reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 03/10/2026And then civil war. But what about the many pearl clutchers who say political violence is never, ever acceptable? To them, I say, the United States would never have existed in the first place without the "political violence" that freed the colonies from tyranny. 110
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Indonesia is the largest Muslim country, and it has a democratic multi-party coalition system. Some of the political parties are explicitly Islamic (Islamist?) but they cooperate with the others to govern. 100
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Like I said, I'm genuinely unclear. And not at all trying to offend. Is "Islamist" really more like "Christian nationalist"? There are democratic political parties with Islamic values, and there are fascist totalitarian parties also with Islamic values. Are only the latter considered "Islamist"? 100
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Maybe I'm missing a fine point of terminology. I would have said that Indonesia's National Awakening Party (PKB) is Islamist. It's not fascist or totalitarian. It's a centrist party guided by Islamic values. I don't think it's fair to demonize "Islamism," but maybe I'm missing the connotation. 110
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Fascism, by definition, is anti-freedom and totalitarian. Communism, in theory, is not, but is in practice. Islamism? Some Islamist political parties are totalitarian, but others are democratic. The exact same is true of Christian parties. 210
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Great follow-up questions. Seems Time went for breadth, not depth, so they touched on every major issue but missed follow-up opportunities. Like you, I'd prefer depth. Don't try to cover everything. Pick important issues, like rogue AI, and go deep on them. Let other outlets cover other areas. 011
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Great examples regarding balance of power. AI *could* be inclusive and reduce inequality. But it seems more likely to worsen inequality and entrench the oligarchy, as well as the underclass. A large plumbing firm can filter those bot calls. An individual plumber, maybe not. Another good example:theconversation.comAI offers promise for agriculture, but smallholder farmers risk being left behindAI tools for farming can play a role. But they need to be properly tailored for African and developing nations’ context. 002
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Exactly. That anti-weaponization fund? Should go to victims like this guy. And be paid out of Trump's corrupt crypto profits. 110
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Meanwhile, the Rockies and Angels, the worst teams in baseball, have attendance that's right in the middle of the pack. Rockies: 2.2 million (down 160k) Angels: 2.6 million (up marginally) www.espn.com/mlb/attendance 110
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The one highlight: "Everything I do is ahead of schedule." Sure hope that includes leaving office. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Disagree. The transcript shines a bright light on the Emperor's nakedness. (Eww, that's a gross thought.) Case in point: the helipad delusion. 1678
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026That was one of my favorite bits. "I'm the smartest person on earth! Because I had this uncle!" Then immediately rambles incoherently about electricity. 030
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Example of Trump's genius: the invention of the helipad. 193
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Trump endorses hyperinflation to pay down the debt. 243
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026President hears for the first time about major federal security breach from Time reporter. 242
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Sam Altman's smart. Dario's smart. But "I have the highest of IQs. The highest." Remember my dead uncle? "... these massive plants have no—We have no electricity in our grid. These massive plants now are allowed to make their own electric—" 231
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026It's not AI driving growth. It's the automotive companies. Like Apple. And Nvidia. 121
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The insurance companies don't get the money! Because the people give their money to the insurance companies! 🤦 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Trump unveils Obamacare replacement plan, a decade in the making! "I would rather have the insurance companies not get the money. I'd rather have the people get the money. So the people would get the money, buy their own health insurance, save money, better health insurance." 110
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"I have other forms of tariffs I can have. I just got a tariff from Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham, first time in 50 years. But, I think, I think it's a shame. I think what the Supreme Court did is an absolute crying shame." What's this now, Grandpa? Getting tariffs from dead people? 352
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"But remember, if I weren't here, there wouldn't be a Saudi Arabia. There wouldn't be an Israel. There wouldn't be various other countries also." Senile egomaniac imagines the annihilation of Saudi Arabia and Israel. 250
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"They use snipers to go right through their head, and when—remember the women went, they had 500,000 women, and then they started getting hit by snipers right in the middle of their head?" Demented lunatic daydreams about horrific violence. 251
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happenyoutube.comTrump: "Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen. But with Tylenol, don't take it."YouTube video by The Bulwark 170
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I can only imagine a poll test would look a lot like the loyalty tests that the fascist regime administers to job candidates. Clearly if you don't love Trump, then you're too stupid (unpatriotic, disloyal, insert adjective here) to be allowed to vote. 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026@timothysnyder.bsky.social is excellent here, as always, at cutting through the noise. It's fascist, plain and simple. (And hypocrisy, because Trump loves the communists.) 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Monopoly power entrenches the oligarchy. In one chart: 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Why do Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg spend so much time sucking up to Trump? Unregulated monopoly power yields obscene profits. Bring back Lina Khan. Fight the tech monopolists. 120
