Libertarian Party drama: Goat sacrifice, eugenics & OTO

[nashvillebrook]

This story has EVERYTHING! Libertarians! Goat sacrifice! Crowley! LSD! In short...FLORIDA POLITICS!!!!

Libertarian Party drama: Goat sacrifice, eugenics and a chair’s resignation

[url]http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/florida/2015/10/8578511/libertarian-party-drama-goat-sacrifice-eugenics-and-chairs-resignati
[/url]

Adrian Wyllie, chairman of Florida’s Libertarian Party, resigned his post Thursday to protest the party’s U.S. Senate candidate, accusing the rival of supporting eugenics and for being expelled from a cult group for “sadistically dismembering a goat in a ritualistic sacrifice.”

The Senate candidate, who goes by the adopted name Augustus Sol Invictus, counter-accused Wyllie of spreading “half-truths and lies” for political gain.

The dispute between the two has brewed for months, but finally came to a head after Wyllie was unable to persuade the Libertarian Party of Florida’s executive committee to publicly disavow Invictus, an adopted name that means something like “Invincible Sun Emperor.”

“I’m not making this up. It’s crazy, I know,” Wyllie, a Palm Harbor businessman who ran for governor in 2014 and received 3.8 percent of the vote, told POLITICO after announcing his resignation and levelling his accusations against Invictus in a Facebook post. “I resigned to draw attention to this, as a protest. I did this as a pre-emptive strike. I don’t want anyone to think this guy represents Libertarians. He doesn’t. Under the law, we can’t keep him from the ballot.”

Invictus, an Orlando lawyer, said he shares classic Libertarian beliefs: Opposition to the war on drugs, support for slashing the federal budget and programs and scaling back interventionist foreign policies. Invictus said he does believe in some environmental regulations, however, but has a harder political line on immigration and believes the government needs to restrict immigration.

Invictus, 32, is an adherent of a religion called Thelema, established in the early 1900s by occultist Aleister Crowley. Invictus was expelled from the religion’s fraternal organization, Ordo Templi Orientis, but denies Wyllie’s specific claim about dismembering a goat.

“I have never dismembered a goat in my life. I have performed animal sacrifices as part of my religion,” Invictus said. “I was expelled from the order for political reasons. And animal sacrifice was part of it. But that is a deliberate misrepresentation by Wyllie.”

Wyllie said he brought up the issue of Invictus’ religion because the candidate has cited it as justification for supporting potentially violent revolution. Invictus denies that as well.

The bizarre back-and-forth between the two Libertarians added a new dimension to Florida’s already headline-grabbing race for U.S. Senate to replace Marco Rubio.

On Wednesday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater surprised fellow Republicans — four of whom are already running for the seat — by saying he might run. Months before, Atwater refused to enter the race. On the Democratic side, the campaigns of U.s. Reps. Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy are attacking each other on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis.

Adding to the drama: former Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, an on-again-off-again adviser to Donald Trump, has been recruited by fellow Libertarians to run against Invictus.

“The guy is a nut, speaks in tongues or whatever. Weird stuff,” Stone said. “They need someone to run against him to make sure he doesn’t win and make us all look crazy.”

Wyllie said he had no interest in running for Senate. But, he said, Invictus must be stopped and listed a series of reasons to oppose his candidacy. In early September, Invictus posted a detailed point-by-point refutation of Wyllie’s claims on Facebook. Invictus specifically said he does not support eugenics and forced abortions, contrary to Wyllie’s claims.

“Many of his supporters are known members of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, such as American Front, Vinelanders and Stormfront, and he has been recruiting them into the Libertarian Party,” Wyllie said Thursday on Facebook.

Invictus said that as a lawyer, he has represented some of these groups in a professional capacity. He said, however, that he’s no racist. “My four children are Hispanic,” said Invictus, who’s divorced.

Invictus acknowledged he changed his name and wouldn’t confirm or deny Wyllie’s claim that his birth name was Austin Gillespie.

