Spy Harder: The Palantir Edition
I guess now we're Making Surveillance Great Again?
I don’t know about my readers, but when I planted that MAHA sign in my yard last fall, I thought I was signing up for an airtight border, affordable eggs, a torch to the wretched vaccine schedule, and maybe—God willing—getting our incandescent lightbulbs back. Sadly, it looks like we voted for new, “universal” flu vaccines, a continued Covid coverup, and the groundwork for a permanent surveillance state.
Unless I got the wrong show notes, the very man who threatened/pledged/promised to drain the swamp is teaming up with the actual swamp to develop the world’s most comprehensive digital database to track Americans’ every move and morsel.
Because nothing says Make America Great Again like virtually-marrying Palantir, a company rabbit-hole-deep in surveillance, predictive policing, and data mining—basically the triumvirate of civil liberties erosion.
Oh, they’re saying the big, beautiful “comprehensive citizen database” is being designed to keep tabs on illegal immigrants and to “streamline data across agencies,” two things it may indeed be capable of doing. But if you were planning to install a social credit system or you did want to set up a convenient Dissident Detection Network (to target, for example, gun owners who voted for a specific presidential candidate and also take a certain medication)… what would you do differently?
Also, does “streamline data across agencies” sound suspiciously like “so the barista can make sure I haven’t offended anyone on Facebook before she fixes my latte,” or is it just me?
For those not in the know, Palantir is a Colorado-based “analytics company” co-founded by Trump supporter, transhumanist, and billionaire tech titan Peter Thiel, a man who not-so-recently said, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” On the warm-and-fuzzy scale, the guy gives negative eleven.
And then there’s Palantir’s current CEO Alex Karp, who boasts about building a company that “single-handedly stopped the rise of the far right in Europe,” and “was used to distribute the Covid vaccine and save millions of lives.” Oh, and if supporting Kamala Harris in the 2024 election wasn’t bad enough, Karp openly admits Palantir’s mission is to “scare enemies—and on occasion, kill them.”
I am not making that up. Kramer-haired Karp almost makes Thiel look like a preschool teacher handing out smiley-face stickers in comparison.
Oh, and guess who’s just been appointed to the Federal Advisory Board at Palantir to help MacGyver this Spy-Fi wonder? None other than the scarf-swaddled oracle of lockdown logic, Deborah Birx.
Nothing to see here.
Just to be clear, this is the actual crew POTUS is bringing in to construct a single federal database that will house our tax returns, bank statements, medical records, student debt balances, and Amazon search-and-purchase histories (probably). Sure, folks have been stewing about all things Thiel and Palantir for a while now, but over the weekend, The New York Times turned up the heat.
The Grey Lady [*uses term lady generously] reported:
In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.
Mr. Trump has not publicly talked about the effort since. But behind the scenes, officials have quietly put technological building blocks into place to enable his plan. In particular, they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm.
The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work across the federal government in recent months. The company has received more than $113 million in federal government spending since Mr. Trump took office, according to public records, including additional funds from existing contracts as well as new contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. (This does not include a $795 million contract that the Department of Defense awarded the company last week, which has not been spent.)
Representatives of Palantir are also speaking to at least two other agencies — the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service — about buying its technology, according to six government officials and Palantir employees with knowledge of the discussions.
The question becomes: On a scale of one to hermetically-sealed-armageddon-bunker, how panicky should we be?
The lazy half of my brain is not overly concerned. “The feds literally already have all of this information and it’s not like I have anything to hide,” it reminds me. “They’ve been spying on us forever! Who really cares?” The fired-up, freedom-loving other half is shouting, “*I* care! My personal affairs are none of your business! You don’t get to assign *me* a social credit score, pal! Who do you even think you are?”
It’s exhausting up there, honestly.
X is a veritable fondue pot of bipartisan rage doused in disappointment and sprinkled with a generous heaping of I told you so.
From Camp This Isn’t Even News:
And from Team We’re All Doomed:
This is a new stance from the left: MAGA isn’t outraged enough.
And according to scores of sources, Palantir is made up of, directly serves, and is in fact synonymous with the CIA (3:20 clip worth watching), so that’s lovely.
Palantir, you will be relieved to hear, insists they’re doing nothing sketchy.
Does “Palantir never collects data to unlawfully surveil Americans” really just mean “it is no longer unlawful to surveil Americans”?
You know it’s bad when even the Hodgetwins—two of the most loyal Trump bros to ever wear matching tank tops on YouTube—responded to the NYT piece with, “Hope this ain’t true y’all.” (My favorite comment in reply: “According to NYT… Trump colluded with Russia. Why do you still give this [offensive adjective] publication an ounce of legitimacy?”) And Nick Fuentes, who I normally avoid quoting because he says things that might make Alex Jones nervous, is out here calling this “the ultimate betrayal.”
He’s not wrong.
Look, I’m all for saving taxpayer money and increasing government efficiency. But “streamlining data collection” shouldn’t mean my social security number, flu shot records, and TJ Maxx rewards card are now a quick click away from someone in a Palantir hoodie working for the IRS.
If our Big National Goal is “to fight fraud” or “protect national security,” might I suggest peeking into some NIH lab receipts or Fauci’s deleted file folder before we start building dossiers documenting Uncle Gary’s Viagra consumption? Just a suggestion.
P.S. When I was searching for source material for this post, I came across this. It’s internet conspiracy theorist Ian Carroll teasing a supposedly deep dive into the Palantir putridity on Candace Owens’ podcast (I suspect he’s guest-hosting while she enjoys maternity leave, but I didn’t do enough digging to confirm). The Palantir part starts at the 34:00 mark, but what I found most interesting about this exposé on artificial intelligence is the fact that Carroll blinks maybe three times in the entire hour. Is this CGI? Is Ian Carroll even a real person? Do people even know what AI is capable of today? Please watch two or three minutes of “Ian Carroll” and tell me if I’m crazy.
Turning everything off again soon. The MSM has already been off for 5 years. Can I crawl into a body size faraday bag? I watched young, just out of the nest, grackles follow their parents around the yard yesterday. Felt so much better watching that normal part of God’s creation than thinking and watching the base humanity circling around my peace. Of course, nothing will change but the surface oil slick.
Knowing that some dweeb in the deep state sees everything I do online, I often make myself chuckle by dropping little crumbs for them. For example, my current password for my Microsoft account is ‘Trumpwon2020#’. Just to know that they know I know, gives me some inane sort of comfort.