March 17, 2019

Beto O'Rourke's hacker name was "Psychedelic Warlord," so that must mean he's done hallucinogenic drugs — right? — and is that something that's okay in a presidential candidate?

Scott Adams addresses the question whether Beto has done hallucinogens:



Scott's first pass at the question is another question: "Have you seen Beto?" He giggles while waiting for the question to soak in. He says anyone who's taken hallucinogens (which Scott has) will have an "easier time" with the question.

Eventually he gives his answer: He'd place a "large bet" on "yes."

He's quick to add that it's not a criticism. "In fact, I might even prefer it." This preference interweaves with his reason for believing Beto has used hallucinogenics (reasons other than that nickname, Psychedelic Warlord): Beto doesn't see barriers. People who have done hallucinogenics "think their barriers are artificial.... They see the world around them as somewhat artificial, meaning that they know it's a construct of their own mind."

Scott's use of the word "know" reveals that (by his own standard) he's used hallucinogenics. He knows the world around him is a construct of his own mind.

"Once you realize that your experience is, to a large extent, a construct of your own mind, then you can start removing barriers. So you can say to yourself, yes, it does seem that, in the normal world, it would be impossible to become President of the United States with my résumé, but I've taken hallucinogens...."

Scott ends this segment reaffirming that he believes Beto has taken hallucinogens. He never gets back to the wafted assertion that it's preferable to have a President who has acquired the knowledge/"knowledge" that barriers are artificial. It makes me think of that well known Robert F. Kennedy quote — and a lot of people think Beto O'Rourke looks like Robert F. Kennedy — "Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not?"



That's Teddy Kennedy at RFK's funeral. RFK adopted those words as the theme for the presidential campaign that ended in his death. The words are nearly identical to words that George Bernard Shaw had the serpent say to Eve in the play "Back to Methuselah": "You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'"

And there's your forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge — LSD.



I remembered that I'd already written about the RFK quote and Shaw and the serpent, but it blew my mind to search my archive and discover that I wrote about it at the end of a riff that began with a snippet from Scott Adams. Adams had been talking about the weird propaganda video President Trump sent to Kim Jong-Un. I leapt to the RFK quote after I'd riffed my way to: "[M]aybe the target isn't Kim at all but the American media, and they are being lured into mocking and disparaging Trump, which will ultimately help Trump, as the American people will watch the video and be taken by the optimism the elites find appalling."

Leapt, over the barrier.

Is it funny that Trump's dream of things that never were is of a barrier — his wall? Is it evidence of having taken hallucinogens that you see no barrier to... a barrier?

85 comments:

David Begley said...

The last thing this country needs is an unbalanced, rich, substance-abuser Kennedy-wanna-be in the WH.

Like, wow man

rhhardin said...

He wants a barrier and sees no barrier to getting one. Different barrier.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

So much promise from the boomers, with such things as rock 'n roll and LSD being (supposedly) windows to wisdom; so little delivery. Where are the books? Where are the innovative public policies, like how to make the welfare state work, or how to fix Chicago? One theory is that what had been sold as objective reality would be revealed as phony, but the real objective reality would then shine forth. Peer-reviewed science of many kinds is suffering a replication crisis, i.e. it is marbled with bullshit, and this is at least as true of climate science--which is supposed to guide big, expensive, moralistic public policies--as of any other kind. Which path would boomers take? Self-congratulatory bullshit, or some kind of real improvement in human life beyond sophisticated toys? Hmmmm ....

rhhardin said...

Levinas thinks that objectivity first appears in society. It's stabilized by an ethical relation. Otherwise anything would go.

Wittgenstein sees it as depending on the ordinary, which is to say normal use uncontaminated by pictures of what it must in itself be.

Some barriers are politeness; narrow guardrails come from political correctness. Objectivity no longer includes truth.

iowan2 said...

Explain to me again why President Trump is unfit to serve? (yea, yea, besides the R)

rhhardin said...

Think of the objectivity in observing the subordination of women.

