Erika Jordan

Selective Conspiracism

Selective conspiracism refers to a cognitive and political phenomenon where individuals or groups pick and choose which conspiracy theories to believe based on their existing political, ideological, or personal biases, rather than evidence. (NIH)

Cult Cognition

Cult cognition involves the psychological manipulation of thought processes, often exploiting cognitive dissonance and social conformity to create intense, unquestioning loyalty to a leader or group. By employing four types of control—behavior, information, thought, and emotion (BITE model), these groups break down individual critical thinking and create an "us vs. them" mentality. (Wikipedia)

Erika

Erika Jordan

No, we're not to blame for what our forebears did. But we are responsible for what's happening now - possibly as a consequence of what they did.

So we need to stop being whiny-butt pussies about it, and reckon with it.

Erika

She's concurring with others who've been talking about the same thing.

It's not plain old everyday garden variety Dementia, it's Frontotemporal Dementia.

Those of us who can be considered normal have a little guy in our heads who can tell us, "Stop - don't do that".  But for Trump, that little guy is no longer there - if he ever was in the first place.

Erika Jordan

If he's historically great, then your suffering means something.

Erika

• Cruelty becomes discernment
• Poverty becomes a character flaw
• Empathy becomes a spiritual weakness

If you're wealthy, it's god's blessing. If you're poor, it's god's punishment.

They're not hypocrites if they believe they're adhering to the teachings of their faith.

Erika

Here it comes, kids. The horrendously shitty things Republicans have done - and continue to do  - and continue trying to do - generally don't take effect immediately. That is, we don't see or feel the effects right away. (There's that pesky old "elasticity thing" I go on about sometimes)

Anyway, the fucked up every-man-for-himself hellscape that the Plutocrat-friendly GOP has been pimping these last 50 years is starting to take shape.

Erika

2 weeks.

That's the method to his madness.

Erika

Erika

When you've secured your very own exclusive lifeboat, sinking the ship that everybody's on becomes profitable.

Never forget, population reduction is always part of the plan.

Stepping On Our Dicks

Sure glad our greatly awesome and amazingly tremendous president had the foresight to kill all the incentives and subsidies for wind and solar so our precious Dirty Fuels Cartel can stay profitable while the rest of us nobly fight to the death over for the last package of low carb tortillas.

I don't remember oil selling at $3 a barrel when I was in my 20s.

Consider my gast thoroughly flabbered.

Erika Explains

Under the basic rubric of The Non-Apology Apology - the Non-Denial Denial - etc.

  

Erika Explains

Alexithymia is a subclinical personality trait characterized by difficulty identifying, describing, and processing emotions, often described as "emotional blindness".

WTF Was That?

White House posts cryptic videos, deletes one, fueling speculation online

• White House posted two unexplained videos; one was later deleted.
• The short clips sparked hacking and teaser speculation online.

Two mysterious videos posted to the White House’s official X and Instagram accounts on Wednesday night generated buzz online, with the purpose of the short, vertically shot clips unclear. One video was later deleted.

The first video, posted around 9:15 p.m. EST, appeared to be filmed on a smartphone, with the camera pointed at someone’s feet. In the four-second-long video, a female voice can be heard asking, “It’s launching soon, right?”

A line of text on the screen says “sound on.” The video was later removed from the White House’s accounts on X and Instagram roughly 90 minutes after it was posted.

The second short video, posted at 10 p.m. EST, showed a black, staticky screen with a phone notification sound playing. An American flag was visible in one frame. The post included emojis of a smartphone and sound.

There was no indication of the context of the posts, which racked up millions of views, with many online commenters theorizing the accounts could have been hacked or that an official was cryptically teasing something.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

It was not immediately clear whether the videos were posted intentionally. The posts follow earlier instances of the Trump administration White House social media accounts sharing meme-style content.

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Erika Jordan

There are people making weapons and developing systems that are intended as the means to rule over us. But according to assholes like Peter Thiel, they're not the bad guys. Somehow, the bad guys are the ones trying to stop them.

Two things:

1. Better men than these dorks have been trying to conquer the world for 40,000 years, and the world remains undefeated
2. But the Conqueror's Mentality (a close correlation to the Theory Of The Greater Fool) drives these guys to keep trying. "Everyone else may have failed, but that was then and not now - that was them and not me. I'm faster, stronger, and smarter, so I'm just guy who can pull it off"

Some of the most insightful commentary on the web.

Erika

No matter how bad it is, if a disaster doesn't negatively affect rich people - particularly rich American people - we're not going to hear about it down here with the normal folk.

Erika Jordan

Pointing out the cynical use of something like the "non-apology apology" is not cynicism. It's truth.

Transparency

The self-dealing is blatant.

Erika Analogizes

Erika

When the leader - and the in-group - say it's all great, it can override our built-in defenses.