Another notable change with Invictus: His public speaking persona is far different than his one-on-one interactions. On his Facebook page, Invictus has a fierce and dramatic oratorical style and occasionally sounds like a Southerner. In casual conversation, though, he has no accent. Invictus said the change is a result of nerves.

“I still get that game-day adrenaline,” he said.

The substance of his stump speech is unique in the Senate field. In a black-and-white video of a speech featured on his campaign website, he warns of government overreached and how he has been “hunted” by the FBI. At one point, he looks in the camera and addresses the law-enforcement authorities he says are watching him. Urging Libertarians to resist using the same tactics as the two major political parties, Invictus also asks his audience to think for themselves.

“I want you to take LSD and practice sorcery,” he says at one point. “I’m also Old World Pagan and a white Southerner. So I know what it’s like to be treated like a wolf in a hen house.”

[nashvillebrook]

Here's Augustus Invictus' official response from his Facebook page:

Official Response to the Criticisms of Chairman Wyllie
September 6, 2015 at 5:35pm
Fellow Members of the Libertarian Party of Florida,

Many have asked why I have not responded to the quite public accusations of Adrian Wyllie. I have not responded for the same reason I do not respond when conspiracy theorists accuse me of being an agent of the Illuminati. I have not responded for the same reason I did not respond in grade school when little boys would call me “meany face” and “watermelonhead.” I have not responded for the same reason I would not respond if a twelve-year-old tried to pick a fight with me, as Alex Snitker did in Polk County two weeks ago. That reason is simple: It is beneath my dignity to engage in such small-minded stupidity.

I never wanted any part of this fight. I have bigger and better things to do. My family was bankrupted by the DEA a decade ago, and I have been aiming ever since at destroying that Agency. I have come right to the threshold of being able to do real harm to the Federal Government, and I have no desire to bicker with someone like Adrian Wyllie when I am this close to the target. I have not spent the past ten years fighting to get here so that I can be distracted by nonsense like this.

My enemy is the Federal Government, not Adrian Wyllie. I am aiming to destroy the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, and a hundred other departments & agencies; to repeal the income tax, the Controlled Substances Act, Obamacare, and a hundred other instances of unjust legislation; to implement a non-interventionist foreign policy and cut military spending. I simply do not have the time to be distracted by unfounded slander. I have a campaign for United States Senate that requires my constant attention, and I have better things to do than debase myself by engaging in small-ball party politics and bickering with another full-grown man as though we were two old crones at a bingo match.

But alas, there comes a point at which the repetition of falsehoods can no longer be ignored, just as there comes a point at which the tactics of a high school bully can no longer be tolerated. Let it be known that I wanted nothing to do with this: Adrian Wyllie is the one who made an enemy of me, and not vice versa.

I respond:

It has been said that I am a racist and a neo-Nazi. I guarantee you that my Puerto Rican ex-wife, our half-Puerto Rican children, and my half-Colombian step-children – not to mention my string of Latina girlfriends – would be quite shocked to hear of this.

It has been said that I have promoted a “race-based civil war.” I will give one million dollars to the person who finds this in anything I have ever said or written.

It has been said that I support eugenics programs. This claim is based on a paper I wrote in law school, which I have publicly and repeatedly disavowed. It was addressed in my second Fireside Chat: [ https://youtu.be/x-gMxyGlbw0 ]

It has been said that I have supported government-forced abortion. I challenge Adrian Wyllie to name a single instance of this. I am, in fact, against abortion, and I always have been. Perhaps Adrian Wyllie, in the midst of his hysterical witch hunting, missed my statement condemning abortion-on-demand: http://invictusforsenate.com/2015/07/18 ... on-demand/

It has been said that I refuse to address the concerns of the voters. This is a patent falsehood. I have been publishing Fireside Chats since the beginning of the campaign to explain the conduct of the campaign, respond to criticisms, discuss my platform, and a host of other things. Those files can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsdPzJ ... igw_3XTqJw

