Q: Into the Storm

[Lady Whistleup]

I think the pandemic got a lot of people into the wacky conspiracy theories that sort of LED them to Qanon. I actually lurked at a Facebook group (now defunct) that was about Q drops and it wasn't nearly as nerdy as Ron and Jim and Fred make it seem. It was a mix of anti-vaxxers, white supremacists, and some very troubled souls who seemed obsessed with making deep-fakes of Democrats eating children. That was actually really disturbing. There was an obsession with "adrenochrome." Kobe Bryant is a huge obsession of theirs, as is JFK Jr. Very, very weird stuff. 

[CherryMalotte]

17 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I think the pandemic got a lot of people into the wacky conspiracy theories that sort of LED them to Qanon.

Yeah, I agree with this.  There are a lot of angry people out there that have a lot of spare time on their hands (pandemic lay offs for one) and will channel that angry energy with others of the same head space.  It's the same for people of all kinds, if you quilt you might join a FB group or two for quilters.  Some have seized on one little odd bit of offbeat or conspiracy theory and thought they'd connect the  dots together.  What they don't realize is there's no picture left when you draw those lines, it won't make anything visible, but they keep adding and adding waiting for an image  that's never going to appear.

Watkins Sr strikes me as a grown man but with very little maturity.  Highly skilled in managing the various businesses he runs sure, but there's an immaturity streak a mile wide and then some.  I think the various minions he gathers around him are all the same as well, they were computer nerds and this guy gave them a job, financial support, and the attention they needed.  It's a game with them and they really get off on (besides the porn) stoking the people that buy into the crap that they are shoveling at them via that message board.  It's really going to be something when the Q'ers finally take off the blinders and realize they've been had.           

[Andyourlittledog2]

This series has for four episodes now just followed the Watkins around watching them look like adolescent assholes. I question the filmmaker's 'objectivity' in going down this particular rabbit hole so thoroughly that we have to watch Jim put on his socks and blow smoke rings and try on cowboy hats and just generally act like a boring middle aged jerk. There should be more investigation and less following these fools around acting like idiots.

[Lady Whistleup]

2 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

This series has for four episodes now just followed the Watkins around watching them look like adolescent assholes. I question the filmmaker's 'objectivity' in going down this particular rabbit hole so thoroughly that we have to watch Jim put on his socks and blow smoke rings and try on cowboy hats and just generally act like a boring middle aged jerk. There should be more investigation and less following these fools around acting like idiots.

I get this POV. But if any film shows the banality of evil, it's this doc. Jim is that slick used car salesman you'd avoid, and Ron is that creepy guy in the dorm who spent all day in his room watching porn. Q-anon adherents think of Q as this symbol of courage/patriotism, but Jim and Ron are the dullest, most banal people ever. 

I also think that somewhere along the making of this documentary, the documentarian decided that going down the rabbit hole of Watkins creepiness was easier than trying to follow the myriad nonsensical conspiracy theories. I mean I tried to "follow" one this summer in that defunct Facebook group -- it tracked all the times Melania wore green. To them that was obviously a nod to Pepe the Frog, who for whatever reason is a big alt-right symbol. Eventually I couldn't follow the analysis of the colors anymore and found the people to be deeply unwell and paranoid.

[Lady Whistleup]

Watched the fifth episode just now.

One thing the fifth episode made really clear was just how much the documentarian bonded with Fred. Looking back, the whole documentary seems very much from Fred's POV. The symbiosis between Fred and the filmmaker was clear at the airport -- we see everything the way Fred sees it. 

This is both good and bad. I think that Fred is an appealing personality and more trustworthy than the Watkinses. But we view everything through how Fred views it.

[rlc]

The only things I know for certain after watching all six episodes are that anyone who believes any of the crap is batsh*t crazy, and I need a shower after what I’ve seen.

[Lady Whistleup]

One thing that was a shock was seeing that shiny, bright, waxy orange makeup on Trump. For four years that was just a reality but looking back it just seems so absurd. It also contrasted heavily with all the natural complexions we saw in this documentary. 

I was also shocked at the crudeness of Marjorie Taylor Greene's stump speeches. I'm familiar with her persona but I didn't expect all that foul language. And she says she's a Christian.

[rlc]

7 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I was also shocked at the crudeness of Marjorie Taylor Greene's stump speeches. I'm familiar with her persona but I didn't expect all that foul language. And she says she's a Christian.

