I may have only been watching The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since last fall (the short-lived suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September is what turned me on to the late night circuit - ironically, Trump and FCC thug Brendan Carr have only amplified the signals they've been trying to censor, as these things tend to go), but it's become a nightly routine (well, four nights a week, anyway) for at least seven months now.
Along with Jon Stewart and the revolving hosts of The Daily Show, Seth Meyers (host of Late Night), and John Oliver from Last Week Tonight (also: Jimmy Fallon, but I don't watch his show regularly), these comedians have helped me to cope with the unprecedented levels of corruption in our federal government right now (all thanks to the MAGA Republicans in power, who are smashing, grabbing, and dismantling democracy one piece at a time), creating a sense of camaraderie through mutual outrage, and making the news just a little bit easier to swallow, by sprinkling it with a healthy dose of good humor.
It is, therefore, in honor of The Late Show being prematurely retired as of this week, and in dedication to Stephen Colbert - who, as Bruce Springsteen put it, is "the first guy in America who's lost his show because we got a president who can't take a joke" - that I thought it would be fun to answer the patented Colbert Questionert, a running feature that only this week was finally, and with great anticipation, turned around on the host himself (and administered by a revolving cast of celebrity guests). Here are my own answers:
Best sandwich?
In college, at the campus grill, I was introduced to the turkey melt. It's a grilled sandwich, combining chopped turkey with cheddar cheese, and (optionally) diced tomatoes. To this day, it's still one of my favorite things to make at home. Although, lately I've taken to using diced jalapeno in place of tomato, to get that irresistible jalapeno/cheddar flavor.
What was your first concert?
I like to tell people it was seeing The Who in 2002 at Hersheypark Stadium, with Robert Plant opening, but in truth, that was my second concert. The first one was actually X-Fest, earlier that year. It was a bit of an ordeal. I was dragged there by my girlfriend - who convinced me to lie to get out of school early (something that weighed heavily on my conscience). So it wasn't really my scene; but what made it so miserable was the cold and the pouring rain. I remember huddling in the shelter of a public restroom for warmth at one point. The only music I remember was Rob Zombie playing Dragula (or, as I knew it at the time, the "burn the witches" song).
What is the scariest animal?
I can't argue with Stephen Colbert's answer to this question, although I would generalize it somewhat. Unfortunately, I suffer from arachnophobia, so the irrational terror I feel around spiders is magnitudes greater than any reasonable fear I might experience in the presence of any other animal.
Apples or oranges?
Although I'm not in the habit of putting peanut butter on apples (bananas are a different story), I'd still pick apples over oranges. I'm not especially fond of the citrus fruits.
Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
Yes. I prefer genuine interactions to superficial tokens like a person's signature, but I do have a good story to share on this subject. I'm a huge fan of a retro rock band named Silvertide that came out of Philly in the mid-aughts. I even drove out of state once to be in the crowd during the filming of a concert DVD (which was ultimately scrapped). When my college sent out a campus-wide email scouting ideas for bands to book, I recommended Silvertide. In a small night club on campus, to a crowd of no more than a few dozen people, I got to see them play up close and personal, and then hung out with them after the show. I had the entire band sign a t-shirt, which I still have to this day. It's a shame the band fizzled out so quickly, because they were really good.
What do you think happens when we die?
I'm a scientist and an atheist, so I think the most plausible scenario is that we simply cease to be. There may be a brief transition period, but afterward, there are no more sensations or perceptions. We are no more. All that is left is for our bodies to dissolve and be recycled back into the environment. The closest facsimile would be a dreamless sleep from which we never awake. Which isn't so bad. That said, it's not a rational fear, but if I let my conscious mind dwell too long on the thought of what it must be like to stop existing, I begin to feel a psychological sense of vertigo, like I'm standing on the brink of an infinite void of darkness. So I just try my best to ignore it, and distract myself with the business of living.
Favorite action movie?
My favorite cinematic genre is horror, but I've given this a little bit of thought, and I'm gonna say Aliens. The way that James Cameron came in, and produced a successful follow-up to a paranoid, claustrophobic thriller (not unlike The Thing) - by opening up the scope and ramping up the adrenaline, pitting an elite platoon of space marines against an army of deadly xenomorphs, while introducing (or meaningfully evolving) iconic characters with eminently quotable lines, advancing the biology of the species in a way that felt both natural and spectacular, and still scaring the pants off of audiences - it's one of the best sequels of all time.
Window or aisle?
I would probably lean towards window because I like the view, but Stephen does bring up a good point. I've only flown a few times in my life, and I've never used the bathroom on a plane (not even flying 13 hours to Japan, across the Pacific). But that's one of the things that stresses me out the most about the thought of flying (along with being gender profiled by TSA, having my luggage mishandled, and being crowded into a tight space with lots of people). I think I'd rather have the window seat, and just use the bathroom on the ground and take my chances...
Favorite smell?
I don't pay a lot of attention to smells - generally, no smell is a good smell in my book. But when it comes to fragrances, my first choice is usually coconut. But you can't go wrong with the smell of good food cooking.
Least favorite smell?
There are the usual smells most people don't like, which I don't feel the need to repeat here. I think it would be more revealing to mention a somewhat "normal" smell that I can't stand. And that would either be vinegar, or Ranch dressing. Even sour cream and yogurt just smells like spoilt milk to me.
Earliest memory?
I actually have a really great answer to this question, and it's something I've talked about before. My earliest memory is being cradled in somebody's arms (I assume it was my mother), surrounded by people in yellow raincoats, with the thunderous roar of water crashing down all around me. I remember thinking for a long time that it had just been an especially vivid dream I'd had, until I learned from my parents that we'd visited Niagara Falls when I was a baby.
Cats or dogs?
I feel like "dogs" is the popular answer, but I have to go with cats on this one - even though I'm allergic to cats. Cats are quiet, and keep to themselves. Dogs are obnoxious. They're loud, and they won't leave you alone. They insist on putting their paws all over you, and their kisses always involve tongue. I'm actually happiest being pet-free, but if forced to choose, I would take a cat over a dog.