It has been said that I have not clarified my platform. I refer the reader to my website [ http://invictusforsenate.com/focal-points/ ] and to the fourth, fifth, and sixth Fireside Chats [ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... lcWMEbZXnP ]

It has been said that I am an elitist, and that I refuse to dumb down my speeches and writings so that the common man can understand them. This is a deliberate attempt to raise the level of political discourse in this country, which effort I described in my first Fireside Chat: https://youtu.be/0wnNMLpg-_s

It has been said that I am not a “real” Libertarian. A certain faction of the Party has come to believe that the writings of Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman are the holy texts of Libertarianism, and I disagree. I believe that the Libertarian movement is and should be more encompassing than the narrow-minded advocacy of economic anarchy. I believe that our environment, our wildlife, and our children – not money – are the reason for our existence. I believe that we must have a reasonable immigration policy and that those who believe in unrestricted immigration have clearly never read a history book. I believe that abortion is a question of protecting the child, not of a woman’s right to privacy. I would hope that Libertarians are at liberty to agree to disagree every now and then. And if I am wrong, if the official platform requires that we must be moral relativists who worship money and convenience above all else, then the official platform must change.

It has been said that I have affected an accent and taken on a persona – whether of Bane or JFK or a Southern gentleman, my critics cannot decide. My family is from the Carolinas and the Midwest. I was born in Ohio. I moved to Florida at three years of age; to New Mexico; back to Florida; and back-and-forth from Chicago to Florida a few times. I have lived in the slums, the suburbs, and the elegant downtown apartments. I have studied Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian. I have been around the world and have picked up many dialects and regional accents. I have not been afraid to implement all things I have learned and to allow my experiences to affect me. God help all of you who have not broken through your local confines, who have not had the drive to become something more than your parents were, who have not had the bravery to incorporate new experiences into your being and the courage to be who you really are. I genuinely pity you.

It has been said that I associate with neo-Nazis and skinheads. You’re goddamn right I do. I am a criminal defense lawyer, and I am proud of the work I have done for the American Front. When the FBI raided the group, I was in Egypt. But the day I returned to the States, I went to the jail to interview two of the members. Fourteen people had been arrested for “paramilitary training” and marked as terrorists because they were shooting weapons on their own property. Every single one of those fourteen “neo-Nazis” was innocent – and their media crucifixion was only possible because of people who believe everything they read on the Internet, or who are too cowardly to stand up for the accused. Every Libertarian in America should be supporting them as victims of an overreaching Government, and for the record, I am proud to call them my friends.

It has been said that I have violated the Non-Aggression Principle. I would recommend reading Wes Benedict’s book, *Introduction to the Libertarian Party*, if you want to understand what the NAP actually is, rather than what my critics *say* it is. And I would point out that if anyone has demonstrated aggression, it is Adrian Wyllie, who has privately and publicly declared that if I do not drop out of the Senate race, he will use all his power to destroy me; it is his sidekick, Alexander Snitker, who drove two hours to my speech in Polk County to harass me and yell out that “[I] will never speak in Tampa”; it is their clique, which has attempted to censor and blacklist me at every opportunity.

It has been said that I am a totalitarian. Take note that this is being said by a man who has done all he can to ostracize me because of my religious beliefs. This claim is being made by a man who tried to force me out of the Senate race and who has resorted to making things up to attack me now that making fun of my accent and my poetry and my religion has clearly failed.

In fact, I would appreciate it being noted that many of these “criticisms” being circulated have been made up by Adrian Wyllie himself. I challenge him to point to any writing or speech of mine that supports a race-based civil war or government-forced abortion. These are pure fabrications by Adrian Wyllie that the members of the LPF are accepting blindly.

Furthermore, I have publicly disavowed my eugenics paper from law school, and Adrian Wyllie is fully aware of that. His insistence on incessantly repeating this attack demonstrates both his disingenuousness and his desperation. Having failed to bully me out of the race by threatening me, he must now resort to smear tactics, innuendo, and baseless propaganda to maintain control of the LPF and scare away the supporters of someone he considers a threat.