They all seem to believe they are very Christian. I don’t think Jesus would agree.

[Robert Lynch]

14 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

One thing that was a shock was seeing that shiny, bright, waxy orange makeup on Trump. For four years that was just a reality but looking back it just seems so absurd. It also contrasted heavily with all the natural complexions we saw in this documentary. 

I was also shocked at the crudeness of Marjorie Taylor Greene's stump speeches. I'm familiar with her persona but I didn't expect all that foul language. And she says she's a Christian.

Oh, that's one person I need to know less about. MTG.......uggggh. Anything she says I put on the mute button.

[cpcathy]

I totally bet Ron is an incel. All this trouble because he can’t land a girlfriend.

[Rlb8031]

8 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

I totally bet Ron is an incel. All this trouble because he can’t land a girlfriend.

I'm not sure. I think he's probably done pay-for-play for years. As completely obsessed with sex as Jim is, no way he didn't pay for his son to lose his virginity if it hadn't occurred naturally. Hell, that dude is creepy enough I wouldn't have put it past him to do far worse things than that.

[Lady Whistleup]

2 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I totally bet Ron is an incel. All this trouble because he can’t land a girlfriend.

According to Fred's twitter Ron is married to a Chinese woman which is why he speaks Mandarin fluently. 

[TexasGal]

21 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

 

I was also shocked at the crudeness of Marjorie Taylor Greene's stump speeches. I'm familiar with her persona but I didn't expect all that foul language. And she says she's a Christian.

I had to laugh when they showed the clip of her saying something about an international “cable” of pedophiles or whatever.  Cabal not the same as cable; reading is fundamental MTG.  The stupidity of some of these people who think they are so smart is ridiculously amazeballs.

[snickers]

Still trying to unpack episodes 5/6......but they were easier to watch than 3/4 😳

 

I am sure I’ll have more thoughts but these are my thoughts at this moment:

• I was hoping they’d show the Christian qtuber (the one complaining in the hot tub) got arrested by the feds and was currently in jail
• i believe stronger than ever that Ron is a psychopath....he’s Q after all
• i cannot believe Cullen was at the insurrection  with no mask on!!!! I guess he was trying to blend in but 😳😳😳😳
• The psych ops stuff was........deep.......but totally makes sense in the world of Trump and Q
• if anyone is still following Q aka c0demonkey.... they are fools!!!!!

[Lady Whistleup]

One thing that's shocking: many of the clips they played of Trump about Qanon were him at his covid press conferences. He was plugging Q at press conferences about the pandemic. 

Also, still cannot believe MTG got elected to Congress. Has nothing to do with conservative or liberal -- she's simply so unprofessional and crass. 

I still think this doc is somewhat flawed because of how much Cullen bonded with Fred. At some point it became less about Cullen researching Q and more about Cullen helping Fred escape the clutches of the Watkinses. But it was eye-opening for sure.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[revbfc]

I really wish we could have have found out who the original Q poster was.  That thread was unfortunately dropped in favor of chasing Ron (who I will refer to as the “Q-surper”).  Yes, Watkins is a POS, but who got the ball rolling?  

[Guest]

I am left without a doubt that Ron was most certainly the 8chan/kun Q. But do I think that Ron was acting alone? Nope. I think there were definite shenanigans behind the scenes--most likely with Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, or Bannon being the ultimate puppeteers at some point. The Watkins's are evil for sure--but, at their core, seem very dumb. They needed an assist, and likely got it, whether financially or through motivation, by some upper-echelon evil people who are far less stupid. 

I am still astonished there are so many angry, ignorant, violent psychopaths in the world. The footage of the insurrection with Go Ask Alice song played over it chilled me to the bone. "Patriots." 🙄🤡

Cicada Guy was also a massive creepster and loser. Speaking of creepsters and losers:

9 hours ago, snickers said:

I was hoping they’d show the Christian qtuber (the one complaining in the hot tub) got arrested by the feds and was currently in jail

Didn't know that!

[absnow54]

11 hours ago, snickers said:

i cannot believe Cullen was at the insurrection  with no mask on!!!! I guess he was trying to blend in but 😳😳😳😳

So much craziness going on in the last two episodes, and this was all I could focus on too!

[flappa1016]

14 hours ago, TexasGal said:

I had to laugh when they showed the clip of her saying something about an international “cable” of pedophiles or whatever.  Cabal not the same as cable; reading is fundamental MTG.  The stupidity of some of these people who think they are so smart is ridiculously amazeballs.

