>

So clean house
I always thought it was telling when Mike Pence would not get in the car that was being driven by the secret service on January 6th.   I think he also suspected they were compromised by the former president. >

This is still huge for me, and it shocks me how little it seems like people talk about this. When the VP is afraid of someone on the inside, this should terrify everyone. >

Law enforcement agencies have always been populated by right wingers, at every level from local to federal, so no surprise the Secret Service is full of Trump supporters >

Consistently throughout history law enforcement have been ready and willing to serve the fascists. Hitler had to purge the military in his rise to power, no such thing was needed to turn police into genocidal enforcers. >

Honest question, why is this? What is it about the incentive structures of police that leads to this outcome. Furthermore, is it possible to change the incentives such that this link is broken? >

They are overpaid, feared by the populace, and provide daily opportunities to make people they dislike either feel like shit or cause them irreparable harm while carrying around state of the art PEW PEW machines.  They get to do all of this with zero consequences whatsoever, as police unions investigate themselves and find no wrongdoing.  It's a corrupt system ripe for abuse, so it attracts the shittiest type of person.
ACAB. >

Genuine question: what’s the alternative >

My suggestions:

Remove qualified immunity.  That much authority and power requires consequences when fuckups occur.
Hold police to a _higher_ standard than civilians when it comes to criminal conduct, especially while on the job.
Abolish police unions.
Require accredited higher education. Ban the shady "warrior mentality" seminars.
Oversight boards that aren't part of the police dept itself and have absolute authority to fire and blacklist bad cops.
Records transparency - require departmental record keeping and subject those records to FOIA requests.

Any cop that whines "but then nobody will want to be a cop"... yeah, people with that toxic mentality _won't_ want to be a cop.  That's the point.  We only want intelligent, responsible, and accountable people in that position. >

Individual liability insurance for officers. Make it impossible to keep bad ones insured. >

Our former president has made embarrassment out of this country. >

And destroyed America's international credibility while he was at it >

I listen to conservative talk radio on the way to work. One talking point is preaching about how much stronger our international relations are because of trump. How he’s a strongman and other countries respect that. 
I hear it over and over. 
And it is just the exact opposite of what I actually hear when I travel. People sort of laugh with you. They say they’re trump’s cousin. There is a swath of Canadians that seem to enjoy him though. >

Australia here. Trump has made a laughing stock of your country >

We have friends who live in Germany and say America was diminished by Trump and that they and their countymen no longer look at America the same. >

Different Australian here but yes, can confirm, America was/is seen as in a shambles and an unreliable partner now. We watched on in horror as Trump trashed your great nation to thunderous applause. >

Thunderous applause by a half of the population, that is >

At minimum, everyone associated with the mysterious disappearing texts from January 6 ought to have been reassigned to somewhere in Bumfuck, North Dakota. >

Bumfuck is actually quite nice this time of year. I say we go medieval on them and send them to…. PEORIA ILLINOIS! >

The Geneva Convention prevents cruel and unusual punishment. >

Bumfuck it is. >

Purge the Secret Service (and FBI) of all those who aided and abetted the 1/6/21 insurrection. These agencies must be non-partisan. >

How dare you come to Reddit and be sensible!!! Reported!!!! >

This is why a lot of government needs clean house.
Their oath is to the office and constitution not their own political beliefs or a single person. 
Also makes sense as to why SS had to remove certain agents from his detail and put those from his VP time to him. >


Their oath is to the office and constitution not their own political beliefs or a single person. 

It's cute that you think oaths matter. >

It should be treated like Oaths taken for military service. One misstep and your ass is grass regardless of rank. >

Michael Flynn. >

Right?  I cannot believe that soooo many people are still looking at norms and institutions with rose-colored glasses after the previous presidency.
All that matters anymore is power and the exercising of power.  And too much of the general public is tuned-out or suppressed for us to hold anyone accountable—and there are plenty that richly deserve some accountability. >

I don’t get it. How has Trump made so many people into crazy acolytes? Like, there may have been Secret Service agents who preferred Bush to Obama, but I’d bet money they did their jobs and/or asked to get transferred to Kansas or whatever. Why are people so willing to light the world on fire for this guy. He’s not smart, he’s not charismatic. What do they see in him? >

Because some people are conditioned to be driven by emotion and people like trump are masters of exploiting that l.