You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it?
I think Stephen was right when he said that this was the cruelest question (even harder than "what happens when we die?"), and so I'm not going to overthink it. It's Cowgirl in the Sand by Neil Young & Crazy Horse - the song I've played on guitar more times than any other. Once, I even listened to it ten times in a row during a period of emotional turmoil! As a guitarist, even if this question extends to playing music, this song is versatile enough that I can play the chords and sing it pretty, or jam out with heavy feedback on the long, instrumental passages. So that has to be my choice.
What number am I thinking of?
I actually knew the answer to this question before Stephen answered it - because somebody else had already figured it out. If the reason he picked "3" is because of the symbolism of the trinity (Colbert is famously Catholic), I think if I had to answer the question I'd guess 666, just to see his reaction. Not in a mean-spirited way, mind you. But I think it would have been funny, and might well have teased out some clues prior to the ultimate revelation we got this week.
Describe the rest of your life in five words.
And this, too, shall pass.
23 May, 2026
06 April, 2026
Talking World War III Blues
"Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah."
- The President of the United States, speaking on social media, to the nation he started an unjustified and illegal war with, on Easter Sunday, 2026
I don't know if this gets talked about enough, but there's a certain nihilism that comes with living under a regime that thrives on so much chaos and a distinct lack of accountability. I've never voted for Trump; there was never a time when I thought he was remotely a promising candidate. But a small part of me *wanted* him to get elected the first time, because I thought people would see what a mistake it was and learn their lesson. That they'd find the proof when they bit into the pudding. In hindsight, that was naive. The idiots who voted for him learned nothing, and just doubled down.
I knew better the second time he got elected - I talked to people who were sure this country would never make that mistake twice. I voted against him, but I wasn't even a little bit surprised when he won again. (Even after supporting a failed insurrection against the Capitol, when he lost the people's vote in 2020). I also no longer harbored the hope that the country would see the error of its ways. We were too far gone. But that's changed in the last year, as I've become politically activated, and watched the resistance grow. Especially in the last few months, since the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (and the Department of Justice's subsequent egregious coverup), it feels like the wind has changed direction. The shootings in Minneapolis as recently as January seemed like an inflection point. And then the way this ill-conceived war with Iran is hitting citizens in their pocketbooks at the gas pumps (because that's what it takes to get most Americans to pay attention to politics). Even strands of the MAGA movement are beginning to turn against Trump.
That said, we've come so much further than we should have had to, and have suffered not just a corrupt, but an outright criminal regime, that is not only unburdened by a dedication to law and order, but disdainful of the Constitution our nation was founded on, for so much longer than makes any kind of rational sense, that it's impossible to wrap your mind around how it's been allowed to happen. And you can't help wondering, with every act of insanity perpetrated by this loose cannon of a Commander in Chief, will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? And by that, I'm not even sure whether I mean breaking the back of the regime's support, or breaking the back of democracy in the United States.
But, to get to my point, there's a part of me buried deep down - a nihilistic impulse, perhaps fueled by Edgar Allan Poe's Imp of the Perverse - that takes a mad glee in the unhinged acts of a despotic President. And again, I'm torn between understanding it as the vindictive hope that all the people responsible (mainly every Republican voter in this country) will finally get what they deserve, and be destroyed by the troll they've maliciously granted unchecked power to, and understanding it as the vain wish that this will be the bridge too far, that wakes the masses up from their dangerous delusion. I WANT Trump to become more and more unhinged. I WANT the world to fall further apart due to his actions. I WANT our country to crash and burn. Because it will vindicate what we've all been saying all this time. And no Republican voter will ever be able to reason with a straight face - unless they are a straight up anarchic lunatic - that they made the right choice for themselves and for the country. (Of course, that falls prey to the fallacy that these people are capable of reason in the first place).
I don't REALLY want these things to happen. I want to wake up tomorrow with a dignified president, and find myself in a prosperous country where I can feel secure, and actually AFFORD to live in. But if the last 10 years or so are any indication (the Biden administration being a blip on the radar, that only proves that safety and security can never be more than a temporary distraction from reality), there's no realistic chance of that happening. Because anything other than total annihiliation will just leave the opposition free to maintain their collective delusion, and continue in their unceasing efforts to burn the world down. So let it burn already. Calling their bluff seems like the ONLY way to deflate their insane arguments. The only problem is that if Trump's dementia actually incites a new World War leading to nuclear apocalypse (an outcome whose possibility MAY be small, but is uncomfortably far from zero), there'll be nobody left to enjoy it. Or if there are, they will be in so much pain and suffering, that it will outweigh the joy in saying, "I told you so."
Update: I wanna get this update posted before 8pm tonight (Tuesday, April 7), in case we're all dead by dawn. Even if it turns out to be the not unlikely case that Trump is bluffing, there should still be repercussions for the President threatening genocide and implicating a nuclear strike. And if he actually goes through with it? Pity there's no God to help us all. In his own words:
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. Tonight [will be] one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World."
- The President of the United States, speaking on social media, to the nation he started an unjustified and illegal war with, on Easter Sunday, 2026
I don't know if this gets talked about enough, but there's a certain nihilism that comes with living under a regime that thrives on so much chaos and a distinct lack of accountability. I've never voted for Trump; there was never a time when I thought he was remotely a promising candidate. But a small part of me *wanted* him to get elected the first time, because I thought people would see what a mistake it was and learn their lesson. That they'd find the proof when they bit into the pudding. In hindsight, that was naive. The idiots who voted for him learned nothing, and just doubled down.
I knew better the second time he got elected - I talked to people who were sure this country would never make that mistake twice. I voted against him, but I wasn't even a little bit surprised when he won again. (Even after supporting a failed insurrection against the Capitol, when he lost the people's vote in 2020). I also no longer harbored the hope that the country would see the error of its ways. We were too far gone. But that's changed in the last year, as I've become politically activated, and watched the resistance grow. Especially in the last few months, since the passing of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (and the Department of Justice's subsequent egregious coverup), it feels like the wind has changed direction. The shootings in Minneapolis as recently as January seemed like an inflection point. And then the way this ill-conceived war with Iran is hitting citizens in their pocketbooks at the gas pumps (because that's what it takes to get most Americans to pay attention to politics). Even strands of the MAGA movement are beginning to turn against Trump.
