Political Roundtable Part XXXIV

[dobrojim]

It's both hilarious and scary that he seems to think
a cognitive test is something he can study for.

[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

?t=UNZdogSOCrDuiTISUhEDoQ&s=19

[dobrojim]

such a tell

[closg00]

They caught the Jan 6 pipe bomber
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15353107/January-6-pipe-bombing-suspect-arrested-FBI-Capitol.html

[dobrojim]

For my friend Da1

https://open.substack.com/pub/resistancesentinel/p/without-the-rule-of-law-there-is?r=1lnu2l&utm_medium=ios

testimony given by Daniel Hodges to Congress in the aftermath of J6 investigations

I was invited today to speak in my personal capacity.

I suspect because ranking member Thompson is familiar with my history.

As I’ve been on the receiving ends of threats and violence due to the work I’ve done in the name of the law.

I experienced intense violence during the insurrection of January 6, and because I have the temerity to describe it publicly, threats against my life, bomb threats at events I attend, people trying to find out where I live, whether I have a wife or children they can use against me.

I have a feeling I will be asked about how the lionization of the insurrectionists solely enhanced their zealotry, about how the mass pardoning of every criminal who assaulted my colleagues and I encourages further lawlessness and violence. About how in the intervening years many pardoned insurrectionists have been re-rested for crimes such as reckless homicide, child sexual assault, threats to blow up government buildings and a kill list of FBI agents.

These are all salient points and I’m happy to address them.

However, the tenor of the press release announced this hearing made it sound like certain participants were going to spend a few hours scratching their heads and pretending not to understand why threats against law enforcement have risen so sharply this year and I cannot abide such a farce.

Law enforcement is predicated on the notion that we are a nation of laws, that anyone who is detained by law enforcement officials will be afforded all the rights and protections that are guaranteed to them by the Constitution.

It is this exemplary standard of civil society that compels individuals to cooperate when faced with arrest. Flawed as it is, our justice system aspires to and works toward the goal of truth and equal protection under the law.

Unfortunately this year, broad swathes of federal law enforcement have proven this is no longer the case.

Perjury and contempt of court used to be prohibitive of work in law enforcement, but now it appears to be a prerequisite of leadership. Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, had already been found not credible as a witness in the court of law prior to his appointment and Greg Bovino, the so-called commander at large at border control, was found to have lied while under oath in order to justify his use of force against Americans.

Even the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, intentionally defied a judge’s order to halt the trafficking of prisoners to foreign countries and then bragged about them on national television.

I should add here that one of the hallmarks of secret police forces throughout history is operating outside the law, using violence and intimidation to achieve their objectives.

Every day I wake up and I’m confronted with more heinous acts by some federal law enforcement, pointing their lethal weapons at protesters and journalists, needlessly assaulting citizens on their own property, threatening to shoot and arrest EMTs for doing their job, holding children hostage to coerce their parents out of their house.

One shot a woman who committed no crime several times and bragged about it, saying he fired five rounds and she had seven holes.

Many of these absolute embarrassments to the badge keep their face obscured to try and evade any possibility of accountability and their leadership condones it.

If the inhabitants of our country can no longer believe in the rule of law, then they can no longer believe in law enforcement.

If they believe they will be denied their basic rights, what motivation do they have to cooperate with investigations to support law enforcement as an institution?

The fact of the matter is that right now, in the United States of America, there is a semi-secret police force abducting people based on the color of their skin and sending many of them via state-sponsored human trafficking to extraterritorial concentration camps.

There are still plenty of good officers I work with them, federal and local.

But before we go around the room clutching our pearls, wondering how people could possibly compare law enforcement in this country to Gestapo, maybe we should take a moment and ask ourselves if there isn’t some recent behavior on the government’s part that could encourage such a juxtaposition.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I've never been in the military but I think 2 things are often, but not always true:

1. It attracts people who are more predisposed to aggression, in some cases because they have 'issues' and trauma in their past.
2. It attempts to try to have it both ways. Trains people to be ruthless. Offers rationalizations for things ie orders
that many of us were raised to believe would be or are morally wrong.

But I've never been in the military (I'm an outside observer)
and every person responds to their own life experiences in their own way.

To your point one, that is what I've been told by an active-duty Marine. Additionally, with having aggression issues, many are masking or overcompensating their sexual identity.

The military doesn't train people to be ruthless. It does not give or take value traits. Those come from home training, socialization, and psychological predisposition.

The military teaches people to do their job. You qualify at the range. Certain weapons kill in certain ways. In Russia, there is now a drone force. The entire force is dedicated to drones. Is a drone operation ruthless?

