The QAnon Playbook: Inside Mike Flynn's War on Reality

A retired three-star general is running a sophisticated psychological war on American soil.

Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Redux via The Atlantic

On Friday, October 3, 2025, a flash of lightning hit social media.

It arrived in the form of a three-minute video pinned to Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn (Ret.)’s X account. Within a day, the video had amassed over 666,000 views.

The accompanying post contained a direct command:

“LET’S GO!!!”

Source: @GenFlynn/X

To be sure, it was a slick, violent, and bombastic piece of propaganda, interspersing real-life visuals with AI-generated video. But to anyone who had been paying attention, it was something entirely different: a confession. Spliced between apocalyptic imagery, QAnon symbology, and calls to arms was a stunning screenshot from 4chan.

Flynn had just admitted it all. The game was real, and it was out in the open.

Flynn’s video represented the convergence of a dangerous military doctrine, an open embrace of the QAnon narrative, and a legal war that is active and growing.

It was a declaration that the battle for America is a war of perception—and this is a war that Flynn, and the foreign adversaries whose playbook he’s adopted, intend to win.

Anatomy of a Psyop

The video isn’t just propaganda; it’s a weaponized meme, precision-engineered to hijack your brain before you even know what’s happening. Breaking it down frame by frame is like disarming a bomb. You can see how every one of its cuts, every flash of imagery, and every swell of the militaristic score appears designed for a single purpose: to bypass rational thought and mainline a narrative of grievance and violent retribution directly into the viewer’s limbic system.

This assessment is backed up by those who claim to have worked directly on Flynn’s media. According to Paul Fleuret, a QAnon adherent who wrote on Substack that he did video production for Flynn, the process is deliberate.

“Beyond the obvious,” he wrote, “this video is absolutely loaded with potential winks and nods towards Q and the drops.” This insider confirmation reinforces what the visual evidence makes clear: the video functions as a direct line of communication to the initiated.

Source: Paul Fleuret/Substack

Act I: The Golden Age Under Siege.

The video opens with a flood of nostalgic, 1950s-era imagery: a rural homestead glowing in the golden light of sunset, peaceful Americans streets, a young man raising an American flag. This is the emotional baseline, establishing a mythic, white, Christian America that the viewer is meant to feel has been lost. This idyllic world is immediately contrasted a shift in musical tone coupled with the integration of symbols of modern decay and control.

Flynn’s own voice narrates, with the narration coinciding perfectly with onscreen symbology to communicate various messages.

“We are in a war most people don’t even see. It’s not just bombs or bullets. It’s information, technology, and control over what you believe.

Every day, powerful forces shape the news you read and the thoughts you hold. This is fifth. Generation Warfare.And whether you know it or not, you are already on the battlefield. The choice is yours. Remain unaware, or recognize the fight and take a stand.“

Act II: The Enemy Within and the Strongman’s Return.

The second act is a rapid-fire assault of enemy imagery designed to stoke outrage and fear. The shot of gridlocked traffic frames contemporary life as a trap, but the image of ominous cell towers looming over a city is a far more specific signal. For the QAnon-initiated, these are not just cell towers; they are a direct visual reference to the sprawling 5G conspiracy theory, which posits that the technology is a tool of the “Deep State” used for mass surveillance, mind control, and even spreading disease. The towers are presented as the physical infrastructure of an unseen digital prison.

A grotesque, AI-generated figure in a white dress serves as crude anti-trans messaging, while scenes of a boy consuming violent and sexual media, of a rock star on stage, and of children receiving AIDS education in an elementary classroom are coded to trigger anxieties about youth corruption and LGBTQ+ identities. The act’s ideological centerpiece is a single, powerful image: a flagpole flying the American flag alongside the Pride, Trans, and Black Lives Matter flags, making a visual argument of symbolic ‘contamination’. Footage of the night that Kyle Rittenhouse shot three innocent people, killing two. This is immediately followed by a shot of Barack Obama and Donald Trump glaring at each other, personalizing the national culture war into a direct conflict between two leaders. Amidst this landscape of fire and destruction, Flynn himself appears, surveying disaster scenes as a commanding presence.

