And will take generations to put it back together.

“If confirmed, I will work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice — and each of its components,” Pam Bondi vowed during her confirmation hearing in January. “Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end. America must have one tier of justice for all.”

But since her confirmation on February 4, Attorney General Pam Bondi has done exactly the opposite, weaponizing the DOJ against Trump’s political enemies and withdrawing criminal investigations of his allies. The tone was set on her first full day, when she fired off an all-staff memo threatening to fire anyone who raised ethical or legal objections to advancing frivolous arguments in court.

Literal Mob Rule:

The Civil Rights Division, which once protected victims of discrimination, is helmed by yet another former Trump lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, a culture warrior who brags about outsourcing her prosecutorial discretion to Twitter randos. Per the Wall Street Journal: Harmeet Dhillon, head of the civil-rights division at the Justice Department, wakes up around 6 a.m. and begins her workday scrolling through X, searching for claims of discrimination. A lot of them, Dhillon said, regard universities. After spotting “a list of new horrors,” she said, “I text my deputies, and we assign cases, and we get cranking.”

  • WatDabney@sopuli.xyz
    60·
    3 days ago

    I always wonder about people like her. What is it like inside her brain? How does she see the world and her place in it?

    Broadly, she’s obviously mentally ill - no sane and rational person could make the decisions she makes. But how specifically? Is she delusional? Does she just not live in consensual reality? If not that, then what is it? Is she amoral - entirely unable to even grasp the concept of morality? Or is she so pathologically self-absorbed that she has no principles or ethics? Or is she just so greedy and/or power-hungry that she ignores everything else? Or does she have some speck of principles or morals or empathy thatvshe silences with alcohol or drugs?

    I really have no idea, but I can’t help but wonder. It’s just so bizarre to me that any human being could be that utterly loathsome. What goes through their heads in those unguarded moments when they’re standing in the shower or sitting on the toilet or laying in bed? How can they not have at least some awareness of how foul they are?

    • yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      452·
      3 days ago

      Psychopathy.

      5% of the population is psychopathic. No shame. No guilt. No fear. Zero motivations beyond their own amusement. Contrary to popular belief, people like her are born that way.

      However, this type of brain damage is on a spectrum, and judging by opinion polls and various psychometric data over the last century, I would estimate at least 30% of the population to be categorically incapable of moral reasoning. A conservative estimate. This outsize fraction of humans possess rudimentary moral intuitions, like most mammals, but no inclination or capacity for abstract reflection.

      They also do not exhibit any of the transcendental values that separate “persons” from animals. But we are forbidden from having that uncomfortable discussion because of some weird hang ups about dehumanization. Nevermind that Homo sapiens are literally animals and there’s nothing shocking about the fact that a huge fraction of us are nothing more than animals.

      • Bob Robertson IX @discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        15·
        3 days ago

        I would estimate at least 30% of the population to be categorically incapable of moral reasoning. A conservative estimate.

        Nice bit of wordplay there!

      • teslasaur@lemmy.world
        710·
        3 days ago

        Pretty big number you’re throwing around. 5% seems like bs to me.

        Where is that number from?

        If i had to make a guesstimation myself, it might be 1 in 400. Maybe

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
          25·
          3 days ago

          This paper estimates that 4.5% of the population is psychopathic has psychopathic traits, and 1.2% is psychopathic by conventional standards of measurement. (Edited to correct my original misstatement, thanks to teslasaur’s reply below.)

          The meta-analytical results obtained allow us to estimate the prevalence rate of psychopathy in the general adult population at 4.5%. That being said, this rate varies depending on the participants’ sex (higher in males), the type of sample from the general population (higher in samples from organizations than in community samples or university students), and the type of instrument used to define psychopathy. In fact, using the PCL-R, which is currently considered the “gold standard” for the assessment and definition of psychopathy, the prevalence is only 1.2%.

          Prevalence of Psychopathy in the General Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

          Archive links, in case the US government deletes it along with the rest of science:

          • yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            14·
            3 days ago

            These numbers are extremely low. We are limited by our diagnostic capabilities, and a lot of psychopathy is simply passed off as narcissism, particularly among non-violent psychopaths.

            If a psychopath is intelligent enough to simply get a job on Wall Street then how do we diagnose him? The PCL-22 requires him to engage in extreme behaviors. Following a profit motive doesn’t “count” and neither does voting for Trump.

          • teslasaur@lemmy.world
            111·
            3 days ago

            This paper estimates that 4.5% of the population is psychopathic:

            Has psychopatic traits*

            I don’t understand why, but they dont account for sociopathy at all in that study.

            I would agree that 5 % of people have psychopatic traits. To varying degrees. Many of those that take riskful jobs have psychopatic traits, it doesn’t have to be an “evil” job. Pilots, fire fighters, police, doctors, etc all have some parts of their job that is fitting for someone with traits that allows you to ignore risk to the benefit of others.

            Diagnosed psychopathy is very rare in comparison.

            • kingofthezyx@lemmy.zip
              8·
              3 days ago

              Sociopath is not a clinically defined term. Sociopath is basically a slang term for a person with anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). ASPD can be one part of a psychopathy diagnosis but they are not the same thing.

            • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
              3·
              3 days ago

              this type of brain damage is on a spectrum

              This paper estimates that 4.5% of the population is psychopathic

              Has psychopatic traits*

              Also known as “on a spectrum” …right?

              I don’t understand why, but they dont account for sociopathy at all in that study.

              Not in the DSM as such maybe?

    • Bonus@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      Nurture vs. Nature her brother is in on it so one has to assume the family is horrendous.

      Indeed, lobbying the administration can be quite lucrative, as Pam’s brother Brad is finding out. He currently represents Carolina Amesty, a former Florida legislator who allegedly scammed half a million dollars in covid relief funds by filing loan applications of [sic] behalf of businesses that either did not exist or were not as she described them. After filing a criminal complaint in January, the government had 30 days to indict Amesty. But since then, Brad Bondi and the DOJ have filed four requests for an extension “in the interests of justice.” Whether this is an attempt to work out a settlement or run out the clock is not entirely clear, but there’s no mistaking that Bondi is selling his services as a conduit to the federal agency run by his sister.

    • MisterOwl@lemmy.world
      7·
      3 days ago

      Is she delusional? Does she just not live in consensual reality? If not that, then what is it? Is she amoral - entirely unable to even grasp the concept of morality? Or is she so pathologically self-absorbed that she has no principles or ethics? Or is she just so greedy and/or power-hungry that she ignores everything else? Or does she have some speck of principles or morals or empathy that she silences with alcohol or drugs?

      All of the above.

      Except for maybe the speck of principles or morals, we all know she has none.