Matthew
@nicenameprettyboy.bsky.social
When you lose Noah Smith…
January 12, 2026 at 4:24 AM
When you lose Noah Smith…
But I don’t accept this idea that we are living in different realities. I could but I don’t buy it. At most, they are more wrapt in some the emotional function of anger and self defense that they can’t get a handle on. But that’s not the same as having a different reality.
January 10, 2026 at 10:16 PM
But I don’t accept this idea that we are living in different realities. I could but I don’t buy it. At most, they are more wrapt in some the emotional function of anger and self defense that they can’t get a handle on. But that’s not the same as having a different reality.
I do not believe in the good faith of the right, broadly speaking. Granting a kind of moral relativity, ok. I can reason as to why even though they really know, some arrangement of circumstances and psychology allows them to lie to themselves in a way that’s honest.
January 10, 2026 at 10:14 PM
I do not believe in the good faith of the right, broadly speaking. Granting a kind of moral relativity, ok. I can reason as to why even though they really know, some arrangement of circumstances and psychology allows them to lie to themselves in a way that’s honest.
I think even that’s giving them too much credit. I think for the majority the reasoning is motivated but not for a significant group of the leaders, like Vance. He’s pathological. However, I think they all come across off-ramps at some point or other, but will insist.
January 10, 2026 at 10:11 PM
I think even that’s giving them too much credit. I think for the majority the reasoning is motivated but not for a significant group of the leaders, like Vance. He’s pathological. However, I think they all come across off-ramps at some point or other, but will insist.
Just don’t come to me when you need some way to prove to everybody what a jerk he is.
January 10, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Just don’t come to me when you need some way to prove to everybody what a jerk he is.
Have fun with that obnoxious jerk Gerard, then.
January 10, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Have fun with that obnoxious jerk Gerard, then.
One question: Who gets to live there? I need a list before I sign up because if this guy Gerard is on it, then no f*cking way. I’m keeping my screen shots.
January 9, 2026 at 5:37 PM
One question: Who gets to live there? I need a list before I sign up because if this guy Gerard is on it, then no f*cking way. I’m keeping my screen shots.
And I do think it’s more the faults of our society than anything special about him. He’s a narcissist and psychopath with a penchant for shallow fame and was ushered into a certain untouchable class at a young age.
January 6, 2026 at 4:39 PM
And I do think it’s more the faults of our society than anything special about him. He’s a narcissist and psychopath with a penchant for shallow fame and was ushered into a certain untouchable class at a young age.
No I know. I don’t mean to nitpick, either. Just that I felt he had a special kind of genius at some point and kind of still do, under a certain meaning of the word. But that would be more like one of a kind, for a certain time. But that’s not really what we mean by genius.
January 6, 2026 at 4:39 PM
No I know. I don’t mean to nitpick, either. Just that I felt he had a special kind of genius at some point and kind of still do, under a certain meaning of the word. But that would be more like one of a kind, for a certain time. But that’s not really what we mean by genius.
Saying he understood it is giving him too much credit, or undersells the accidental nature of it. He just is that way and can’t function otherwise. If the Republican power structure didn’t support it, he wouldn’t be popular enough to overtake it.
January 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Saying he understood it is giving him too much credit, or undersells the accidental nature of it. He just is that way and can’t function otherwise. If the Republican power structure didn’t support it, he wouldn’t be popular enough to overtake it.
Like, get over yourself and your personal resentment toward your industry and colleagues, and do the work.
December 31, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Like, get over yourself and your personal resentment toward your industry and colleagues, and do the work.
Those are some thick blinders. He doesn’t participate in a moral framework, so neither can she as a writer covering politics in the Trump era, at least related to the most prevalent subjects like the conduct of the President of the U.S. government.
December 31, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Those are some thick blinders. He doesn’t participate in a moral framework, so neither can she as a writer covering politics in the Trump era, at least related to the most prevalent subjects like the conduct of the President of the U.S. government.
Yeah I’m a big fan of his. He’s been praising her for a while on podcasts and it always feels too cute. I think he’s trying to argue for her special utility in the Trump era but he’s a bit like Costanza squinting and mistaking raccoons for mailboxes.
December 30, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Yeah I’m a big fan of his. He’s been praising her for a while on podcasts and it always feels too cute. I think he’s trying to argue for her special utility in the Trump era but he’s a bit like Costanza squinting and mistaking raccoons for mailboxes.
I didn’t know any of it, because she was just a name like Marylin Monroe but all the controversy seems very much left coded if not more neutral, as with her son.
December 30, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I didn’t know any of it, because she was just a name like Marylin Monroe but all the controversy seems very much left coded if not more neutral, as with her son.
Also Bridgett Bardot was apparently insanely racist and a monster to her son.
December 30, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Also Bridgett Bardot was apparently insanely racist and a monster to her son.
It sounds like Steve Carrell trying to describe how breasts feel in 40 Year Old Virgin.
December 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
It sounds like Steve Carrell trying to describe how breasts feel in 40 Year Old Virgin.
I dunno. Immunity to bullying altogether doesn’t seem all that great either. I get the criticism and would hope anyone could take it seriously but not sure about the absolute tone.
December 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I dunno. Immunity to bullying altogether doesn’t seem all that great either. I get the criticism and would hope anyone could take it seriously but not sure about the absolute tone.
Over half of the electorate voted against Trump in 2024. Mandate.
December 29, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Over half of the electorate voted against Trump in 2024. Mandate.
Can you imagine them going back to him and them saying “no comment” again? I can.
December 28, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Can you imagine them going back to him and them saying “no comment” again? I can.
He’s a piece of shit.
December 28, 2025 at 7:28 PM
He’s a piece of shit.
This is exactly it. I’ve really tried to look past it but it’s impenetrable.
December 28, 2025 at 4:55 AM
This is exactly it. I’ve really tried to look past it but it’s impenetrable.
People under the age of 400 cannot truly appreciate the pure electricity Sunday noon tide performance were at the Globe Theater.
Incidentally neither can people over 400 years since electricity hadn’t been harnessed yet.
Incidentally neither can people over 400 years since electricity hadn’t been harnessed yet.
December 27, 2025 at 12:54 AM
People under the age of 400 cannot truly appreciate the pure electricity Sunday noon tide performance were at the Globe Theater.
Incidentally neither can people over 400 years since electricity hadn’t been harnessed yet.
Incidentally neither can people over 400 years since electricity hadn’t been harnessed yet.
Seems like he has comments, too.
December 24, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Seems like he has comments, too.