Critical Rationalist
@noncynic.bsky.social
Tech lawyer in practice for 40+ years. Pilot. Author. Veteran.
Philosophy of Science fan: Karl Popper.
Religion is irrational and dangerous.
Crypto is worse than tulipmania.
Political power based on lies (GOP, Russia, etc.) must be stopped.
Philosophy of Science fan: Karl Popper.
Religion is irrational and dangerous.
Crypto is worse than tulipmania.
Political power based on lies (GOP, Russia, etc.) must be stopped.
Pinned
![“With a narrowness, a prejudice, a blindness which in retrospect seem inconceivable . . . , [the German Right] hammered away at the foundations of the Republic until, in an alliance with Hitler, they brought it down. ... [T]he Third Reich was inaugurated in peacetime. . . . The Germans imposed the Nazi tyranny on themselves.
“Many of them, perhaps a majority, did not quite realize it at that noon hour of January 30, 1933, when President Hindenburg, acting in a perfectly constitutional manner, entrusted the chancellorship to Adolf Hitler.
“But they were soon to learn.”
- William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yk3bwv3cq33onvcopzbwm6ec/bafkreigpkm4nn3adhalvrxazh2omznmh6wy3va6htal7nijpe6itx4ydmq@jpeg)
MAGA is:
- Putin & Russian mafia (Trump family is in deep)
- Ultra-rich fascists: democracy is an inconvenience
- Project 2025 fascists: same
- Business people: indifferent to fascism if they think it will make them money, just like 1930s
- Bigots
- Gullible rubes
* NOW DESTROYING AMERICA *
- Putin & Russian mafia (Trump family is in deep)
- Ultra-rich fascists: democracy is an inconvenience
- Project 2025 fascists: same
- Business people: indifferent to fascism if they think it will make them money, just like 1930s
- Bigots
- Gullible rubes
* NOW DESTROYING AMERICA *
October 31, 2025 at 11:56 PM
MAGA is:
- Putin & Russian mafia (Trump family is in deep)
- Ultra-rich fascists: democracy is an inconvenience
- Project 2025 fascists: same
- Business people: indifferent to fascism if they think it will make them money, just like 1930s
- Bigots
- Gullible rubes
* NOW DESTROYING AMERICA *
- Putin & Russian mafia (Trump family is in deep)
- Ultra-rich fascists: democracy is an inconvenience
- Project 2025 fascists: same
- Business people: indifferent to fascism if they think it will make them money, just like 1930s
- Bigots
- Gullible rubes
* NOW DESTROYING AMERICA *
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Not confronting their lies lets them get away without accountability for their lies.
October 29, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Not confronting their lies lets them get away without accountability for their lies.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
It’s pretty emblematic of the way things are going:
An institution lies in shambles while a bunch of people ask if he can do that
An institution lies in shambles while a bunch of people ask if he can do that
October 21, 2025 at 2:53 AM
It’s pretty emblematic of the way things are going:
An institution lies in shambles while a bunch of people ask if he can do that
An institution lies in shambles while a bunch of people ask if he can do that
Ok, here's from Columbus OH today. About 5x bigger than the last one.
October 18, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Ok, here's from Columbus OH today. About 5x bigger than the last one.
The "last chance" 2026 midterms are a year away, but the fascists are already disenfranchising as many nonwhites as possible. They're practicing urban show-of-force intimidation.
And they're still hiring.
What do we do when they show up at polling places in 2026, "checking IDs"? THEY WILL.
And they're still hiring.
What do we do when they show up at polling places in 2026, "checking IDs"? THEY WILL.
October 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
The "last chance" 2026 midterms are a year away, but the fascists are already disenfranchising as many nonwhites as possible. They're practicing urban show-of-force intimidation.
And they're still hiring.
What do we do when they show up at polling places in 2026, "checking IDs"? THEY WILL.
And they're still hiring.
What do we do when they show up at polling places in 2026, "checking IDs"? THEY WILL.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
AOC is spot on. I just wish her message traveled even further & wider than it already does.
Btw... WHY DON'T DEMS HAVE A PRESS SECRETARY who holds daily briefings? Why don't they have their own press pool? Rs are blowing up norms, so why shldn't Dems?