That said, we've come so much further than we should have had to, and have suffered not just a corrupt, but an outright criminal regime, that is not only unburdened by a dedication to law and order, but disdainful of the Constitution our nation was founded on, for so much longer than makes any kind of rational sense, that it's impossible to wrap your mind around how it's been allowed to happen. And you can't help wondering, with every act of insanity perpetrated by this loose cannon of a Commander in Chief, will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? And by that, I'm not even sure whether I mean breaking the back of the regime's support, or breaking the back of democracy in the United States.
But, to get to my point, there's a part of me buried deep down - a nihilistic impulse, perhaps fueled by Edgar Allan Poe's Imp of the Perverse - that takes a mad glee in the unhinged acts of a despotic President. And again, I'm torn between understanding it as the vindictive hope that all the people responsible (mainly every Republican voter in this country) will finally get what they deserve, and be destroyed by the troll they've maliciously granted unchecked power to, and understanding it as the vain wish that this will be the bridge too far, that wakes the masses up from their dangerous delusion. I WANT Trump to become more and more unhinged. I WANT the world to fall further apart due to his actions. I WANT our country to crash and burn. Because it will vindicate what we've all been saying all this time. And no Republican voter will ever be able to reason with a straight face - unless they are a straight up anarchic lunatic - that they made the right choice for themselves and for the country. (Of course, that falls prey to the fallacy that these people are capable of reason in the first place).
I don't REALLY want these things to happen. I want to wake up tomorrow with a dignified president, and find myself in a prosperous country where I can feel secure, and actually AFFORD to live in. But if the last 10 years or so are any indication (the Biden administration being a blip on the radar, that only proves that safety and security can never be more than a temporary distraction from reality), there's no realistic chance of that happening. Because anything other than total annihiliation will just leave the opposition free to maintain their collective delusion, and continue in their unceasing efforts to burn the world down. So let it burn already. Calling their bluff seems like the ONLY way to deflate their insane arguments. The only problem is that if Trump's dementia actually incites a new World War leading to nuclear apocalypse (an outcome whose possibility MAY be small, but is uncomfortably far from zero), there'll be nobody left to enjoy it. Or if there are, they will be in so much pain and suffering, that it will outweigh the joy in saying, "I told you so."
Update: I wanna get this update posted before 8pm tonight (Tuesday, April 7), in case we're all dead by dawn. Even if it turns out to be the not unlikely case that Trump is bluffing, there should still be repercussions for the President threatening genocide and implicating a nuclear strike. And if he actually goes through with it? Pity there's no God to help us all. In his own words:
"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. Tonight [will be] one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World."
13 January, 2026
Bad Faith
This is an argument I've come across recently, and I wanted to address it. In regards to the current administration's immigration policy, "I like immigrants, I just expect them to follow the law" (e.g., to seek and not circumvent legal citizenship), is a bad faith argument. It's an underhanded attempt to legitimize an illegitimate stance (like saying that preventing access to contraceptive health care options has anything to do with being "pro-life", and not anti-freedom), but it is a strategy that conservatives in this country wield frequently and - unfortunately - quite effectively.
The reason this strategy works is because the argument is sound - it's just deliberately misplaced. As I learned while studying philosophy in college, an argument founded on untrue premises can lead logically to a conclusion that is, however, very much untrue. If all ICE were doing was humanely deporting undocumented immigrants, then a focus on proper documentation would be a valid stance. One that you could agree or disagree with (personally, I think the harms are exaggerated, and I support a more empathetic solution in line with our country's historical character), but a valid one nonetheless.
They want you to think that this is all ICE is doing, because it's the only way they can at least pretend their argument has any real footing. But that's not what's really going on. In addition to their purported duties, ICE has been abducting documented immigrants, harassing and assaulting natural born citizens, spreading terror in American communities disproportionately inhabited by Democratic voters (this is not a coincidence), overstepping their authority as border guards (and not domestic law enforcement), recruiting with abysmally low standards and providing inadequate training, eschewing any commitment to transparency (while the administration boldly lies to the contrary) with regards to what goes on inside ICE facilities, how detainees are treated, and what happens to them when they are deported.
All of this is beyond the scope of merely enforcing the law as it is written, and this is what the American people are protesting. For the sake of all that is Good in the world, a white woman was just shot to death in the face by an ICE agent without due cause (the video evidence is all over the internet, so you can judge for yourself), and the administration - up to and including the office of the President of the United States himself - is spreading lies any citizen can debunk with their own eyes, maliciously slandering the innocent woman who was killed, and granting unqualified immunity to her shooter, while obstructing any and all attempts by local or state law enforcement to properly investigate the crime.
This is what enrages us! And conservatives are standing behind all of this egregious behavior, twisting themselves into pretzels to justify this state-sanctioned execution of a law-abiding citizen (in broad daylight!), utilizing bad faith arguments to create the illusion that this is a two-sided issue. And it is an illusion. A thinly-veiled one, at that. And as long as we permit this regime to continue to circumvent the law (and any standard of human decency) without repercussion, these people will continue to be emboldened to sink to new depths of depravity.
I don't know about you, but having armed agents of the federal government in our streets, disappearing people without public trial, and able to murder law-abiding citizens with immunity, doesn't sound like democracy to me. It sounds an awful lot like a fascist state. And I'm terrified, because every step we take is another step closer to becoming a country which has the social infrastructure and legal precedent for everyday bigots to commit deadly hate crimes against minorities, and get away with it! Make no mistake. The real domestic terrorists are the armed thugs occupying our cities. Resisting them by nonviolent means - up to and including trying to escape what could be a deadly encounter with them - cannot be described as anything other than a patriotic act in defense of our fundamental liberties.
