Secret Service To Investigate Social Media Post

By
Gregory McMullen
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If there’s one thing conservatives have mastered in the digital age, it’s turning outrage into art—and art into ammunition. The meme wars, once dismissed as internet fluff, have evolved into full-blown cultural artillery. And in the wake of James Comey’s cryptic “86 47” seashell stunt, the online right wasted no time firing back with mockery, message, and momentum.

Let’s start with the obvious: no one on the right believes James Comey “just happened” upon a neatly arranged cluster of seashells forming “86 47”—a combination widely interpreted to mean “eliminate the 47th president,” i.e., Donald Trump. Whether it was a botched attempt at symbolism or just a smug nod to a shared digital language, the backlash came fast. But not just with statements. With memes—hundreds of them.

  • One popular image showed a fake beach warning sign that read: “Beware of political statements disguised as tide art. Violators will be mocked mercilessly.”

  • Another mimicked CSI-style forensics, with arrows analyzing the symmetry of the shells and concluding: “Nature didn’t make this. TDS did.”

  • Side-by-side memes drew a line between Comey’s image and other tone-deaf political stunts—juxtaposing the beach post with photos of elites flouting lockdown rules, captioned: “The Rules Don’t Apply—Just the Messaging.”

The most cutting meme? A reimagined version of Gilligan’s Island, but instead of shipwrecked characters, it was a lineup of “lost” Democrats under a title card: “86’d by 47.”

The right’s meme economy isn’t just reactive—it’s relentless, and it works because it cuts through media noise with humor that’s rooted in cultural frustration. Since Andrew Breitbart first declared that “politics is downstream from culture,” conservatives have recognized the power of punchlines over policy papers.

And unlike their leftist counterparts—who often default to memes steeped in academic jargon or performative outrage—the right leans into humor with teeth. It’s not afraid to offend because it doesn’t rely on elite validation. The result? A style that spreads like wildfire, especially when the target is as out of touch as Comey.

Comey’s photo-op also stirred memories of a more grassroots defiance: the Huntington Beach message during the COVID lockdowns. When Californians were banned from gathering, worshipping, or even walking on certain beaches, a massive aerial message was spotted etched into the sand: “OPEN THE BEACHES.”

That wasn’t a meme—it was a movement. But it shares the same DNA as the “86 47” backlash: regular Americans using humor, visibility, and creative messaging to resist elite overreach.

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