Operation Mindfuck

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Mind control. Satanic rituals. Unspeakable sexual perversions. Supervillains eating children's brains. A divine mandate to keep Donald Trump in the White House, no matter what. This surreal combination of horror-movie shocks and fascist marching orders is the signature of QAnon, which emerged from the dark corners of the internet in 2017 and soon became the galvanizing force behind Trump supporters, both during Trump's presidency and in the volatile, ongoing aftermath of the 2020 election. Unraveling its patchwork quilt of recycled material, from 1940s pulp fiction to Hunter S. Thompson-style pranks to Nixon-esque dirty tricks, Robert Guffey's Operation Mindfuck diagnoses QAnon as a highly engineered ploy, calibrated to capture the attention and lockstep loyalty of its audience. Will its followers ever realize they've been had? Can this new American religion be dispelled as a cult like any other? The answers, Guffey reveals, are hidden in plain sight