Grumpy Rootbeer
@grumpyrootbeer.bsky.social
He/him, mid-30s, Iowan, nerd, leftist, cat lover
Iowa River, just a few blocks away and down an embankment for my entire childhood and adolescence.
My favorite Twitter prompt was "RT this with your home river," so reskeet this with your home river.
Mine is the Patuxent.
Mine is the Patuxent.
January 12, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Iowa River, just a few blocks away and down an embankment for my entire childhood and adolescence.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
no longer content to just take your money, a handful of oligarchs, many of them immigrants to these shores, are now taking whats left of your freedom and political power. the very idea that you might have a say in your local government or sit unmolested in your home is offensive to them
January 12, 2026 at 12:50 AM
no longer content to just take your money, a handful of oligarchs, many of them immigrants to these shores, are now taking whats left of your freedom and political power. the very idea that you might have a say in your local government or sit unmolested in your home is offensive to them
The arc of history is long, but it bends towards all of Elon's baby mommas and children turning hard left because he's such an asshole.
Losing my shit at Ashley St Clair doing a reverse Naomi Wolf.
January 11, 2026 at 8:38 PM
The arc of history is long, but it bends towards all of Elon's baby mommas and children turning hard left because he's such an asshole.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
The anti government militias were never anti government, they just hate Black people.
January 11, 2026 at 5:21 PM
The anti government militias were never anti government, they just hate Black people.
JSOC needs to be disbanded just as much as ICE. Like pretty much every spec ops outfit, it's crawling with thugs and criminals and fascists.
Cool, cool.
"According to sources, Trump has asked Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to prepare the invasion plan, but it is being resisted by the joint chiefs of staff on the grounds that it would be illegal - and not be supported by Congress."
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
"According to sources, Trump has asked Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to prepare the invasion plan, but it is being resisted by the joint chiefs of staff on the grounds that it would be illegal - and not be supported by Congress."
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Trump 'orders US army chiefs to draw up plan to invade Greenland'
Donald Trump has ordered his special forces commanders to draw up a plan for the invasion of Greenland - but is being resisted by senior military figures, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
www.dailymail.co.uk
January 11, 2026 at 4:12 AM
JSOC needs to be disbanded just as much as ICE. Like pretty much every spec ops outfit, it's crawling with thugs and criminals and fascists.
Saw They Live at Flix and when the alien leader says they'll have fully taken over by 2025, like three s separate people in the audience said "oh shit" and laughed nervously.
January 11, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Saw They Live at Flix and when the alien leader says they'll have fully taken over by 2025, like three s separate people in the audience said "oh shit" and laughed nervously.
Vacuuming naked in slippers because I keep changing tasks along the way to taking a shower is the level of executive dysfunction I am dealing with today.
January 10, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Vacuuming naked in slippers because I keep changing tasks along the way to taking a shower is the level of executive dysfunction I am dealing with today.
Belatedly doing a holiday Bond marathon as a way to avoid my Monsterverse watch through, which has gone quite badly so far.
January 9, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Belatedly doing a holiday Bond marathon as a way to avoid my Monsterverse watch through, which has gone quite badly so far.
*Bob Dylan voice* The contradictions they are a heightenin'
January 9, 2026 at 2:56 PM
*Bob Dylan voice* The contradictions they are a heightenin'
Continues to be a mistake to let the most socially and romantically maladjusted computer and business brained people on the planet control the infrastructure of dating.
If you made a Venn diagram of every weird person I knew in Silicon Valley during the first dot-com boom, centrifuged it, extracted the pellet, and re-suspended it in high-proof eugenics with a splash of AI, you'd end up with something like this.
It'll take a strong stomach to read this "gift" link.
It'll take a strong stomach to read this "gift" link.
Can You Optimize Love?
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Continues to be a mistake to let the most socially and romantically maladjusted computer and business brained people on the planet control the infrastructure of dating.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
one should never pay a "law professor" any mind, for multiple reasons. one of those is this: consider that politicians can shape public opinion in addition to just chasing it. they're calling it "rhetoric," "persuasion," "advocacy" -- terms such as this
January 8, 2026 at 9:47 PM
one should never pay a "law professor" any mind, for multiple reasons. one of those is this: consider that politicians can shape public opinion in addition to just chasing it. they're calling it "rhetoric," "persuasion," "advocacy" -- terms such as this
Come on, man.
#BREAKING: Trump says US will strike 'very hard' if Iran starts killing protesters
January 8, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Come on, man.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
If you are anxious and sad about the state of the world, that's fine, and there are plenty of strategies for dealing with that. But I think you already know that drive-by online dooming isn't a strategy. It's selfish and adolescent. It's a contagion that only spreads the worst of you, not the best.
January 8, 2026 at 3:51 AM
If you are anxious and sad about the state of the world, that's fine, and there are plenty of strategies for dealing with that. But I think you already know that drive-by online dooming isn't a strategy. It's selfish and adolescent. It's a contagion that only spreads the worst of you, not the best.