Btw... WHY DON'T DEMS HAVE A PRESS SECRETARY who holds daily briefings? Why don't they have their own press pool? Rs are blowing up norms, so why shldn't Dems?
October 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
AOC is spot on. I just wish her message traveled even further & wider than it already does.
Btw... WHY DON'T DEMS HAVE A PRESS SECRETARY who holds daily briefings? Why don't they have their own press pool? Rs are blowing up norms, so why shldn't Dems?
Btw... WHY DON'T DEMS HAVE A PRESS SECRETARY who holds daily briefings? Why don't they have their own press pool? Rs are blowing up norms, so why shldn't Dems?
![“With a narrowness, a prejudice, a blindness which in retrospect seem inconceivable . . . , [the German Right] hammered away at the foundations of the Republic until, in an alliance with Hitler, they brought it down. ... [T]he Third Reich was inaugurated in peacetime. . . . The Germans imposed the Nazi tyranny on themselves.
“Many of them, perhaps a majority, did not quite realize it at that noon hour of January 30, 1933, when President Hindenburg, acting in a perfectly constitutional manner, entrusted the chancellorship to Adolf Hitler.
“But they were soon to learn.”
- William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yk3bwv3cq33onvcopzbwm6ec/bafkreie6imj4jvpxxpfxfmestiqiwwhaipzu7cjrky7ew2zqgjbu4fbbj4@jpeg)
September 27, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
#28. Luffing all the way to the Bank: Trump Ocean Club, Panama (2011)
Instead of functioning as a glamorous oasis for the rich and powerful, the Trump Ocean Club had become a high-speed laundromat that washed enormous amounts of tainted capital.
open.substack.com/pub/craigung...
Instead of functioning as a glamorous oasis for the rich and powerful, the Trump Ocean Club had become a high-speed laundromat that washed enormous amounts of tainted capital.
open.substack.com/pub/craigung...
#28. Luffing all the way to the Bank: Trump Ocean Club, Panama (2011)
South of the border, down Panama way, Trump's Russian Laundromat switched its spin cycle to overdrive.
open.substack.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
#28. Luffing all the way to the Bank: Trump Ocean Club, Panama (2011)
Instead of functioning as a glamorous oasis for the rich and powerful, the Trump Ocean Club had become a high-speed laundromat that washed enormous amounts of tainted capital.
open.substack.com/pub/craigung...
Instead of functioning as a glamorous oasis for the rich and powerful, the Trump Ocean Club had become a high-speed laundromat that washed enormous amounts of tainted capital.
open.substack.com/pub/craigung...
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Everyone should read this.
Even MAGA (to the extent they can read.)
Lays out in well-researched detail how the KGB used Trump's vanity, arrogance, and stupidity to reel him in.
He started out as a useful idiot. Now the White House is in effect a branch of the government of the Russian Federation.
Even MAGA (to the extent they can read.)
Lays out in well-researched detail how the KGB used Trump's vanity, arrogance, and stupidity to reel him in.
He started out as a useful idiot. Now the White House is in effect a branch of the government of the Russian Federation.
September 18, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Everyone should read this.
Even MAGA (to the extent they can read.)
Lays out in well-researched detail how the KGB used Trump's vanity, arrogance, and stupidity to reel him in.
He started out as a useful idiot. Now the White House is in effect a branch of the government of the Russian Federation.
Even MAGA (to the extent they can read.)
Lays out in well-researched detail how the KGB used Trump's vanity, arrogance, and stupidity to reel him in.
He started out as a useful idiot. Now the White House is in effect a branch of the government of the Russian Federation.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Dear journalists:
The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her.
Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.
The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her.
Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.
August 26, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Dear journalists:
The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her.
Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.
The President has not fired Lisa Cook. The President is *trying* to illegally fire her.
Your words shape people’s reality. Please be accurate in your reporting.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
August 18, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Think I now understand what lethality looks like! 😂
Duckworth to Hegseth: "You are blowing through money like my fellow cadets and I did in our first liberty after basic camp. Luckily I didn't end up with a questionable tattoo ... you're just an unqualified yes man who can't tell the president how to keep Americans safe."
June 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Think I now understand what lethality looks like! 😂
A typical example of the shallowness of American mass media: This CNN headline treats a governor's fight against the attempted fascist overthrow of the U.S. government as just another political spat between the parties.
