Pete Smillie
Pete Smillie
@mequantum.bsky.social
Psychology, physics and the brahma viharas.
103 followers71 following1K posts
Has anyone ever envisioned a psychopathic, treasonous moron as president?
When a fed'l judge does her job, insisting that the govt follow the same rules as everyone else & the president attacks her personally, it’s a sobering moment. You’ll want to read Judge Reyes’ final comments today in court. I wrote about it here: joycevance.substack.com/p/this-is-no...
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"There must be additional pressure on Russia so that Russia stops this war," Denys Sienik says. "Any message that Putin will receive that sanctions may be lifted or restrictions may be lifted or there will be less pressure on Russia. That will incentivize his attacks" https://to.pbs.org/4zIl6qW
Western journalists are completely out to lunch. Their EQ is in the basement. Plus, they’re bought and paid for. Any normalization of Trump is evidence of this.
i think that western journalists with limited or outdated experience with authoritarian propaganda environments don't know how much things have evolved in like, the last 15 years. like the degree to which propaganda is chaotic, distributed, insidious, memeified.
@hcrichardson.bsky.social FYI Trump’s animal posts are psychological manipulation — not further signs that he has “lost it”.
The Dharma of AI. Roshi Joan Halifax asks where is the wisdom in AI, where is the Psyche? Be wary of the egos of Zuckerberg and Marc Andreessen, - not to mention Trump's - on the path to extinction. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_1v...
It turns out this Atlanta Hawk fiasco came from the DOJ, meaning Blanche and Trump, and Schmitt went along with it. The insurrection continues…
This is the point. Schmitt was aware that this was all likely BS but went ahead with it anyway. Afterwards he was blowing his horn on FOXNews as if he had scored a big victory. This is the lying crap game the RW plays, and MAGHATS eat it up. The MSM is blind to covering this…
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And now this: GOP "staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Sen. Eric Schmitt a warning: The texts they had obtained from the Justice Department ... were 'unvetted.' ... Schmitt used the texts anyway." www.ms.now/news/eric-sc...
Understanding Senator Eric Schmitt. His track record includes bringing this expensive litigation chock-full with misinformation all the way to Supreme Court. My article with @justinhendrix.bsky.social in 2024: A Conspiracy Theory Goes to the Supreme Court: How Did Murthy v Missouri Get This Far?
“Free Pussy” reveals a rapist mentality. It’s like grabbing it, and claiming “they let you do it”.
There are NEW updates in the case of the Cornell 7 as more details are revealed, including how the alleged victim stated “with 100% confidence [she] was raped”. So why did the local DA only present certain parts of her written statement? I've got the latest reporting: youtu.be/tcsZBeeJk9k?...
@kqedforum.bsky.social What intelligent analysis. Giving Bibi unfettered license was a big mistake.
Money is the root of all hideousness.
There's this really odd pattern with Bari Weiss, JD Vance, Richard Hanania etc, where they rise to prominence because their main skill is cultivating the friendship of wealthy patrons, but it's impossible to figure out how they do it because they constantly exude a pungent strain of anti-charisma.
@kqedforum.bsky.social We need a National intervention. Doesn’t anybody know any better? Why do we tolerate emotional illiteracy fostered by FOX and other rw media? Our national EQ is in the cellar. Hi Tom and Mina!
“Not one decent cell in his body” - Jeffrey Epstein, who knew Trump better than anyone.
Heed this warning about the midterms from Ty Cobb, former Special White House Counsel in Trump’s first term: “There’s nothing Trump won’t do.” Our full discussion is worth the watch. You’re invited: open.substack.com/pub/thefrank...
Ever wonder how we became so fkg stupid? Give “the Gipper” credit. www.amacad.org/publication/...
60 days to Armageddon @radiofreetom.bsky.social
TY @theanthonydavis.bsky.social for interviewing @bandylee.bsky.social about the risk America and the world faces so long as Trump is unchecked. He is MASSIVELY UNSTABLE & DANGEROUS! @hcrichardson.bsky.social @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social @timothysnyder.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr6t...