---
Before I finish, I have to address the mask issue, because it's another crystalline example of conservatives engaging in bad faith (isn't that a perfect description of conservatism on the whole - "bad faith"?), as well as their failure to hold to any kind of consistent principle. People have raised concerns about the way ICE agents - unlike regular law enforcement - are frequently masked, and reluctant to provide identification. I don't know what purpose is served by these agents wearing masks, but one can easily imagine that it increases their intimidation factor, while also shielding them from accountability for their actions as agents of the state - which is a reflection of the overall lack of transparency endemic to this agency (and the regime overall). On what grounds do conservatives defend these agents wearing masks when, during the COVID pandemic, they openly mocked and insulted progressives for doing the same thing?
Now, the issue here isn't whether you are for masks or against masks all the time or in any situation. It's a question of purpose. During the pandemic, the purpose of wearing a mask was to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. Why did conservatives reject masks then, yet support them now? (Other than to brainlessly counter whatever rational argument a progressive might make). Here are the facts: then, progressives wanted to prevent the spread of a potentially fatal illness; now, they want agents of the state to be held accountable for their actions. To disagree with these positions (as conservatives do) is to support the spread of disease, to value the intimidation of conscientious, law-abiding citizens by federalized agents with guns, and to reject accountaibility when those agents break the law, and violate our civil rights.
I know I'm biased - as we all are. But I just don't see how you can look at the facts and not come to the objective conclusion that conservatives are fundamentally evil - antisocial bullies who value chaos and the suffering of innocents. I know they say similar things about progressives - that we're leftist radicals who've taken leave of our senses. But again, there are not two sides to this issue. One of us is arguing in bad faith, and the other is not. One of us is right, and the other is wrong. The distinction is blatantly obvious, and it's not even close. The only way I can explain it is that - contrary to an idealistic view of the inherent good in humanity - in any population there are bound to be a range of people from the good to the bad. And it would seem that bad people are just inherently drawn to conservative politics.
Which side are you on?
The reason this strategy works is because the argument is sound - it's just deliberately misplaced. As I learned while studying philosophy in college, an argument founded on untrue premises can lead logically to a conclusion that is, however, very much untrue. If all ICE were doing was humanely deporting undocumented immigrants, then a focus on proper documentation would be a valid stance. One that you could agree or disagree with (personally, I think the harms are exaggerated, and I support a more empathetic solution in line with our country's historical character), but a valid one nonetheless.
They want you to think that this is all ICE is doing, because it's the only way they can at least pretend their argument has any real footing. But that's not what's really going on. In addition to their purported duties, ICE has been abducting documented immigrants, harassing and assaulting natural born citizens, spreading terror in American communities disproportionately inhabited by Democratic voters (this is not a coincidence), overstepping their authority as border guards (and not domestic law enforcement), recruiting with abysmally low standards and providing inadequate training, eschewing any commitment to transparency (while the administration boldly lies to the contrary) with regards to what goes on inside ICE facilities, how detainees are treated, and what happens to them when they are deported.
All of this is beyond the scope of merely enforcing the law as it is written, and this is what the American people are protesting. For the sake of all that is Good in the world, a white woman was just shot to death in the face by an ICE agent without due cause (the video evidence is all over the internet, so you can judge for yourself), and the administration - up to and including the office of the President of the United States himself - is spreading lies any citizen can debunk with their own eyes, maliciously slandering the innocent woman who was killed, and granting unqualified immunity to her shooter, while obstructing any and all attempts by local or state law enforcement to properly investigate the crime.
This is what enrages us! And conservatives are standing behind all of this egregious behavior, twisting themselves into pretzels to justify this state-sanctioned execution of a law-abiding citizen (in broad daylight!), utilizing bad faith arguments to create the illusion that this is a two-sided issue. And it is an illusion. A thinly-veiled one, at that. And as long as we permit this regime to continue to circumvent the law (and any standard of human decency) without repercussion, these people will continue to be emboldened to sink to new depths of depravity.
I don't know about you, but having armed agents of the federal government in our streets, disappearing people without public trial, and able to murder law-abiding citizens with immunity, doesn't sound like democracy to me. It sounds an awful lot like a fascist state. And I'm terrified, because every step we take is another step closer to becoming a country which has the social infrastructure and legal precedent for everyday bigots to commit deadly hate crimes against minorities, and get away with it! Make no mistake. The real domestic terrorists are the armed thugs occupying our cities. Resisting them by nonviolent means - up to and including trying to escape what could be a deadly encounter with them - cannot be described as anything other than a patriotic act in defense of our fundamental liberties.
---
Before I finish, I have to address the mask issue, because it's another crystalline example of conservatives engaging in bad faith (isn't that a perfect description of conservatism on the whole - "bad faith"?), as well as their failure to hold to any kind of consistent principle. People have raised concerns about the way ICE agents - unlike regular law enforcement - are frequently masked, and reluctant to provide identification. I don't know what purpose is served by these agents wearing masks, but one can easily imagine that it increases their intimidation factor, while also shielding them from accountability for their actions as agents of the state - which is a reflection of the overall lack of transparency endemic to this agency (and the regime overall). On what grounds do conservatives defend these agents wearing masks when, during the COVID pandemic, they openly mocked and insulted progressives for doing the same thing?
Now, the issue here isn't whether you are for masks or against masks all the time or in any situation. It's a question of purpose. During the pandemic, the purpose of wearing a mask was to prevent the spread of an infectious disease. Why did conservatives reject masks then, yet support them now? (Other than to brainlessly counter whatever rational argument a progressive might make). Here are the facts: then, progressives wanted to prevent the spread of a potentially fatal illness; now, they want agents of the state to be held accountable for their actions. To disagree with these positions (as conservatives do) is to support the spread of disease, to value the intimidation of conscientious, law-abiding citizens by federalized agents with guns, and to reject accountaibility when those agents break the law, and violate our civil rights.