The music then shifts, showing footage of amassed MAGA faithful standing in long outdoor lines, ostensibly waiting to vote. A news chyron announcing “TRUMP: 47th President” flashes, reminding viewers of past conquest and priming them for its next stage. His pre-election mugshot, as his official portrait, is reframed from a symbol of criminality into a badge of honor for the battles he fought to win the White House, and shown in relation to its distance from the Oval office. The video leverages the cult status of Tulsi Gabbard within the QAnon and MAGA ecosystems, using her image and that of Pete Hegseth to lend a veneer of anti-establishment credibility to Trump’s authoritarian vision. A cadre of Marines enters the Oval office to meet Trump and shake his hand. This vision includes not just domestic military cooperation but fantasies of international dominance, symbolized by scenes of Trump walking in formation with Canadian troops in ceremonial uniform.

It is here that Flynn begins speaking in code, communicating directly with the QAnon faithful. John Solomon and Sara Carter, who have been described as “Q’s favorite reporters” and whose work frequently legitimizes pro-Trump, pro-Kremlin, and anti-Ukraine narratives, are shown in an interview context. Then, in a sequence lasting less than two seconds, the video flashes a scene of Donald Trump with a white rabbit, immediately followed by a screenshot of an actual “Q drop” from 4chan.

This is the operational confirmation, the direct link Flynn has spent years alternately coyly courting and denying.

A buffalo herd stampeding off a cliff is then presented prominently. On the surface, this is a classic metaphor for the mindless followers of Flynn’s enemies. But on a deeper, nativist level, it visually equates these enemies with a force that is destroying the “pure” or “native” essence of America. The video then unleashes a rapid-fire targeting of its “Deep State” enemies, flashing the faces of, in order: James Comey, Tom Homan (a Flynn ally, juxtaposed against them in a power pose), James Clapper, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Sally Yates, Andrew McCabe, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, then switching to file footage of Trump and Putin walking together on the red carpet in Alaska. Aerial scenes of a B2 bomber flanked by four military jets are cut adjacent to a scene of Putin and Kim Jong Un laughing in a car together, which then cuts to a massive explosion as viewed through satellite imagery, flattening an area, then cuts back to Trump walking with Canadian troops. This vision of his current presidency is explicitly authoritarian. The casual inclusion of figures like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un alongside Trump works to normalize their style of absolute rule, suggesting it as a model for his administration.

This targeting of old enemies serves a larger purpose: to justify and consolidate Donald Trump’s power. Those included in the video are obviously not random figures; they were all key officials in power during the presidential transition from Obama to Trump. Flynn and his allies have spent years framing their actions as a coordinated, illegitimate political attack—a partisan “witch hunt.” From the perspective of upholding the rule of law, however, these officials were simply executing their institutional roles to enforce the law and protect national security from foreign interference. The relentless public relations campaign repeating the mantra of “Russia, Russia, Russia” was itself an act of narrative warfare designed to erode public trust in the justice system and distract from the very real national security threat at the heart of the investigation–a threat validated by Michael Flynn’s own guilty plea.

[Intro]

Runnin’ through the dark, nowhere left to hide

Battle lines are drawn, taste the smoke and fire

[Chorus]

This is warfare, This is warfare, This is warfare

[Verse]

We won’t stop, ‘Til you fall

Cut you down, Take it all

One by one, Say goodbye

You can run, but you can’t hide

[Chorus]

Act III: Retribution and Restoration.

