Chris Abraham

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:11:47 -0400

Turns Out the Elites Like the Administrative State Better than Democracy

The New York Times claims that the “administrative state”—that is, governance by unelected bureaucrats—protects our country and enhances democracy. pca.st/episode/9…

Will Ireland have a civil war before the USA and because of US?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 22:51:28 -0400

Ireland is a good reminder that the self-appointed vanguard of the proletariat loves the proletariat mostly as an abstraction.

Right now, actual workers in Ireland, truckers, farmers, and other fuel-dependent people, have been out disrupting roads, cities, and supply lines over rising fuel costs. Dublin has been hit, depots have been targeted, and the government has made clear that while protest is technically fine, it has very little interest in treating these people as a legitimate body worth negotiating with. That part matters.

Because this is where the mask usually slips.

The modern managerial left loves “workers” as a poster, a slogan, a moral prop, a bit of museum glass labeled Working Class. What it does not love nearly as much is workers with their own center of gravity. Workers who are loud, blunt, rooted, impossible to curate, and fully willing to tell institutions to get bent. Workers who do not ask to be represented because they are perfectly capable of representing themselves.

That kind of worker is a problem.

So over time, a lot of what calls itself solidarity has quietly shifted away from workers and toward clients, people whose housing, legal status, education, services, identity, and social legitimacy all run through institutions staffed by the same professional class claiming to speak for them. That arrangement is much tidier. Dependency gets renamed compassion. Control gets repackaged as care.

That is why Ireland matters right now. Because when actual working people move under their own power, the people who endlessly invoke “the people” suddenly become anxious, managerial, and faintly contemptuous. The rhetoric stays populist. The instincts turn administrative.

That is also why Eoin Lenihan’s Vandalising Ireland caught my attention. I have not read it yet, but after hearing him interviewed by Bridget Phetasy, the broader pattern was hard to miss. Ireland is not some strange exception. It is one more place where the institutions, government, NGOs, academia, media, all seem much more comfortable speaking for ordinary people than listening to them.

And when those workers push back, they stop being celebrated as the noble working class and start being treated as a disruption to be managed, a nuisance to be smeared, or a threat to be contained.

That is the tell.

The vanguard did not merely lose touch with workers. It replaced them with constituencies that are easier to administer. Ireland is just making that harder to hide.

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 22:40:42 -0400

In Ireland right now, truckers and farmers are blocking roads over fuel costs, and the self-appointed vanguard suddenly looks nervous. They love “the working class” until actual workers move without permission. Then it’s not solidarity. It’s crowd control.

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:29:48 -0400

There’s real fuckery around Virginia’s redistricting vote. This isn’t a normal reform question. It’s about whether Virginia should temporarily let the legislature redraw congressional maps mid-decade to answer partisan map changes elsewhere. YES changes the map now. NO keeps the current system.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:04:53 -0400

I took the German or Autistic diagnostic and scored Neither. I am apparently the control group. german.millermanschool.com

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:44:39 -0400

Trump’s America ramps up threats and strikes on Iran, pushes things to the brink, then steps in with a ceasefire and calls it victory. Create the crisis, control the escalation, then take credit for the calm you engineered.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:16:44 -0400

Yesterday was the best Taco Tuesday I’ve ever had. If “Trump Always Chickens Out” means threats cool off instead of turning into missiles, I’ll take tacos over war every time. Call it whatever you want—I call it not waking up to a headline about Iran being erased.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:12:23 -0400

This is awesome. Four episodes. Amazingly produced and acted. And I personally know Lucifer.

Experience the story of Jesus like never before in THE CHRIST, a four-part podcast masterpiece from the award-winning producers of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol. thechristpodcast.com

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:07:52 -0400

Canada mocks U.S. immigration policy while imposing caps and freezes at home—40% cuts to student permits, higher financial thresholds, and refugee sponsorship pauses through 2026. It’s not “more open,” it’s just branded better. One finger out, three back.

