Ian Karbal
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iankarbal.bsky.social
Ian Karbal
@iankarbal.bsky.social
Journo in PA @penncapitalstar.bsky.social. Bad at posting.

Bylines @columjournreview.bsky.social, @opensecretsdc.bsky.social, @thetrace.org, Mountain State Spotlight, and more.
After Grok started referring to itself as "Mechahitler," X limited it to image generation only. Working out great!
July 9, 2025 at 3:46 AM
He was also had a lot of posts about feeling depressed, betrayed, alone, etc.

8/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
All this aside, the posts that stuck out most to me were the misogynistic/men's rights ones.

He had degrading posts about women generally, some of which are pretty hardcore. He also posted men's rights videos, about how no one cares about men, etc.

7/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
There are also posts that, in retrospect, could show an inclination towards political violence or crime

6/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
There are some other common threads.

He posted about society/politics being rigged for the rich. He appears to despise what he saw as Christian hypocrisy and MAGA-coded racism. And he didn't like America's foreign policy and wars. A fair bit of political nihilism as well.

5/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
His COVID politics were particularly... complicated

There are posts angry on behalf of essential workers and pro-mask

There are posts saying the media was overreacting, government was manipulating, and taking pride in not obeying lockdown

Again, take all memes with grains of salt.

4/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
But here we are, and I want to show why it's hard to draw conclusions

First, his politics are messy. He posts videos from people like Tulsi Gabbard (pre-MAGA) and Ron Paul

There's anti-Biden, anti-Trump, anti-Democrat, and anti-GOP, posts. He's pretty anti-government/major parties generally

3/
April 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Happy farm show to all who celebrate
January 8, 2025 at 9:39 PM