Beto O'Rourke wrote some wild stuff under the pseudonym 'Psychedelic Warlord' in his 'hacktivist' days
Just call him Beto "Psychedelic Warlord" O'Rourke.
Before the Democrat launched his 2020 bid — or even graduated high school — O'Rourke was part of a well-known hacking "supergroup" known as the Cult of the Dead Cow, Reuters learned in an interview with the candidate. While it's unclear if O'Rourke actually hacked anything, he did write a smattering of strange and often disturbing essays for the group back when he was around 16 years old.
O'Rourke's oddball adolescence and young adulthood, full of barnyard onesies and not-habitual pot smoking, has been well documented and even attacked throughout his Senate and now presidential runs. Yet none of it could've predicted what turned up after O'Rourke's Reuters interview: a series of completely bonkers essays and poems written under his admitted pseudonym Psychedelic Warlord for the Cult of the Dead Cow, the first so-called "hacktivist" group in the U.S.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In one essay, O'Rourke documents a seemingly fictional interview with a neo-Nazi. In another, he describes a dream about running down children with his car. And in one very uncomfortable poem, O'Rourke pleads for a "butt shine" from the cult's namesake cow. There's also what looks like a song you could imagine O'Rourke screaming in a sheep mask, and a forerunner to his Instagram live session at the dentist. Find all of Psychedelic Warlord's writing here, and be warned that pretty much none of it is safe for work.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Political cartoons for January 10Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a warning shot, a shakedown, and more
-
Courgette and leek ijeh (Arabic frittata) recipeThe Week Recommends Soft leeks, tender courgette, and fragrant spices make a crisp frittata
-
Trump’s power grab: the start of a new world order?Talking Point Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the US president has shown that arguably power, not ‘international law’, is the ultimate guarantor of security
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