I approached Adrian Wyllie in friendship, following Carla Howell’s advice, and he spat in my face. I approached him at the Convention to shake hands and congratulate him on his victory, and he spat in my face again. He went so far as to say to my friend afterward, “How could you support that piece-of-shit Invictus? He just told me he wants to murder every last man, woman, and child on the planet.” Of course my friend knew this was not true; but it hardly excuses the slander.

As I said, I never wanted any part of this fight. This entire situation has been created by Adrian Wyllie, and I find it revolting that such a considerable portion of the LPF has gone along with it. If you want to see the problem with America, do not look to the Republicans and the Democrats: look to the Libertarians. We profess to be dedicated to changing this country, and yet we spend 95% of our time with ridiculous infighting like this.

My next Fireside Chat is scheduled for Sunday September 13th. If you have further concerns that you want clarified, email them to info@invictusforsenate.com, and I will address them at that time. I will not, under any circumstance, resort to bickering in the comment thread beneath this post.

In the meantime, I ask that you keep an open mind, hear what I have to say, and judge what I am saying for yourselves with a skeptical and discerning mind, rather than blindly believing in every tabloid article and every straw man my critics can manufacture. In the words of Timothy Leary:

Think for yourself. Question authority.

[SonicG]

Quite the character....love the oddball political soup, must be the Florida influence, from Leary to blocking the border together with nazi imagery, but not racist (just ask his Puerto Rican ex-wife!) and a good southern gentleman speech delivery. Watched some of his video...very tepid, he'lll never become the next Hitler...

[nashvillebrook]

the more i read about this guy, the more the whole tableau gives me the willies.

just a week or two ago i saw this K-Hole trend report (I think i followed the link from Rune Soup) on how chaos magic is the next normcore (same as how neo-hippie fashion followed preppie shit in the 80s i suppose). the story got picked up in the Guardian recently. so my ears have been pricked up for the next blip on the 'chaos magic' radar.

then this libertarian Senate candidate from FL guy pops up and he's a neo-nazi with a Val Kilmer doing Doc Holliday affectation, calling for civil war -- but b/c this is FLORIDA, we bury the lede with the drinking goat blood part. It's all over the news right now: Florida Senate candidate admits to sacrificing goat, drinking its blood nothing about his call for "total insurrection," except at the end of this AP story where the reporter characterizes his rhetoric as prophesy of a great war, rather than a mountain of bullshit that's designed to make stupid people shoot their guns at people they don't like.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/gone-viral/os-ap-florida-senate-sacrificing-goat-20151005-story.html

what the ever loving fuck is going on here?

here's his Senate announcement video, which is called "A Call For Total Insurrection"

[backtoiam]

Yeah Cameron and now this guy. An attempt to paint magic as a satanic goat sacrificing blood drinking psycho practice to keep the public from mapping it back to it's ancient religious roots? However if that were the purpose I would think they would use some unknown actor stooge instead of painting themselves with it.
Maybe threatening their rivals?

[nashvillebrook]

Jeez -- I forgot about the whole Cameron pig thing that sync'd with Black Mirror.

I'm not of the mind that anything is conspiratorial -- just incredibly coincidental, I guess. Or, maybe just novel, in a Terrence McKenna way.

The story is on Salon now.

“Yes, I drank the goat’s blood”: Libertarian senate candidate also promises a second Civil War if elected


The chairman of the Libertarian Party of Florida has resigned in protest of the senate candidacy of Augustus Sol Invictus, who he claims is trying to fold Neo-Nazis into the party and sadistically dismembered a goat, then drank its blood.

“He is the absolute exact opposite of a Libertarian. He’s a self-proclaimed fascist. He’s promoting a second civil war,” former chairman Adrian Wylie told the Associated Press. “It’s absolute insanity. We must explain to people this is the opposite of Libertarians. This guy has no place in the Libertarian Party.”

