Am I alone in thinking there might be a connection between Q-anon and Russian intelligence?

[thucythucy]

I haven't seen anyone make this connection or posit this theory.

My reason for saying there might be such a connection is simply that there is a history of Russian secret services promulgating conspiracy theories. The one example that comes immediately to mind is how the Tsar's secret police produced "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"--a forgery that claimed to be the blueprint to how "International Jewry" was plotting to take over the world. The forgery has been accepted as real by generations of anti-Semites--from Henry Ford to Adolf Hitler to today's Nazis and white supremacists.

"The Doctor's Plot" propagated by Stalin's KGB is a similar instance (also involving anti-Semitism).

It seems to me that pedophiles and lizard people have replaced Jews as the Great Evil--though I imagine Q-anon has its own following of anti-Semites.

I certainly wouldn't put it past Putin and his henchmen to run a scam like this. We already have a documented connection, as I recall, between Wikileaks and Russian intelligence.

Or maybe I'm just jumping down my own rabbit hole?

[royable]

1. I'd thought it was general knowledge. n/t

[mikeysnot]

2. Completely

Just like Gucifer 2.0

[Hekate]

3. Bots & Troll-farms abound online. If they're on FB, they're on QAnon and Parler. nt

[Karadeniz]

4. Certainly within the realm of probability!

[CaptainTruth]

5. I've been wondering about it since I first heard of Qanon.

The whole thing seems like a psyops effort to divide & disrupt our society.

[thucythucy]

6. I'm hoping the Biden administration might be able to get to the root of this.

If it wasn't started as a Russian disinformation campaign, I would expect their bot farms would play a huge role in how it's spread so quickly.

[Hortensis]

7. There is, and many connections have been tracked. Anyone can

post where Qanon followers look to push lines of conspiracy, after all, including posting as Q. And different manipulators do for different purposes, including various Russian-based organizations.

Of course it would have become far too useful not to be used in any case, but investigation has shown that Russian counterintelligence became involved while it was still in its infancy.

[thucythucy]

9. I wonder why then there hasn't been more made of this.

It would seem at this point a Congressional investigation is in order.

If we win the Senate perhaps a joint special committee.

The damage this is causing could last for generations. There's no telling what might be the ultimate consequences if we don't take serious steps to debunk this nonsense.

[Hortensis]

13. Some have been "making more" as you say. That most

of us remain unaware for some while until a problem explodes into public awareness is just human nature. In any case, our intelligence committees and subcommittees and no doubt others in both chambers certainly do know a great deal about it, as well as many other agencies in various areas of government, federal and state. Including of course, those whose focus is domestic terrorism and anti-government activities.

[thucythucy]

14. I wish then that there was more being made of this connection.

It isn't enough that a few insiders have their suspicions. Particularly when hundreds of thousands of our citizens are falling for this crap, with what seems to me to be virtually no push-back at all.

We even have at least one Q-anon follower about to take her seat in Congress. Not to mention a president who is actively playing to this crowd.

McCarthyism did immense damage to this country. This has the potential to be just as harmful, if not more so.

I'm hoping the Biden administration will get a handle on this. Certainly, those Americans most active in pushing this poison need to be confronted, and soon.

[Hortensis]

16. So make more. Read about it, don't wait for them to hand feed

you investigative information you can google. They're busy people.

Btw, public congressional inquiries are not how congress normally informs itself. They have mountains of information provided by those whose business it is to research, study, investigate, mostly working for many other institutions public and private, national and international, but also including experts on and contracted to congressional staffs and committees.

Also btw, you might have missed the striking dearth of even some of the promised domestic terrorist acts on and around election day. Gee, did some agencies interfere with those? Just because you don't know what's going on doesn't mean nothing is.

As for QAnon itself, weren't millions of followers going to rise up at Trump's signal and arrest and imprison all his enemies? Has Pelosi been kidnapped into a dungeon somewhere and congress declined to open a congressional investigation?

[thucythucy]

18. Public hearings are a way to inform the public.

Yes, members of Congress have a variety of ways to obtain information. This doesn't negate the importance of public hearings as a tool to educate the public and frame the various issues.

If members of Congress have "mountains of information" about the connections between Q-anon and Russian intelligence they certainly haven't done much to inform the public.

And if terrorist plots related to election day were thwarted (and if there is a connection to Q-anon and Russian intelligence in such plots) I would think it proper that the public be informed. Were people indicted for participating in such plots? Gee, it's almost as if you're hinting at your own "deep state" insider information us peons aren't permitted to share.

Seriously, I don't know where all your snark is coming from.

Happy New Year.

[Hortensis]

24. But that's not why they're held in the first place.

When held for honest reasons (not hostile political moves as the Republicans do), they're usually to obtain ADDITIONAL information that sources haven't provided before, and done publicly to make that point.

I confess I am feeling kind of exasperated. You know, big team sports bore me. I read through them and murmur obligingly and even cheer on order, but I don't fool myself that because I'm not paying attention that means there are no games, no players, no teams running around, no announcers, and one else watching what's (not) happening.

Most U.S. senators have very, very big jobs, and each has at least a few dozen extremely highly skilled staffers just to help them with the top-level work related to their official duties. Plus, the committees they're on also have dozens of high-level staffers assisting the committees. None of them are there to tell us what we should already know if we're at all interested.

Btw, since this is an internet, psychological, sociopolitical, and of course national security phenomenon, some of the best and most interesting treatments of QAnon are available in journals that focus on those aspects. Read one good one, and you'll be hooked and following new search terms and links to others. If you can avoid being too appalled and enraged, it's a fascinating topic.

[brewens]

8. Putin is way overrated if it's not. They at the very least piled on after it got going to

ramp it up. No way they missed out on that.

[OAITW r.2.0]

10. Combo propaganda plate.

Russian bots served with Republican dirty operatives. Broadcast and incite the rubes to kill their democracy.

[thucythucy]

12. Enjoy your stay.

Funny how you capitalize Republicans but not Democrats. Sort of a giveaway.

[Iliyah]

15. The connection is spot on . ..

The Russian spies such as Flynn and Stone are part of the Q group.

[Iggo]

17. There's a connection between the president of the united states and russian intelligence.

[thucythucy]

20. Absolutely.

The connection needs to be thoroughly researched and the results made public.

In retrospect I think it was a mistake for the Obama administration to not make the connections public in 2016, despite the objections of Moscow Mitch. Certainly we wouldn't be any worse off, given all that's happened since.

[wishstar]

19. Definite connection esp. because Michael Flynn and Roger Stone are involved in promoting Q anon

and we know their history of lying to FBI and DOJ about their involvement with Russian support for Trump

[thucythucy]

21. Indeed.

The Biden Justice Department will hopefully have the resources and incentive to pursue these connections, wherever they might lead.

[mackdaddy]

22. I think that Michael Flynn and his lawyer Sidney Powell may be Q.

first heard this from Randy Rhodes show, but this still from the vid clip they posted reciting Q related BS makes them top in my guesses.

They are both evil and bent enough.

https://www.cbs58.com/news/michael-flynn-posts-video-featuring-qanon-slogans

[stillcool]

23. they drink from the same trough...

adding Russia makes things look more sinister and more sane.