guilty bystander
@richmetter.bsky.social
Graphic designer, writer-adjacent, word watcher, film & music & idea & podcast lover, armchair critic, humanist, MAGA-loather, Brooklynite, oldster.
Waiting for Trump to announce tariffs on Wisconsin cheese.
April 2, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Waiting for Trump to announce tariffs on Wisconsin cheese.
Praise for Sam Rockwell’s performance on White Lotus dominated my Threads feed last week, but here comes Emile the Goat to say “hold my hay.”
March 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Praise for Sam Rockwell’s performance on White Lotus dominated my Threads feed last week, but here comes Emile the Goat to say “hold my hay.”
Trump and Elon hawking Teslas in front of the White House, Hitler proudly inspecting a model of the new “people’s car”. History really does often “rhyme.”
March 12, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Trump and Elon hawking Teslas in front of the White House, Hitler proudly inspecting a model of the new “people’s car”. History really does often “rhyme.”
Reposted by guilty bystander
literally every time I talk to friends
March 1, 2025 at 6:15 AM
literally every time I talk to friends
I know I am living in particularly bad times when the most uplifting substacks and podcasts I’ve consumed this past week have had the general theme of “here are some reasons things might be just SLIGHTLY less terrible than you fear.”
February 22, 2025 at 8:49 PM
I know I am living in particularly bad times when the most uplifting substacks and podcasts I’ve consumed this past week have had the general theme of “here are some reasons things might be just SLIGHTLY less terrible than you fear.”
I loved DC comics as a kid—Superman, Batman, etc. I feel like I’m living in an inverted alternate universe where the comic book heroes are Lex Luthor and the Joker.
February 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I loved DC comics as a kid—Superman, Batman, etc. I feel like I’m living in an inverted alternate universe where the comic book heroes are Lex Luthor and the Joker.
Two theories on the surreal “Musk & X visit POTUS” episode:
• “Bottle Episode” Hypothesis – WH visit was a bottle episode in which a simulated reality manipulated public perception.
• “Baby X is a Robot” Theory – Given Musk’s obsession with AI and tech, was X a prototype for a neural-linked android?
• “Bottle Episode” Hypothesis – WH visit was a bottle episode in which a simulated reality manipulated public perception.
• “Baby X is a Robot” Theory – Given Musk’s obsession with AI and tech, was X a prototype for a neural-linked android?
February 13, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Two theories on the surreal “Musk & X visit POTUS” episode:
• “Bottle Episode” Hypothesis – WH visit was a bottle episode in which a simulated reality manipulated public perception.
• “Baby X is a Robot” Theory – Given Musk’s obsession with AI and tech, was X a prototype for a neural-linked android?
• “Bottle Episode” Hypothesis – WH visit was a bottle episode in which a simulated reality manipulated public perception.
• “Baby X is a Robot” Theory – Given Musk’s obsession with AI and tech, was X a prototype for a neural-linked android?
Riviera on Mars for Musk and his OMP Coder Kids.
February 5, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Riviera on Mars for Musk and his OMP Coder Kids.
I don’t want to be a “judgie” older person, but this trend where dogs pose with their tongues out for selfies strikes me as silly, and it’s obvious they are just imitating Gen Z kids.
January 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I don’t want to be a “judgie” older person, but this trend where dogs pose with their tongues out for selfies strikes me as silly, and it’s obvious they are just imitating Gen Z kids.
I have been saying for years that David Lynch should have collected royalties for all the “Lynchian vibes” emanating from so many films and “prestige TV” series in the past ten years. Too much of it emulates the “vibe” without adding anything new or creative, so it’s ultimately not Lynchian.
January 18, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I have been saying for years that David Lynch should have collected royalties for all the “Lynchian vibes” emanating from so many films and “prestige TV” series in the past ten years. Too much of it emulates the “vibe” without adding anything new or creative, so it’s ultimately not Lynchian.
“Weather Channel Headline and Most Online Reporting Wreak Havoc on Established Traditions of Copy Editing”
January 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
“Weather Channel Headline and Most Online Reporting Wreak Havoc on Established Traditions of Copy Editing”
Has anyone coined the term “Trump Slump” to describe the stock market so far this year?
January 13, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Has anyone coined the term “Trump Slump” to describe the stock market so far this year?
That old phrase, “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,” keeps popping into my thoughts.
January 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
That old phrase, “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic,” keeps popping into my thoughts.
Reposted by guilty bystander
Why is it in America ghosts 👻 only speak English?
A supposedly "medium psychic" told me that my dead Irish speaking Gaeilge grandmother was telling her messages to tell me. So I asked her, "Mar sin, labhraíonn agus tuigeann tú Gaeilge na hÉireann?"
She looked at me like I had 3 heads. 🤣😂🤣😂
A supposedly "medium psychic" told me that my dead Irish speaking Gaeilge grandmother was telling her messages to tell me. So I asked her, "Mar sin, labhraíonn agus tuigeann tú Gaeilge na hÉireann?"
She looked at me like I had 3 heads. 🤣😂🤣😂
December 29, 2024 at 1:02 AM
Why is it in America ghosts 👻 only speak English?