Wince said...

Evidently taking LSD makes it hard for people nearby to read cue cards.

"We believe it to be a powerful hallow-sign-o-gen called LSD."

rhhardin said...

Two ethical systems camps means no agreement on objectivity.

rhhardin said...

It's LSB in a digital age. Least significant bit. Or, sometimes, byte.

It comes up as byte in debates over big-indian and little-indian.

Henry said...

The bus is named "Further".

"He was with us
as long as our fantasy coincided with his. But as soon as we went on further, he didn't
understand it, so he was going against us. He had ... no faith."

traditionalguy said...

Perfect post for St. Patricks Day. Irish use alcohol as their hallucinogenic drug. And it tastes good too.

Ann Althouse said...

"He wants a barrier and sees no barrier to getting one. Different barrier."

Thanks for mansplaining.

Have you used hallucinogenics?

tim maguire said...

I don’t think O’Rourke’s hacker name is an indication that he took psychedelics. He was an idiot teenager at the time, of course he would have thought that name was cool. But I think it’s more likely than not that he did considering his musical background. Drug use was so common in that environment, it means very little to me whether he actually ingested or not.

Goddess of the Classroom said...

The Forbidden Fruit wasn't from the Tree of Knowledge; it was from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

tim maguire said...

Ann Althouse said...Thanks for mansplaining

Whoah there, little lady! What’s with the casual sexism this morning?

chillblaine said...

Arthur Schwartz says that Reuters reporter Joseph Menn knew about this story during the Texas Senatorial race, and that Sancho O'Dork paid him to quash the story. I'm so fucking sick of being lied to.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

i'm way more interested in the fact that he was in the Cult of The Dead Cow. Just this morning I saw it described as, paraphrasing, "the most famous teenage hacking group of all time." Now, I have heard of it, but then I am a huge computer nerd working in IT and have a Master's degree in computer security. In addition, I read _The Cuckoo's Egg_ and _The Hacker Crackdown_ and was a regular reader of Phrack and 2600 bac in the day. In other words, I'm pretty familiar with hacker culture and its denizens, at least as it was back then. When I see that Beto was a member of cDc, I recognize the name right away. I've seen some of the hacks they have published and heard of some of their exploits. But, I'm thinking that before the news broke that Beto had been a member, our hostess had never heard of them. Most famous doesn't mean very famous. cDc has notoriety, it is not "famous."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Dead_Cow

chillblaine said...

Media malfeasance should be treated the same as criminal fraud. If a corporate officer sells his stock holdings, it gets reported. If a financial publication or reporter has holdings in a company they are covering, they have to disclose. But a journalist gets to hide behind the First Amendment? No. I think that every reporter should be compelled to say who they vote for, if they are covering politics. If they insist on the veneer of honesty, they should also insist on accountability, and yes, I am talking about throwing people like Brian Stelter into prison.

chuck said...

"meaning that they know it's a construct of their own mind."

And maybe some saw it as a higher reality. I think Scott tends to over generalize from his own unique understanding to the generic. I'm sure that he is aware of that natural tendency, but one can't really avoid it.

Ralph L said...

Reuters admits it

I don't remember LSD being a big thing in the 80s when he was a teenager.

John henry said...

So Teddy called St Bobby a "serpent"?

I've heard the quote a million times always attributed to st jack or st Bobby.

Never knew the provenance. U wonder if they did? Or if they just thought the public was too stupid to see it. And that the press would never set the public straight.

John Henry

Ralph L said...

Hacking is Beto's Harvard Law Review, a disguise for someone not really that bright, or a bright as he thinks he is.

chuck said...

> It comes up as byte in debates over big-indian and little-indian.

Well, that's new. I always thought it was northern-indian and southern-indian, you know, IBM vs DEC.

AllenS said...

Have you used hallucinogenics?

December 1966.

dustbunny said...

