With the arrest of Baked Alaska, I thought I would remind everyone that these are not real people. They are personalities, often adopted in order to gather "followers" and make money. Their ideologies change with the prevailing winds. [A brief thread]

Some of the loudmouths in the conspiracy world have always been alt-right types, but not all. When I started truly digging into some of the Q personalities, I found just the opposite. Some were clearly progressives before Trump was elected.

One was pro-Obama, pro-immigration, and pro-democrat her entire life. Until Trump was elected. In 2017, when an audience was just sitting there waiting for new voices, change your online name, adopt a very right wing personality, and jump right in. That is where the money was.

That particular person, who shouted about voter fraud and stolen elections, didn't even vote in 2020. Or 2016. Or since 2014. At all. That didn't stop her from leading the charge. Her "followers" weren't aware. She has been a registered Democrat for 2 decades.

For a movement like Qanon, which constantly warned of false flags and psyops being run on people, they were absolutely blind to the fact some of their most prominent voices were charlatans and con artists.

Believe me, I saw this before, long before Qanon was a thing. Many, many people within the conspiracy theory world have simply found a way to make a living. Most of the advocates are easily fooled and manipulated. It only takes a few books and videos to learn how to do it.

[This may offend some people. Not sorry.]

Watch a stage hypnotist. Watch an illusionist. Watch a good conspiracy theorist, say...Alex Jones. (Less so recently. Go back a decade.)

Now watch a successful televangelist.

It's the same book. The process of manipulation is the same

In church on Sunday, you ever feel strange when the preachers says, read this passage; Now go here, read this passage; now here. Then they try to connect them all into a coherent sermon?

What do you think conspiracy theorists do?

It's the same "how to" book.

Be sure to watch my super-hot, scantily-clad assistant while I pull this rabbit out of a secret compartment in my underwear.

If your new friend in Great Britain asks you questions about your job at the nuclear widget factory, and you talk because GB is our friend and it's cool, but that friend is really from Russian intelligence. You got false flagged.

The Q folks constantly talked about false flags. Constantly. By doing so, they made you look at the sexy assistant. (Or the Clintons. Whatever.) That way you weren't looking too closely at what THEY were doing. Deception. Misdirection. Illusion.

I'm sure televangelists were happy the conspiracy leaders weren't healing the blind or taking crutches from people.

But you could buy their branded essential oils and silver concoctions.

Did any of the alt-right find it strange that Baked Alaska's career path was marketing and social media management? Like, anybody? Did anybody stop and go, wait, this guy manipulates perceptions as his profession?

Nah, don't be silly. My confirmation bias tells me no.

Did anybody notice that the guy who just stood up from his wheelchair...had never been in this church before? Weird, but thank you, Jesus.

In the style of today's woke youth.

It is the same thing

You didn't notice that so many on the alt-right and definitely Qanon followers have two things in common - Trump and Jesus?

They were blind to the manipulation and deception because...they were used to it.

I'm not slamming christian believers. I AM slamming frauds and charlatans who prey on them, in church and out.

Boy, if you wanted to get the ban hammer real quick, just go to one of those, "God chose Trump to lead us. God wins. God has a plan!" Posts and type these words:

So, I guess God didn't want Trump to have a second term.

Boom! The hammer. Not the imaginary software kind.

But just like many "religious" people have never read the Bible, they didn't do a simple Google search on their theorist of choice to find their previous convictions or even prison sentences for past frauds.

Do you actually think Alex Jones believes half the garbage that comes out of his own mouth.

Hell, no. But in the last 30 years he's made millions by doing it.

*cough* Joel Osteen *cough-cough*

Sorry, I'm still recovering from the Rona. Bit of a cough still.

"Yes! Take the Capitol! That's OUR HOUSE!"

DAMN! MY SUITE DOESN'T HAVE HBO!

Many of the biggest voices encouraging the Capitol chaos did so from the sidelines. At least Baked Alaska went all in. All the way to probably federal prison time. The others didn't.

So anyway, just some thoughts and insights into how this all works. Most of them were conned. Some knew they were being conned and went along anyway. Others were just used. True believers but not truth believers. They were never given the truth.