No, I was responding to the discussion about losing a loved one who was brainwashed. Based on the full discussion it’s unclear if he even supported Trump or was just brainwashed by homeopathic and or antivax propaganda, which is not explicitly link him to a political party.

You’re getting oddly defensive about this though. Tubular. 🤙🏄‍♀️

I don’t want to accuse you of pulling something out of your ass just to box me into a false dichotomy, but I also don’t recall typing any of that?

Yes… too many people with empathy and beliefs rooted in complex first hand experience. That’s why the U.S. is where it is…

Definitely nothing to do with people jumping to conclusion driven by black and white thinking

They fell for a scam. That doesn’t merit the death sentence.

Agree. The sad fact is there have been plenty of mistakes made throughout history that can often serve as a kernel of truth to make a lie just believable enough. Given historical context within the U.S. (for example Tuskegee experiments), and the fact that even in the last decade we’ve uncovered more cases of unethical human experimentation by both the government and private companies (MK Ultra, social media manipulation of users emotions), we really should be asking why more isn’t being done by leaders to: 1. Publicly acknowledge some very big mistakes, 2. Create ongoing consequences for the people who did this unethical bullshit. As in, ongoing financial penalties/compensations for victims and their families/communities, and demanding more transparency from these agencies and businesses… Instead of allowing them to just continue operating as normal, essentially tax free with zero transparency while pretending we should all just say thank you.

Idk is expecting the bare minimum from the people we trust (and PAY) to create and enforce laws and policy really too far fetched?

I know whenever I read some crazy MAHA bullshit coming from DHHS in 2026 implying I should be depending on raw milk for my own health instead of vaccinations, I think about the fact that A. Obviously this is a once trusted source of information I can no longer trust, B. The damage currently being done to public trust isn’t going to disappear overnight if/when fascism leaves office, C. The current damage is compounded on top of a lot of previous damage our government never took the time to actually acknowledge and try to repair. D. I doubt anybody in this administration will face consequences for the damage they’re doing, but there will be ongoing consequences to public health and safety for decades if not generations. And that’s kind of their overarching goal.

Tldr: It’s valid to be angry at people for making poor choices, but they’re still people. I’m more angry at the system that failed them and is continuing to fail all of us by not demanding accountability from the agencies/corporations/individuals who knew what they were doing was wrong, but did it anyway because they believed/trusted that even if they got caught, any consequences/penalities would be insignificant.

$omehow this flew under most people’s radar when Trump took office the first time around, so here’s a helpful reminder:

2016: Peter Thiel said to be playing key role in filling health, science posts under Trump. https://archive.is/2023.08.31-231401/https://www.statnews.com/2016/12/20/peter-thiel-donald-trump-science/

Thiel has also been speaking to organizations pushing possible candidates, among them a working group that includes FasterCures, Research!America, and the Coalition for Life Sciences.

“He’s got pretty broad influence,” said one individual close to the transition team, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity.

The individual said Thiel was very focused in particular on the FDA, NIH, Health and Human Services, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“Look, if Mr. Thiel wants to privately fund research, then he should do it,” Harris said. “We’re talking about the NIH, we’re talking about taxpayer dollars, and I think you treat taxpayer dollars differently than private dollars.”

And if you’re thinking something along the lines of “so what, doesn’t mean he actually ended up having that much influence,” I would suggest you look into Trump’s current Science Advisor who the press realized, (also almost a decade ago), holds no science credentials.

A Peter Thiel Protégé Is Leading Trump’s AI Strategy Against China

Trump’s pick for science adviser is a rarity among his nominees — he’s not controversial

For $ome reason, in 2025, the press had no questions about Kratsios’ ability to steer American science towards greatness 🙃 Considering how he did in his defacto role the first time around, I would argue he should have been considered an extremely controversial pick;

In March of 2020, Kratsios was tasked by Trump to use cutting edge technology to tackle COVID misinformation and track early cases of the virus in the U.S. in order to keep it from spreading.

According to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, top tech trade groups and companies participated in the call, including Apple, Cisco, Google, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, Twitter, the Consumer Technology Association, the Information Technology Industry Council and others.

Representatives from multiple federal agencies also participated in the call, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Labor, Department of Education and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The meeting revolved around how the tech industry can better coordinate with the government to get out authoritative facts about the coronavirus while cracking down on the spread of bunk cures and conspiracy theories spreading online.

Officials also discussed how artificial intelligence could “make it easier for medical researchers” to review data about the coronavirus, according to a readout.

…🙃

These 2 really steal the scene. It looks like the baby is shaking his fist at her bc he caught her trying to shovel all of those (?) down like cookie monster before anyone else sees.

It’s the internet I was promised in 1996. It only took thirty years and the complete collapse of American journalism to get here.

I’ve always wondered if your personal version of heaven or hell in the afterlife boils down to the deepest parts of your self and lingering consciousness tied to the neurochemical and electrical activity that happens after cardiac arrest.

You know how our sense of time is so warped when we dream, and you can fall asleep for just a few minutes but from your perspective a dream can feel so much longer?

I figure if there was ever the perfect time for your subconscious to come back and either bite you in the ass with guilt, shame, and regret for all the the things you’ve done that you never set right, or alternatively, maybe give you a sense of comfort if you feel you have made peace with your life on earth, it would probably be during this time.

Think of it like being in an isolation tank. Maybe some fuzzy outside information still makes its way in to influence what’s going on inside of the tank, but mostly it’s just you and your thoughts for (what feels like) all eternity.