John-Paul Pagano
@johnpaulpagano.bsky.social
I write about bad ideas in politics. Focus on #conspiracism. #Antisemitism is a conspiracy theory.
Bylines: The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Jewish Daily Forward, Tablet Magazine
Substack: johnpaulpagano.substack.com
Bylines: The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Jewish Daily Forward, Tablet Magazine
Substack: johnpaulpagano.substack.com
Pinned
Understanding Conspiracism - Introduction
The three contextual filters that illuminate our inquiry.
open.substack.com
The “paranoid style” pulses at the center of extremism and will operate prominently at the center of power for the next four years. With this series, I hope to share with you everything I know about the phenomenon of conspiracism.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpaul... open.substack.com/pub/johnpaul...
open.substack.com/pub/johnpaul... open.substack.com/pub/johnpaul...
I don’t know if it’s a setback for Tesla to lose the guy who oversaw the program to productize Elon Musk’s misshapen torso in the form of a truck.
November 12, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I don’t know if it’s a setback for Tesla to lose the guy who oversaw the program to productize Elon Musk’s misshapen torso in the form of a truck.
Zohran Mamdani is the dumbest guy in Zuccotti Park. Literally.
November 7, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Zohran Mamdani is the dumbest guy in Zuccotti Park. Literally.
I guess the Jews don’t actually control the government.
November 5, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I guess the Jews don’t actually control the government.
On this comparatively progressive site a substantial fraction of posts about Antisemitism are complaints about misuse or abuse of the concept of Antisemitism, rather than concern about the phenomenon itself. That alone is alienating.
I feel slightly numb and mostly exhausted at the amount of antisemitism posting about antisemitism has triggered on my BlueSky posts
Being Jewish on social media means having to expect it, and I’d almost got desensitised it
Almost
To all the antisemites, I say: f*ck you
Being Jewish on social media means having to expect it, and I’d almost got desensitised it
Almost
To all the antisemites, I say: f*ck you
October 5, 2025 at 9:01 PM
On this comparatively progressive site a substantial fraction of posts about Antisemitism are complaints about misuse or abuse of the concept of Antisemitism, rather than concern about the phenomenon itself. That alone is alienating.
Look how this turbo-charged racist imbecile turns his gun sideways like Easy E circa 1992, someone he might not like to emulate.
Breaking news: ICE stops family at gunpoint—smash car window on top of newborn baby.
"I was screaming that there was a baby. But they didn’t care," cried mother.
“I covered my baby with my body—I was so scared he was going to be hurt because glass was landing on him."
"I was screaming that there was a baby. But they didn’t care," cried mother.
“I covered my baby with my body—I was so scared he was going to be hurt because glass was landing on him."
October 4, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Look how this turbo-charged racist imbecile turns his gun sideways like Easy E circa 1992, someone he might not like to emulate.
“Fat general” is the new “short king.”
US troops are too fat, apparently. And they all need to shave their beards and hair.
September 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
“Fat general” is the new “short king.”
It should be lost on no one that the ICE racist paramilitary who is being held to account, reluctantly and only because of a viral video, was unmasked. That’s why he’s in trouble, unlike many of his colleagues over the past months who have similarly abused people.
I guess I’m happy that we’re still in the phase where these people can be embarrassed by bad press.
In a genuine WOW moment, this administration publicly acknowledges (perhaps for the first time) that an ICE officer violated procedure and will be taken off duty and subject to an investigation. This is a step in the right direction — I just wish it wasn't only because of such an awful viral video.
September 26, 2025 at 6:29 PM
It should be lost on no one that the ICE racist paramilitary who is being held to account, reluctantly and only because of a viral video, was unmasked. That’s why he’s in trouble, unlike many of his colleagues over the past months who have similarly abused people.
I guess I’m happy that we’re still in the phase where these people can be embarrassed by bad press.
In a genuine WOW moment, this administration publicly acknowledges (perhaps for the first time) that an ICE officer violated procedure and will be taken off duty and subject to an investigation. This is a step in the right direction — I just wish it wasn't only because of such an awful viral video.
September 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I guess I’m happy that we’re still in the phase where these people can be embarrassed by bad press.