The final act delivers the violent climax. The video solidifies its January 6th narrative with an image of the crowd swarming the Capitol, plastered with yellow arrows and the word “FED” pointing at numerous individuals. This is a direct injection of the “FEDsurrection” conspiracy theory into the bloodstream of the video—a claim that the attack was a false flag operation orchestrated by the government itself. Repeated imagery of aerial B2 bombers and jets directly mirrors the visual language of specific Q drops that discuss control of military air assets during “The Storm.” The shot of a MAGA supporter whispering and pointing to the sky is a visual echo of the movement’s frequent exhortations to “watch the skies” for military action. These signals demonstrate the production isn’t made for a general audience; it’s insider signaling for “digital soldiers.”

The video openly celebrates its foot soldiers. It shows Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys, breaking a Capitol window on January 6th, followed by a shot of other presumed Proud Boys at a rally. For viewers “in the know,” this is an explicit valorization of them and their violent actions. For an uninformed audience, however, the generic image of a black-clad “protestor” allows for plausible deniability, letting them assume it was a leftist agitator. The video is speaking on two levels at once: celebrating its violent vanguard to insiders while maintaining a cover story for the public.

The video viscerally invokes the horror of 9/11 and the assassinations of JFK and Charlie Kirk to build a mythology of martyrdom. Then comes the emotional crescendo: the U.S. Capitol building is shown exploding from within. The symbolism is blunt: the corrupt system has been destroyed, and the legitimate government is fleeing in the face of a popular uprising. The placement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the Israeli flag immediately after the montage of American tragedies and just before the exploding Capitol is a classic and potent antisemitic dog whistle. This juxtaposition is designed to imply Jewish responsibility for these catastrophic events, tapping into the core QAnon and neo-Nazi conspiracy theory that a global cabal, often coded as Jewish, is orchestrating America’s destruction.

The video concludes with a vision of the Capitol’s restoration, followed by a shot of Air Force One taking off. Citizens are seen speaking persuasively at town halls while “LOCAL ACTION EQUALS NATIONAL IMPACT” scrolls on a chyron below. A screenshot of a news report announcing the indictment of arch-nemesis James Comey with its circled date of September 25, 2025 offers followers tangible proof that the ‘plan’ is in motion and their enemies are facing justice. To provide divine justification, a biblical quote (Genesis 50:20) flashes on screen, suggesting “the saving of many lives.” Trump is then shown signing an executive order against abortion funding with a backdrop of a crowd of young girls in the White House.

As the music fades, the final messages appear, removing all ambiguity. First, a line that teaches the conspiratorial mindset: “Every message you hear, every story you see, is part of a larger fight.” Then, the final, direct command, displayed under an American flag and above Flynn’s own prominent logo and website: “Don’t be a passive target rise up and defend your freedom.” This is no anonymous call to action. It is obviously a direct order, branded and signed by the Lieutenant General (Ret.) himself.

Warning to Viewers: The following video is not a standard political ad; it is a deliberate act of cognitive warfare. Its goal is to bypass your critical thinking through rapid cuts, emotional triggers, and coded messaging designed to pull you into the QAnon mindset.

This is a mechanism to be analyzed, not a message to be believed.

The Playbook

This cruel game of psychological violence has a title: The Citizen’s Guide to Fifth Generation Warfare. The book was co-authored with former Army Sergeant Boone Cutler, Flynn’s key partner in translating these military concepts for a civilian audience. Their collaboration is now shadowed by Cutler’s unexplained death on September 18, 2025.

This context makes Flynn’s post on October 3rd all the more macabre.

In the post accompanying his “Non-Linear Warfare” video, Flynn strategically tagged the accounts of his late co-author, Boone Cutler, as well as that of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who had been assassinated just weeks earlier on September 10th. Weaponizing martyrdom is a textbook psyop tactic. By invoking the fresh deaths of these two figures, Flynn transformed real tragedy and loss into emotional fuel for his movement, amplifying the sense of grievance and urgency to sanctify his call to arms.

With this grim backdrop, the book itself reads less like theory and more like an operational manual. It purports to be a self-help guide for citizens to defend themselves against psyops. In reality, it’s a loaded weapon, handed to his followers under the guise of a shield. Its stated purpose, to educate, is systematically subverted by its underlying function: to indoctrinate. It is a masterclass in leveraging military credibility to lend authority to a political agenda as a classic Gray PSYOP, one in which the true intent of the source of the operation is deliberately concealed.