Right?!?  For a second there I thought I'd been pronouncing it wrong all along (not that it comes up a lot in conversation, but in my head when I'm reading) and then I was like "Come on, it's MTG, why are you second-guessing yourself?"

[flappa1016]

5 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

The footage of the insurrection with Go Ask Alice song played over it chilled me to the bone. "Patriots." 🙄🤡

While I thought it was a brilliant choice to use that song for that scene, I told my husband that it ruined the song for me.  Every time I hear it, I will now forever associate it with 1/6.

[Guest]

Not that anyone will be surprised by this, but Q morons followers don't care that Ron outed himself as the mastermind of their cult.

Quote

You might imagine that the revelation that Q is not in fact a person with top-secret government clearance but rather the administrator of a fringe website best known for boosting Gamergate and hosting white supremacist hate speech, would rock the QAnon community to its core.

But in reality, it has barely registered with them.

In public channels on fringe networks like Gab and Parler, on QAnon forums like the Great Awakening, and on Telegram, where hundreds of thousands of QAnon supporters now communicate, the revelation about Watkins has barely been mentioned.

Quote

In one of the few discussion threads about it on the Great Awakening, users have roundly dismissed the claims that Watkins is Q, with one posting: “Q is a group of genius level military intelligence with very high security clearances. There is 0 chance Ron is Q or is directly involved with the operation.”

Why of course not! Why believe something that guy basically admitted when you can cling on to "truths" like JFK Jr. is alive and fighting adrenochrome-harvesting, baby-eating, pedophile Hollywood celebrities like Tom Hanks? Make complete sense to me! 

[Lady Whistleup]

The Q anon adherents on my social media are almost completely cut off from the regular world for all intents and purposes. They will only read "real" news which excludes any mainstream news source. They only trust the hodgepodge of Qtubers and Qpodcasters who feed into their world views. Many of them are estranged from family members. 

So it's not a surprise that their response to this doc was a shrug. HBO is part of the "deep state cable," to echo MTG.

[snickers]

17 hours ago, Giant Misfit said:

On 4/5/2021 at 10:12 PM, snickers said:

I was hoping they’d show the Christian qtuber (the one complaining in the hot tub) got arrested by the feds and was currently in jail

Didn't know that!

I'm sorry I need to clarify....I do not think the christian Qtuber got arrested.....I thought perhaps by the end they'd show he did.....honestly though, he kinda looks like one of the dudes that was inside the chamber going through those papers 👀

 

But I think had he been arrested it would have been stated somewhere....

 

20 hours ago, revbfc said:

I really wish we could have have found out who the original Q poster was.  That thread was unfortunately dropped in favor of chasing Ron (who I will refer to as the “Q-surper”).  Yes, Watkins is a POS, but who got the ball rolling?  

A big yes to this^

Unfortunately unless this person outs themself, we will never know....and once they did get hijacked....why did they not try to get back online? did the Watkins' silence them????? As in block the IP address from posting.....be easy to do.....and it appeared the original poster was not the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to modern tech

 

It was so funny at work today once the virtual meeting started someone immediately started off by saying, "Did anyone see that Q into the storm? That was crazy!" 😆

Edited April 7, 2021 by snickers

[absnow54]

10 hours ago, snickers said:

Unfortunately unless this person outs themself, we will never know....and once they did get hijacked....why did they not try to get back online? did the Watkins' silence them????? As in block the IP address from posting.....be easy to do.....and it appeared the original poster was not the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to modern tech

Is it possible that Jim was the original Q and let Ron take the wheel once he grew bored of it? IIRC the original Q was better at sounding more legitimate, but didn't necessarily have the best track record with predictions... or at least when they panned out, it was usually a stretch. I think it's also possible that someone with some level of security clearance (not a Q-level) went a little off the rails with conspiracy theories and was caught by their security and spooked with the threat of job loss or prosecution. I think that's the more likely scenario, and why they're not jumping at the chance to take credit.

[Maysie]

The last scenes of the final episode were very disturbing and I’m mixed about whether they were germane to the documentary. On one hand, Q sure played a role in promoting and supporting conspiracy theories that led to the capitol riot, and god knows there were plenty of Q followers there, but Qanon didn’t really promote the events of January 6 (in fact, in a story on 538, they note Q hasn’t posted since December). Qanon definitely fed a mindset that led to the riots but I’m not convinced the riots would have been avoided if there’d been no Q. Fringe groups such as proud boys and oath keepers seem to do just fine on their own (though it would be interesting to see how much overlap there is among these groups).