One thing I admit is the military teaches E V E R Y B O D Y how to fight and how to survive an enemy attack. (EDITED out a rant)

Jim, sorry for the rant. Yes. US military can be radicalized and become conditioned to commit great violence.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I've never been in the military but I think 2 things are often, but not always true:

1. It attracts people who are more predisposed to aggression, in some cases because they have 'issues' and trauma in their past.
2. It attempts to try to have it both ways. Trains people to be ruthless. Offers rationalizations for things ie orders
that many of us were raised to believe would be or are morally wrong.

But I've never been in the military (I'm an outside observer)
and every person responds to their own life experiences in their own way.

I’d say that’s more true about police forces in the US than the Military. The military has rules of engagement and after action reports that strictly detail how forces can respond and react to certain situations. There are courts martial and strict oversight setting guardrails on abuses. And Military Police within the forces to keep things in check.

Police have ‘Qualified immunity” where even if they’ve overtly murdered a citizen they get a paid suspension and are more often than not returned to duty.

doclinkin is % correct.

Certain shootings show just how punk ass and fearful bad cops can be. Back shooting. Swiss cheese shooting. Turkey shoots shootings.Those are not military veterans police doing this, IMO.

Generally speaking, a double tap (timing bad pun intended) works. One bullet to the center of mass and one to the head is usually lethal force. I think veterans who are unlike Hegseth (not drunken, spouse-abusing, racists) show restraint and adhere to professional ethics. OTOH, I think bad police are like the prison guard in Shawshank Redemption, who intentionally failed to wet the sponge.

Cops are mostly good, but I'd guess 25% have the capacity for great violence. I fear them much more than I do street criminals (not youth gang stupids).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The democrat hate for Trump has blossomed into hate for America,and it's all because you didn't have a decent candidate to oppose him in the election>
Democrats favor foreign countries,illegals and not drug runners,so yes you all hate America
You have your "No kings " protests but ignore the fact that the democrats in DC didn't even give you a choice on a candidate

You are a full-fledged idiot.

That was wrong for me to say, but exactly how I feel. DC is a microcosm. It is like spit in the ocean. Republicans should hate Trump. Humans should hate Trump.

Even if "you have big balls," I can not stand your political ideology.

Favor foreign countries, illegals, and drug runners??? GTFOH.

[payitforward]

The democrat hate for Trump has blossomed into hate for America, and it's all because you didn't have a decent candidate to oppose him in the election>
Democrats favor foreign countries,illegals and not drug runners,so yes you all hate America
You have your "No kings " protests but ignore the fact that the democrats in DC didn't even give you a choice on a candidate

You are a full-fledged idiot.

That was wrong for me to say, but exactly how I feel. ...

Only "wrong" b/c you left out "jackass" or even "a..hole."

[payitforward]

The democrat hate for Trump has blossomed into hate for America,and it's all because you didn't have a decent candidate to oppose him in the election>
Democrats favor foreign countries,illegals and not drug runners,so yes you all hate America
You have your "No kings " protests but ignore the fact that the democrats in DC didn't even give you a choice on a candidate

What an ugly human being you are.

[Zonkerbl]

Interesting thread going around on Bluesky basically saying that people who are nostalgic for the "good old days" were when they were KIDS and their parents were doing all the hard work of keeping them alive. They're all "now that I'm grown up Christmas isn't as much fun/magical as before" like no duh dufus, you're the man behind the curtain now instead of Dorothy, of course it's different. Being an adult is both extraordinarily difficult and exceedingly dull. Yeah it would be nice to be 12 all you're life, back when you still had magical elves doing all this work for you behind the scenes so you could have a magically happy life. All these conservative mouth breathers are basically 12.

[dobrojim]

I've never been in the military but I think 2 things are often, but not always true:

1. It attracts people who are more predisposed to aggression, in some cases because they have 'issues' and trauma in their past.
2. It attempts to try to have it both ways. Trains people to be ruthless. Offers rationalizations for things ie orders
that many of us were raised to believe would be or are morally wrong.

But I've never been in the military (I'm an outside observer)
and every person responds to their own life experiences in their own way.

To your point one, that is what I've been told by an active-duty Marine. Additionally, with having aggression issues, many are masking or overcompensating their sexual identity.

The military doesn't train people to be ruthless. It does not give or take value traits. Those come from home training, socialization, and psychological predisposition.

The military teaches people to do their job. You qualify at the range. Certain weapons kill in certain ways. In Russia, there is now a drone force. The entire force is dedicated to drones. Is a drone operation ruthless?

One thing I admit is the military teaches E V E R Y B O D Y how to fight and how to survive an enemy attack. (EDITED out a rant)

Jim, sorry for the rant. Yes. US military can be radicalized and become conditioned to commit great violence.

