Sunday, December 31, 2017

Reflections On Q Anon: Literary Stylings

Q Anon has shaken my world. Of course MSM would miss it but when the respectable deplorables miss out, we are, well, down a rabbit hole.

I am trying to wean myself off politics. It was never my favorite subject but I became obsessed in 2008 when I witnessed the deification of a man no one knew and whose most ardent followers did not care to know. With the miraculous (sorry if I am given to understatement) victory of Donald Trump, I felt like I could once more, broaden my horizons.

Of course, I would once more underestimate the brazen evil and fundamentalist mindset of our political rivals. Fake news, fake Russian hacking bs promoted by government employees who used their offices to advance lies, revelations of leaking and spying and corruption that ran deeper than even the most paranoid among us had imagined. Still, I wanted to take a breather.

I stopped reading "American Thinker" because they had too many ads. I stopped dropping by Drudge because he linked to MSM--especially NYT and WAPO. UGH--much too frequently. I still used Youtube for audio but I weaned myself off Alex Jones and HA Goodman (two extremely dissimilar but equally bold perspectives) and other up to the minute resources.

Yes, I went tangential a few times. The breadth and scope of The Trump Prophecies advanced by Mark Taylor and others was and is, intriguing. I mentioned the seven-hour election night operas that had become the soundtrack of my life. Antifa and George Soros and Dinesh D'Souza's ripping the mask off the Democrat Party, its legacy of slavery, genocide and eugenics as well as its influence on Hitler and Mussolini captured my attention. Still, my obsession waned.

Then came Q anon posting on 4 chan. Insert rabbit hole here. Most impressive about Q is his ability to predict future events with breathtaking accuracy. The Marxist Pope's plan to rewrite The Lord's Prayer, the plane crash near the Rothschild estate, the failed Times Square bombing...He seems to know what he is talking about.

Equal time for dissent is provided by this Reddit contributor.

Seems like they just ask vague questions that could be answered a variety of ways. Allowing people to come up with their own answers and connections which make Q seem like a person with high level insight? Even though they aren't actually saying anything.

Q also suggests that both Podesta (which one?) and Abedin would be indicted in November. That did not happen but one misinformed Youtuber used these two bad examples to promote Q's omniscience. Information is still a minefield, my friends.

What makes Q's posts distinctive is his literary style. Whereas most newsgroup postings with excessive abbreviations come across as cheap and slightly vulgar, Q's messages are somewhat poetic. Mostly that has to do with the endless questions and riddles but also the text is sometimes arranged in stanzas or something like stanzas.

Others have pointed out the power and appeal of the question upon question format. Yes, Q could probably condense his message to a few dozen bullet points but who would read them? Solving the riddles invites the reader to do his own research and to better retain and defend his own answer. Who is Snow White? Who are the clowns? What is that Tom Clancy reference? Q merges seemingly unrelated  and incompatible images into one story line.

And yes, there is a story line. I saw a Youtube vid not long ago that discussed why some self-help books fail while others stay in print seemingly forever. Napoleon Hill discovered the secret with "Think and Grow Rich." Instead of listing a few rules for rich people, the author uses a narrative where he unfolds his discoveries on his magic quest so that the reader can share in his enchantment. Successful self-help books like "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (and virtually every other non-fiction best seller) never lose sight of the all important story. Q is a master story teller.

Maybe it all style and cold reading and vague Nostradamus predictions that can be interpreted any way you like. But for now, Q has my attention.

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