Before you watch this video of insane people doing insane things, let me give you my (and Fran's) theory: These are your original "organic" tea partiers, John Birchers, and the like. QAnon: White bigots who abandon all critical thinking in order to scratch their racist itch. You might find a few stray people of color in there, because conspiracy theories aren't uniquely a white person's venue, but the whole point of these is to justify whatever Trump does, no matter how insane, because they need him.
With that said, I give big props to CNN's Gary Tuchman for not just wandering into the fever swamps of backwater racists, but also to challenge them, however mildly.
At one point, Tuchman asks one woman why she thinks "Q" is someone highly placed in the government or national security structure.
She answered, "Well, I’m just telling you, that’s what it appears to be.”
“So you don’t have any proof of that. You’re just guessing,” Tuchman shot back.
To which she replied, “And you don’t have any proof there isn’t," which is of course true, because it is impossible to prove a negative. That is an important component of right-wing conspiracies -- lots of "you can't prove a thing didn't happen" because of course you can't.
In another exchange, Tuchman takes on their hostility to the press.
“You guys are our enemy,” one supporter tells Tuchman.
He answered, “So you don’t believe in the First Amendment.”
Nay, nay, says the man. “I totally believe in the First Amendment.”
Tuchman tries again. “Well, you don’t. You just said the press is the enemy.”
Again, the man comes back with the stock line of the conspiracy: "You guys are weaponized, you are totally weaponized by the CIA.”
Tuchman reacted the exact same way I did: “What does that even mean? You say stuff that doesn’t even mean anything.”
It just has the key triggers: "Weaponized" and "CIA". That makes them the enemy, because triggers. Logic doesn't have a thing to do with it.
It is critical for Trump to bolster these people and lift up their arguments. He was careful to make a distinction between the "fake news" (CNN) and the "good news" (Fox). His goal here is to erode trust in any media which approaches him with a critical eye. Having installed Fox "News" as official State TV, he has a vested interest in destroying all of the other, more objective news outlets. CNN is their biggest threat, particularly when there is breaking news.
But again, this "conspiracy" is intended to scratch the insecure itches of white bigots who cannot abide a changing country. Whatever excuses these people attach to their bizarre thought patterns, it is their fear of losing their white supremacy that drives them.