Invictus — who changed his name to a Latin phrase meaning “majestic unconquered sun” and refuses to reveal his given name — said that Wylie is merely running a smear campaign. He noted that it wouldn’t be in his best interests to support white supremacy, given that his four children are Hispanic. Although he did admit to killing the goat and drinking its blood.

“I did sacrifice a goat. I know that’s probably a quibble in the mind of most Americans,” he said in a telephone interview. “I sacrificed an animal to the god of the wilderness — yes, I drank the goat’s blood.”

[General Patton]

He’s promoting a second civil war

Glad to see there are fellow civil war enthusiasts in the fascist as well as progressive camps. Together we can make lasting change happen.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Funny how the OTO hasn't issued an official statement. Gotta hear both sides.

Via: http://hermetic.com/sabazius/clergy_egc.htm

The Emperor Elagabalus (218-222 e.v.) established the solar Baal worship of his native Syria as the imperial cult within the Roman pagan milieu. The cult of Elagabalus was short lived, but the main feature, the henotheistic idea of all the diverse gods subordinate to a supreme solar Deity, was resurrected by the Emperor Aurelian (270-274 e.v.) and merged with the Mithraic religion as the imperial cult of the Deus Sol Invictus. Under this system, the Emperor was considered the vicegerent of the supreme god Sol Invictus, who was also known by the names Mithra and Oriens. The Sol Invictus cult was very syncretistic, and incorporated elements of most of the various religions of the Roman Empire of the time, including Christianity. The system of Christianity was, in fact, very compatible with the system of Sol Invictus. There is a third century vault mosaic in the tomb of the Julii under St. Peter's which depicts Christ as Sol, rising in his chariot.

...

In summary, the clergy of E.G.C. must be thoroughly familiar with the official ceremony of the Gnostic Mass and must have a good general understanding of its theory. They must have a relatively clear conception of the basic doctrines of Thelema in general and of the O.T.O. and E.G.C. in particular (in accordance, of course, with their degree of initiation). They should be familiar with the theory and techniques of ceremonial Magick and group dramatic ritual in particular. Ideally, they should also have a certain amount of aptitude for dramatic performance: they should be understand teamwork, they should "look good in robes," as Crowley put it, and they should be able to draw and hold the attention of those attending the ritual. They should, as visible leaders, be able to offer their services as facilitators to their congregations, in the form of teaching and counseling. They should endeavour to create and maintain a sense of community within the congregation. They should understand the differences, as well as the similarities, between their roles as Thelemic clergy and those of the clergy of other religions. Finally, they should establish their link with the egregore of the church through initiation, ordination and regular celebration of the Gnostic Mass.

[Wombaticus Rex]

The fact this is on LinkedIn is too, too perfect:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/call-tot ... l-invictus

A great man once said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” And here I tell you further: Think not that I am come to send a sword where I fear to tread.

Do you know why the Christians were so successful? It is because they would rather have been crucified than to buy into the Roman system.

Do you know why the Communists were so successful? It is because they were willing to die for what they believed justice to be.

Do you know why we and the French no longer have monarchies? It is because our revolutionary forefathers lived what we cannot even admit to ourselves: that no fundamental change in Government comes without great upheaval, without crisis, without danger.

We want change, but we do not want to fight for it. We want something different, but we do not want the disruption. We want better lives, but we want to live in blissful isolation, detached from the nastiness of the political world. But that is a fantasy, one we have believed in for far too long.

Every creed and every flag has a thousand graveyards to honor it. And if you do not like that, then go out into the Wilderness and try to escape it. But mark my words: One day, someone with a flag – or a holy book or a corporation – will come traipsing into your solitude, and they will conquer you and your family, and your weak stomach will have cost you dearly. For you will have abandoned not just your homeland, but your dignity, as well. You must stand and fight, for your flag and your creed; to run away is to delay the war for another day, to the disgrace of you and yours. We cannot escape the human condition.