I’m on the fence on this documentary, I guess because I’m not quite sure what it was trying to achieve and what I come away with. It was definitely interesting and the people involved are intriguing (and in some cases, absolutely loathsome), but it was also quite a trip down the rabbit hole - the 538 article points this out fairly well. Of course I’m curious about Q’s identity (I always figured it was a troll), but in the end, understanding who it was doesn’t make that much difference unless it was someone with significant power/access.

I was talking to friends who haven’t seen the documentary and one of them asked if I watched Star Trek. He explained there was a character named Q who was all about disrupting things and basically being kind of a smug asshole. I thought that was an interesting take because so much play has been given to that “Q level” security clearance (there’s nothing like that in the military as far as I know, and when I googled the only thing I could find was department of energy). I bring this up because I think the Star Trek theory is interesting (and would point to a nerdy troll if you’re looking into the origin of the name Q) and that it kind of debunks the whole “it must be someone high up in national security/military because they have a Q designation!”

In the last episode I was thinking that Fred sure likes to poke bears. On one hand I felt a little bad for him because he lost everything and had to go back to living with his mother. On the other, he made a deal that all he wanted was for the site name to be changed and he got what he wanted. If he’d left it there, he wouldn’t have been facing prison time because I don’t think the Watkins would have bothered with him. I understand why the filmmaker went to help-Fred would not have survived prison.

I’m satisfied that the Watkins are low on money. They strike me as people who kind of bumble their way up in the world yet think they are smarter and more talented than anyone else. I think for all their maga leanings, they choose to live abroad because they can do some shady shit and live a lot cheaper (Jim: “it’s expensive to live in the US!”). Ron being Q isn’t surprising, nor does it make him any more interesting.

The whole cicada 3301 or whatever didn’t really make much sense to me-didn’t see the tie in, except in pretty broad strokes. But the man DID HIS ENTIRE INTERVIEW IN A CICADA COSTUME! What the ever loving hell? And I can only guess that the filmmaker included him in the documentary for just that reason. And honestly, it just underscores that these people are nuts. I’m sure some are intelligent, but something is missing (critical thinking?) or not right. To me, that’s the most terrifying thing about this whole group of people. There is no reasoning, no logic, no openness; they have closed themselves off from anything that might present an alternative reality. They believe mind numbingly ridiculous things (Tom Hanks killing and eating babies? Really? Tom Hanks?) and when the predictions don’t pan out they rationalize. It won’t matter if it’s a Q online or a charismatic public figure, they will follow, kill or die as their cause demands.

[absnow54]

27 minutes ago, Maysie said:

The last scenes of the final episode were very disturbing and I’m mixed about whether they were germane to the documentary. On one hand, Q sure played a role in promoting and supporting conspiracy theories that led to the capitol riot, and god knows there were plenty of Q followers there, but Qanon didn’t really promote the events of January 6 (in fact, in a story on 538, they note Q hasn’t posted since December). Qanon definitely fed a mindset that led to the riots but I’m not convinced the riots would have been avoided if there’d been no Q. Fringe groups such as proud boys and oath keepers seem to do just fine on their own (though it would be interesting to see how much overlap there is among these groups).

I think it was important to show that Jim Watkins was at the rally. That Ron Watkins was the source for many of the Dominion voting machine claims that pushed the "stop the steal" narrative. AND that Ron Watkins was tweeting about Mike Pence trying to overthrow Trump the morning of the rally. I think at this point in the documentary, they were pushing that Ron was Q, so anything Ron was saying publicly on his own Twitter handle, was sowing the same chaos that "Q" had done anonymously. But I do agree, there were a lot of other groups and platforms at play to drive the events of January 6th that weren't necessarily related to Q's influence. 

[12catcrazy]

Well, gotta say that I was dead wrong in thinking that the guy who WASn'T Q was Ron.  

What a weird story and it goes to show how quickly people believe shit on the internet without knowing who really is posting it and what their intentions are.   As the old saying goes, good to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.  

1 hour ago, Maysie said:

The whole cicada 3301 or whatever didn’t really make much sense to me-didn’t see the tie in, except in pretty broad strokes. But the man DID HIS ENTIRE INTERVIEW IN A CICADA COSTUME! What the ever loving hell?