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:23:09 -0400

Fascinating AF

Canada Is Built on a Clause That Nobody Is Supposed to Use. What Happens Now That Everyone Is Using It? pca.st/episode/a…

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 11:43:29 -0400

Mao Zedong, the Chinese communist revolutionary who founded the People’s Republic of China, was not a Yale graduate. But in Changsha he had ties to Yale-in-China’s Yali network, editing a Yali-linked student magazine and reportedly running a bookshop from its medical college.

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:19:14 -0400

Same ice cream shop just with new exotic flavors!

Do you think the BRICS nations are going to save us from the New World Order? Then you might be suffering from multipolaritis. pca.st/episode/5…

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:08:43 -0400

Primer: “Baby killer” isn’t new. During the Vietnam War, U.S. troops were branded that over civilian deaths like My Lai Massacre. Today, the same language is aimed at the U.S. and Israel over Gaza and regional wars—a recurring anti-war tactic, not a new invention.

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:30:17 -0400

Fascinating

Spanberger approval rating at 47 percent in new poll youtube.com/watch

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:24:16 -0400

Fascinating

Warning To Voters: Abigail Spanberger’s ‘Bait And Switch’ Playbook Could Be Dems' Golden Strategy youtube.com/watch

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:54:16 -0400

Why do that when they can share costs with the State? Why would they spend more when they can do halvesies?

Haley Flatpack digital EDC pack

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:59:37 -0400

Everyone likes to take shots at my GR2 34L—“Why are you carrying an end-of-days, international, one-bag travel rig just to go sit in a café?” Fair. It does look like I’m about to either board a flight or disappear into the mountains. But here’s the punchline: I don’t need it.

What I actually need fits into something much smaller—a Haley Flatpack that’s basically the physical manifestation of restraint. Inside it right now: a 2011 Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (no extended battery, because we’re not reckless), a charging brick, USB charger, cables, Kleenex, lip balm, and a titanium fork/knife/spoon set because apparently I prepare for both emails and soup.

And yes—it all fits. Barely. The X220 slides in like a climbing shoe or a ballet flat—snug, borderline unreasonable, but technically compliant. You have to negotiate with the zipper a bit. There’s a moment where you and the bag come to an understanding. Then it closes, and suddenly you’re carrying a full mobile office in something that looks like it shouldn’t even hold a sandwich.

There are extra zippered pockets doing quiet, heroic work—absorbing all the small life-support items that normally metastasize across larger bags.

Today I forgot my notebook, which is a personal failure and will likely haunt me for several hours. But the important thing is: it would fit. The system holds.

So yeah—mock the GR2 all you want. It’s my mothership. But this little Flatpack? This is the shuttlecraft. This is me proving I can go from overbuilt expedition mode to minimalist café operator with zero drama.

And for scale, that espresso cup in the photo isn’t even standard size. This whole setup is basically “slightly larger than coffee, significantly more useful.”

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:58:37 -0400

Fascinating & smart & spooky

pca.st/episode/3…

Never a wimp President is made

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:34:19 -0400

The reason “thug,” “gangster,” “king,” and “fascist” so often bounce off Trump is that those words are meant as moral indictments, but they arrive wearing jackboots, a crown, and a soundtrack. They do not paint him as helpless. They paint him as a man who can terrify enemies and impose outcomes. In a TV-soaked political culture, that reads less like disqualification than presidential virility.

American politics has a graveyard full of men who died from the opposite disease: looking weak. Adlai Stevenson was the elegant “egghead.” Michael Dukakis put on the tank helmet and looked like a substitute teacher on a field trip to the motor pool. John Kerry had medals, but got turned into a windsurfing, French-looking, flip-flopping rich guy who seemed to deliberate while Bush decided. Howard Dean did one crazed yell and suddenly looked like he could not govern a lunch line. George H. W. Bush spent years haunted by the phrase “wimp factor.” Jeb Bush got machine-gunned with “low energy.” Jimmy Carter got wrapped in malaise, hostage humiliation, and the feeling that history was happening to him rather than through him.

