On The Outside Looking In

A recent blowup in the QAnon/GOP world helps explain how conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists are useful to the powerful in disseminating weaponized ideas and then ultimately disposed of

The soap opera that is the Right Wing fringe took another turn this week as the red-pilled QAnon faithful clashed with those nearer to the Republican mainstream. Lin Wood, who has traveled the country far and wide spreading the gospel of wide-eyed, lunatic conspiracy theories while advocating the execution of nearly everyone, began a scorched-earth campaign against a whole host of personalities and fellow grifters, including Tucker Carlson, Kyle Rittenhouse, and, most glaringly, former general Mike Flynn.

Those who follow these cesspool-ish circles know that Wood and Flynn have both been high-profile hucksters in raising money and gaining influence by catering to the fantasies of the Q-Pilled masses, fundraising by promising elections overturns and floating the possibility of a military coup. But things took a turn as Wood shared a recording of a conversation with Flynn in which one of the chosen saviors of the unhinged movement admitted he believed the entire deal was “total nonsense” and more than likely a psy-op by intelligence.

It would be one thing if these were simply spats in an eco-system, which happen quite often. Cloistered groups lashed together by ideas outside the norm often devolve into these kinds of situations, especially when there’s either strife or an opportunity for a power play. Watching the Alt-Right self-destruct and splinter following Charlottesville was instructive in this way and revealed the dynamics are infinitely combustible. Wood’s meltdown is similar in that it was obviously a reaction to feel both spurned by Carlson and Rittenhouse (who claimed Wood had used his representation to fundraise at his expense), but also the coalescing movement that has quickly and painstakingly taken over the Republican Party.

Put simply, Wood has read the writing on the wall. Where the GOP is going, he isn’t welcome. But to understand how this happened, what it means, and how we’ve arrived here, is to grasp what conspiracy theories are intended to do and exactly where the Republican Party is headed. And to truly grasp what is happening, we must start with one of the most absurd, ridiculous, and politically influential organizations in the history of the United States of America.