THE CONSPIRASPHERE
As Oregon’s Republican senators go on the run and the NXIVM cult’s links to the Democrats obsess the Conspirasphere, NOEL ROONEY wonders what’s become of Q...
MADNESS IN OREGON
The walk-out by Republican members of the Oregon legislature (to stall the passage of a bill to reduce carbon emissions) started as a local example of the kind of petulance that seems to characterise contemporary US politics. But things began to take a decidedly ominous turn after the state’s Governor (a Democrat, Kate Brown) responded by posting on her official website that she had asked the state police to bring the recalcitrant Republicans back to the State Capitol to do their (democratic) duty.
That provoked a response from Republican state senator Brian Boquist which raised the temperature a notch or two. “Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” the senator was quoted as saying. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon.” Ruby Ridge, anyone? Boquist’s statement, in turn, provoked messages suggesting local militias were preparing to defend the senators and confront the police. A typical example from the Oregon 3 Percenters: “We have vowed to provide security, transportation and refuge for those senators in need. We will stand together with unwavering resolve, doing whatever it takes to keep these senators safe.” Cut through the rhetoric and that sounds a lot like a threat of armed resistance. Another 3 Percenters group in the state added, helpfully: “This is what the start of a civil war looks like.” By this point the air was fairly hot, but nothing untoward had happened. Then this notice appeared on Oregon Live: “A spokeswoman for the Senate President confirmed late Friday that ‘Oregon State Police has recommended that the Capitol be closed tomorrow due to a possible militia threat’”.
Thankfully, there are no reports of armed confrontations actually happening – and it could reasonably be argued that Brown’s request for the police to drag the truant senators (some of whom are reportedly hiding out in Idaho) back to the chamber was as much of an overreaction as Boquist’s incendiary defiance – but a number of commentators have pointed out that the Oregon affair amounts to direct intervention by alt-right militias in the legislative process. That in itself is alarming but, more broadly, it suggests that the shift of conspiracist thinking into the mainstream may have the potential to trigger physical consequences.
Meanwhile, a more high-profile affair has got the Conspirasphere’s antennae a-quiver. The conviction of Keith Raniere, leader of the NXIVM cult, on charges of, inter alia, child trafficking and racketeering, has inspired quite a few conspiracists to investigate his longstanding connections to the Clintons. It seems that Raniere, and many of the group’s members, made contributions to Hillary’s election campaign in 2016, while others – including Seagram heiresses the Bronfman sisters – were contributors to Bill’s Clinton Global Initiative. Raniere’s connections to some close advisers of the Clintons (Richard Mays, Paul Berry, possibly John Podesta) have triggered a chain of logic that leads inexorably to the Pizzagate affair: Raniere was abusing underage girls; some of the NXIVM rituals might be described as Satanic; Clinton acolytes spent time with Raniere; John Podesta once ordered a pizza. You can see how it all hangs together. Raniere’s alleged humble beginnings as a pyramid seller in Arkansas only add grist to the dot-connectors’ mill.
Finally, has anybody seen Q? At the time of writing, in late June, no posts have appeared from the rabbit hole since 26 May. Some QAnon commentators claim Q is simply on holiday, but it’s curious that, at a critical time in the Trump presidency – the re-election bid, the continuing fallout from the Mueller report, the increasing tension in relations with Iran, the new allegations of sexual misconduct – the President’s quirky champion should go AWOL. And if Q has simply gone on his/her/their hols, why haven’t we all gone with them? #WWG1WGA