Rick Rescorla, 911 Hero. www.newyorker.com/magazine/200...
@around.com I just found out that it was Sally Ride who tipped off Kutyna. Kudos to you since this little detail was missing from "Genius" in '92.
@kzsustanford.bsky.social I love this football coverage! It’s even better w/o roster sheets. No ego-splaining bs. Pure invigoration. Great job.
@pbsnews.org How is it possible for you to report on Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario without stipulating how infantile and unhinged his behavior is? As LisaD reported years ago, “This Is Not Normal”. WTF is wrong with You?
@kqedforum.bsky.social Trump is degrading the military, just as he is every other aspect of our lives. Stop belaboring the obvious.
@kqedforum.bsky.social Every American is a sailor. This is kafkaesque trauma for all of us with Trump & Hegseth, two emotional illiterates, (and worse) in charge. TRAUMA.
THIS is Natalie Harp. Beautiful to see how fucked we are.
This is Natalie Harp, the close aide to President Trump. These clips are from 2021 when she worked at OAN. She ended her program with a daily Bible quote. Sometimes she swapped out the Bible for a quote from Trump leading with "And remember what Trump said..."
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🎯100%!!! This inversion is typical of how conservatives operate. Claiming a liberal value, principle, insight as their own & attacking liberals with it. It's what British psychiatrist Melanie Klein called "envious reversal" & conservatives do it all the time.
For what it's worth, a depiction of "AI" as moral panic is exactly backwards with respect to power: moral panics are promulgated by entrenched power. In contrast, "AI" represents centralization of power and nobody is pushing it harder than existing entrenched powers.
@kevinmkruse.bsky.social “Inside dirt from the bitter and spiteful”? Jesus. Get help. You sound just like the catering truck duck.
Worth noting that Trump is poisoning every institution we have — as well as his supporters’ minds. RW think tanks are filled with toxic stupidity, like algae in his reflecting pool, topped off by incompetence and lies.
Just a note that @jbendery.bsky.social is 100% worth following. Always finds stories like these that matter, and yet are a bit under the radar.
Pete Smillie reposted
Better yet, abolish der Fuhrer and his little SS leader Stephen Himmler who created and implemented this goon force.
Today I made an unannounced visit to ICE’s facility in Scarborough, Maine. What I heard was unacceptable: no body cameras, no training, and no accountability. Johan Guerrero should be alive. Congress must act. Abolish ICE. End qualified immunity.
Ice murders another person, shooting the victim thru the windshield, and Geoff Bennett drones on, turning in another vacuous scrambled report. @pbsnews.org where is the urgency?
@pbsnews.org How can you continue to cover Trump, as if in any way this is a “normal” presidency, & not an indulgence in narcissism, incompetence and pathological lying? Wasn’t your reporter, @lisad.bsky.social there, in the Capitol during the insurrection? Every day, he dismantles our gov & norms.
@kqedforum.bsky.social We have become inured to the daily travesty that is Trump. Why hasn’t Obama, who like Lincoln was a mindful president, spoken out more against him?
Pete Smillie reposted
Four years ago, a coordinated right-wing smear campaign condemned Monticello for "going woke." Bridget Gillespie was working there at the time, and she gives this revelatory inside account of the harassment staff endured and ultimately how the institution buckled. Amazing piece.
Contrast to Presidents known for morality and integrity: Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama come to mind. “Echelon of enrichment”? Nice words for violation of trust and complete corruption.
Trump’s profiteering in office was once unimaginable in a democracy, particularly by a sitting American president. The Trump family’s earnings move him into an echelon of enrichment more associated with strongmen in Russia and Turkey. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/w...
Pete Smillie reposted
The other day I noted the only way Trump would keep paying Event Strategies to put together humiliating public events is if it were a vehicle for corruption. Today, Natural Resource Dems released a report substantiating that corruption. emptywheel.net/2026/06/29/t...