JFK had an affair with Mary Meyer, a well connected DC socialite. The rumors were she introduced him to weed and some say LSD.Her husband was CIA and her sister was married to Ben Bradley of the Washington Post. When she was killed in suspicious circumstances, her diary disappeared, it was said that James Jesus Angelton, the CIA spook stole it. So was JFK the first President to use psychedelics? It seems like most paranoid thriller plots are based on the shenanigans and coverups of this highly privileged lot.

narciso said...

Cord meyer, was the future head of operations, plans, the bowman book mentions his sons death when he was eight, that might have lead to his estrangement from his wife

rhhardin said...

Have you used hallucinogenics?

I don't even do legal drugs.

narciso said...

The writer behind heroes, wrote a novel where forrestals nephew a mysterious Iranian woman and a rogue FBI agent feature in the back story to the assassination

Ann Althouse said...

"He wants a barrier and sees no barrier to getting one. Different barrier."

Reminds me of a quote I found in a book long ago (and sent to The New Yorker, which published it): "His limitations knew no bounds."

Fernandinande said...

"They see the world around them as somewhat artificial, meaning that they know it's a construct of their own mind."

It's a gut-level realization which doesn't really provide much intellectual insight; it's like knowing that fire can hurt you vs actually getting burned. There are other ways to realize your senses are selective and imperfect...though they're not nearly as fun.

Bob Boyd said...

Let's not forget, Kim Jong-Un is also a dreamer of impossible dreams.

Little Rocket Man on acid. Why not?

John henry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

Like many people, Trump’s LSD is celebrity. When women were affected by his celebrity, there were suddenly no barriers to grabbing them by the pussy.

Laughlin felt her name and money meant there were no barriers to getting her daughter into the college of her choice.

The entire world often breaks down to which side of the red rope you stand behind. And humanity ensures there will always be a red rope.

MikeR said...

"Why not?" Most of the problems conservatives have with liberals is that they don't take this question seriously.

narciso said...

Bowman's book which is in the delillo style, revisits some of mailer's work in harlots gjost.

Bob Boyd said...

Don't fall in love with a dreamer
'Cause he'll always take you in

gilbar said...

David Begley said...
The last thing this country needs is an unbalanced, rich, substance-abuser Kennedy-wanna-be in the WH.



The last thing this country needs is another unbalanced, rich, substance-abuser Kennedy-wanna-be in the WH.

fixed it for you!

Temujin said...

Scott Adams is entertaining. And sometimes he's right. So is everyone who comments on this blog.

The idea that people who have done hallucinogenics don't see barriers is horseshit. Of course, while under the influence you might...or might not see barriers. You may see some that don't exist in reality, or not see others, that you should, because you're too messed up.

But once the drug wears off, you return to your normal state. Some are profoundly influenced by the drugs and change their lives because of it. Others use it as a recreational getaway that doesn't require actually going anywhere. And nothing more. They may do it on a Saturday night and be back at their work on Monday am. No harm, no foul.

Not saying I know this from personal experience.

gilbar said...

If a corporate officer sells his stock holdings, it gets reported. If a financial publication or reporter has holdings in a company they are covering, they have to disclose. But a journalist gets to hide behind the First Amendment?

Here's a fun question?
On Thursday, before Rush went on his show and told his listeners that Boeing had (according to Rush) intentionally made an unsafe plane that would KILL you because they would not use Pratt & Whitney engines instead of CFM's.... Did he sell his existing Boeing stock?

buwaya said...

Hmm. I did mushrooms, but never LSD.
I don't think I got that idea of the artificiality of reality that Adams says I would have. Maybe mushrooms aren't all that. Should I be sad that I came so close but yet missed out?

Meade said...

"I don't even do legal drugs."

We'll take that as a yes.

wildswan said...

There's no limit to what a fifteen- or sixteen-year old boy talking to the same might say - with or without drugs. Unlimited teen-age talk is so common, it goes anywhere, everywhere, nowhere.

