Well, not a website for enthusiasts or conspiracy theorists of the Iran-Contra affair, for one. I have hoped that the name would say it all. Contra kooks – contra from the borrowed Latin prefix meaning against or in opposition to, and kooks being my slang name for the people (in America and elsewhere) who indulge in nonsensical conspiracy theories to facilitate lawlessness and attacks on the civic, moral and governmental infrastructure of civilization. I'll associate my motive here with A.J. Muste:
“Once a reporter asked him, "Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?" A.J. Muste replied softly: "Oh I don't do this to change the country. I do this so the country won't change me.”
― A.J. Muste
This is first and foremost, a personal reflection on politics by someone educated and working in the technology and business sector who is deeply interested in law, government, and the conduct of a stable prosperous society. I don't reasonably expect more than the few hundred folks who follow me on BlueSky will wind up here, but as 2025 starts, I now find it impossible to ignore the need to put some information and perspectives down in writing.
It's been a bit of a journey, from starting on Twitter following prominent law and government experts, watching the first Trump term unfold through that lens, and becoming horrified as efforts to shore up American government met with increasingly aggressive propagandization of what would turn into the Trump cult (a term whose use I will address in a future post). Ultimately, things reached a point where clever 140-ish character retorts were insufficient to speak on the profound issues of law, government, morals, and basic decency that 2025 has brought into stark relief for anyone who subscribes to reason, bedrock moral/civic principles, or good faith.
What you will and won't find here
You'll find factually-informed opinions from someone with a strong interest in law, politics, government, and their intersection with technology. But I'm not a lawyer or a political scientist, so while my commentary will almost always be nestled within the sources or commentaries of people who are, it will inevitably suffer from the shortcomings of a layperson commenting on topics in which he has only the knowledge of a well-read amateur.
I will comment on some issues more authoritatively, particularly in the realms of software development and technology and business management more generally, as they may arise in this context. For instance, I will plainly assure readers that Elon Musk has simplistic ill-informed notions of software development and the complexity of data architecture and that absolutely no good-faith person should listen to his ramblings on the topic.