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Cool puzzle! Never saw this before. Thanks for sharing. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Universal high income"! Sounds great until you realize Elon's "universe" is tech oligarchs and politicians. 020
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 30/09/2026He's not supposed to come right out and say he's completely useless, is he? 030
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 29/09/2026"'We’re going to be signing a document today at about 5 o’clock, renaming ‘artificial intelligence,’ because it’s not artificial, we all agree on that,' Trump said." Glad we have a president who's laser focused on the kitchen table issues central to everyday Americans' lives.cnn.comTrump says he’ll order AI be renamed ‘super intelligence’ after meeting tech execs at the White House | CNN BusinessPresident Donald Trump showed no sign he wants a slowdown in the development of AI technology after convening with top tech executives at the White House Tuesday, telling reporters afterward that he w... 021
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Fascinating insights into how cavalierly elected officials spend taxpayer money. Just as one example, how did Christopher Fox spend thousands in community college dining halls? 👀 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I agree with everything you said. And... Who the hell is Darren Bailey? Oh, now I see he's running for governor. Why are you spotlighting him? Keep your eyes on the prize, JB. Don't give free press to your opponents. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 28/09/2026IDK. JD Vance is ridiculous, a historically atrocious presidential candidate. AOC would likely win. Then... Is AOC in 2028 going to fix what's fundamentally broken in our country? I don't know about that. 100
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Manchin was an insane outlier. And Blueskyers wanted to crucify him. Representing a +42 Trump state, he didn't vote against Trump every single time! Shocker! We should be grateful when we get a Democrat winner in a red state, rather than pushing them out of Congress. 030
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Obviously. In the wealthiest country on the planet, you shouldn't have to be old to get decent health care. The tech billionaires could fund health care for everyone. But they'd rather hoard their wealth. The democratic process should solve this. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 23/09/2026It's the party of Trump. Only right-wing nutjob racist nazis allowed. As recently as last year, Rubio was unanimously confirmed. He quickly moved from category 1 to category 2, as required by his master. So 2 is the answer. Unless Trump dies soon. 2 years of Vance could be a path back to #1. 020
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"I believe that we won 2024 because of these women" Really? Really, it was MAHA? That's why we're in Trump's helscape? What about no new wars? Or $2 gas? Or ICE targeting the worst of the worst? The MAGA cult ate up ALL the lies, across the spectrum. It's a cult. Not a single issue like MAHA. 030
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Top headline at realclearpolitics.com: "Each outlet is infamous for coverage that skews radically to the left." No. What's radical is limiting White House access to sycophants. That's a radical violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.thefederalist.comTrump Bans 'Fake News' CNN, MS NOW, Politico From White HouseDonald Trump announced Friday he is 'banning' corporate news outlets CNN, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico from the White House. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 16/09/2026What a stupid post. Big AI companies are going to innovate, and compete, with companies in countries like China. They're *begging* for an international non-proliferation treaty to slow the race to AGI. You could lead that effort, rather than crucifying them for highlighting the existential risk. 000
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Kash Patel defends removing bestiality as automatic disqualifier for FBI applicants "Patel’s decision to remove bestiality as an automatic disqualifier for FBI job applicants drew bipartisan disbelief... change was intended to protect trafficking victims coerced into sexual acts with animals." 😂 210
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 14/09/202658.6% chance of Dems taking the Senate. Let's go!!! www.natesilver.net/p/nate-silve... 120
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I read Dario Amodei's essay over the weekend, and I gotta say, I was shaken. But then I read IQ47's tweet this morning, reminding us all that standing between the human race and extinction is "a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT". Now I'm terrified. 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 10/09/2026When does an agent of the Russian and Chinese governments in the White House get recognized as literal espionage? Smarten up, promoters of Dem infighting! 020
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Trump-promoted Freedom Fuel gas stations expand to Detroit to sell allegedly stolen gas for $3.47 a gallon. Turns out you can't run a business buying gas legitimately and selling it well below market price.cnbc.comTrump-promoted Freedom Fuel expands to Detroit as lawsuit over supplier's unpaid fuel heats upFreedom Fuel won free publicity when President Donald Trump urged other gas retailers to emulate its low prices in July. 001
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 08/09/2026This is really good. Credits: "lyrics by Bruce Kluger, and music by Suno AI. A tip of the sombrero once again to dazzlin' Danish video editor @Louise.and.the.art, who brings a little Copacabana to her Copenhagen style" At least the lyrics were human-created.youtube.com"Little Marco" (Sitcom Edition) (from the record "MAGA Country")YouTube video by MAGA Country 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Abolishing ICE *is* the moderate position. Ain't got no time for mealy-mouthed bipartisan "work across the aisle" senators. Progressive, moderate, I don't care, as long as you're opposed to fascism and willing to say it out loud. 010
reality check 🤔😕😢 @realitycheck.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Yes. It's not a political party anymore, but a fascist bigoted cult. If you support supposedly conservative ideals, like small government, lower taxes, and less spending on social programs, fine, I'll talk to you. But if you also support authoritarianism, corruption, and bigotry, we're done. 120