volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
To understand the #GOP and the #MAGA phenomenon, keep in mind that so many folks backing that side have trouble understanding other perspectives, instead projecting their own viewpoint onto others, assuming everyone else is just like them.
It's a big problem that folks can't seek consensus when they start with different sets of facts, and this is one of the major sources of that.
Here #Kilmeade has a personal respect for force so he assumes everyone else does too.
#BrianKilmeade, illustrating the usual projection:There will be peace in the middle east this time because Egypt will join our side because they s...
volkris
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#BrianKilmeade, illustrating the usual projection: There will be peace in the middle east this time because Egypt will join our side because they saw how cool #Israel is when they used their bombs on Iran. #USPolitics
It's a know your enemy sort of thing to say, no, #Trump is not a king. He's a stupid brand. And recent events just highlight that as he slapped his name on the #Gaza agreement.
I keep thinking of the Trump brand of wine.
Trump didn't make that wine. I doubt he knows how wine is even made at all. He's notorious for not drinking, so how would he even know if the wine is good or bad? He doesn't know anything about it, he just slapped his brand on it.
To counter Trump it's foolish to approach him as a king. In fact that might might make things worse because it brings more attention to his brand.
The #nokings stuff is foolish because it misses what's going on here. And it will serve to actually embolden and strengthen Trump.
Know your enemy. He's not a king, he's not that smart, he's just a brand hopping from issue to issue the same way he hops from crappy wine to crappy steaks.
It's a know your enemy sort of thing to say, no, #Trump is not a king. He's a stupid brand. And recent events just highlight that as he slapped his name on the #Gaza agreement.
I keep thinking of the Trump brand of wine.
Trump didn't make that wine. I doubt he knows how wine is even made at all. He's notorious for not drinking, so how would he even know if the wine is good or bad? He doesn't know anything about it, he just slapped his brand on it.
To counter Trump it's foolish to approach him as a king. In fact that might might make things worse because it brings more attention to his brand.
The #nokings stuff is foolish because it misses what's going on here. And it will serve to actually embolden and strengthen Trump.
Know your enemy. He's not a king, he's not that smart, he's just a brand hopping from issue to issue the same way he hops from crappy wine to crappy steaks.
volkris
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tests are showing je ne sais quoi levels at 65%
(65%) ■■■■■■□□□□
What's worse, a #DEI hire or #Trump hiring somebody he said was outright unfit because they sucked up?
#Conservatives were expressly proud of this.
#Trump: We hired this woman who wrote me a beautiful letter. I didn't think she had what it took for the job, but she wrote me a beautiful letter....
volkris
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Sloppy reporting: #CNN repeatedly describes employees as fired in a report about notices being sent out in error. Sounds like they weren't fired, and sensationalist language detracts from a story of governmental mismanagement.
This is CNN.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/h...
#journalism #uspolitics
More than half of CDC staffers...
Remember: the vice president is the president of the #Senate. The VP is in the legislative branch, not the executive branch.
People talk about #Trump as if he should be passing legislation to fund government when really it's not his call. The legislation is being blocked in the Senate, so the executive branch has nothing to do with it. Trump doesn't get a vote, so let's not inflate his ego by saying otherwise.
HOWEVER, JD #Vance actually does have authority in that chamber, in fact he's one of the few people that really does.
Yes, the #Democrats bear responsibility for voting to block the legislative procedure, but really, let's also lay this at Vance's feet. He should be pressing for a solution because that's his actual job.
I wish more Americans were informed about the VP's actual position in the US government.
The funny thing about a headline like this is that, I don't think it's broadly reported because it's technical, but there are serious reasons to think that Halligan was not legally appointed and so has no authority to bring any charges at all.
You know, if we're talking about law and order here...
THE RETURN OF LAW AND ORDER: US Attorney Lindsey Halligan Expected to Drop More Charges Against Serial Liar Letitia James – John Bolton, Pencil-Nec...
volkris
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Relatedly, and also at National Review, from columnist Ed Whelan: "based on the facts as I understand them, I believe that Lindsey Halligan has not been validly appointed as United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia." That would imply that the Comey indictment is invalid. /2, end
Re: Was Lindsey Halligan Valid...
#Trump canceling a meeting with China on account of them not sending the US rare earth metals is just, it would be delicious if it didn't have real world implications... and wasn't yet another instance of a pattern that's gotten so repetitive.
Once again a giant accomplishment that Trump celebrated and crowed about--China bowing to him to send those resources, showing how awesome and nearly godlike he is--didn't end up working out.
Oops.
And once again to conservatives this is the fault of the other guy, not the one who lied about such a tremendous accomplishment.
Siiiiiigh.
volkris
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Liberals need to stop calling conservatives Nazis because it's dehumatizing! -- #Hannity, apparently not knowing that Nazis were indeed human #USPolitics
volkris
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#Kilmeade, missing that he is potentially identifying the problem: To be a reporter traveling with the president is really rough because the guy doesn't sleep! He'll wander out and talk to the press anytime around the clock. He doesn't sleep! #Trump #USPolitics
volkris
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Conservative media: #Trump is awesome! When you're covering him on a trip it's hard because he doesn't sleep, he comes out anytime day or night to talk to you!
Me: oh well that might be what's so screwed up about him. The dude is constantly brain dead exhausted.
It's worth noting that in the recent #BlueSky vs #Fediverse drama, the fundamental complaint was that BlueSky wasn't centralized enough, so some people are coming to Fediverse seeking that centralization.
For the years of talk about how BlueSky isn't decentralized like Fediverse, those folks were always wrong, and this is another case illustrating their getting that backwards.
Fediverse is centralized around instances. BlueSky is decentralized down to users. Of the two, BlueSky is the decentralized option.
Whether that's good or bad is a separate matter.
Once again we can see that #Trump is being used, but he's too damn stupid to realize that the folks flattering him into thinking he's in charge are mainly just making fun of him.
This week there was a lot of reporting about "Trump's plan" for #Gaza, Hamas, and Israel, but there was also reporting that the plan was spearheaded by British figures. Trump was flattered into promoting it as his own, and he did as he was told, but thinking it was his idea all along.
Today it's being reported that Trump tried to issue orders with regard to "his plan", but those orders were ignored because no one actually cares about him beyond his usefulness to them.
This cycle repeats over and over again.
What a pathetic idiot.
volkris
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#Hannity, on a roll listing out his standard series of grievances, referring to "unvetted known terrorists" in the US illegally, without realizing the contradiction. #USPolitics
volkris
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"I spoke to the governor, she was very nice," Trump said. "But I said, 'Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening? My people tell me different.'"
Almost ... a glimmer ... "am I in an anti-reality bubble populated by sycophants?" ... and gone.
Trump seems to back off Portla...
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
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