Rick Wilson: Trump Fans Are Suckers and QAnon Is Perfect for Them

[babylonsister]

Trump Fans Are Suckers and QAnon Is Perfect for Them
And aggrieved, and paranoid, and thrilled to have “An Answer” that explains everything about the world they hate and tells them Trump is great and they’re pretty good, too.
Rick Wilson
08.03.18 10:24 PM ET


Conspiracies are hard. They're even harder when you're stupid.

They are, however, deeply compelling. Some people need a single, grand unifying theory of why the world refuses to line up with their expectations. When difficult realities confront people without the intellectual horsepower to understand and accept the truth, some turn to conspiracy theories to paper over the holes in their worldview. No matter how absurd, baroque, and improbable, conspiracies grow on their own like mental kudzu where inconsistencies aren't signs of illogical conclusions, but of another, deeper layer of some hidden truth, some skein of powerful forces holding the world in its grip.

After Donald Trump's rally in Tampa this week, the notorious QAnon scam became America's conspiracy of the moment. And why not? In the face of Trump's daily meltdowns, mood swings, and unmedicated rage episodes in which he lashes out at every target in reach, his base is desperately looking for a version of reality that gives them some comfort and stability.

This Q conspiracy is filling the political bloodstream of the Trumpentariat and has been bubbling up inside the right for the last few months, and while Will Sommer and others have covered the story, there seemed to be a media shock moment after the Qbots showed up at Trump’s Tampa rally.

Conspiracies—this one in particular—give their devotees a sense of coherence that is lacking in everything Trump does. QAnon presents Trump as the character he plays on TV; bold, commanding, strategic, and brilliant...as opposed to the real Donald Trump, who displays the dignity, intelligence, and honesty of a strip-club tout with tertiary syphilis.

snip//

Why has Q eaten the Trump-right's minds? Why does it work on them when it's so obviously, evidently a gigantic pyramid of digital horseshit?

It works because stupid people are stupid and because Donald Trump's Administration loves what QAnon does to stoke the fires of paranoia, resentment, and division. QAnon works for Trump because people who are not knowledgeable about the world, politics, government, the intelligence community and reality more broadly are desperately looking for confirmation that they're on the winning team. Q tells them that they're on the right side of history and that for once in their dreary little lives they and only they possess the secret, hermetic knowledge from inside the esoteric cult.

Q represents where the former GOP has gone in the era of Trump; possessed the desire to have a private space that makes even Fox News look mild in comparison, grasping desperately for a different reality.



more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-fans-are-suckers-and-qanon-is-perfect-for-them?ref=home

[oberliner]

1. He would know

Rick Wilson created the TV ads emphasizing Jeremiah Wright to scare those same sorts of people away from Obama.

[babylonsister]

2. Lots of people have

seen the light. I am a fan of people growing with time. Wilson is giving back imo.

[oberliner]

3. In this case, my point was that he understands what appeals to these people

Since he created political ads specifically aimed at them with some success.

[MurrayDelph]

20. Man who helped dump rocks over cliff

denounces avalanche that blocked his road.


He's never acknowledged that this is the consequence of previous actions he participated in.

[Zoonart]

4. This is nothing but bizarre fan fiction.

It is the inetrnet version of the game you played at camp while sitting around the fire. One person begins a story with one sentence and then the next person adds on to the narrative...around and around until you have a completely crazy story.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Until somebody goes to a pizza shop with an assault rifle, as has happened from RW ConspTheories.

Waco Branch Davidians thought there was a conspiracy against them. Children died.

Oklahoma City bomber thought there was a conspiracy at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Children died.

[Zoonart]

13. I didn't mean that it is harmless or not dangerous...

just childishly stupid.

[oasis]

5. Wilson and Steve Schmidt began their "Never Trumper" marathon

going on 2 years. So far, they seem to be running neck and neck, although Schmidt shed the weight of his GOP affiliation.

[JHB]

18. Yup. Before that, they loved to play footsie with conspiracy theorists...

... if it got them votes. During the Clinton years they built their careers on it.

[JHB]

19. It's been standard conservative practice since the National Review crowd...

...marginalized the Birchers so that they, not the JBS, would be the public face of conservativism.

But they made sure they didn't completely alienate Bircher voters, since short of that they'd fall in line and vote for the NR's favored candidates.

[mountain grammy]

6. these people with their conspiracy shit.. q's and frogs

what sicko's playing childish games. the q is best used in FuQ. Sounds like a bumper sticker.

[watoos]

7. I have not seen any mention of this man;

Dr. Steve Pieczernik. He is an Alex Jones contributor. Go to his web site if you dare and read the conspiracies he has pushed from the beginning of Trump's run for president. This guy claimed that Hillary was running a coup to become president and Trump was running a counter-coup. Everything he has posted on his site has become far right wing nut job talking points.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Stupid CONspiracy Theories make stupid people think they know something that smart people don't.

[stopbush]

10. What should we expect from a group of people who have been

conditioned by their Christian beliefs that they are in on a secret “truth” that the rest of the evil world doesn’t get? These are people whose religion tells them they are special, and that the “truth shall set them free.” Tell them they’re being lied to or that there’s no basis in fact for their beliefs and you’ll maybe get a smirk.

Couple that with the American penchant for believing in crazed conspiracies that dates back to at least the JFK shooting and you have a recipe for rabid delusion.

[maddiemom]

11. Brilliant, but common sense (RIP) analysis.

I especially loved "mental kudzu," and "tertiary syphilis." Sorry, but many people ARE STUPID! George Carlin had a great line about "average intelligence" meaning half the population is BELOW that. Or (in America) "My ignorance is equal to your knowledge:" Isaac Asimov. As a teacher for many years (English and reading specialist), I've always felt that Critical Thinking is the most important thing to be taught (aside from scientific/math proven facts) in all fields. There is a serious brick wall in the way of many parents' hardcore beliefs that threatens any challenge/threat from the "outside," i.e. Critical Thinking. Very few kids break through, despite "youthful rebellion." Religious values at home are understandable, but there is a whole new (Trumpian?) kind of ignorance. It seems to be unique to "America." The real tragedy is that nobody needs to be a MENSA candidate to think critically. Accepting learning, overall, is a great start. Almost anyone can learn in a particular field of interest. Closed minds looking, as you stated, for confirmation, are ripe for a Trump.

[smirkymonkey]

12. This is one of the most bizarre, ridiculous conspiracy theories I have

seen in a while. It is so silly, I don't understand how any reasonable person could take it seriously. I am now convinced that they are a brainwashed cult and completely unreachable. They will swallow anything that supports their twisted world-view, no matter how insane it is.

[Nitram]

14. I keep thinking of the brilliant Peter Seller movie "Being There" about a man who only knows the

world through watching TV. I am beginning to suspect that Trump supporters are exactly that, with the internet thrown in for good measure.

[NBachers]

15. Blend meth, religion, opiates, stupidity, and fascist manipulation, and here's what you get.

It's the latest cult-rage among the deplorable set.

Great article; exemplary word-smithing, and well worth reading the entire thing.

[randr]

16. Quacks anonymous?

[docgee]

17. This kind of thing could make a great wedge.

Split the deplorables into crazy and really fucking crazy so even some rump supporters say 'man, what the fuck is wrong with those idiots'. Lol