My brutal way of putting such truths is offsetting to many. But when you hear my way of speaking and my solutions contrasted with those of more “reasonable” men, of men less “insane,” do not confuse vice with virtue. Many think themselves good – when they are merely docile. Many think themselves self-restrained – when they are merely obedient. Many think themselves loyal to their country and to their party, when they are merely too scared to stand up for themselves.

[General Patton]

Funny how the OTO hasn't issued an official statement. Gotta hear both sides.

I'd love to see who would issue an official statement. I'm sure 5 different grandmaster jackoffs from regional sects will get into a slapfight over who is actually responsible for making official statements. Let's be honest, if you can get kicked out over butchering a goat they're pretty softcore.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Yeah, but Christ, this is poetry:

"I was expelled from the order for political reasons. And animal sacrifice was part of it."

And this, this is poetry, too:

Adding to the drama: former Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone, an on-again-off-again adviser to Donald Trump, has been recruited by fellow Libertarians to run against Invictus.

“The guy is a nut, speaks in tongues or whatever. Weird stuff,” Stone said. “They need someone to run against him to make sure he doesn’t win and make us all look crazy.”

Roger, you have Richard Milhous Nixon tattooed on your fucking shoulders.

Interesting aside on Stone and NXIVUM

It’s basically like Scientology masquerading as a self-help seminar, run by a man named Keith Raniere…NXIVM’s “executive success” program is designed to reel in alpha types who need someone to tell them that greed is good. Its big philosophy is that “human beings are born parasitic” (saying “I’m hungry” or complaining about pain, for instance, is parasitic behavior; the enlightened just take what they need). It also redefines “good” as “pro-survival” and “bad” as “destructive.” Students wear colored sashes and bow in the presence of the leader. You can see where this is headed.

Why should we pay attention to this psycho factory? Because it has well-placed, well-heeled members and appears to be actively pursuing an entrée into political fund-raising.

[nashvillebrook]

The fact this is on LinkedIn is too, too perfect:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/call-tot ... l-invictus

A great man once said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” And here I tell you further: Think not that I am come to send a sword where I fear to tread.

Do you know why the Christians were so successful? It is because they would rather have been crucified than to buy into the Roman system.

Do you know why the Communists were so successful? It is because they were willing to die for what they believed justice to be.

Do you know why we and the French no longer have monarchies? It is because our revolutionary forefathers lived what we cannot even admit to ourselves: that no fundamental change in Government comes without great upheaval, without crisis, without danger.

We want change, but we do not want to fight for it. We want something different, but we do not want the disruption. We want better lives, but we want to live in blissful isolation, detached from the nastiness of the political world. But that is a fantasy, one we have believed in for far too long.

Every creed and every flag has a thousand graveyards to honor it. And if you do not like that, then go out into the Wilderness and try to escape it. But mark my words: One day, someone with a flag – or a holy book or a corporation – will come traipsing into your solitude, and they will conquer you and your family, and your weak stomach will have cost you dearly. For you will have abandoned not just your homeland, but your dignity, as well. You must stand and fight, for your flag and your creed; to run away is to delay the war for another day, to the disgrace of you and yours. We cannot escape the human condition.

My brutal way of putting such truths is offsetting to many. But when you hear my way of speaking and my solutions contrasted with those of more “reasonable” men, of men less “insane,” do not confuse vice with virtue. Many think themselves good – when they are merely docile. Many think themselves self-restrained – when they are merely obedient. Many think themselves loyal to their country and to their party, when they are merely too scared to stand up for themselves.

And it's this sort of thing, posted on LinkedIn no less, that makes me wonder if this guy isn't doing some kind of flytrap for law enforcement. I mean, COME ON! There's political wackiness, and then there's "Think not that I am come to send a sword where I fear to tread."