I know I'm biased - as we all are. But I just don't see how you can look at the facts and not come to the objective conclusion that conservatives are fundamentally evil - antisocial bullies who value chaos and the suffering of innocents. I know they say similar things about progressives - that we're leftist radicals who've taken leave of our senses. But again, there are not two sides to this issue. One of us is arguing in bad faith, and the other is not. One of us is right, and the other is wrong. The distinction is blatantly obvious, and it's not even close. The only way I can explain it is that - contrary to an idealistic view of the inherent good in humanity - in any population there are bound to be a range of people from the good to the bad. And it would seem that bad people are just inherently drawn to conservative politics.
Which side are you on?
08 January, 2026
A Very Unhappy New Year
Democracy is governance of, by, and for the people. When federal agents mistakenly believe that they work for the president (a man who, himself, believes he is beholden to no one), and not the people, the inevitable result is that they will eventually be used as a weapon against the people. This is the truest perversion of democracy imaginable. I'm posting today for no other reason than I want this to be documented for posterity. Three weeks past the legal deadline, the Epstein files are still being slow-dripped with extensive redactions, in a blatant disregard for justice and accountability. We are barely a week into the New Year, and already Trump has started a war by abducting the president of another country; is threatening the military takeover of a NATO ally, which puts global security at risk, mounting tensions for a third world war; and today I am glued to YouTube watching rioters in Minneapolis because federal agents have begun gunning down US citizens in our streets, while the regime is busy spreading propaganda (read: their usual, egregious lies) to spin the situation in their favor. Ladies and gentlemen, it has arrived. Welcome to the Fascist American Dystopia.
13 November, 2025
Advanced Brain Rot
I know it's important to stay balanced. On the other hand, the scales in our country are tipped so far right now (with the emphasis on "far right"), it can be hard to recognize what balance truly is. There's certainly an argument to be made for the stance that fascism doesn't deserve a seat at the bargaining table. With that in mind, I keep myself mercifully insulated from much of MAGA culture, getting my daily dose of psychotherapy from a medical cocktail of Stewart, Colbert, and Kimmell. That said, it CAN be useful to understand the opposition ("know thine enemy"), EVEN when they're batshit insane.
Still, it was a nonconsensual encounter when I came face to face with a pro-Trump meme on Facebook recently that so completely missed reality, that I had to sit there and stare at it agape for full moments before coming back to my senses. My respect for the person who posted it (without any apparent explanation) plummeted, though it wasn't that high to begin with, in the modern political landscape. Still, I was curious enough to check the comments - big mistake, I know, but I guess I was hoping to get some kind of context for the meme, to see if there was some angle I was missing, that could help make it make sense. And what I saw was eye-opening, but not in the way I expected. Not in a good way, either, mind you.
At the tail end of a government shutdown (induced by an utter and unprecendented refusal of the Republican majority in Congress to prevent Americans' healthcare costs from skyrocketing), in which scores of federal workers have gone unpaid for well over a month, and at a time when many working families were facing the prospect of not being able to afford to FEED their kids, this meme said "stop Trump - before we all end up with jobs." Honestly, I thought it was supposed to be sarcastic, but it was too simplistic. There was no clever jab. No subtle reference. And the comments confirmed it.
At this point, I expect the MAGA Republic to twist everything that comes out of the political news cycle to their advantage, no matter how many pretzels they have to bend reality into. What I wasn't expecting was just how out of touch so many of those people were. And I don't mean that they don't know what's real or what's fake. I mean, they're not even paying attention to what's going on. They're not twisting facts, only because they're not aware of the facts in the first place. The overwhelming majority of comments on that post included one or more of the following phrases: "end SNAP", "lazy freeloaders", and "get a job". (I mean, it's no stretch to imagine these people cheering Trump on when he recently demanded that air traffic controllers work without pay). Like, this is SO far removed from anything even remotely like what's happening in the country right now.
You can't even argue to these people that Trump and the Republicans are historically piss-poor at giving regular people an opportunity to work for a living wage, because they're heads are so far up their asses they can't even tell if it's day or night! I can't help imagining them all as frail, 80 year olds who can't see or hear, and are so locked in to what their textbooks said when they were in fifth grade in the 1950s, that nothing else is able to penetrate their thick skulls. I know this isn't a kind assessment, but I won't say it's not fair. It speaks for itself.
I don't love the Democratic party unconditionally. They have LOTS of problems, and I'm happy to point them out. Because we NEED to work on them. But what I've seen lately within the anti-Trump protest movement is at least people responding to reality. We don't all have the answers, and we're not all immune to misinformation or letting our emotions rule the day (although our anger is righteous). But at least we're trying! We're not locked into one outdated worldview that resembles nothing in the world today, and unwilling to let anything else shatter that delusion about what's important. I mean, what is it that traumatized so many people so badly, that to this day the ONLY thing they care about (above and beyond what's in front of their eyes) is some mythological free-loading "commie"?
I can't even. Are these people so dumb, and so adled with age? And why are these people disproportionately represented at the polls? I swear, you should have to pass a cognitive test, as well as a civics test (on modern events) to be allowed to vote. I know that sounds bad, but what else can we do? How else can we stop idiocracy? The people running this country have a tenuous grip on reality (at best), and positively no clue what's going on. It's like the train conductor has put a blind-fold on himself. One thing you don't learn as an intelligent person - probably because you never encountered anyone smart enough to know and teach you - is how much you'll be gobsmacked in life by how incredibly dumb the human animal is, time and time again. The breadth and depth of stupidity is consistently appalling.
Addendum:
I've had a little more time to process this, and it occurs to me that these people literally believe that people are on food assistance because they're too lazy to work. Children are going hungry, and these people are celebrating because they think they deserve it! They want SNAP to end, because they think it will motivate people to get a job. They SUPPORT Trump cutting off funds, as if it's good for the country's wellbeing. They are so deluded! They don't understand how SNAP boosts the economy. They don't understand how many people on SNAP already work. They don't understand the extent to which the working class is exploited so the rich can get richer.