But in terms of social change, "unlimited" insight always means socialism; and socialism always has the limitation of not working; and then that limitation is always hidden by limiting critics by putting them in prison. And the sadness caused by not bringing in justice is always overcome by becoming limitlessly rich from being the government-sponsored thief. But this obvious pattern isn't ever seen by those who boast today that they have unlimited insight into society and seek unlimited power to transform it.

Big Mike said...

“Why not?”

Because we can’t afford it you Kennedys and Kennedy wannabes.

Ice Nine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

"I don't even do legal drugs."

Present tense.

The question is: Have you ever used hallucinogenic drugs?

Adams is clear that he used a psychedelic drug exactly once and that it was the greatest day of his life and has immensely influenced him and you only need to do it once.

So my question is unanswered.

Grant said...

I’ve taken LSD on a number of occasions, and I know many other people who also have. I second Temujin. Beto is equally explicable with or without the hallucinogenic postulate (President with a thin resume? anybody remember the last one we had?) so I see no reason to assume the postulate is true.

Temujin said...

Beto reminds me of a couple of guys I knew in college. Only they ended up moving on into their adulthood. And no one had to pay to prop them up time after time. This is the only guy I know that literally makes AOC seem like she's not so dumb. I can listen to her and think: she's not stupid, but she's been so totally miseducated that they've made here sound stupid. (she should to ask for her money back from wherever she went to school).

But Beto...he's completely vacuous. I see no redeeming thinking processes, no moral or ethical higher standards. Just Beto loving being Beto and wanting the worship of those around him. He sees himself as Obama redux. But Obama could think. Beto just is.

I wonder about his wife. Why is she propping him up (or asking her Daddy to prop him up)?

BUMBLE BEE said...

dustbunny... Interesting cast of characters in Mary's background. Same kinda group as today!
http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/Meyer.html.
Fine upstanding lot.

Big Mike said...

Have you used hallucinogenics?

No. And now that I’m in my 70s blood pressure drugs are my limit. Leaves me free to criticize former law professors who hallucinate that “boring” is what this country needs in a President in 2020.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Lotsa "dead Mary" types round the Clintons eh?

Bob Boyd said...

Did GK Chesterton try psychedelics?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Reuters Admits They Sat On Bombshell Beto O'Rourke Story For 2 Years


no no no - "bombshells" are only for the other side.

Kay said...

Hallucinogens are something of a rite of passage among teenagers in the United States. There is also a song by the old British rock group, Hawkwind, called “Psychrdelic Warlords.” The lyrics are definitely something I can imagine a young hacker connecting with.

JayDee77 said...

Beto had to apologize for being white this week. Imagine having to apologize for your very existence. Now imagine that same guy going face to face with Kim Jung Un or President Xi. Trump would absolutely devour this pipsqueak in a general election.

Kevin said...

“Reuters reported late on Friday night that their reporter who broke the story about Democrat Beto O’Rourke belonging to a hacker group had the story for two years and agreed to sit on it until after O’Rourke’s Senate race against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).”

They didn’t want people to see any barriers, but now they’re OK with it.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

BAd stuff about D's gets dutifully hidden by the D-hack press.

Bob Boyd said...

What's with Beto and cows? His wacky poem was about cows too.

Oso Negro said...

YES! I have used hallucinogens. The world got drippy for awhile and I waited out the 12 hours for the feeling to go away. I would NEVER call it the best day of my life. Having sex for the first time, or meeting your children is way past LSD.

Oso Negro said...

@ Bob Boyd - Be grateful for the cows. Do you actually want to know more about buffing his balls or ass?

Big Mike said...

In the case of The Wall, we cannot afford not to build it.

Bob Boyd said...

@ Oso Negro

Good point. At least he didn't name his group The Cult of Gleaming Scrotum or something.

Sebastian said...

"in the normal world, it would be impossible to become President of the United States with my résumé"

Huh? In the normal world, progs voted for O, and nice Midwestern women voted for him as "pragmatic." In the normal world, résumés are for suckers. In prog world, anything goes. And that's how you get more Trump, we may hope.

Ken B said...