I don't believe it was a costume.  The guy didn't want to be interviewed on camera, so the film maker used an animation for the interview.  Guess he thought it was more interesting than just showing himself talking to the guy on the phone. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by 12catcrazy

[rlc]

We will probably never find out who the original q is/was, but it won’t matter to the qunatics. They either wouldn’t hear the news, wouldn’t believe the news, or would disavow them as a ‘cuck’.

[Lady Whistleup]

I think the Jan 6 footage was importance to show that Jim and Ron aren't just these geeky internet eccentrics. You could watch Ron's halting cadence and nerdy presentation and think that he's just a nerdy guy who has too much time on his hands. But the Jan 6 riots showed that Jim and Ron are actually actively involved in movements and events that are dangerous and got people killed. 

[Rlb8031]

16 hours ago, Maysie said:

but Qanon didn’t really promote the events of January 6 (in fact, in a story on 538, they note Q hasn’t posted since December).

January 6th was important because many of the suspected minds behind Q (Watkins, Flynn, Bannon, the Q-Tube brigade, etc.) were all actively supporting it and present at the event. Even if the 6th had proven to be uneventful, it would have been an important moment in the movie. With the actual insurrection occurring, it stands as the capstone for the Q story.

16 hours ago, Maysie said:

I was talking to friends who haven’t seen the documentary and one of them asked if I watched Star Trek. He explained there was a character named Q who was all about disrupting things and basically being kind of a smug asshole. I thought that was an interesting take because so much play has been given to that “Q level” security clearance (there’s nothing like that in the military as far as I know, and when I googled the only thing I could find was department of energy). I bring this up because I think the Star Trek theory is interesting (and would point to a nerdy troll if you’re looking into the origin of the name Q) and that it kind of debunks the whole “it must be someone high up in national security/military because they have a Q designation!”

In either the first or second episode, Jim Watkins is being interviewed in his home surrounded by his computers. There is a projection on the wall behind him. The first time it's a screensaver or a meme that's being projected. The second time, its a photo of John de Lancie in character as "Q". Jim Watkins is an ass.

16 hours ago, Maysie said:

I’m satisfied that the Watkins are low on money. They strike me as people who kind of bumble their way up in the world yet think they are smarter and more talented than anyone else. I think for all their maga leanings, they choose to live abroad because they can do some shady shit and live a lot cheaper (Jim: “it’s expensive to live in the US!”). Ron being Q isn’t surprising, nor does it make him any more interesting.

While Watkins may have had to sell a lot, I'd be shocked if a guy who has been a data farm provider for porn sites for over twenty years and has a substantial collection of both fountain pens and expensive watches doesn't have a fair amount of wealth that can be liquidated if needed. Not having money in a bank doesn't equate to not having money.

[Maysie]

I understand and actually agree with the importance of showing the insurrection. I think some of my ambivalence comes from the fact that it was the first time I’d seen much of that violence. I watched the news that day as things unfolded so the footage from inside the building wasn’t readily available. I’d read plenty afterwards and decided to avoid the videos because I tend to avoid watching violent real life events (e.g. George Floyd video). So I wasn’t prepared for the feelings I got when I saw the internal footage, but I do get the relevance in showing the Watkins connection to it all.

I would like to know whose choice it was to have the cicada man be represented by a cicada (hologram, costume, whatever). I understand there’s a convoluted link relevant to Q, but if the guy didn’t want to be shown on camera what was the point of showing his photograph? If it was the filmmaker’s choice to represent him as a bug, then I think he’s a bit of a troll. The documentary did an effective job of demonstrating that these adherents are at least a little off in their willingness to believe some utterly ridiculous things that are pretty easily disproved. If it was the director’s choice to show the guy as a cicada, then I think he was excessive because we already know these people are crackpots. But if the guy said “yeah, I’ll talk to you but I want to be full on cicada when I do it,” then holy hell he’s crazy! There’s a time and place for life action role playing (I assumed the cicada was larping) and I have a difficult time focusing on content when you’re posing as a bug. My biggest takeaway from that exchange was “ffs is there anyone in this that isn’t a little wacky?” So if it was a creative choice by the filmmaker then it was unnecessary IMO.

The documentary underscores what we already know-it’s going to be really difficult to disabuse Q adherents of their beliefs. I suppose one benefit to going that deep into the rabbit hole is understanding how deep these believers have gone, and therefore it could be impossible for some of them to ever come back. If I were the filmmaker I’d be exhausted because everything has meaning even if it really doesn’t. 

