Welcome to the rabbit hole
by digby
This story about the latest wingnut conspiracy really illustrates just how looney tunes they've become:
The right-wing conspiracy theory internet has gone wild over the past week with a new conspiracy theory that's so wild, Michael Flynn Jr. can only hint at it in a tweet:
For weeks now, various conspiracy types, including adherents of the bizarre QAnon saga, have been eagerly awaiting an "HRC video" that would bring down Hillary Clinton. The rumored video — supposedly found on Anthony Wiener's laptop — was thought to be so damning, QAnon said in one cryptic post, that it would be "impossible to defend."
That chatter went into overdrive last weekend after hoax site YourNewsWire published an article describing a purported video showing Clinton and aide Huma Abedin engaging in violent criminal acts with a child:
An “extreme snuff film” featuring Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin raping and mutilating a prepubescent girl is circulating on the dark web, according to sources familiar with the material.
The picture above of a masked woman, supporters of the video claim, is actually Abedin herself. Pizzagate and QAnon enthusiasts went wild with talk about the grainy video — dubbed "Frazzledrip" — saying that this was proof of the high-ranking pedophile rings they've been talking about all along.
I certainly wasn't going to go looking for a video purporting to show child abuse, and I wouldn't recommend you do, either. Fortunately, Snopes did some commendable legwork and confirmed that this is all fake. Of course!
For example: the masked picture that supposedly represents Abedin engaged in some Yellow King-type crimes is, in fact, just an image from a D.C. restaurant website:
For now, the idea of the video itself has proven too hot for most right-wing outlets, making their stories about the supposed reemergence of Wiener's laptop awfully confusing if you aren't already plugged in. Gateway Pundit, for example, lead its site with a story about something disgusting found on the laptop — but wouldn't say exactly what that thing was supposed to be.
Even some diehard QAnon types are pushing back on the supposed video with a theory of their own. They don't believe the video is real, they say, because it's actually a deep state psy-op meant to discredit their own theories.
This is what people like Michael Flynn, the one-time national security adviser, were tied into.
This gross, lurid underbelly has always been part of the far right eco-system. But this is one place where social media is reaching many more people than they've ever reached before. It shines a very bright light on the dark imagination of the right wing mind and it's very creepy.
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