Response to Universe's "Wheel Dilema" - Thoughts on the FDW by DavetheKlone

I always looked at the wheel being dislodged from its axis as a direct result of Ben turning the Frozen Wheel in 2004, and that something about the way he was able to gain purchase/leverage against the ice that had built up, caused the wheel was moved off its central axis. I thought that the center spoke of the wheel literally bumping against the "Exotic Dark Matter" (or whatever causes the white flash/green glow) behind the wall was what was causing the Time-Skipping-Flashes. By this logic, the central spoke of the wheel would be the needle of the turn-table in Daniel Faraday's skipping record analogy.

Think back to the Season 2 premiere when Desmond watch the needle on his record player skip and move across the surface of the Mama Cass record as a result of the hatch door being blown opened. Let's say where that needle was 1 millisecond before the explosion is analogous to the position of the wheel 1 millisecond before Ben turned it in the Season 4 finale, and then let's say where the needle ended up is analogous to the state of the wheel when Locke is about to turn it. Locke turns the wheel, only instead of setting the needle completely right and putting it back where it was before Ben turned it in the Season 4 finale, it's now playing as it was supposed to had it never been disturbed, starting from an earlier point than before it was moved in the first place.

Now let's say this entire occurrence took place in a single morning...this morning. During that entire time, the needle of the record player (the frozen donkey wheel) is the same needle it always was, the only thing that changed was the place where it was making contact with the record (its location in space and time) during this particular morning when you were listening to the record (your current iteration on the island). This doesn't mean that yesterday morning (your previous iteration), when you were listening to the same record (experiencing the same path through space and time) the needle (frozen donkey wheel) skipped between the same points, nor will it tomorrow morning (the next iteration). It only happened this particular morning due to specific circumstances, like someone blowing open your hatch door (or Ben turning the wheel and unhinging it).

What does this mean? Is it possible the loop-hole The Nemesis is referring to is actually the time-loop itself, and not a person like Locke or Ben? Does this mean that until Ben unhinged the wheel, the record always played straight through without skipping, thus it always ends the same? (Ironic that the opening of the Season 5 premiere featured a record playing through the beginning of a song, and then skipping and repeating a brief phrase of the song over and over until the needle is picked up by Pierre Chang. Is that was Locke was effectively doing when he gave the wheel a "little push"?