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

Finished it watching it last night.

• I wonder if any Q adherents feel like idiots for being taken in by a guy (Ron Watkins) with no security clearance, no access to the POTUS, no...nothing, really, except a penchant for writing cryptic comments?
• To answer my own question: Probably not. A friend of a friend on FB is a big Q guy who was telling us all how Biden would be arrested the morning of January 20, blah blah blah. When I asked him a week ago what had happened, he said "Oh, the arrests will happen within the next few months. Trump and his associates are letting the world see the true darkness of a Democratic administration first." I asked him if Labor Day came with Biden still in the White House and Trump still a private citizen in Florida, would he finally admit he'd been taken for a ride? His response: "No. We have to trust the process." If this dude lives another 50 years, he will go to his grave still believing the Big Q Storm is right around the corner.
• According to what I've read, the reason Brennan had to change flights at the last minute was because Filipino police were at the gate of the original flight, actively looking for him: his arrest warrant had already been issued. He bought a second ticket at a different terminal and correctly figured the police wouldn't realize the switch until he was in the air. The doc glosses over this, probably because the filmmakers could be accused of Aiding and Abetting a Fugitive should they ever return to the Philippines; they have to make it sound like "We had to switch flights because the I-Card didn't come through in time. Oh, the police were at the original gate? Well, shucky darn! We had no idea!!!"
• For those who wonder why Brennan was in legal trouble for calling Jim Watkins "senile:" In the US, we have a long tradition of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. The truth is always a defense and if you can show that your accusation was somewhat grounded in reality (or you at least legitimately had reason to believe it might be correct), you're home free. Other countries don't have that tradition, and you can be accused of libel even if your claim is true. Basically, the prevailing legal view is that you have no right to publicly delve into someone else's private life, whether or not your claims are accurate.
• For anyone wanting to check out 8chan (or 8kun, as it's now called) for themselves: just Google it. It's freely available with no special browser or anything needed. Don't do it at work, obviously. A warning, though: It's not nearly as interesting as this documentary makes out. If you've seen one board with a bunch of vulgar idiots trolling each other, you've seen them all.

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Sir RaiderDuck OMS

[Lady Whistleup]

4 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

For anyone wanting to check out 8chan (or 8kun, as it's now called) for themselves: just Google it. It's freely available with no special browser or anything needed. Don't do it at work, obviously. A warning, though: It's not nearly as interesting as this documentary makes out. If you've seen one board with a bunch of vulgar idiots trolling each other, you've seen them all.

I actually just went there. Holy lol this looks like some early 90s website with its dated web design. 

Also, it really reads like one of those conglomerate right wing news websites. Just a lot of right wing articles and memes. I understand it's probably become sort of dead since Q stopped posting, but what I saw there was like an old-style Drudge report website with a lot of Trump is great memes and articles.

As I said, this documentary demonstrated the banality of evil.

[snickers]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I actually just went there. Holy lol this looks like some early 90s website with its dated web design. 

I believe Cullen stated this several times in the documentary-and it sure did look like something from 1995

 

So Q (cough-Watkins-cough) hasn't posted since December? Then who did the prediction Trump was taking office on March 4??? 😆 I thought it was Q?

 

5 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

I wonder if any Q adherents feel like idiots for being taken in by a guy (Ron Watkins) with no security clearance, no access to the POTUS, no...nothing, really, except a penchant for writing cryptic comments?

I know you kinda already answered this, but, I saw a Yahoo article today that said i believe on the 8kun site, someone said, "yeah-

fake news" to the reports concerning this documentary and the reveal of who Q is.....because of course they would say that

When i am in the mood to argue back, every time someone who is Q or has Q leanings sprouts off ridiculousness to me, i say, "fake news" back to them......as I've mentioned I already had some fall outs with people over it, but most just ignore it, I'm shocked most of them have not blocked me on FB (maybe they actually like me *shrug*)

But I am finding it harder and harder to like them, especially after watching this hot mess (thought i liked this documentary)

 

5 hours ago, Sir RaiderDuck OMS said:

If this dude lives another 50 years, he will go to his grave still believing the Big Q Storm is right around the corner.

This is what shocks me about the Q people, how long will they continue to believe until they realize they've been had????? It's why i feel at this point it is a cult, i mean look at Heaven's Gate-which i recommend all of you watch the Heaven's Gate doc on HBO if you have not already done so 😉

9 hours ago, Rlb8031 said:

While Watkins may have had to sell a lot, I'd be shocked if a guy who has been a data farm provider for porn sites for over twenty years and has a substantial collection of both fountain pens and expensive watches doesn't have a fair amount of wealth that can be liquidated if needed. Not having money in a bank doesn't equate to not having money.