Indeed. Imagine having Bob Iger’s money and not being able to afford peanut-sized balls.
Kimmel’s defiant return highlights one of the most disturbing dynamics of Trump II, that so many people in positions of leadership are chickenshit frauds who would rather fold in advance than put up anything resembling a fight www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
September 25, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Indeed. Imagine having Bob Iger’s money and not being able to afford peanut-sized balls.
Yes. There has never been lower-hanging fruit than that provided by this administration. If you can’t exploit it, you don’t deserve to be in politics.
The Dems need to blanket the country with ads where Carr tells Americans they're going to tell us what to think.. You can debate if Americans want to think for themselves but they do not like being TOLD they will be told what to think. That's political death in the US.
Carr: We're going to back to that era where local TV stations, judging the public interest, get to decide what the American people think…
I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop… the consequences will continue to flow.
I don’t think this is the last shoe to drop… the consequences will continue to flow.
September 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Yes. There has never been lower-hanging fruit than that provided by this administration. If you can’t exploit it, you don’t deserve to be in politics.
There’s no logic to any of it. Just arcs of bigotry discharging into cruelty and loss.
You’d think if they thought trans people were such killers, they’d want them in the maximally lethal, warfighting military.
September 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
There’s no logic to any of it. Just arcs of bigotry discharging into cruelty and loss.
That was my initial thought, but it’s actually more sinister and aligned with fascism to think about it as euthanasia. Animals don’t consent to euthanasia. bsky.app/profile/elon...
It’s weird that “euthanasia” is how this is being described when what kilmeade actually suggested is an execution.
In a sane world, Fox host Brian Kilmeade would be fired and shunned for his depraved comments that homeless people should be euthanized. That’s sick (and deeply ignorant), but sicker still is that it’s tolerated.
September 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
That was my initial thought, but it’s actually more sinister and aligned with fascism to think about it as euthanasia. Animals don’t consent to euthanasia. bsky.app/profile/elon...
I’m old enough to remember when it was regarded as hyperbolic to call this politics “fascist.”
Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."
September 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I’m old enough to remember when it was regarded as hyperbolic to call this politics “fascist.”
Re Charlie Kirk, @nytimes.com runs an op-ed by Hasan Piker, an influencer with a history of Jew-baiting, which argues that America’s “culture of violence” is “most evident” in its support for Israel’s “genocide”— the type of rhetoric that fosters political murder. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...
Opinion | I Was Supposed to Debate Charlie Kirk. Here’s What I Would Have Said.
www.nytimes.com
September 13, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Re Charlie Kirk, @nytimes.com runs an op-ed by Hasan Piker, an influencer with a history of Jew-baiting, which argues that America’s “culture of violence” is “most evident” in its support for Israel’s “genocide”— the type of rhetoric that fosters political murder. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...
The debates about Antisemitism being distinct from anti-Zionism are sterile. Today solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Israel are prevalent symbolic language used to express Antisemitism.
Well, that's nice. Not even a yell from the distance, just a flat-affect "Free Palestine" (with hostile stare) as a greeting from teenagers walking past me at the central bus station here. Haven't had that in a while.
The fearlessness needs to be fixed; alas, I had a connecting bus to catch.
The fearlessness needs to be fixed; alas, I had a connecting bus to catch.
September 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The debates about Antisemitism being distinct from anti-Zionism are sterile. Today solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Israel are prevalent symbolic language used to express Antisemitism.
Valhalla. You never go full Valhalla.
Kash Patel: "To my friend Charlie Kirk. Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I'll see you at Valhalla"
September 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Valhalla. You never go full Valhalla.
It does. This one scares me more than the others. I’m not confident that it will even matter if the motive isn’t what it appears.
This murder has major destabilizing political implications. It was an assassination of a major Trump surrogate. Of course national figures should comment.
September 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
It does. This one scares me more than the others. I’m not confident that it will even matter if the motive isn’t what it appears.
I am deeply relieved that Elizabeth Tsurkov has been freed. These stories rarely end well. We could use good news and this is extraordinary. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/w...
