Terry O’Gara
@terryogara.bsky.social
Distilling modern complexities into mythopoetic modern fables and small acts of sense-making, in an attempt to find clarity within culture and chaos.
As it happens, democracy doesn't die in darkness. It dies in broad daylight.
October 29, 2025 at 2:10 PM
As it happens, democracy doesn't die in darkness. It dies in broad daylight.
We've fallen down the rabbit hole. A Mad Red Hatter throws a Tea party; a Dodo caucuses a Mock Congress; a diapered Queen of Golf Carts screams for heads from the royal green. If this is Wonderland, there's no place I'd rather be than Portland.
October 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
We've fallen down the rabbit hole. A Mad Red Hatter throws a Tea party; a Dodo caucuses a Mock Congress; a diapered Queen of Golf Carts screams for heads from the royal green. If this is Wonderland, there's no place I'd rather be than Portland.
When one party holds power, the other must show ethical contrast. The Constitution’s strength isn’t procedural; it’s moral integrity. Antifa leaders should signal restraint and accountability. Tell your donors: us or them; so that we can explain to voters who bought who.
October 10, 2025 at 1:47 AM
When one party holds power, the other must show ethical contrast. The Constitution’s strength isn’t procedural; it’s moral integrity. Antifa leaders should signal restraint and accountability. Tell your donors: us or them; so that we can explain to voters who bought who.
Debating whether we’re in a crisis yet is like deciding between a hike or the beach when a storm is fast approaching the shore. The adult move is: evidence → forecast → plan. If the wind is already shifting in your direction, what’s the next move?
October 8, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Debating whether we’re in a crisis yet is like deciding between a hike or the beach when a storm is fast approaching the shore. The adult move is: evidence → forecast → plan. If the wind is already shifting in your direction, what’s the next move?
The most successful coup is one that convinces its targets that self-defense is an act of violence. Failing to prosecute those who attempt to dismantle the republic isn't avoiding retaliation; it's granting them immunity for crimes against the state.
October 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The most successful coup is one that convinces its targets that self-defense is an act of violence. Failing to prosecute those who attempt to dismantle the republic isn't avoiding retaliation; it's granting them immunity for crimes against the state.
A system that betrays the social contract and engineers economic despair will always find people desperate enough to abandon their moral compass and do its brutality for a price. Such a system first betrays its people, then it pays them to betray each other.
October 5, 2025 at 2:36 PM
A system that betrays the social contract and engineers economic despair will always find people desperate enough to abandon their moral compass and do its brutality for a price. Such a system first betrays its people, then it pays them to betray each other.
If only it were as simple as swapping out bad guys for good guys. Red team out; blue team in. But new solutions won't fix the old architecture. We need a new framework. How do we get reformers to rise out of the crumbling structure that landed us here and now seems only exists to reproduce itself?
October 3, 2025 at 2:44 PM
If only it were as simple as swapping out bad guys for good guys. Red team out; blue team in. But new solutions won't fix the old architecture. We need a new framework. How do we get reformers to rise out of the crumbling structure that landed us here and now seems only exists to reproduce itself?
An autoimmune disorder occurs when a body attacks its own healthy tissue. When a state mistakes dissent for disease and targets its own citizens, the result is a self-inflicted and all too often fatal wound. The end is not cure, but collapse.
September 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM
An autoimmune disorder occurs when a body attacks its own healthy tissue. When a state mistakes dissent for disease and targets its own citizens, the result is a self-inflicted and all too often fatal wound. The end is not cure, but collapse.
The American eagle is a perfect system evolved for flight. So to believe you can sever the left wing mid-air and still return with a bigger nest egg is catastrophic lunacy. We are all likely to learn a brutal, spiraling lesson in gravity.
September 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The American eagle is a perfect system evolved for flight. So to believe you can sever the left wing mid-air and still return with a bigger nest egg is catastrophic lunacy. We are all likely to learn a brutal, spiraling lesson in gravity.
A disturbing paradox emerges when speech condemning hate is punished more severely than hate speech itself, or when hatred is offered up as an essential part of religious or national identity. Not only does this invert legal principles, it shatters society's moral compass and undermines democracy.
September 23, 2025 at 1:06 PM
A disturbing paradox emerges when speech condemning hate is punished more severely than hate speech itself, or when hatred is offered up as an essential part of religious or national identity. Not only does this invert legal principles, it shatters society's moral compass and undermines democracy.
A runaway limousine is barreling toward 340 million people. You can pull a lever to end the ride, thereby saving a nation, but sending the driver to Florida who would have otherwise been safe. What would you do? The problem explores the conflict between utilitarianism and deontological ethics.
September 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
A runaway limousine is barreling toward 340 million people. You can pull a lever to end the ride, thereby saving a nation, but sending the driver to Florida who would have otherwise been safe. What would you do? The problem explores the conflict between utilitarianism and deontological ethics.
It's far easier to campaign against a trans person, an immigrant, a communist, or stir up a satanic panic, than it is to explain why healthcare is unaffordable or why the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. The goal is not to govern well; it is to win power. And for that, they need a witch.
September 21, 2025 at 10:31 PM
It's far easier to campaign against a trans person, an immigrant, a communist, or stir up a satanic panic, than it is to explain why healthcare is unaffordable or why the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. The goal is not to govern well; it is to win power. And for that, they need a witch.
When the metric of journalistic success changes from 'Did we inform the public?' to 'Did we maximize shareholder value?', then impartiality, integrity, and courage fall by the wayside. The MSM news hasn't been dumbed down, so much as it's been optimized for easy digestion and hyper engagement.