And there's no consideration given to the federal workers forced out of a job, or to work without pay, not to mention the key issue which is affordable health care. What's humane about people not being able to afford to get treated when they're sick? They must think people only get sick because they deserve it. Which is ludicrous - don't they have personal experience with these things? Most of them are working class. Nobody goes through life without having health problems, and knowing people with health problems. How can they be so absolutely dumb, when that stupidity is so incredibly dangerous to humanity?
You just get stuck in your bubble of empathy, and you forget that there are actually human beings out there - a lot of them - who do not have empathy, and do not experience any guilt or shame about not having empathy. That's not rhetoric. That's not exaggeration. That's cold, hard reality. These people are dumb, and mean, and they're being tapped like batteries by people with power and authority to hurt the entire country. And I feel like I'm just pissing in the wind here, because complaining about it doesn't change shit, and the injustice just continues on. (While these asshats - including people in my own family - that are hurting people and destroying the country, are laughing gleefully at my frustration).
And what little satisfaction accompanied my realization of these things - putting pieces together and understanding better how the opposition thinks - has been completely replaced now by an utter and abject despair. I'm so sick of this country's politics, and the very real wounds it's causing in people's lives, even cutting off former friends and tearing families apart. The divide is real. Welcome to the fall of the United States.
Still, it was a nonconsensual encounter when I came face to face with a pro-Trump meme on Facebook recently that so completely missed reality, that I had to sit there and stare at it agape for full moments before coming back to my senses. My respect for the person who posted it (without any apparent explanation) plummeted, though it wasn't that high to begin with, in the modern political landscape. Still, I was curious enough to check the comments - big mistake, I know, but I guess I was hoping to get some kind of context for the meme, to see if there was some angle I was missing, that could help make it make sense. And what I saw was eye-opening, but not in the way I expected. Not in a good way, either, mind you.
At the tail end of a government shutdown (induced by an utter and unprecendented refusal of the Republican majority in Congress to prevent Americans' healthcare costs from skyrocketing), in which scores of federal workers have gone unpaid for well over a month, and at a time when many working families were facing the prospect of not being able to afford to FEED their kids, this meme said "stop Trump - before we all end up with jobs." Honestly, I thought it was supposed to be sarcastic, but it was too simplistic. There was no clever jab. No subtle reference. And the comments confirmed it.
At this point, I expect the MAGA Republic to twist everything that comes out of the political news cycle to their advantage, no matter how many pretzels they have to bend reality into. What I wasn't expecting was just how out of touch so many of those people were. And I don't mean that they don't know what's real or what's fake. I mean, they're not even paying attention to what's going on. They're not twisting facts, only because they're not aware of the facts in the first place. The overwhelming majority of comments on that post included one or more of the following phrases: "end SNAP", "lazy freeloaders", and "get a job". (I mean, it's no stretch to imagine these people cheering Trump on when he recently demanded that air traffic controllers work without pay). Like, this is SO far removed from anything even remotely like what's happening in the country right now.
You can't even argue to these people that Trump and the Republicans are historically piss-poor at giving regular people an opportunity to work for a living wage, because they're heads are so far up their asses they can't even tell if it's day or night! I can't help imagining them all as frail, 80 year olds who can't see or hear, and are so locked in to what their textbooks said when they were in fifth grade in the 1950s, that nothing else is able to penetrate their thick skulls. I know this isn't a kind assessment, but I won't say it's not fair. It speaks for itself.
I don't love the Democratic party unconditionally. They have LOTS of problems, and I'm happy to point them out. Because we NEED to work on them. But what I've seen lately within the anti-Trump protest movement is at least people responding to reality. We don't all have the answers, and we're not all immune to misinformation or letting our emotions rule the day (although our anger is righteous). But at least we're trying! We're not locked into one outdated worldview that resembles nothing in the world today, and unwilling to let anything else shatter that delusion about what's important. I mean, what is it that traumatized so many people so badly, that to this day the ONLY thing they care about (above and beyond what's in front of their eyes) is some mythological free-loading "commie"?
I can't even. Are these people so dumb, and so adled with age? And why are these people disproportionately represented at the polls? I swear, you should have to pass a cognitive test, as well as a civics test (on modern events) to be allowed to vote. I know that sounds bad, but what else can we do? How else can we stop idiocracy? The people running this country have a tenuous grip on reality (at best), and positively no clue what's going on. It's like the train conductor has put a blind-fold on himself. One thing you don't learn as an intelligent person - probably because you never encountered anyone smart enough to know and teach you - is how much you'll be gobsmacked in life by how incredibly dumb the human animal is, time and time again. The breadth and depth of stupidity is consistently appalling.
Addendum:
I've had a little more time to process this, and it occurs to me that these people literally believe that people are on food assistance because they're too lazy to work. Children are going hungry, and these people are celebrating because they think they deserve it! They want SNAP to end, because they think it will motivate people to get a job. They SUPPORT Trump cutting off funds, as if it's good for the country's wellbeing. They are so deluded! They don't understand how SNAP boosts the economy. They don't understand how many people on SNAP already work. They don't understand the extent to which the working class is exploited so the rich can get richer.
And there's no consideration given to the federal workers forced out of a job, or to work without pay, not to mention the key issue which is affordable health care. What's humane about people not being able to afford to get treated when they're sick? They must think people only get sick because they deserve it. Which is ludicrous - don't they have personal experience with these things? Most of them are working class. Nobody goes through life without having health problems, and knowing people with health problems. How can they be so absolutely dumb, when that stupidity is so incredibly dangerous to humanity?
You just get stuck in your bubble of empathy, and you forget that there are actually human beings out there - a lot of them - who do not have empathy, and do not experience any guilt or shame about not having empathy. That's not rhetoric. That's not exaggeration. That's cold, hard reality. These people are dumb, and mean, and they're being tapped like batteries by people with power and authority to hurt the entire country. And I feel like I'm just pissing in the wind here, because complaining about it doesn't change shit, and the injustice just continues on. (While these asshats - including people in my own family - that are hurting people and destroying the country, are laughing gleefully at my frustration).