“Mansplaining”
Insert eye roll here.
Yes, Hardin is often annoying. But really. Why not just call him whitey too?

Bill Peschel said...

"They see the world around them as somewhat artificial, meaning that they know it's a construct of their own mind."

Big deal. Plato said that without LSD.

(And, no, I never used LSD. Actually bought a tab, back in '81, but was too nervous and isolated to use it.)

The worst thing about the faux latino apologizing for being white is that he has no strength to stand up to the bullies day after day. Which means if he got into a leadership position, he'll be pushed hard, and he'll bend, and bend, and bend, and then he'll snap and over-react.

Better to have a steady leader who knows where he or she stands.

Bob Boyd said...

Adams may be making too much of the psychedelics/barriers idea.

Any guy who gets a hand inside a girl's bra for the first time realizes barriers are artificial.
That day usually goes in the books as a really good day too.

Henry said...

Bombshell. LOL.

Yancey Ward said...

I don't agree calling this a bombshell revelation, but the story was sat on because they wanted Cruz defeated. It comes out now because the media don't want a white guy as the nominee. However, it won't hurt O'Rourke's chances.

Yancey Ward said...

I have done LSD on several occasions- all in my late 20s. The lack of barriers it reveals is the illusion, not the other way around.

Mr. Groovington said...

Yes, ayahuasca on three occasions in Mexico with a friend and perhaps the drug’s most famous medical advocate.

Mr. Groovington said...

Plus I’m planning to do the granddaddy of them all, iboga, in Libreville, Gabon, sometime this year while I’m in Africa. Ayahuasca is a walk in the park by comparison.

rhhardin said...

"I don't even do legal drugs."

Present tense.

The question is: Have you ever used hallucinogenic drugs?

Adams is clear that he used a psychedelic drug exactly once and that it was the greatest day of his life and has immensely influenced him and you only need to do it once.

So my question is unanswered.


Habitual present tense. No I've never done illegal or legal drugs.

“Just what the hell did you mean, you bastard, when you said we couldn't punish you?" said the corporal who could take shorthand reading from his steno pad.
"All right," said the colonel. "Just what the hell did you mean?"
"I didn't say you couldn't punish me, sir."
"When," asked the colonel.
"When what, sir?"
"Now you're asking me questions again."
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid I don't understand your question."
"When didn't you say we couldn't punish you? Don't you understand my question?"
"No, sir, I don't understand."
"You've just told us that. Now suppose you answer my question."
"But how can I answer it?"
"That's another question you're asking me."
"I'm sorry, sir. But I don't know how to answer it. I never said you couldn't punish me."
"Now you're telling us what you did say. I'm asking you to tell us when you didn't say it."
Clevinger took a deep breath. "I always didn't say you couldn't punish me, sir.”

catch-22

chillblaine said...

Hardin, you're clearly a freak of nature. What about aspirin? But you know what, I believe you, and think that nothing is better than a clear head.

Gilbar, that IS a fun question! A good one. I may have to check the transcript. Heckfire, Rush probably shorted Boeing. He's pretty smart. Gray area. Technically, he's reporting news, so, he should be compelled to say if he has a position. But it's all a game. Brings to mind Muddy Waters, a firm that, if they still exist, would short a company and then announce they were investigating the same company.

I have been on mushrooms twice, and sort of want to trip on peyote at least once. Also, I believe that cannabis is classified as a hallucinogen. Thankfully, I'm off weed. I actually moved to Idaho because these rednecks hate the devil weed. Hate it.

Francisco D said...

I tried LSD in 1971-72. No big deal.

It hasn't afffffffected me at all.

Churchy LaFemme: said...


Ceremonial Chemicals

Most hackers don't smoke tobacco, and use alcohol in moderation if at all. However, there has been something of a trend towards exotic beers since about 1995, especially among younger Linux hackers apparently influenced by Linus Torvalds's fondness for Guiness.