September 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
When the metric of journalistic success changes from 'Did we inform the public?' to 'Did we maximize shareholder value?', then impartiality, integrity, and courage fall by the wayside. The MSM news hasn't been dumbed down, so much as it's been optimized for easy digestion and hyper engagement.
The private sector can thrive and serve as a constructive counterweight to political power, but only when its leaders are not afraid to demonstrate a civic conscience in the face of shareholder pressure, and operate with a courage rooted in long-term values, not short-term fears.
September 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
The private sector can thrive and serve as a constructive counterweight to political power, but only when its leaders are not afraid to demonstrate a civic conscience in the face of shareholder pressure, and operate with a courage rooted in long-term values, not short-term fears.
We are not done building this country. We are heirs to a promise, not prisoners of the past. The dream endures only if we believe we all belong. -Especially when the powerful try to convince us our neighbors are our enemies. Fight back. The American Dream was always going to take hard work.
September 16, 2025 at 3:30 AM
We are not done building this country. We are heirs to a promise, not prisoners of the past. The dream endures only if we believe we all belong. -Especially when the powerful try to convince us our neighbors are our enemies. Fight back. The American Dream was always going to take hard work.
The Founders forged an aspirational vision of self-government; to be perfected by future generations. Lincoln reminded us that America is an idea, not simply a collection of tribes. To undo that is not to make America great again, but to unravel everything that America ever was. And for what?
September 16, 2025 at 3:15 AM
The Founders forged an aspirational vision of self-government; to be perfected by future generations. Lincoln reminded us that America is an idea, not simply a collection of tribes. To undo that is not to make America great again, but to unravel everything that America ever was. And for what?
Remember what words truly mean.
Remember what principles actually cost.
Remember what common sense once was.
And most of all, remember who we promised we would be, to and for each other.
Remember what principles actually cost.
Remember what common sense once was.
And most of all, remember who we promised we would be, to and for each other.
September 16, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Remember what words truly mean.
Remember what principles actually cost.
Remember what common sense once was.
And most of all, remember who we promised we would be, to and for each other.
Remember what principles actually cost.
Remember what common sense once was.
And most of all, remember who we promised we would be, to and for each other.
Does the road still bend toward liberty, or are we being led into shadow by those who profit from its cover? The arc of the moral universe may be long, and history may forgive, but people need judgment to move forward. Without it, the lie becomes heritage: a time bomb ticking within the culture.
September 16, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Does the road still bend toward liberty, or are we being led into shadow by those who profit from its cover? The arc of the moral universe may be long, and history may forgive, but people need judgment to move forward. Without it, the lie becomes heritage: a time bomb ticking within the culture.
Those in power often believe they can control outcomes indefinitely. They assume they can outsmart history, suppress dissent, or co-opt opposition. The perennial error is believing this time will be different, and forgetting that when human dignity reaches its breaking point, reality is reimagined.
August 30, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Those in power often believe they can control outcomes indefinitely. They assume they can outsmart history, suppress dissent, or co-opt opposition. The perennial error is believing this time will be different, and forgetting that when human dignity reaches its breaking point, reality is reimagined.
The essence of investigative journalism is knocking on doors. You listen to victims, verify allegations, and then you confront the powerful with evidence and camera crew in tow. This shifts the story from unfair and unbalanced reporting of a potentially gaslit opinion to 'What do the facts say?'
August 30, 2025 at 2:12 AM
The essence of investigative journalism is knocking on doors. You listen to victims, verify allegations, and then you confront the powerful with evidence and camera crew in tow. This shifts the story from unfair and unbalanced reporting of a potentially gaslit opinion to 'What do the facts say?'
Call them what they are: 'Not-sees'. Willfully blind to history, law, and science. ‘Not-sees’ don’t just ignore inconvenient truths; they actively attempt to gaslight society into questioning their own eyes. Not-sees dismantle democracies, rewrite history, and burn facts. Don't be a Not-see.
July 12, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Call them what they are: 'Not-sees'. Willfully blind to history, law, and science. ‘Not-sees’ don’t just ignore inconvenient truths; they actively attempt to gaslight society into questioning their own eyes. Not-sees dismantle democracies, rewrite history, and burn facts. Don't be a Not-see.
Is he or isn't a fascist? Does he tolerate critics or does he call them dissidents, internal enemies, or terrorists? The way a leader positions opposing points of view tells us what we need to know about who they are.
June 11, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Is he or isn't a fascist? Does he tolerate critics or does he call them dissidents, internal enemies, or terrorists? The way a leader positions opposing points of view tells us what we need to know about who they are.
Decree by Tweet. 🙄
April 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Decree by Tweet. 🙄
Well, if they aren't fascists, what ever it is still starts with an 'F'.
March 30, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Well, if they aren't fascists, what ever it is still starts with an 'F'.
Empathy is now ‘civilizational suicide’? Father, forgive them, for they know not they are sociopaths. Behold their works: foreign aid gutted, children unfed, medicine withheld, civilians bombed, dissent silenced. All decreed in meme commandments & punctuated with the daemon emoji of Skibidi empire.
March 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Empathy is now ‘civilizational suicide’? Father, forgive them, for they know not they are sociopaths. Behold their works: foreign aid gutted, children unfed, medicine withheld, civilians bombed, dissent silenced. All decreed in meme commandments & punctuated with the daemon emoji of Skibidi empire.