^exactly, though i would not be surprised if they ended up losing money due to all of the lawsuits with F.Brennan and trying to get 8chan back up online

On 4/5/2021 at 10:23 PM, Lady Whistleup said:

I still think this doc is somewhat flawed because of how much Cullen bonded with Fred. At some point it became less about Cullen researching Q and more about Cullen helping Fred escape the clutches of the Watkinses. But it was eye-opening for sure.

I think pretty much all docs at this point are flawed.....docs tend to show only one side of things, and lately i've been very underwhelmed by documentaries, i think some have hurt then helped....you got docs that are extremely left learning and some that are right leaning....an example of a one sided doc is Seasipracy on Netflix....it had some good points raised, but at the end of the day, the documentary didn't really have a conclusion or reasonable solution.......

One documentary I thought that actually did a great job of showing both sides of the coin-was Tiger King-even though i'd call that more a drama show, it showed that both Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic treated tigers/people badly though they both were on opposite sides when it came to their beliefs, and i loved how the show exposed what a fraud Carole Baskin is......and she was soooo PO'ed when the show aired her dirty laundry....

oh well! to me that shows the film makers did their jobs....

But lately I've felt the HBO docs do a better job with neutrality.....I don't blame Cullen for helping Fred....while they probably did not have to show all that drama that went down between them, they probably figured showing drama would keep people watching, i wished instead they had shown more of the people trying to take Q down....

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by snickers

[Lady Whistleup]

The March 4 thing was sort of started by Q conspiracy theorists because the US presidency has been a "corporate" presidency since Ulysses S Grant. Q himself hasn't posted since December. 

The Q drops were always pretty vague. It was the Q anon twitter accounts that did things like conclude that Melania wore green therefore she wants to be Pepe the Frog and Joe Biden has a submarine of children he eats.

[meep.meep]

I watched this wanting to know how anyone would come to believe that Joe Biden has a submarine full of children to eat.  I wish he had spent more time on that, and less on "who is Q?"  It seems that half the country has gone down a rabbit hole and I'd like to know how they got there.

[Mannahatta]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ron-watkins-qanon-founder-q-b1828899.html?traffic_source=Connatix

I just stumbled across this article. Apparently Ron Watkins was a pretty forgettable kid growing up in Mukilteo, Washington. The article also briefly mentions his mother: 

"After serving in the US army as a helicopter repairman and recruiter, Jim moved to the Philippines in 2004, where a cached issue of the Manila Times shows Mr Watkins eventually sought Philippines citizenship with his wife, a woman named as Liziel Watkins, in 2019, even though a newly uncovered 2007 court record from San Francisco shows that a James and Liziel Watkins got divorced, with James filing for custody of an unnamed child."

Another development is that the Philippines has had it with Jim Watkins:

"Then, in early 2020, the Philippines Bureau of Immigration’s Investigations Division labelled James Watkins an “undesireable alien”, ABC news reported, meaning he was a risk to the public interest.A charging sheet from the bureau describes Mr Watkins as “the owner and operator of 8chan, a hate filled forum/website which hosts trolling and serves as a go-to resource for violent extremists and white supremacists”.Mr Watkins was given permission to travel back to the US between August of 2020 and January of 2021, and he has returned to the US, although he is expected to head back to the Philippines to challenge the immigration ruling."

I would love to see a 5th installment. It could show the reactions of Q-Anon believers to the first 4 parts of this documentary. Maybe some might find their beliefs shaken. But I'm pretty sure many will smile, shake their heads, knowingly proclaim it to be "fake news", and then go home and quietly send death threats to the filmmakers. Some people just can't admit that they've been had.

[Lady Whistleup]

I just made a connection: could "Q" be referring to the Q gospel? The "Q source" is supposed to be the source for Mark, Matthew and Luke.

 

[DanaK]

17 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I just made a connection: could "Q" be referring to the Q gospel? The "Q source" is supposed to be the source for Mark, Matthew and Luke.

 

No, it supposedly refers to the person being a high level government official having Q Clearance, which is a Department of Energy security clearance

[revbfc]

Back again.