Princeton Student Held by Iran-Backed Militia Is Released, Trump Says
www.nytimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I am deeply relieved that Elizabeth Tsurkov has been freed. These stories rarely end well. We could use good news and this is extraordinary. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/w...
Conspiracism kills.
(I didn’t know Central Casting did locations too.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
(I didn’t know Central Casting did locations too.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Florida Says It Plans to End All Vaccine Mandates
www.nytimes.com
September 3, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Conspiracism kills.
(I didn’t know Central Casting did locations too.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
(I didn’t know Central Casting did locations too.)
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
RFK, Jr. is a spellbound bigot with the scientific understanding of a medieval magician.
Before he rebooted his Instagram account to look presidential, this was RFK Jr during COVID.
September 2, 2025 at 10:47 PM
RFK, Jr. is a spellbound bigot with the scientific understanding of a medieval magician.
“Vaccine skeptic” is an editorial confection that embodies the worst of euphemism: the phrase leeches the negativity from something that urgently requires attention while obscuring what it is.
RFK, Jr. is a conspiracy theorist who fixates on vaccines.
RFK, Jr. is a conspiracy theorist who fixates on vaccines.
ABC News is still calling RFK Jr. a “vaccine skeptic.” The dude was one of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists for decades. There’s video of him in 2023 saying that there’s no vaccine which is safe and effective. You can call him an anti-vaccine activist!
August 31, 2025 at 11:53 PM
“Vaccine skeptic” is an editorial confection that embodies the worst of euphemism: the phrase leeches the negativity from something that urgently requires attention while obscuring what it is.
RFK, Jr. is a conspiracy theorist who fixates on vaccines.
RFK, Jr. is a conspiracy theorist who fixates on vaccines.
Are you kidding? The clearest analog in the Trump admin to 20th Century fascism is rule by “medieval peasant superstitions.” The question, “Could it happen here?” is definitively answered by RFK, Jr., who epitomizes the cocktail of fanaticism & spellbound bigotry that made the Holocaust possible.
That Trump and Trumpism are fascist doesn’t explain the sheer vandalism of unleashing mass murdering mayhem via RFK to replace medical/scientific institutions of immense value and prestige with medieval peasant superstitions. That is a criminal madness facilitated by but above and beyond fascism.
August 31, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Are you kidding? The clearest analog in the Trump admin to 20th Century fascism is rule by “medieval peasant superstitions.” The question, “Could it happen here?” is definitively answered by RFK, Jr., who epitomizes the cocktail of fanaticism & spellbound bigotry that made the Holocaust possible.
Reposted by John-Paul Pagano
RFK Jr. taps his top deputy, Jim O’Neill, to be the new CDC director. Both men appear to wear skinny ties from Otaa. Otaa's ties are made in China from microfiber, a kind of plastic that, under the right conditions, can migrate to your balls.
August 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
RFK Jr. taps his top deputy, Jim O’Neill, to be the new CDC director. Both men appear to wear skinny ties from Otaa. Otaa's ties are made in China from microfiber, a kind of plastic that, under the right conditions, can migrate to your balls.
And while poorly evaluated prescription of psych meds happens, much of that 10% relies on those drugs to attain and maintain a level of function that they can call a life. The canard of frivolous SSRIs serves the cause of anti-corporate paranoids and is part of the anti-science oeuvre.
RFK Jr. says they're investigating the relationship between SSRI antidepressants and violence like yesterday's tragic mass shooting.
According to the CDC, over 10% of American adults take antidepressants.
According to the CDC, over 10% of American adults take antidepressants.
August 28, 2025 at 2:49 PM
And while poorly evaluated prescription of psych meds happens, much of that 10% relies on those drugs to attain and maintain a level of function that they can call a life. The canard of frivolous SSRIs serves the cause of anti-corporate paranoids and is part of the anti-science oeuvre.
Our decline is an autoimmune disease.
Antivax and anti-public health were in the ballot in 2024. They’re not springing this on the public by surprise, they campaigned on it—along with anti-science, and at the highest level anti-truth—then a plurality elected them.
Some explicitly voted for it. Others didn’t care. But this was a choice.
Some explicitly voted for it. Others didn’t care. But this was a choice.
August 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Our decline is an autoimmune disease.