Limited use of non-addictive psychedelic drugs, such as cannabis, LSD, psilocybin, nitrous oxide, etc., used to be relatively common and is still regarded with more tolerance than in the mainstream culture. Use of `downers' and opiates, on the other hand, appears to be particularly rare; hackers seem in general to dislike drugs that make them stupid. On the third hand, many hackers regularly wire up on caffeine and/or sugar for all-night hacking runs.


If you want to understand Hackers (*real* Hackers, not BS like "Anonymous"), you should read "The Jargon File". It's amazing how true much of it is. Probably the best hard copy format is Eric Raymond's edit The New Hacker's Dictionary. Well worth your time for a window into an interesting culture which has built large parts of the world we live in.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Adams is still tripping.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barry Dauphin said...

Maybe this is why Amy O Rourke raised the kids.

Unknown said...

Warlord or Wardlord? I've seen both quoted, and I think the latter is a more clever play on words, hinting--as it does--at the Psycho Ward and Beto's dominion over it.

Bilwick said...

I have the feeling Beto isn't the only Democratic candidate who has taken hallucinogenics. How else could so many--despite all evidence of history and economics--be under the delusion that statism is a good thing?

Robert Cook said...

I've taken LSD a number of times, (fewer than a dozen times total), as well as psilocybin mushrooms 3 or 4 times. The mushrooms provided a more mellow experience, but they became successively more difficult to consume each time, as they tasted so foul. By the last time, I gagged on trying to get it down...but I succeeded. I found the experiences awesome and fun, but any insights one will acquire will be in the first few times, or even just the first time. After that, you're just doing it because you enjoy the experience.

I was never a user of drugs or intoxicants, and am not today. I never smoked pot, though several close friends in high school and college (early to mid-late 70s) were frequent smokers of pot. I would sit in the car with them as they toked up, but I never got any contact high. I remember in spring 1973, when I was just about to graduate high school, a friend and I went to see Pink Floyd on their DARK SIDE OF THE MOON tour, (in quadraphonic sound!). He drove, I had no license or car. In the concert, people were passing around mushroom tea, which my friend consumed, but I did not. He knew he was in no condition to drive us home after the concert, (which was fantastic). So, I had to carefully drive us home, a distance of about 20-odd miles. I wasn't so much worried about having an accident, though I wasn't an experienced driver. I was worried about being stopped by the police, a worry that was not realized.

I decided I wanted to try hallucinogens when I was 30, inspired by reading Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's THE ILLUMINATUS TRILOGY (a wonderful romp!). I took my last trip around age 40 or 41. I wasn't a kid looking for kicks; I was intrigued by the possibility of creative or other insights, and by interest in the experience of altering my perception.

I think our political class would be much improved if more of them had been or were currently users of hallucinogens.

fistofpuke said...

"Sick of politicians, harrassment and law / All we do is get screwed up by other people's flaws". Certainly a suitable opening lyric for a campaign advertisement.

Fen said...

"the story was sat on because they wanted Cruz defeated. It comes out now because the media don't want a white guy as the nominee. However, it won't hurt O'Rourke's chances"

Read somewhere that CNN introduced Beto as a "white male" 57 times in one day.

The Establishment does not want him as the nominee, I guess because Harris is their girl, female black marxist.

I think they will create a negative narrative around him with this story as the cornerstone. Something along the lines of unbalanced or mental or creepy, we'll see as they start adding bricks to the structure.

I would criticize the media for shielding him but I feel like a hypocrite posting from a blog where quality control determines what is posted. If Reuters says "we considered this a local story of little interesr to our readers" are they being any different?

stlcdr said...

Honestly, so what?

It sounds like based on these few things that he had an interesting young adult life but grew out of the harmful things. Does that not lead one to have at least some wisdom, now, to decide what is harmful and what is good? Perhaps.

Maybe, in the future, when we are selecting a president, we find out that a contender wore yoga pants while in college. The horror.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Weed is an hallucinogenic.

bagoh20 said...

If you tried something, and it gave you the best day of your life, wouldn't you do it again?
Unless, of course, you are scared, you little chicken baby.