That is the point. In presidential politics, “dangerous” sits next to “strong,” but “hesitant,” “careful,” and “thoughtful” sit next to “weak.” Voters say they want virtue and stability, then respond to swagger, theatrical force, and the fantasy of command. Trump, elderly and absurd as he is, still benefits from being cast as the barbarian at the gate rather than the hall monitor in the doorway. A barbarian can be feared, hated, mocked, and despised, but he is still granted potency. The hall monitor gets ignored.

So when people call Trump a fascist or a gangster, they may think they are shrinking him. Often they are doing the opposite. They are giving him the Idiocracy treatment: turning him into President Camacho for people who think politics is not a moral test but a televised cage match. In that arena, the dangerous lunatic often outruns the guy who looks like he needs permission.

I can also make these even nastier and more Facebook-native.

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:31:42 -0400

Trump gets called a thug, king, fascist, gangster, and half the country hears boss music. Meanwhile Dukakis got eaten by a tank helmet, Kerry by windsurfing and Swift Boat, Dean by a scream, Jeb by “low energy.” In American politics, monster beats wimp almost every time.

Stop calling Trump tough!

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:31:33 -0400

Calling Trump a “thug,” “king,” “gangster,” or even “fascist” is supposed to be disqualifying, but in practice it often does the opposite. Those words are loaded with moral judgment, but they’re also saturated with imagery of power. They evoke dominance, control, fearlessness, someone who acts instead of hesitates. In a political culture that still rewards perceived strength, that framing can backfire.

The mistake is assuming that moral condemnation automatically translates into political damage. It doesn’t. Voters don’t process language like a theology exam. They respond to signals. And the signal embedded in those labels isn’t just “bad,” it’s “powerful and unconstrained.” For supporters, that can be attractive. For opponents, it can even feel intimidating. Either way, it reinforces the idea that he’s a force, not a figure who can be dismissed.

Historically, candidates struggle when they’re perceived as weak, indecisive, or outmatched. When the narrative becomes “he’s not up to it,” that sticks. When the narrative becomes “he’s dangerous because he’s too strong,” it’s a double-edged message. You’re warning about him, but you’re also amplifying the very traits that make him compelling to his base.

If the goal is persuasion rather than signaling, the strategy has to change. Language that inflates a candidate’s sense of power tends to consolidate their support, not erode it. What actually undermines a political figure is making them look small, ineffective, erratic, or unserious—someone who can’t deliver, can’t control outcomes, or can’t hold things together.

So the real question isn’t whether the label is morally accurate. It’s whether it works. And framing someone in terms that read as strength, even negative strength, often doesn’t do what people think it does.

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:29:32 -0400

Calling Trump a “thug,” “king,” or “fascist” doesn’t weaken him—it frames him as powerful. Those are dominance-coded labels, not insults. In politics, weakness is what kills candidates. If you want to undercut him, you have to make him look small, not strong.

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:04:45 -0400

Performative religion is not a dictator-only move. It appears wherever power wants legitimacy. The right does it, Democrats do it, church hierarchies do it. The real question is not who panders with faith, but whether people can still tell the difference between belief and theater.

Everyone exploits church and religion.

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:02:28 -0400

Performative religion isn’t unique to strongmen. It shows up anywhere power and legitimacy intersect. Popes, archbishops, presidents, revolutionaries, party machines, campaign operatives, all of them are tempted to wrap themselves in moral language to stabilize power. American politicians do it constantly with churches, clergy, prayer breakfasts, gospel cadences, and selective scripture. The issue isn’t who does it. The issue is whether people can still tell the difference between faith and theater.

Capitalism isn't a bug but a feature of Marxist evolution

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 08:35:56 -0400

Even Karl Marx—and yes, Ludwig von Mises makes a similar point from the opposite side—recognized that capitalism isn’t some optional detour but the necessary engine that develops the productive forces socialism depends on. Marx’s own framework (historical materialism) treats capitalism as a stage you must pass through before anything like socialism or communism is even structurally possible. So if someone is stuck denouncing capitalism while living entirely inside it, they’re not resisting the process—they’re stalled within it. In that sense, capitalism isn’t a bug in the system; it’s the system doing exactly what Marx said it would do. Complaining about it without advancing beyond it just proves the point. davisvanguard.org/2026/04/c…