The core concept is terrifying: the true battlefield is the human mind, what the book explicitly calls the “cognitive battle space.” The book employs the “Granfalloon Technique”, a social psychology term for creating a proud but meaningless in-group, to forge a powerful “us vs. them” identity. The in-group, “freedom-loving citizens,” is pitted against a shadowy cabal of globalists, the “UniParty,” and the “shadowy government.” Most chillingly, the book provides a four-step recipe for how ordinary people can be conditioned to kill: Polarization, Tribalization, Dehumanization, and Killing.

It is a road map that leads directly to the fantasy of an exploding Capitol, providing a political and even moral justification for the violence the video promises, a promise now amplified by the ghosts of his fallen allies.

The Lawsuit That Ate Itself

Even as Flynn was authoring the playbook on psychological warfare, he was waging a more conventional one in a Florida courthouse, with one major complication: his own public actions kept blowing up his case.

In May 2023, he filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against researcher Jim Stewartson, and later amended the lawsuit to add as defendants the political strategist Rick Wilson of The Lincoln Project Political Action Committee and the popular media outlet MeidasTouch. The central allegation was that Stewartson had defamed Flynn by linking him to QAnon. The defendants argued it was a classic SLAPP suit, designed to bury a critic under legal fees.

The court has emphatically agreed.

In a series of blistering rulings, the Florida judiciary dismantled Flynn’s case, finding it met the state legislature’s own definition of an “abuse of the judicial process.” The case against co-defendants Wilson and MeidasTouch is dead. The case against Stewartson, while technically active, has been gutted.

The central fight over Stewartson’s right to link Flynn to QAnon and psyops is over, which brings us back to the video. In a court of law, Flynn claims his reputation was grievously harmed by being associated with QAnon. On the internet, he splashes QAnon’s symbols across the screen as a badge of honor.

He is, in effect, providing the best possible evidence against himself.

Still from source video: @GenFlynn/X

When I contacted Stewartson for this story, he provided the following statement:

“Leading up to the 2020 election, I recognized QAnon believers as an imminent threat and tracked them real-time as many of their leaders, including Mike Flynn, planned and executed the J6 insurrection. My experience creating alternate reality games gave me insight into how people were being manipulated through interactive narrative, and I spent much of the last five years tracking down its origins, its psychological mechanisms, and its true purpose. Now that its mythology has saturated the federal government, accurately documenting how it happened is even more important.”

The War on the System

But the campaign is just one front in a much broader war. The ultimate target are the very institutions that are supposed to hold power accountable.

Three days before dropping his video, Flynn gave a preview of his ambition by filing an Amicus Curiae Brief in the Supreme Court case Talbott v. United States, which challenged the ban on transgender military service. The filing is a culture-war manifesto disguised as a legal document. It leverages emotionally charged themes to cast transgender service members as an inherent threat, labeling them as suffering from “serious mental illness” and a danger when given access to “fully automatic firearms.” This is a direct application of the dehumanization phase outlined in his own book.

But the brief’s most audacious claim was aimed at the court itself: that the judiciary simply has no authority to review the president’s military policies. This radical stance aligns perfectly with his book’s narrative that a shadowy “UniParty” is weaponizing the law (“Lawfare”) to advance a globalist agenda. In Flynn’s worldview, the Commander-in-Chief is a king, and the courts have no say.

This is the endgame hidden beneath the layers of Q-drops and online trolling: to dismantle the system of checks and balances and place the executive beyond the reach of the law.

From Russia, With Hate

If you want to understand the rules of this new, borderless battlefield, you have to look at the country that perfected them: Russia. The very term Flynn chose for his book, “Fifth Generation Warfare”, is a direct import from the Kremlin’s military doctrine for modern subversion, which can be more accurately termed “Non-Linear Warfare”.

