Myanmar - Don't think for a minute that it can't happen here.
Why? Because we may laugh at the Q crazies. We can mock at them and publicly shame them all we want to. And they absolutely deserve every single bit of it. Q Anon fantasizes about overthrowing the government. About declaring martial law nation wide. About having military tribunals for those who dare speak against the cult. It all sounds crazy and ridiculous and you can tell yourself that it can't happen here all you want.
Or can it? If you're not paying attention to what is happening in Myanmar right now, you absolutely should. It's literally the epitome of right wing social media rhetoric gone berserk and taken to absolute extremes. By now it should be evident that Facebook and social media played a huge part in allowing the military in Myanmar to take over a democratically elected administration and install a totalitarian fascist regime. If you look at the parallels between what Myanmar is going through, and Q Anon's wildest fantasies, they're not that much different. It's the same package with a different name.
And if you think it can't happen here, look at what is happening. The rhetoric being spewed on right wing radio, podcasts, and right wing news outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN is getting louder and way more toxic. People in general are getting meaner, nastier, ruder and cruder to each other. And if someone doesn't like something, they go off and start their own version of that thing. Look at what happened to Fox News when they actually had to play by the rules. The conservatives went completely apeshit.
Want to draw the comparisons between Myanmar's far right military and Q Anon? Let's take a look at what Q Anon people actually believe in. They believe in executing their opponents. They believe in a military takeover of the government. They believe in installing a president who they feel was "annointed by god" and not democratically elected in a fair and free election. They believe in having nationwide martial law. They believe in rewriting the rules for education. They believe in having military style tribunals for anyone who dares to question what the cult is doing. All of this is happening in Myanmar right now and it is absolutely terrifying.
What makes this even worse? Look at the far right extremist groups. We were literally a hair away from them walking into the capital and slaughtering all of our elected officials. Aided by a president who encouraged them and paid for by shady internet sources and podcast shock jocks. Instead all they did was loot the place and literally throw their feces on the walls. But this could happen again and the next time they could succeed. Conservatives are turning up the self-victimization up way past 11.
Look at the current situation with Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's a batshit crazy, extremely racist conservative who has made death threats against her opponents. Who in her spare time, moderated a Facebook group where racist memes and death threats were regular features. And Greene only got elected because her opponent got some of these death threats and dropped out of the race because he feared for his life! In fact, she only won the election because her opponent got death threats and dropped out of the race! And not only that, when asked to apologize - she completely refuses and doubles and triples down on her toxic rhetoric.
And when she gets called out on it, she makes herself into a hapless victim. Which is exactly what the bullies and abusers of the world do. "Oh these people aren't hating me because I'm a racist conspiracy theorist who threatens to murder leaders. They hate me because I'm a white, Christian, wife, mother, and business leader who worships Jesus!". That's all they are. Except in this case, they're bullies with lots of guns and extremely dangerous far right propaganda encourages them. These people apologize for nothing, and they're applauded by those who think like them for it. All abusers have their enablers and Marjorie Greene is no different.
Make no mistake - the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are mobilizing and militarizing. The toxic rhetoric is getting turned up to levels that wouldn't register on a decibel meter. If Trump ran again or someone who is super far right who recognizes these groups exist ran, they could have an election and campaign cycle with their own private army. That may be about as paranoid a thought as it gets, but we cannot just sit quietly. This is why Trump must be stopped and prevented from running again, because he could do some serious damage if given a second term. The battle that was the 2020 election was won, and it was a sweet one, but the war is far from over. The craziest among us got their foot in the door with this Congress and don't expect them to stop or slow down when the midterms come along. Q Anon is a virus and it is mutating quickly and we must stop it before it is too late.
But if you think it can't happen here, don't. We're getting a preview of their wildest, wild eyed fantasies out in the open for the whole world to see. It's happening in Myanmar. Don't think that it can't happen here. Because by the time that you could see that, it may be too late. Lewis Sinclair wrote about it, and Frank Zappa sang it "It can't happen here, I'm telling you my dear, it can't happen here." It could and it's possible.
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Considering how many people were there. We do need to take drastic measures to make sure something like this never happens again!
But everything I have read about the Myanmar coup and the parallels between them and Q Anon are pretty frightening. If enough Q Anon people ran for Congress and actually won their elections, they could really do some damage. 
We need to make sure that it doesn't find new hosts to infect, or we're screwed. 
