52 Comments - SAP - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 10:44 am: I hate April 1st. You can never tell what’s real and what’s fake. - vern - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 10:47 am: Will add this to the running tracker of gov candidates’ inflation plans. Schimpf: Never build another road ever Bailey: tbd Irvin: tbd Rabine: tbd Sullivan: Nullify the National Bank Act of 1863, have Illinois print its own scrip - Amalia - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 10:48 am: once again, no longer a reason for The Onion to exist. - Blooms of Spring - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 10:52 am: What are Sullivan thoughts (and prayers?) RE: 40% of crypto currency’s value is held by .001% of wallet holders? - Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 10:59 am: “I want to go to Heaven more than being Governor.” Then Sullivan should withdraw from the race. Yes, it’s April 1, but really… - Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:04 am: Is Christian bitcoiners an oxymoron? - City Guy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:06 am: Crypto currency is one of the favorite ways for ransomware criminals to get paid. Since the candidate for governor is an expert in crypto, I would like to hear how the state can hinder the criminal uses of crypto and recover extorted money. Governors are simply cheering section for economic development, they also have to protect people. - singin - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:07 am: Jessie is a friend Yeah, I know, he’s been a good friend of mine But lately something’s changed that ain’t hard to define Jessie’s got himself some coin and he’s losin his mind - Pundent - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:09 am: =Crypto currency is one of the favorite ways for ransomware criminals to get paid.= And for foreign governments to blunt the impact of sanctions. I’m not sure how being all in on crypto makes Sullivan more appealing. What exactly is the upside in it? - Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:09 am: Yes, yes. Many a scripture in the Good Book where materialism and wealth is held in the highest regard. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:12 am: Jesse Sullivan is performance art, not a serious campaign, designed to help crypto? Probably? - NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:12 am: Thank God for Greenbacks and Currency instead. No way would I even get near Bitcoin. I do not even use credit cards (ever since taking Dave Ramsey’s class at church almost 15 years ago) and try to even limit using debit cards too. (And every time I use the debit card, I want to check my bank’s online statement ASAP to make sure the transaction is accurate, after a glitch with a debit card at a motel over a decade ago. I don’t want to use the debit card out of this area ever since unless unavoidable). - AlfondoGonz - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:17 am: Perfect. Jesse’s campaign is a lot like Bitcoin. No real value but that which can be syphoned from whomever is left holding the bag. - Arsenal - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:18 am: I hope he has some Miami fundraisers lined up, otherwise going so far out of state for an event that promotes something besides your candidacy is quite head-scratcher. - Dotnonymous - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:21 am: Crypto mammon is still mammon. Does Sully love money more than Heaven? - Flying Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:21 am: By the by, always knew Tebow was nothing but a cheap hustler. - NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:23 am: Bitcoin always seems like a “legal” version of Monopoly money to me as well. - NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:25 am: ==By the by, always knew Tebow was nothing but a cheap hustler.== Not to mention costing a Big Ten team a BCS championship (when Florida beat Ohio State for the 2006 NC after the tOSU-Michigan 1-2 in the final polls). - Vote Quimby - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:37 am: “philanthropist”? Is that what they call what TT does these days? I thought it would be called “milking every drop I can before the rapture.” Sullivan is truly making a mark with this out-of-state appearance. Is he that desperate for cash… I mean bitcoin? - Anonymous - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:39 am: “Philanthropist” is cryptonese for “hustler” - Vote Quimby - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:39 am: “Philanthropist” is cryptonese for “hustler” - Just Wondering - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:42 am: ==J.M. Bush== Any relation to Dubya? - Sir Reel - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:49 am: I just heard that cryptocurrency uses so much energy that it negates the energy savings of all the electric cars on the road. Just what the planet needs. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:49 am: To the update, So much of this Sullivan Silly seems like a trolling infomercial for the easily duped. The credibility is waning by the minute. - Henry Francis - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:52 am: What is with the right’s obsession with pedophilia? First it was the basis for Q and its disciples. Then it was used to besmirch judge Jackson. Now it is going to be the natural result of trans people? People really are losing their minds over this. - Candy Dogood - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:53 am: When you take a good look at all of the things that people who identify as right wing and people who identify as any variant of right wing Christianity are buying into it’s pretty easy to understand why someone might see them as a crowd of rubes and easy marks. And that is how you get a “Thank God for Bitcoin” convention. How a young man like Jesse Sullivan gets from founding an organization to advocate for the Catholic version of social justice across the globe to using his Christian Nationalist style campaign for Governor to elevate his status at a “Thank God for BitCoin” convention is either a story of horrific transformation or one of a sociopath who will adopt any stance to advance themselves. - Leslie K - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:53 am: In addition to crypto figuring prominently in ransomware attacks and working around government sanctions (already pointed out), people rarely talk–or perhaps even know–about the environmental and worker conditions issues. On the front end it looks all magical–nothing physical to handle. So clean [banned punctuation] But those server farms that support crypto processing are giant energy sucks and involve people working in very cold conditions (keeping the servers cool). I’m only just educating myself on it, so happy to be corrected by those who know more. But it definitely seems like a little discussed ugly underbelly to crypto. Not that the criminal taint wasn’t enough. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 11:59 am: ===First it was the basis for Q and its disciples.