And what little satisfaction accompanied my realization of these things - putting pieces together and understanding better how the opposition thinks - has been completely replaced now by an utter and abject despair. I'm so sick of this country's politics, and the very real wounds it's causing in people's lives, even cutting off former friends and tearing families apart. The divide is real. Welcome to the fall of the United States.
04 November, 2025
Losing Friends Over Politics
A lot of people seem to treat morality and ethics as pretty much interchangeable. But I think there's a meaningful difference between the two. I've written about this before. In my conception, morals are essentially the private beliefs (no matter where they originate, or how many people with which they are shared) a person has about what constitutes "righteousness" or virtue. It should be used as a guide for one's actions and choices in life. This is a function of religion in my view - I know there are people who disagree, but God isn't a collective concept. It's a personal relationship that nobody else gets to define but you.
Ethics, on the other hand, are the general rules we agree to follow in order to co-exist peacefully with one another. Take the golden rule, for example. It governs how you treat others, not the decisions you make that determine the direction of your own life. Because these are guidelines we are all expected to follow in order to keep things running smoothly, they need to be collectively agreed upon (to a reasonable degree). There are some who think the state should meddle in matters of religion, but the document our democracy was founded upon disagrees - and so do I.
It doesn't seem right, then, that politics should be off the table of polite discussion, the way that religion is. Religion is personal, and powerful. It doesn't require consensus. But politics is about how we construct the society we all must live together in. If you're afraid to discuss your political beliefs because you think you might lose friends or family over it, then I think maybe you need to reconsider your political beliefs and what they say about you as a person. If you're not working together with the rest of the people at the table, then maybe you don't deserve to share in their company.
Ethics, on the other hand, are the general rules we agree to follow in order to co-exist peacefully with one another. Take the golden rule, for example. It governs how you treat others, not the decisions you make that determine the direction of your own life. Because these are guidelines we are all expected to follow in order to keep things running smoothly, they need to be collectively agreed upon (to a reasonable degree). There are some who think the state should meddle in matters of religion, but the document our democracy was founded upon disagrees - and so do I.
It doesn't seem right, then, that politics should be off the table of polite discussion, the way that religion is. Religion is personal, and powerful. It doesn't require consensus. But politics is about how we construct the society we all must live together in. If you're afraid to discuss your political beliefs because you think you might lose friends or family over it, then I think maybe you need to reconsider your political beliefs and what they say about you as a person. If you're not working together with the rest of the people at the table, then maybe you don't deserve to share in their company.
21 October, 2025
No Kings 2.0
It was a beautiful day. You couldn't have asked for nicer weather in the middle of October. I made it to three separate protests in all - which is cool, because I was able to experience a different vibe with each one (I even had the chance to honk at some overpass protesters coming into the city via the parkway!).
The first one was downtown, on the streets in front of the City Council Building. It was just the protest rally vibe I was looking for. For the second one, I walked across town to the North Shore. Held in a city park, it very much had a "summer festival" vibe - with people sitting on the grass, dancers and musicians in addition to speakers, and even food trucks!
Then I zipped over and stood on the side of a busy highway for an hour holding up my signs. We got a lotta honkers, but also a lot of thumbs-down and middle fingers. The fact that anyone could give our fundamental American values the middle finger is deeply distressing. The best case scenario is that they're so brainwashed by propaganda, that they don't realize what they're doing - that's the BEST case scenario. And it's still not a good one.
But to see all the people today who came out to support our democracy was heartening. So many different people with so many different, creative signs. The one thing that stands out more than anything about this movement, is the "intersectionality of outrage". This isn't a single issue protest. It's not even a few issues protest. There are so many different things to be outraged about.
The assault on free speech. Abuse of the military. Vindictive lay-offs. Evasion of criminal justice. The abhorrent behavior displayed toward racial minorities. Attacks on women's rights. Marginalization of LGBT populations. A general disregard for science. The abysmal state of health care. Lack of support for labor unions. And the lies. Oh, so many egregious lies*.
Just about everyone has a legitimate gripe with this authoritarian regime except the billionaires who are profiting from it. And while this protest has been painted as a partisan movement, the actual reality is that we should ALL be united under the banner of #NoKings. The true divide isn't left vs. right, it's top vs. bottom. I wish the rest of us would realize that already, so we can stop fighting amongst ourselves, and topple the oligarchy - for the benefit of we, the people.
*Lying seems like a minor infraction compared to everything else, but I honestly believe it's the worst part. It's not without good reason that it's been said that the death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. Two people could fight about whether a third person deserves human rights - I mean, I think that argument has a clear winner, but apparently there are people in this world who disagree - but if those two people can't agree on a shared reality, they'll never find common ground. It's like putting two fighters in a ring, and then removing the floor.
Make no mistake, deception is the shadow that evil actors use to cloak their misdeeds - misdeeds that would NEVER fly if brought out into the light. And the most insidious form of deception is psychological manipulation - when you've been so brainwashed that even when a thing is presented to you clearly, you see it as something different, because your own mind has been hijacked. You require the filter of your leader and his goons to interpret evidence before you, having lost all independent evaluation and common sense. This is textbook cult behavior.
Of course, because you're being manipulated, you'll accuse your opponents of the same thing. What sets us apart, then? What can resolve this conundrum? Only objective reality. I'm willing to question my biases and have an honest conversation. Are you willing to do the same?
For example, our movement didn't land on the accusation of fascism just because it sounds damning. We reached that conclusion based on overwhelming evidence. You have a big job debunking that one, but go ahead and try. Unless you can pull it off, "if the shoe fits..." On the other hand, calling our political protest (exercising a Constitutional right) a "hate America rally" is so obviously untrue, and designed to manipulate. Do you even HAVE a counter argument for that one, or are you just going to ignore it becuse you know you'll lose a point?