NLW is a state-level strategy designed to achieve geopolitical outcomes primarily through non-military means. In his 2013 writings on the nature of modern conflict, General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, argued that the ratio of non-military to military actions had become four to one. He asserted that these information-centric efforts have, in many cases, become vastly more effective than conventional military force. The focus, as Flynn repeats in his video, is on achieving “control over what you believe.”

This isn’t an abstract parallel. It is grounded in Flynn’s own history.

A 2016 Politico investigation into the Kremlin’s media strategy identified Flynn as a prime example of how Russia was successfully recruiting and amplifying disaffected members of the American establishment. He accepted tens of thousands of dollars from RT, the Russian state-controlled propaganda network, for a paid speech in Moscow, which produced the now-infamous photograph of him seated next to Vladimir Putin. Shortly after, during his brief 22-day tenure as National Security Advisor, he was fired by Trump for lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

He later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about those same contacts.

Image Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, file via NBC News

What happened next was extraordinary and stunned the legal community.

The Department of Justice, under new Attorney General Barr, suddenly tried to take back the charges against Flynn, even though he had already pleaded guilty. Their official reason stated was that Flynn’s lies didn’t matter because the FBI shouldn’t have been investigating him in the first place. The move was so unusual, it led to the lead prosecutor on the case quitting in protest. The judge overseeing the case was so skeptical of the DOJ’s reversal that he brought in an independent outsider to argue against it.

This legal chaos set the stage for a full presidential pardon. The pardon was incredibly broad, giving Flynn a get-out-of-jail-free card not just for the crime he admitted to, but for “any and all possible offenses” from the entire Russia investigation. This sweeping absolution effectively erased any legal accountability for his role in the affair. He didn’t just have a brush with the architects of this strategy; he sat at their table and took their money, and was ultimately shielded from the legal consequences.

Flynn has deployed the Russians’ playbook with great fidelity. Just as the Kremlin frames its aggression as a “defensive, civilizational struggle,” Flynn frames his campaign as a righteous defense against corrupt and traitorous occupiers. He is not merely engaging in domestic politics; he is importing a foreign adversary’s strategy for societal collapse and aiming it at the heart of the United States. The public alarm which has surrounded Flynn since 2016 is therefore not hyperbole; it is a rational response to a former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency publicly embracing a conspiracy theory known to radicalize its followers.

Given his deep background in intelligence and proven knowledge of psychological warfare, any claim of plausible deniability evaporates. He must know precisely what he is doing: activating a movement whose logical conclusion could be widespread civil unrest, or even civil war.

The War Is Here

That video wasn’t just a piece of propaganda; it marked a major transition from continuing plausible deniability to open operational admission. It was the moment the doctrine left the pages of a book and was broadcast as a direct declaration of war, suggesting Flynn believes the political environment now permits direct acknowledgment of psychological operations against American civilians.

The video is arguably one of the most sophisticated pieces of domestic incitement propaganda ever produced and publicly released by a senior former flag officer in American history. The goal? To use military-grade psyops to radicalize viewers into seeing themselves as soldiers in a holy war against the American state and command them to “rise up.” It, along with the book that served as its blueprint, the abusive lawsuits, the assault on the judiciary, the troll armies, and the media gatekeepers who provided cover, are not separate phenomena. They are the integrated weapons of a coherent campaign that uses a foreign adversary’s playbook to wage a domestic political war, creating a significant risk for inspired violence.

Flynn’s legal battle against Jim Stewartson now stands as a case study in this new form of conflict. Stewartson’s core investigative claim, that QAnon is a top-down psyop with Flynn at its center, has been derided or ignored by many of the very figures who should have been examining them. The allegation has now been brazenly corroborated by Michael Flynn himself.

The question, then, is no longer whether a former high-ranking intelligence official is actively running a sophisticated psyop against the American people; the video has answered that. The question now is how a nation responds when a war like this is no longer hidden in the shadows, but is waged in plain sight.

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