Agreed. I simply don't buy the doomer brained take that the country that overwhelmingly approved of or were neutral on the burning down of the Minneapolis precinct in 2020 will happily embrace the casual murder of a white mother who was demonstrably no threat to anyone in 2026.
Looking at various (far) right forums it really seems like their reaction to Renee Good is to make it their own “kirkification” meme (i.e. you made fun of one of ours dying so we’ll do the same). and I can’t help but imagine that culturally they’re overplaying their hand
January 8, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Agreed. I simply don't buy the doomer brained take that the country that overwhelmingly approved of or were neutral on the burning down of the Minneapolis precinct in 2020 will happily embrace the casual murder of a white mother who was demonstrably no threat to anyone in 2026.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
Must-read - I've long thought the effects of social media on the mass public are likely overrated but their effects on elites are underrated
New, from me: The Trump administration isn’t just using social media to shape a narrative. They view the world through a social media lens in a way that is plausibly corrupting their judgment and undermining their performance.
Welcome to the clicktatorship. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/life-under...
Welcome to the clicktatorship. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/life-under...
Life Under a Clicktatorship
What happens to government when everything is content?
donmoynihan.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Must-read - I've long thought the effects of social media on the mass public are likely overrated but their effects on elites are underrated
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
I was really productive today up until the point when ICE started killing people
January 7, 2026 at 9:50 PM
I was really productive today up until the point when ICE started killing people
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
"Secret police" is often misunderstood to mean a force that operates covertly, with all their operations secret.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
January 7, 2026 at 9:09 PM
"Secret police" is often misunderstood to mean a force that operates covertly, with all their operations secret.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
But a secret police force's actions are often public. The secret part is hiding their identities, because they're breaking laws to hurt politically disfavored people, and fear reprisals.
Everyone freaked out over the swing among Gen Z males last election, looking right past the glaringly obvious Gen X numbers, to say nothing of the silicon valley pivot. The heart of MAGA in the 2020s is middle aged dudes making their mid life crises everyone else's problem
Young men keep coming up but it seems like whatever gender nonsense is going on with middle aged men is worse. Ok you’re a big tough predator, time to apply some icy hot and do your rotator cuff work bsky.app/profile/atru...
Ogles: "It's important that we have a stake in Greenland, that they are quite frankly a protectorate of the US. They've been in relationship with Denmark - that needs to end. We've spilled more blood protecting Greenland than the Danes... we are the dominant predator force in the Western Hemisphere"
January 7, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Everyone freaked out over the swing among Gen Z males last election, looking right past the glaringly obvious Gen X numbers, to say nothing of the silicon valley pivot. The heart of MAGA in the 2020s is middle aged dudes making their mid life crises everyone else's problem
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
Synopsis: You need to kick more people out.
You will actually have a larger base of customers/attendees if you kick more people out. You will make more money. I am dead serious.
You will actually have a larger base of customers/attendees if you kick more people out. You will make more money. I am dead serious.
January 6, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Synopsis: You need to kick more people out.
You will actually have a larger base of customers/attendees if you kick more people out. You will make more money. I am dead serious.
You will actually have a larger base of customers/attendees if you kick more people out. You will make more money. I am dead serious.
The idea that "American Catholics want to be protestant, while American protestants want to be Catholic" remains extremely well evidenced.
January 6, 2026 at 9:43 PM
The idea that "American Catholics want to be protestant, while American protestants want to be Catholic" remains extremely well evidenced.
Reposted by Grumpy Rootbeer
they're doing it for gender, imo
It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason
January 6, 2026 at 1:57 AM
they're doing it for gender, imo
This and the most recent ep of Posting Through It crystalized for me that liberals and conservatives had opposite reactions to the "post truth" era. Conservatives went all in on the production side of propaganda and liberals went for trying to "correct" propaganda after the fact. The liberals lost.
Propaganda works - this is also why conservative oligarchs are investing so much to purchase trusted media brands and convert them into propaganda outlets
Excellent piece from @gelliottmorris.com on how your news diet affects your politics and how you view the Trump Regime. Those with a heavy diet of conservative media view Trump favorably, while those with a diet of non-conservative media view him unfavorably.
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-your-...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-your-...
January 6, 2026 at 1:05 AM
This and the most recent ep of Posting Through It crystalized for me that liberals and conservatives had opposite reactions to the "post truth" era. Conservatives went all in on the production side of propaganda and liberals went for trying to "correct" propaganda after the fact. The liberals lost.
Attempted to jump over a mud puddle only to land on newly laid turf that slid out from under me, dumping my ass into said puddle. Also, some campus cops were watching and just laughed at me. Aggravated an old ankle injury and severely wounded my pride.
What's the most ridiculous way you ever hurt yourself? I got out of the tub, skidded in water and tripped over the toilet. Ankle sprain.
😅
😅
January 6, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Attempted to jump over a mud puddle only to land on newly laid turf that slid out from under me, dumping my ass into said puddle. Also, some campus cops were watching and just laughed at me. Aggravated an old ankle injury and severely wounded my pride.