I have plenty of criticisms of the liberal platform, and I'm willing to talk about them (so you can't say I'm a brainwashed dupe), but they're pretty minor compared to the atrocities the right is committing. And their fundamental principles are inherently more humane. How can you even argue against the virtue of empathy? ESPECIALLY if you call yourself Christian? I honestly believe the alternative is so horrible, that people can't realistically face up to it, so they burn off parts of their brain to avoid admitting they just want to take selfishly at the expense of others.
I get that you want the world to be simple. But it's not simple. And neither are people. Gender and sexuality are complicated. Forcing them into boxes to preserve your narrow understanding is a denial of reality that hurts real people (and limits your own vision of reality!). It's okay if you don't understand it, but when did giving people the freedom to live their own lives their own way become a bad thing - dare I say, an un-American thing? You don't like freedom? Sure, it goes against your small-minded view of "God's plan". But if you're American, freedom comes first. Even the freedom to choose your own God. If you disagree with that statement, you are factually un-American, in the most fundamental way - the Constitutional way.
I just want you to answer these challenges. Not ignore them and bury your head in the sand. Because if you can't, if you're not smart enough, then why would you not defer to somebody who's smarter than you? I have legitimate complaints about your ideology. Fundamental, world-shattering inconsistencies. If you continue to shrug it off, that is an acceptance of defeat. Your silence speaks volumes. So if you're wrong, and you know you're wrong, because you don't even have a thing to say in your defense, then why do you persist in letting your egoistic delusions affect other people's lives in very real and measurable ways? ANSWER ME!
The first one was downtown, on the streets in front of the City Council Building. It was just the protest rally vibe I was looking for. For the second one, I walked across town to the North Shore. Held in a city park, it very much had a "summer festival" vibe - with people sitting on the grass, dancers and musicians in addition to speakers, and even food trucks!
Then I zipped over and stood on the side of a busy highway for an hour holding up my signs. We got a lotta honkers, but also a lot of thumbs-down and middle fingers. The fact that anyone could give our fundamental American values the middle finger is deeply distressing. The best case scenario is that they're so brainwashed by propaganda, that they don't realize what they're doing - that's the BEST case scenario. And it's still not a good one.
But to see all the people today who came out to support our democracy was heartening. So many different people with so many different, creative signs. The one thing that stands out more than anything about this movement, is the "intersectionality of outrage". This isn't a single issue protest. It's not even a few issues protest. There are so many different things to be outraged about.
The assault on free speech. Abuse of the military. Vindictive lay-offs. Evasion of criminal justice. The abhorrent behavior displayed toward racial minorities. Attacks on women's rights. Marginalization of LGBT populations. A general disregard for science. The abysmal state of health care. Lack of support for labor unions. And the lies. Oh, so many egregious lies*.
Just about everyone has a legitimate gripe with this authoritarian regime except the billionaires who are profiting from it. And while this protest has been painted as a partisan movement, the actual reality is that we should ALL be united under the banner of #NoKings. The true divide isn't left vs. right, it's top vs. bottom. I wish the rest of us would realize that already, so we can stop fighting amongst ourselves, and topple the oligarchy - for the benefit of we, the people.
*Lying seems like a minor infraction compared to everything else, but I honestly believe it's the worst part. It's not without good reason that it's been said that the death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. Two people could fight about whether a third person deserves human rights - I mean, I think that argument has a clear winner, but apparently there are people in this world who disagree - but if those two people can't agree on a shared reality, they'll never find common ground. It's like putting two fighters in a ring, and then removing the floor.
Make no mistake, deception is the shadow that evil actors use to cloak their misdeeds - misdeeds that would NEVER fly if brought out into the light. And the most insidious form of deception is psychological manipulation - when you've been so brainwashed that even when a thing is presented to you clearly, you see it as something different, because your own mind has been hijacked. You require the filter of your leader and his goons to interpret evidence before you, having lost all independent evaluation and common sense. This is textbook cult behavior.
Of course, because you're being manipulated, you'll accuse your opponents of the same thing. What sets us apart, then? What can resolve this conundrum? Only objective reality. I'm willing to question my biases and have an honest conversation. Are you willing to do the same?
For example, our movement didn't land on the accusation of fascism just because it sounds damning. We reached that conclusion based on overwhelming evidence. You have a big job debunking that one, but go ahead and try. Unless you can pull it off, "if the shoe fits..." On the other hand, calling our political protest (exercising a Constitutional right) a "hate America rally" is so obviously untrue, and designed to manipulate. Do you even HAVE a counter argument for that one, or are you just going to ignore it becuse you know you'll lose a point?
I have plenty of criticisms of the liberal platform, and I'm willing to talk about them (so you can't say I'm a brainwashed dupe), but they're pretty minor compared to the atrocities the right is committing. And their fundamental principles are inherently more humane. How can you even argue against the virtue of empathy? ESPECIALLY if you call yourself Christian? I honestly believe the alternative is so horrible, that people can't realistically face up to it, so they burn off parts of their brain to avoid admitting they just want to take selfishly at the expense of others.
I get that you want the world to be simple. But it's not simple. And neither are people. Gender and sexuality are complicated. Forcing them into boxes to preserve your narrow understanding is a denial of reality that hurts real people (and limits your own vision of reality!). It's okay if you don't understand it, but when did giving people the freedom to live their own lives their own way become a bad thing - dare I say, an un-American thing? You don't like freedom? Sure, it goes against your small-minded view of "God's plan". But if you're American, freedom comes first. Even the freedom to choose your own God. If you disagree with that statement, you are factually un-American, in the most fundamental way - the Constitutional way.
I just want you to answer these challenges. Not ignore them and bury your head in the sand. Because if you can't, if you're not smart enough, then why would you not defer to somebody who's smarter than you? I have legitimate complaints about your ideology. Fundamental, world-shattering inconsistencies. If you continue to shrug it off, that is an acceptance of defeat. Your silence speaks volumes. So if you're wrong, and you know you're wrong, because you don't even have a thing to say in your defense, then why do you persist in letting your egoistic delusions affect other people's lives in very real and measurable ways? ANSWER ME!
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