Although trained in physics, I worked in the computing industry with pride and purpose for over 40 years. And now I can do nothing but sit back and watch it destroy itself for no valid reason beyond hubris (if I'm being charitable).
Ineffable sadness watching something I once loved deliberately lose its soul.
@petrillic @robpike The recent Timothy Snyder essay on "Superpower Suicide" was posted/re-posted a lot this weekend. "Empires have risen and failed before, but to my knowledge no state has ever chosen to kill its own power, and succeeded with such rapidity." I hate to be susceptible to trying to make everything-look-like-everything-else but these two rots feel related if not foundationally then at least spiritually.
From this essay:
#Trump announced his main weapon would be tariffs, but then lost his trade war with China ...
It would serve the USA for Ukraine to win; but Trump switched to support Russia ...
Ukraine has performed ever better. The US failed to see its own interests ...
Trump left Iran with uranium in the hands of a more radical regime which holds new economic power ...
Instruments to influence Iranian society were willfully demolished in early 2026.
@swggrkllr3rd "Remember when 7 gop'ers went to russia on July 4th to talk to pooty ??"
Yes, I remember, and what you are whining about is trivial bullshit. Trump is terrible. Putin is terrible. A lawmaker speaking to Putin, on any day, is not a problem. Those Republicans did far worse things than talk to the leader of a foreign nation. Your Luckovich cartoon is very good, but your additional comments spoiled it.
@sstrader To me the connection is the triumph of hype over substance. And in some sense I think we did it to ourselves. We heard the line about a lie getting half way around the world before the truth got its shoes on, and then we built a machine that sped that up drastically.
I expected a different outcome, of course. I thought that once people had ready access to the facts there would be little room for lies. How wrong I was!
rob pike
Chris Petrilli
Scott D. Strader 😐
Paul Schoe
swggrkllr3rd
RonSupportsYou
William Pietri
JonChevreau 🇨🇦