Category: conspiracy theory

George Floyd: Puzzling Questions, Obvious Answers

Mike Rothschild1 Comment

The killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by a gang of roided-up goons pretending to be police officers kicked off a worldwide storm of protests, outrage, anger, rioting, and earnest calls to re-imagine the function of police in western society.

And conspiracy theories. So many conspiracy theories. Theories about George Floyd (that he’s a crisis actor, that he’s still alive, that Obama knew he was going to be killed), about the protests (that they’re funded by Soros, that they’re an ANTIFA invasion), and about the cops who did it (they’re crisis actors, it’s all a big scam, it was a targeted hit.)

One particular list of “puzzling questions” was thrust into my Twitter mentions with a demand that I “debunk this:”

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I Don’t Need to Watch “Plandemic” to Know “Plandemic” is Garbage

Mike Rothschild

If you’ve got corona-rattled relatives who spend too much time on Facebook, you’ve probably gotten asked about “Plandemic.” It’s the hot new viral video in conspiracy theory circles, supposedly blowing the lid off the “real story” of how COVID-19 was engineered by government scientists as a weapon against the useless eaters, with one of these former “government scientists” revealing everything that “they” don’t want you to know about coronavirus, diseases in general, and secret cures.

It’s slick enough to be watched by people who don’t watch YouTube videos, short enough to be digested in one sitting, and authoritative enough to seem true because it’s got a real, actual research scientist doing most of the talking, former HIV researcher turned anti-vaccine crank Judy Mikovits.

So naturally, it’s exploded in popularity. The 26 minute film (which is supposedly just a taster for a full length version to come) has become the “Loose Change” of the rona truther movement, but at warp speed. It’s gotten millions of views over multiple platforms, and has been pulled down by several – prompting misguided cries of “censorship,” which a private company enforcing its terms of service isn’t.

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4517 Frenzy!

Mike Rothschild

Since returning to posting on the rickety 8chan copy 8kun, QAnon’s drops have been both less frequent and less interesting. The first 8kun posts went up in early November, and Q has only made about 500 drops since then – mostly tweets, links to news stories, memes, and even carbon copies of old posts.

Conspiracy theory researchers and Q watchers have mocked these new drops for how low effort and cheap they are. While there’s no such thing as a good Q drop, the old ones at least told interesting stories and spun an entertaining mythology. Remember the “Air Force One almost shot down by a missile” drops? Or the “Trump cut a secret deal with Kim Jong Un, who’s actually a CIA puppet?” Good times.

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Worst Genocide Ever

Mike Rothschild

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to turn our brains into glue, sap time of all its meaning, reduce our capacity for empathy and common sense, and send American conservatives protesting in the streets for their right to get sick and die; one figure has emerged out of the mist as one of the chief culprits for the madness.

No, it’s not some Chinese scientist hunched over a microscope, fusing bits of SARS and HIV to make a bioweapon. And it’s not Barack Obama, silently commanding his Deep State hordes to destroy President Trump’s rebuilt economy and re-election chances. It’s not even some “European banker” tossing out bundles of cash to help bring down the Jesus-loving masses with their chicanery.

No, it’s this guy:

Bill-Gates

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The Storm Is (Not) Upon Us

Mike Rothschild

On Wednesday, one of the biggest names in the QAnon community was suspended from his biggest platform. Prolific Q evangelist and videomaker Joe M, aka @stormisuponus, was permanently kicked off Twitter, losing access to the 273,000 followers who gave every single one of his brain-damaged, paranoid musings thousands of retweets.

I’ve talked about Joe a lot on different platforms, because he was probably the most visible Q promoter other than Praying Medic, and also the one who likely did the most damage in the real world. Remember the debacle last year when QAnon believers swamped the organizers of a small charter school fundraiser because they thought James Comey was going to blow it up? Yeah, Joe M. started that. And felt no remorse about it whatsoever. Joe also was “famous” for his insanely weird memes, including ones featuring celebrities in Joker makeup and one of William Barr slam dunking Andrew McCabe’s severed head. Totally normal stuff.

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