Michael Rader

@theoryof

chaotic good xennial ND nerd in the coastal empire. MPP, vp at Frakture. longtime digital strategist + policy wonk. BOLT survivor. If we must do without hope, there is always vengeance.

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Michael Rader@theoryof· 10d

Your last saved meme is now your moral philosophy

Jojo Mart on fire: "all you had to is pay us enough to live. There goes your inventory."

Michael Rader@theoryof· May 12

Megan thankfully supplying me with regular photo updates on Sunny while I'm here in Durham.

Yellow beagle and a pug sitting on a deck in the sun.

Closeup of a beagles head lying on a striped blanket, looking forlorn.

Beagle hound lying in the sun on a wooden deck, with a brown wooden chair in the background.

Beagle dog lying in the grass in front of wooden steps.

Michael Rader@theoryof· May 10

If you're working 100 hours a week, how do you have time to use more than one home?

“When these people are successful, and they become a managing director after working 100 hours a week and they’re making real money, these governments are going to crush that person,” he added.

Michael Rader@theoryof· May 4

What is your fandom, they ask me

a hooded man with long hair (Jaquen H'gar from Game of Thrones) looks decisively down, above the words "A man has no fandom"

Michael Rader@theoryof· Apr 24

Cheers! Got mine around the same time.

Close up of my left shoulder, centered on a (somewhat fading) tattoo of the gonzo fist.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Apr 15

Starting to pack for Durham. My current shortlist of physical media that is making the trip with me.

A stack of dvds. A mix of modern sci-fi, xennial cult classics, and animated favorites. Full series of The Expanse and Batman the Animated Series.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Apr 7

Perfect example of Vancian moral flexibility. He supported limited strikes after he was totally opposed to any strikes but before he supported striking with overwhelming force.

The vice president thought a regime-change war with Iran would be a disaster. His preference was for no strikes at all. But knowing that Mr. Trump was likely to intervene in some fashion, he tried to steer toward more limited action. Later, when it seemed certain that the president was set on a large-scale campaign, Mr. Vance argued that he should do so with overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his objectives quickly.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 28

Dude loves the Tea Party so much it's in his byline.

Jeremy Pete's byline, in which the Tea Party is the only noteworthy "influential American political movement" he covers.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 28

Pic from about 1/3 back in the crowd at Emmet Park. #NoKings #Savannah

Crowd holding signs with a stage in the distance, below Spanish moss-draped trees.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 24

I am getting new lungs. 🫁❤️‍🩹

Message from Duke hospital formally requesting I relocate to Durham to begin pulmonary rehab in preparation for a lung transplant.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 20

Lol. Lmao, even.

Demolition expert Will Lewis gets introduced to Chuck Schumer, who tells him "Just don't forget, I'm a big fucking deal around here."

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 14

Going away for a week to Durham, and I'm gonna miss this little doggo.

Close up of Sunny, a yellow beagle, leaning over my shoulder in the front seat of a car.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 12

tw: obscenity

screenshot of the estimated charges for my lung transplant at Duke Hospital. Including evaluation, transplant, post-care, rehab, and travel/lodging is around $1.4 million.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 11

Matt Yglesias helpfully points out that people like him love to pretend they didn't support the Iraq War. h/t @parkermolloy.com

Matthew Yglesias: “They say that defeat is an orphan while victory has a thousand fathers.”

“So even though the invasion of Iraq was extremely popular in 2003, you rarely meet someone who’ll own up to having supported it at the time. Both that war and the one in Afghanistan shook out so badly that their architects have been retrospectively cast as a team of buffoons.”

“Looking At The Situation…” by Matthew Yglesias, personal blog, March 31, 2002:

I think the administration has things exactly wrong in trying to solve the Israel situation as a precursor to moving on Iraq. The only way a negotiated settlement will be possible there is if Arafat feels that his position is weakening. The only way for that to happen is for the other Arab leaders to start becoming less supportive of him. The only way for that to happen is for our Arab "allies" to recognize that US-Saudi, US-Egyptian, US-Qatari, etc. relations are two way streets, not just an endless dialogue about what we need to do to prop up their regimes.

What better way to show that than to go do something they really, really don't want us to do like, say, invade Iraq?

Plus, if we invade Iraq, we can create at least one reasonable regime in the area. If some "moderate" government get toppled (or just become outright hostile) as the worriers always worry, then we can just topple them again and set up some more supportive regimes.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 11

👁 if you see this, post an eye 👁

Sgt. Apone (Aliens), played by Al Matthews, pointing to his eye with a cigar in hand. Dude was a legit USMC NCO, held thirteen combat awards and decorations, including two purple hearts. He was the first black Marine in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam to be meritoriously promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Mar 9

Anyone checked in with Pam Bondi?

“The Dow is over 50,000 right now,” Bondi said in sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee after Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., slammed her and the Department of Justice for the lack of indictments of possible co-conspirators of the convicted sex predator Epstein.

The S&P 500 is also up and the Nasdaq is “smashing records,” while Americans’ retirement accounts are “booming,” Bondi said after celebrating the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gains. “That’s what we should be talking about.”

Democrats balked at the rhetoric, but Bondi doubled down.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Feb 27

Happy Friday from Cobra Commander.

Cobra Commander, sitting on a big snake throne. He says "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you don't know about. Attack them. Now they're fighting two battles."

Michael Rader@theoryof· Feb 20

Came across this posting on LinkedIn for 29 AI jobs and all I could think was that 27 of them won't exist in six months. Good luck to the applicants though I guess.

Twenty-nine job listings for AI from a post on LinkedIn.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Feb 18

The body of Star Wars creative work is large enough that Sturgeon's Law applies. This has been true for several decades at least.

A pie chart where 90% is "crap" and 10% is "not crap"

Michael Rader@theoryof· Jan 18

I heard there was an opportunity to re-share this classic.

The famous post about geek fandom and right-wingers not getting what they are about. "X-Men is about civil rights. If you don't get that, you didn't get X-Men" etc

Michael Rader@theoryof· Jan 15

Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers. www.zombs-lair.com/spaceship-wa...

90's-era graphics showing a crew of alien space pirates. In front is a human guy with an eye patch and twin pistols.

Michael Rader@theoryof· Jan 15

Bunch of celebs who should know better pitching a PAC on tiktok that raises money from progressive donors to pay Marc Elias' consulting firm. If you see ads for State & Local Elections Alliance, it's Norm Eisen's group which had a 54% overhead last cycle.