June 11, 2025 at 4:42 PM
A typical example of the shallowness of American mass media: This CNN headline treats a governor's fight against the attempted fascist overthrow of the U.S. government as just another political spat between the parties.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Trump in 2020: We have to go by the laws. We can't move in the National Guard. I can call insurrection but there's no reason to ever do that, even in a Portland case. We can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor.
June 9, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Trump in 2020: We have to go by the laws. We can't move in the National Guard. I can call insurrection but there's no reason to ever do that, even in a Portland case. We can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
This court always seems to find the “irreparable harm” in favor of Trump.
Next Up: “SC decides Trump can shoot a man on 5th Ave. while they examine the merits of the victim’s case.”
Next Up: “SC decides Trump can shoot a man on 5th Ave. while they examine the merits of the victim’s case.”
May 30, 2025 at 2:34 PM
This court always seems to find the “irreparable harm” in favor of Trump.
Next Up: “SC decides Trump can shoot a man on 5th Ave. while they examine the merits of the victim’s case.”
Next Up: “SC decides Trump can shoot a man on 5th Ave. while they examine the merits of the victim’s case.”
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
When we had press.
May 14, 2025 at 3:02 AM
When we had press.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
OMG I'M SCREAMING 😂😂
May 1, 2025 at 6:24 AM
OMG I'M SCREAMING 😂😂
Trump just called Gaza a "piece of real estate" - utterly disregarding the suffering of the people who live there.
Reminds me of Navalny, who said Putin views ordinary people as "ants."
Reminds me of Navalny, who said Putin views ordinary people as "ants."
April 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Trump just called Gaza a "piece of real estate" - utterly disregarding the suffering of the people who live there.
Reminds me of Navalny, who said Putin views ordinary people as "ants."
Reminds me of Navalny, who said Putin views ordinary people as "ants."
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
On tariffs...
If you think about it.. ⬇️
If you think about it.. ⬇️
It's a brilliant way to funnel tons of money from the US consumers almost directly to russia. And no, the US government will not get any tariffs paid. It becomes super lucrative to trade with the US through russia.
April 3, 2025 at 5:25 AM
On tariffs...
If you think about it.. ⬇️
If you think about it.. ⬇️
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
2/ This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense.
That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.
That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.
April 3, 2025 at 3:29 AM
2/ This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense.
That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.
That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
Crockett: To have the sitting AG go on Faux News and decide that she wanted to send a threat to me was wrong.. I don’t like Elon Musk. I’m going to say it 50,000 times.
April 2, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Crockett: To have the sitting AG go on Faux News and decide that she wanted to send a threat to me was wrong.. I don’t like Elon Musk. I’m going to say it 50,000 times.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
@congressmanraja.bsky.social , @duckworth.senate.gov , @durbin.senate.gov
This, not Chuck Schumer, not Hakeem Jeffries, is the level of concern you should align with, this, and this regime is what you should obstruct and fight every single day, without let up.
This, not Chuck Schumer, not Hakeem Jeffries, is the level of concern you should align with, this, and this regime is what you should obstruct and fight every single day, without let up.
March 12, 2025 at 3:59 AM
@congressmanraja.bsky.social , @duckworth.senate.gov , @durbin.senate.gov
This, not Chuck Schumer, not Hakeem Jeffries, is the level of concern you should align with, this, and this regime is what you should obstruct and fight every single day, without let up.
This, not Chuck Schumer, not Hakeem Jeffries, is the level of concern you should align with, this, and this regime is what you should obstruct and fight every single day, without let up.
Reposted by Critical Rationalist
#LiveBlue #USDemocracy #DemsUnited
THE MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE DAY!
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office.
You must watch this video until the end!
youtu.be/hycoCYenXls
THE MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE DAY!
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office.
You must watch this video until the end!
youtu.be/hycoCYenXls
Murphy: Six Weeks In, This White House Is On Its Way To Being The Most Corrupt In U.S. History
YouTube video by Senator Chris Murphy
youtu.be
March 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
#LiveBlue #USDemocracy #DemsUnited
THE MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE DAY!
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office.
You must watch this video until the end!
youtu.be/hycoCYenXls
THE MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE DAY!
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office.
You must watch this video until the end!
youtu.be/hycoCYenXls