A supposedly "medium psychic" told me that my dead Irish speaking Gaeilge grandmother was telling her messages to tell me. So I asked her, "Mar sin, labhraíonn agus tuigeann tú Gaeilge na hÉireann?"
She looked at me like I had 3 heads. 🤣😂🤣😂
A supposedly "medium psychic" told me that my dead Irish speaking Gaeilge grandmother was telling her messages to tell me. So I asked her, "Mar sin, labhraíonn agus tuigeann tú Gaeilge na hÉireann?"
She looked at me like I had 3 heads. 🤣😂🤣😂
I will be 69 in January. Feeling excited as I approach my “Joni Mitchell Years” where my life will be filled with tributes, renewed appreciation from my peers, and fresh recognition as an icon by young people who didn’t know about me before.
December 14, 2024 at 7:08 PM
I will be 69 in January. Feeling excited as I approach my “Joni Mitchell Years” where my life will be filled with tributes, renewed appreciation from my peers, and fresh recognition as an icon by young people who didn’t know about me before.
Reposted by guilty bystander
I’m convinced Musk and his bros think of us as a massive SIMS simulation, and they get off on injecting chaos and watching their characters react. I want to start a “We are not your SIMS” movement.
December 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM
I’m convinced Musk and his bros think of us as a massive SIMS simulation, and they get off on injecting chaos and watching their characters react. I want to start a “We are not your SIMS” movement.
My screen name: At SU (1970s) I wrote a satirical column for the school paper. I was going to call it “innocent bystander,” but I made it “guilty” since I didn’t feel exempt from the things I mocked. Entering 2025, I feel slightly less guilty… but I am still a guilty bystander.
December 7, 2024 at 6:20 PM
My screen name: At SU (1970s) I wrote a satirical column for the school paper. I was going to call it “innocent bystander,” but I made it “guilty” since I didn’t feel exempt from the things I mocked. Entering 2025, I feel slightly less guilty… but I am still a guilty bystander.
Reposted by guilty bystander
We've been getting apostrophes wrong since 1925...
November 24, 2024 at 2:56 PM
We've been getting apostrophes wrong since 1925...
I’m convinced Musk and his bros think of us as a massive SIMS simulation, and they get off on injecting chaos and watching their characters react. I want to start a “We are not your SIMS” movement.
December 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM
I’m convinced Musk and his bros think of us as a massive SIMS simulation, and they get off on injecting chaos and watching their characters react. I want to start a “We are not your SIMS” movement.
Busily drafting the craziest, scariest, Kafka-esque Bingo Card for 2025 so no matter what happens next year I can’t say it “wasn’t on my Bingo Card for this year.”
December 3, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Busily drafting the craziest, scariest, Kafka-esque Bingo Card for 2025 so no matter what happens next year I can’t say it “wasn’t on my Bingo Card for this year.”
I am generally not promiscuous in my “following,” but anyone who flashes me a bit of “Pundits and pols clutching their pearls about the pardon, please shut up” has my follow!
December 3, 2024 at 4:36 PM
I am generally not promiscuous in my “following,” but anyone who flashes me a bit of “Pundits and pols clutching their pearls about the pardon, please shut up” has my follow!
I hereby coin the phrase “implausible deniability” for anyone who enabled, supported, and benefitted from Trumpism but then makes TINY gestures of resistance to him when it no longer matters. McConnell appears to be on this track. The Bill Barr version of this is called “the low Barr variant.”
December 3, 2024 at 3:31 PM
I hereby coin the phrase “implausible deniability” for anyone who enabled, supported, and benefitted from Trumpism but then makes TINY gestures of resistance to him when it no longer matters. McConnell appears to be on this track. The Bill Barr version of this is called “the low Barr variant.”
The author calls this satire, but I find it profound. Humans can’t be rapidly made to evolve to a higher state. What if Progressives could make positive use of manipulations the Right has carefully studied and mastered? (I’ve got to rewatch “face in the crowd”!)
open.substack.com/pub/thatfina...
open.substack.com/pub/thatfina...
dark arts for democrats 2028
Because someone has to franchise corruption before someone else does (again).
open.substack.com
December 1, 2024 at 5:52 PM
The author calls this satire, but I find it profound. Humans can’t be rapidly made to evolve to a higher state. What if Progressives could make positive use of manipulations the Right has carefully studied and mastered? (I’ve got to rewatch “face in the crowd”!)
open.substack.com/pub/thatfina...
open.substack.com/pub/thatfina...
I’m not sure if he coined the phrase, but I liked Tim Miller’s use of the term “vice signaling” to describe MAGA behavior.
My take: “Virtue signaling” can be annoying, but “vice signaling” can destroy America.
My take: “Virtue signaling” can be annoying, but “vice signaling” can destroy America.
November 24, 2024 at 7:32 PM
I’m not sure if he coined the phrase, but I liked Tim Miller’s use of the term “vice signaling” to describe MAGA behavior.
My take: “Virtue signaling” can be annoying, but “vice signaling” can destroy America.
My take: “Virtue signaling” can be annoying, but “vice signaling” can destroy America.