totallynotafederalagent

[totallynotafederalagent]

I rely on caffeine way too much

Sometimes I feel like the only time I can write something good is when I've got a couple cups of coffee down my gullet. I specifically brew a type of coffee that's jam-packed with more caffeine than is healthy for a person. It's a serious problem. As in a 'had to go to the hospital twice' type of serious problem.

[totallynotafederalagent]

My spine hurts

I love the content of reading but hate the action of reading, you get me? How do I read something without speedrunning old man back problems or locking my neck in the same position forever?

[totallynotafederalagent]

I am consumed by humility

Ever since some priest rattled off the virtue of humility to me, I have been obsessed with chasing it. I think about it almost every day. It has no concrete definition, at least, not one that I can practice day to day. It seems to appear in some Goldilocks zone between self-deprecation and arrogance. Somehow a person must have a healthy ego that is constantly kept in check and in good health to be humble. I know this is probably one of those things that no one person is meant to master quickly or maybe ever. Yet still, it haunts me.

[totallynotafederalagent]

Gateway Drug for Being an Old Man

I can't sleep so I'm ranting again.

I believe worse tragedies will befall the American Republic in response to Trump's second term rather than during his second term. I say this because we have lost something valuable to the order of this republic: Classical Conservatism.

Most of current American politics is dominated by populists of no merit and no underlying principles. When someone tells you Trump's supporters are "conservative" they're just lying to you. They may have knee-jerk reactions to inconsequential social changes but they do not have principles beyond petty outrage and some fetishized nostalgia for "better days".

Conservatism as a practice and an ideology defies definition by nature, but one of the cornerstones is valuing tradition. Conservatism at its best will value useful traditions and slowly let go of traditions with no value. When old traditions become harmful the best features of Liberalism get to shine. There is a time for slow and judicial change as well as a time for fast and less judicial change. Either way, change is inevitable.

In an age without compromise or the bare essentials of good faith, how are we to tell the Conservatives from the "conservatives". I say: look around; because one of American Conservatism's oldest and most valuable traditions is the Rule of Law.

[totallynotafederalagent]

To Christopher Wray

What's the play here, buddy? To what end do you let some lackey take your place? Would you not be able to serve your term as director with enemies within and without? How was this going to be any different than investigating two separate presidents, one of which hosted an insurrection, all while keeping the Chinese and Russians at bay? How can you step down more than three years early when the facts show you a populist egomaniac is taking power?

I ask all this because you're a more honorable man than I, pursuing a pure definition of the rule of law and justice, free from partisan action. What does the American public gain from your resignation? What do your noble 38,000 men and women you served do with your early departure? What example do you present to your son and your daughter? Simply put: why?

[totallynotafederalagent]

To Any Fellows Outside McDonald's Land

Many foreign observers of US politics, particularly Europeans, have asked me why this man blowing up kids in third-world countries is not a major scandal here.

My answer is usually: "I'm not qualified enough to answer that" but I think the real answer lies in the 24-hour news cycle. Ever since the Iran Hostage Crisis became a reality TV show for news channels to cash in on, every catastrophe has felt like the daily weather to American citizens. The heightened awareness of every tragedy to ever take place since then (no matter how small) might also contribute to why our population thinks we are reliving the fall of Rome despite living through a relatively lackadaisical era of history.

[totallynotafederalagent]

Warning to anyone who might come across this blog

I'm gonna complain a lot about the worst of liberal ideologies, partly because I'm surrounded by them. The other reason is that it actually takes effort to dismantle the misconceptions, conspiracies, and outright lies of the radical left. On the other side of the horseshoe, it doesn't take a genius to parse why we shouldn't just throw out all the brown people cuz some other people think they're icky.

While I'm well aware that any successful group of extremists requires some amount of subtlety and predatory tactics, the extreme left in my country is a lot more subtle. Paradoxically, they are also the easiest to manipulate into pushing your agenda, although the phenomenon of opposing extremist groups symbiotically feeding off each other is a tangent for another day.

[totallynotafederalagent]

Politics is a fashion statement nowadays

It's not anything shocking, but I still hate it. I mean 'fashion statement' in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Literal in that you can tell what kind of person someone is based on the gaudy pins and plastic baubles they have adorning their person. That's a minor grumble from me more than anything. I'm more interested in the less concrete conclusion that political thoughts are shared as mere posturing and nothing else.

I will concede that someone's opinions and even some principles will inevitably change over time, but we've reached the event horizon as of late. One pip from some crusty, tan-baked politician about banning tiktok and a bunch of kids catapulted from "black lives matter" to "Chinese Taipei belongs to the CCP". This is what happens when people wave banners for popular causes without understanding what their bedrock beliefs are. You chase trends until you run straight into a wall.

[totallynotafederalagent]

Aztecs and trans people have one thing in common

Their existence will always be beholden to the political biases of whoever discusses them. Due to massive propaganda machines, centuries-old and labyrinthine in structure, the reality of these people as people is utterly destroyed. Even the dedicated few who study the nuances of either group inevitably discover that key pieces of information have been destroyed by dead people. Just like how we will never know when and how Montezuma died (barring any archeological miracles I've missed out on), many things will probably never be known about the incredibly diverse subsets of transgender people that will continue to haunt many fields of science for decades to come.

Then again I could be totally off base. I'm not an expert in either subject and I never will be. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