Ruthless might have been the wrong word

I'm thinking back to my bestie from HS who joined the USMC and went to Parris Island 6 months later around new years 1975-6.
He described the history that was presented to them during basic. I think that aspect of training was
definitely for psych reasons and not to diminish certain traits that the Corp would find useful later.

[dobrojim]

They caught the Jan 6 pipe bomber
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15353107/January-6-pipe-bombing-suspect-arrested-FBI-Capitol.html

this piece mentions that the FBI took some incoming for not catching this guy sooner.

I'd just note they were kinda busy at around that time.

[dobrojim]

Interesting thread going around on Bluesky basically saying that people who are nostalgic for the "good old days" were when they were KIDS and their parents were doing all the hard work of keeping them alive. They're all "now that I'm grown up Christmas isn't as much fun/magical as before" like no duh dufus, you're the man behind the curtain now instead of Dorothy, of course it's different. Being an adult is both extraordinarily difficult and exceedingly dull. Yeah it would be nice to be 12 all you're life. All these conservative mouth breathers are basically 12.

and hence I've recently concluded, not worthy of an intellectual response

[closg00]

The Jan 6 Bomber is black.

[Wizardspride]

Read on Twitter

?t=K3JjTyHzvzDRmqA3FZR75Q&s=19

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

:o The Jan 6 Bomber is black.

This dude sounds like a real "winner."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/12/04/fbi-arrests-suspect-in-jan-6-pipe-bomb-case-ms-now.html

Cole is described as a five-foot-six-inch-tall man who "wears corrective eyeglasses," an unnamed FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint.

He lives with his mother and other family members and "works in the office of a bail bondsman in northern Virginia," the agent wrote.

He's a blind, midget, not getting any, and he's angry.

So, like Syndrome in the Untouchables, the geek dedicates his life to creating anarchy.

Thirty years old, he builds pipe bombs in the basement when mommy is at work.

LOSER.

He doesn't seem to know he's black. Is he Jason Whitlock Jr.? Did Steven A father a kid out of wedlock?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

They caught the Jan 6 pipe bomber
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15353107/January-6-pipe-bombing-suspect-arrested-FBI-Capitol.html

this piece mentions that the FBI took some incoming for not catching this guy sooner.

I'd just note they were kinda busy at around that time.

Interestingly, the pied pipe bomber wanted to blast Democrats and Republicans alike.

I wonder what anarchy black has been up to the last five years? Was January 6th a one-off? Has he been on meds or in counseling? Did he have a revelation to stop planting pipe bombs?

This is bizarre.

[montestewart]

They caught the Jan 6 pipe bomber
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15353107/January-6-pipe-bombing-suspect-arrested-FBI-Capitol.html

this piece mentions that the FBI took some incoming for not catching this guy sooner.

I'd just note they were kinda busy at around that time.

Interestingly, the pied pipe bomber wanted to blast Democrats and Republicans alike.

I wonder what anarchy black has been up to the last five years? Was January 6th a one-off? Has he been on meds or in counseling? Did he have a revelation to stop planting pipe bombs?

This is bizarre.

Sent from my SM-X218U using RealGM mobile app

"the pied pipe bomber"

[pancakes3]

Interesting thread going around on Bluesky basically saying that people who are nostalgic for the "good old days" were when they were KIDS and their parents were doing all the hard work of keeping them alive. They're all "now that I'm grown up Christmas isn't as much fun/magical as before" like no duh dufus, you're the man behind the curtain now instead of Dorothy, of course it's different. Being an adult is both extraordinarily difficult and exceedingly dull. Yeah it would be nice to be 12 all you're life, back when you still had magical elves doing all this work for you behind the scenes so you could have a magically happy life. All these conservative mouth breathers are basically 12.

I think it gets a little more abstract than that. There are people today who yearn for the Leave it to Beaver 50's which (a) is 70+ years ago, and most people who yearn for it never even experienced it themselves; and (b) was a fictional account of what life was like for a select group of Americans and not representative of what life was like for all Americans (or even most Americans).

This has transitioned to 80's-90's era nostalgia which is being portrayed as an updated version of those 50's as an era of peace and prosperity, led by Reagan, which again, is (1) 40+ years ago; and (b) is a fictional account of what life was like for a select group of Americans and not representative of what life was like for All Americans (or even most Americans).

This fantasy is even easier to sell because Americans are no longer continually increasing their quality of life, so a return to a golden age is that much more alluring. It's a refusal to deal with reality on reality's terms. Voting isn't a political decision, it's wishcasting. That's why Trump doesn't need a plan, or even concepts of a plan. It's just a wish anyway.