One more thing that this series didn’t talk about, and that I haven’t seen discussed (and if it has, not enough):  was Q a reaction to the flood of Alt-government accounts on Twitter that protested the Trump administration? 

[snickers]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:58 AM, revbfc said:

One more thing that this series didn’t talk about, and that I haven’t seen discussed (and if it has, not enough):  was Q a reaction to the flood of Alt-government accounts on Twitter that protested the Trump administration? 

maybe??? also-could the original Q be someone not American? I saw a Yahoo article today that said like, a third of the Q and Q related propaganda stuff posted on FB was from accounts from China and Russia!!!!!

Edited April 20, 2021 by snickers

[DanaK]

8 hours ago, snickers said:

maybe??? also-could the original Q be someone not American? I saw a Yahoo article today that said like, a third of the Q and Q related propaganda stuff posted on FB was from accounts from China and Russia!!!!!

For all we know, Q could have been (or started as) Russian disinformation

[ifionlyknew]

On 4/20/2021 at 7:18 AM, DanaK said:

For all we know, Q could have been (or started as) Russian disinformation

Conspiracy theories tend to take on a life of their own.  All it would take is for someone to take one tiny kernel of something that is true and turn into something that is unfathomably ridiculous. I think one of the reasons this whole Q thing as grown as big as it has is because people are willing to believe it.  Is it believable? Not from where I sit. But for people who want other things to be true they buy into this.

[absnow54]

I caught part of a Q Documentary on VICE that delves more into the origins of Q and who were likely holders of the mantle throughout Q's reign. They focus a lot more on the Flynns, with the Watkins playing very minor roles. I didn't see any future airdates, but it's available for purchase on a few streaming platforms. 

[Anela]

On 3/22/2021 at 1:36 AM, snickers said:

This show so far was everything I’d hope it would be. I’m interested in Q because unfortunately I’ve had to cut people out of my life who got sucked down this rabbit hole-yet they say I’m the brainwashed one 😳

they would never watch this show because, mainstream media, but, I’d love to see the looks on their faces if they realized Q bred to life from a website that thrives off of child porn 😒

I've just started watching/listening, as I do other things, because I friend mentioned it a few months ago, but it's getting to me. I've also lost people to conspiracy theories, and avoid talking to some that I still have, because this believe in this. It's making me anxious. 

I've also watched too much TV in the past week. Binge-watching something as heavy as The Handmaid's Tale, was a mistake. 

[Anela]

On 4/2/2021 at 10:20 PM, Lady Whistleup said:

I think the pandemic got a lot of people into the wacky conspiracy theories that sort of LED them to Qanon. I actually lurked at a Facebook group (now defunct) that was about Q drops and it wasn't nearly as nerdy as Ron and Jim and Fred make it seem. It was a mix of anti-vaxxers, white supremacists, and some very troubled souls who seemed obsessed with making deep-fakes of Democrats eating children. That was actually really disturbing. There was an obsession with "adrenochrome." Kobe Bryant is a huge obsession of theirs, as is JFK Jr. Very, very weird stuff. 

I've had trouble with my teeth for several years, due to health issues, and no dental insurance (or the money to pay for much of anything, until I got a stimulus cheque), so the comments about teeth have been getting to me a bit - but, I've been in several natural health groups on facebook (like for juicing fruit and vegetables), and people have been driving me crazy with conspiracy theories. I always end up commenting, when someone mentions "big pharma" or dentists just wanting money, and not caring about what they do to your mouth, because it's accompanied by the rest of us being told that we need to know the truth. If one more person tells me that I need to think for myself, or a friend infers that I need to get oxygen to my brain, as she did last week... she believes some of this crap. I've spent too many hours arguing with people I know, over this stuff. I remember people posting about how the power was going to be shut off, and the military would be in the streets - I had a neighbour talking about this on nextdoor "whatever happens, or what you believe, I hope we will be there for each other" and when I realized where it came from, I went down a Q rabbit hole on instagram, and that was a mistake. 

This has been happening in "spiritual" groups, too. "Spiritual, but not religious". One friend who was into astrology, and herbs, disappeared from social media, after January 20th. She would regularly mention Alex Jones, as though she felt amused by something he'd said, but after a while, she was posting about "Q drops" and "this is what's really happening, can't you see?" I have no idea what's going on with her now, but she was in deep. It's sad, and frightening. She was terrified, in January. The last time I spoke to her. 

[Hanahope]

I appreciate all the background information.  it still amazes me that people will believe the theories and weird crap people like this say.