on the postal service to cut costs – they don’t get subsidized; nobody likes rate increases, and they must fully find their pensions. There are also a lot of union contracts.

    Meanwhile they;re blaming only Republicans and the wrong Republicans, and finding things wrong where there isn’t.

    New York Times:

    In an interview, Mr. Barger, who spearheaded the search, said that the board’s decision to select Mr. DeJoy was unanimous and included the board’s sole Democrat at the time, Ron A. Bloom.

    “Bloom was a strong yes,” Mr. Barger said.

    One Democratic member of the board, David C. Williams, resigned in April, shortly before the announcement of Mr. DeJoy’s selection, over concerns that the Postal Service was becoming increasingly politicized by the Trump administration, according to two people familiar with his thinking.

    April was just about when people were beginning to think about more mail voting – and they were anticipating it all being over before the falll. Maybe they shouldn’t have but all the shutdowns and lockdowns did not anticipate it continung til such a late date Maybe Willisms was being political.

    Mr. Barger said he was “surprised” by the resignation and had “never heard an objection from David Williams about any of the candidates, other than the ones we did not hire.”

    What is this supposed to mean?

    Here’s maybe where they blame the wrong Republicans:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/us/politics/former-postal-governor-tells-congress-mnuchin-politicized-postal-service.html

    …In a letter to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, Mr. Mnuchin explained his role as the chairman of the Federal Financing Bank, the Postal Service’s sole lender, and said he did not intervene to pave the way for Mr. DeJoy to be the postmaster general.

    “Neither I nor any other Treasury official played any role in recruiting or suggesting Mr. DeJoy for the position of postmaster general,” Mr. Mnuchin wrote, adding that he was surprised to learn about the selection….

    …The board of governors retained two outside firms, Chelsea Partners and Russell Reynolds Associates, to help facilitate the search. But Mr. Williams said he believed it was Mr. Barger who put Mr. DeJoy’s name into the mix “late in the process” and then championed his selection. He said he did not know how the two men met.

    Mr. Barger said Mr. DeJoy’s name was included in a database of people being assessed by Russell Reynolds. But Mr. Barger said Mr. DeJoy was elevated into contention based on a recommendation by Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the board of governors and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

    Williams is going on blaming Barger and Mnuchin, not Duncan, and he’s getting contradicted in what he says by any number of people. The Democrats are trying to make DeJoy’s appointment into an election year ploy to help Trump by slowing down the mail, when it was maybe forced by financial considerations combined with the idea that Dejoy could deal with that while doing the least damage to the postal system. It would appear at first glance that’s what his appointment as Postmaster General was all about (not helping the Republican Party in 2020.)

    They say that at his interview, DeJoy asked questions because he didn’t know that much about how the Postal Service worked. He is supposed to be expert on logistics, having made his fortune that way.

    Sammy Finkelman (db2a13)


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