Ex-Trump Adviser, Gen. Michael Flynn Calls for a Military Coup at Wacky QAnon Conference

When we first reported on QAnon several years ago, few would have predicted that they would have become an influential presence within the GOP. All their conspiracies sounded like they were concocted by bored teens attempting to poke fun at Donald Trump's tinfoil hat brigade. However, today, about 30% of Republicans have a positive view of the group and they are holding conferences with speakers from the Trump administration.

For those of you who haven't been plumbing the depths of the Dark Web, QAnon is a wacky far-right conspiracy theory that claims former President Donald Trump was secretly fighting a "deep state" cabal of satanic pedophiles and cannibals. During the pandemic they became one of the premier anti-mask, anti-vax groups, they trumpeted Trump's stolen election nonsense, and the FBI labeled them a potential domestic terrorism threat. They have also repeatedly predicted that Trump would be returned to office this year by the military or aliens or something.

This weekend, former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn spoke at a conference organized by QAnon at a hotel in Dallas, Texas. Several people who were there recorded video of him endorsing the idea of a military coup like the bloody mess in Myanmar, presumably to install Trump back in the White House.

Business Insider: "In a video shared on Twitter, an attendee asks Flynn: "I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here."

Mediaite: "As the audience cheered, Flynn responded favorably to the man’s question. There’s “no reason” a coup like Myanmar’s can’t happen here, Flynn replied, to the clear approval of the crowd. “I mean, it should happen — that’s right.”

In February, Myanmar's military launched a coup against the democratically elected government which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

Here's the thing; it's easy to make fun of QAnon and argue that they are simply a fringe group that few take seriously, but many folks thought that Trump was a fringe candidate and that January 6th could never occur in the United States. There is something quite ugly brewing in America right now, something that threatens our basic civic institutions. Donald Trump understood at a gut level that hate and fear can be better motivators than integrity and compassion, and hundreds of acolytes and copy-cats like Michael Flynn are carrying his work forward. These folks aren't going away; they have been emboldened and if you listen to Republicans in Congress like Ron Johnson, Ted Cruz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, there seems to be a competition to see who can take our national dialog to ever lower levels.

It's going to get worse before it gets better.

#news #politics #QAnon

By: Don Lam & Curated Content