This guy and his dad BOTH are defense lawyers here in Central FL. They know the shit they're stirring. It's not just about getting a few disaffected Rs and Ds to vote for a Libertarian for Senate over Alan Grayson. He's appealing to meth-head whackadoodles, and I can only imagine that his endgame is to shoot at Mexican farmworkers. Central Florida has one of the most diverse populations in the country, and it's b/c of an influx of people from Puerto Rico who are citizens, as much as it is b/c of farmworkers who are not citizens that are being taken advantage of by the ag industry in Lakeland. We don't need guys like this stirring the shit. Maybe the focus on his goat blood drinking will poison the well for people to follow him on this.

[coffin_dodger]

I feel hesitant to take issue with the topic of this thread - knowing little about the candidate being 'disrespected' here - but I do know Americans take being personally disrespected very seriously and get mighty upset about it in their own day to day life, so I have issues with the OP, especially from a rigorous intuition perspective.

Is the source publication, capitalnewyork.com, mainstream - and what biases will that infer?

Let's take a brief look at the bio's of management and journalists involved in this publication, quoted directly from their website:

Robert L. Allbritton is the founder and is Publisher of POLITICO, the national political news organization. He is also Executive Chairman of Perpetual Capital Partners, a private middle-market investment firm based in Washington, D.C.

Kim Kingsley is the Chief Operating Officer of POLITICO. She has expertise in editorial, marketing, business and strategy, making Kingsley one of the rare new media thinkers with a 360-degree understanding of how to envision, build and run a journalistic enterprise. She cut her teeth in old-line media, first as an editor for the top-rated all-news radio station in Washington, D.C., WTOP, and later as a deputy director of media and special projects at The Washington Post Co

Jim VandeHei is President and CEO of POLITICO. VandeHei is a lifelong journalist, covering Congress, the White House and politics for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post for the better part of a decade

Roy Schwartz is POLITICO’s Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to POLITICO, he worked for The Gallup Organization where he was a Partner responsible for the management and growth of Gallup’s Los Angeles Division. While at Gallup, Schwartz consulted with Fortune 500 organizations to achieve better management of human capital, increase employee and customer engagement and drive sustainable financial performance. Prior to joining Gallup, Schwartz worked for MCI, WGCF, (D.C.-based venture capital firm)

Gillian Reagan is managing editor at POLITICO States. She joined the team for the launch of Capital New York in May 2010. She was previously media editor at The Business Insider and a reporter for The New York Observer. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Dana Rubinstein is a senior reporter for POLITICO New York. She has written for Bloomberg Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the New York Observer, and the Brooklyn Paper.

Does that list strike you as vested-interests that are liable to give a fair, balanced view of a candidate that threatens their status quo?

I guess not.

And Salon.com - the current hot topic go-to website for the normalisation of forbidden fruit and the ridicule of political alternatives. Go System!

[82_28]

Can someone pinpoint the time everything started getting utterly psychotic? I guess time immemorial. But, fuck, have people not learned shit yet? I've run into a lot of shit that makes no sense in people's personal lives. That shit ain't my business. Yet then I realize that everyone is in the same boat and dealing with the temporal environment around them that we all do share. I don't care how revered the sacrifice of a goat and drink its blood is for some weird faction of idiots. It's still stupid as fuck to slaughter some goat and drink its blood. Even if I did care about it, it is stupid and ultimately needless. Same with eugenics. Pointless because you people (we/us) live on the same planet as everyone/every-entities else. There is no purpose for this shit and believe me, I "believe in" absolutely no purpose whatsoever.

I think it is just alarming when most people are not alarming and your mind makes you judge someone else due to algorithmic analog/digital conditioning. There still exists great kindness that needs not be judged because we all are judged alike. Many of us follow this path from time to time -- even with the best intentions of increasing someone's comfort and safety. Some do not see it this way. They must also be accepted as well.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Can someone pinpoint the time everything started getting utterly psychotic?

Yeah, for a persuasive take on precisely that, I recommend Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia by Francis Wheen. At the very least, you'll be supremely entertained and learn a lot. He pinpoints the 1970's.