=== That’s the foundation to keep this discussion. The GOP needs Q engaged. It’s part of the GOP base. - TheInvisibleMan - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:03 pm: == What is with the right’s obsession with pedophilia? == Asked and answered. To the post; “As governor, Jesse Sullivan will transform Chicago into a hub for cryptocurrency” The entire point of cryptocurrencies is that they are decentralized and independent of government. - PublicServant - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:08 pm: What’s with the crypto fascination on the right? Is it the gold bug thing version 2? - 47th Ward - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:15 pm: If you want to see how the Bitcoin fad is going to end, Google “Tulip Mania” and read up on the world’s first recorded instance of what happens when asset bubbles burst. So-called people of faith can be very gullible. Sharks like Sullivan are counting on that. Does this episode disqualify him yet, or does he have to do something else really dumb and hypocritical before moving back to California? Also, to his team’s credit, they fixed the typo in his illegal sheriff ad. Saw it last night on the teevee box and wondered why they’re bothering to spend on this hopeless effort. - Steve Polite - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:20 pm: I’m with NonAFSCMEStateEmployeeFromChatham. Crypto is too volatile and unregulated right now. It needs to be regulated and stable for widespread adoption. Imagine getting paid in bitcoin this week and next week it’s worth half the value it was when you received it. No thank you to crypto. In it’s 95 year history, the S&P 500 has an average annual rate of return of 10.49%. I’ll invest in good growth stock mutual funds where I have an average annual return rate of 11% a year since 2007. The U.S. dollar is stable and regulated. I’ll continue to conduct financial transactions with stable, regulated currency. - Pundent - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:20 pm: =And that is how you get a “Thank God for Bitcoin” convention.= A lot of insight in this comment. Once the believers are hooked, they’ll literally believe anything. Cults in any form are a very dangerous things because they allow leaders to create their own realities. - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:31 pm: -Many a scripture in the Good Book where materialism and wealth is held in the highest regard.- Yeah, I don’t think trying to get a virtual camel through the eye of that needle was the point. - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:37 pm: Oh my. If you haven’t visited the event website yet, you should. Mouse over the speakers’ pictures and watch what happens. Having that out there is some bad, bad, bad image management by the Sullivan campaign. - Back to the Future - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:43 pm: At first I just laughed this off as an April Fools Day post. I did the “Google is my friend” trip and sure enough their is a “Thank God for Bitcoin Convention” in Miami. - Steve Rogers - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:45 pm: Is it me or does Jesse look like Jim Carrey in his picture? What’s with the “allllrighty then” look? - Ron Burgundy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:51 pm: -When you take a good look at all of the things that people who identify as right wing and people who identify as any variant of right wing Christianity are buying into it’s pretty easy to understand why someone might see them as a crowd of rubes and easy marks.- Yes. On the one hand, the seller professing their faith to the devoutly religious makes them seem more trustworthy. On the other, the willingness of some of the deeply religious to take matters on faith more than most and not ask questions plays into the ability of some less than scrupulous business ventures to succeed. Televangelists set the model. - JoanP - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 12:57 pm: = Mouse over the speakers’ pictures and watch what happens. = They look like something out of “The Exorcist”. - Chris - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 1:07 pm: Do these guys not get that one of the most anti-American things anyone can do is diminish the role of the USD as the world’s reserve currency? Why does so much of the American right come across as a doomsday cult? - Dirty Red - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 1:16 pm: - Shameless crypto plug - Jesus - Bigotry - COVID-19 disinformation Hold on to your Tebow chip if you played “Carol Pope endorsement” in the free space. Quite a game of Consultants Bingo!* * Nobody wins. - Mary Poppins - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 1:16 pm: Nothing more American than a religious grift. - Elijah Snow - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 1:21 pm: Christians for Cryptocurrency? There must be what, dozens of them? - ArchPundit - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:05 pm: ——— What’s with the crypto fascination on the right? Is it the gold bug thing version 2 Yes. Though with gold there is some sort of tangible thing at least. Crypto is nothing but electrons with the primary uses being to make evading the law easier. Both would lead to deflationary events if widely adopted which is much worse than inflation unless you hit Weimar level inflation. - ArchPundit - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:07 pm: Elijah, unfortunately a lot more than you might think as it fits into a lot of premillennialism in fundamentalist beliefs. - people caring loudly - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:19 pm: Is anyone else a bit horrified to read people thinking “letting kids live authentically” equates to pedophilia? Is he telling on himself that the only reason he doesn’t sexually abuse children is because he adheres to rigid beliefs demonizing authenticity? Get thee to a therapist! - Steve Polite - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:21 pm: There was a time when Christian conservatives were against any form of electronic financial transactions, because Revelation speaks of a society where no one will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Revelation 13:16,17 NIV - ArchPundit - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:32 pm: Steve, good point, but alas prophecy can be read so many different ways it’s easy to exploit. - Steve Polite - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 2:58 pm: ArchPundit, I agree 100%, and unfortunately, prophecy exploitation is commonly used to “fleece the flock”. - City Guy - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 3:01 pm: I followed Ron Burgundy’s advice and went to the website to check out the pictures. His eyes glow and the background changes color. It is the most bizarre image of a political candidate I have ever seen. The irony is it is a “Christian” conference but all the speakers look like demons. - Back to the Future - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 3:42 pm: Thinking this would make a great stand up act at Second City, but if Mr. Sullivan comes back with 5 million in campaign contributions (which I doubt) then a few hours in Miami with some unusual people might be worth the trip. - Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Apr 1, 22 @ 3:47 pm: Anyone else get a strong Jim and Tammy Faye vibe from this group? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.