The Washington Post and a literal Rothschild assure us that the Red-Bearded Bard of Appalachia is a totally 100-percent genuine phenomenon, for reals.
Anthony’s meteoric rise has provoked its fair share of skepticism — and other theories. Some have accused him of being an industry plant, an artist who presents as independent but is secretly backed by rich and powerful insiders. Others have speculated that “Rich Men” was the product of “astroturfing,” a coordinated marketing or PR campaign pretending to be a grass-roots movement.
Rothschild doubts that’s the case. For one, it’s hard to purposefully make something go so viral, so quickly. And if the country music industry did have this power, it would probably go for someone “more marketable” than Anthony, he said.
“I don’t think there needs to be some kind of scheme or a scam to make this guy popular,” he said. “I think this is just the right thing, at the right time, for the right group of people.”
Oliver Anthony and the ‘mainstreaming’ of conspiracy theories, WASHINGTON POST, 20 August 2023
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m sure convinced now!
Let’s consider for a moment some observational principles which Postcards pointed out concerning the signs of controlled opposition. Two in particular appear to be highly relevant in this case, in addition to another one that I added.
- Inexplicable popularity with conservatives.
- Irregular ties to suspicious folk.
- Connected to other manufactured creatures.
Read this paragraph from the Washington Post article with that last point in mind.
The most revealing window into Anthony’s worldview may be a YouTube playlist he curated, “Videos that make your noggin get bigger.” The list includes performances from Luciano Pavarotti and Hank Williams Sr., but it also features several talking heads popular among the far right — Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogan — as well as multiple clips putting forward the conspiracy theory that Jews were responsible for 9/11. Mike Rothschild, a journalist and author who covers conspiracy theories, doesn’t think these connections are incidental…
Yes, I think that is indeed a revealing window. And as a side note, speaking as an editor and writer, I think that playlist title is fake. It has the same sort of false Hollywood tone that the dialogue provided by those recounting events that never happened invariably does.
“And then he said, ‘don’t be bustin no caps on me, fool!'”
On a tangential note, some have asked what could be the point of pushing a controlled figure who even partially violates the mainstream Narrative. Read the whole Washington Post article, especially the last three paragraphs. One obvious objective would be to suck up the resources that would otherwise go to legitimate figures with the potential to seriously threaten the current Narrative.