One thing that's particularly worrying to me about Donald Trump's deployment of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Fed to Washington DC is that it means the city is being occupied by a police force that has no standard uniform.
A lot of people have pointed out that they've covered/removed most identifying info, you've got to look close to even get hints about what agency these people even belong to (and the answer seems to be "most of them").
Now, I've got doubts that a BOP riot cop is the right person to handle a public protest, in terms of training and mindset and priorities/instincts. They're the same doubts I have about them handling anything else, including prison riots.
But on top of all those issues... there's now a situation where it's basically impossible to tell a paramilitary cosplayer from a federal police officer, if they're yelling something at you, pointing a weapon at you, etc.
I mean, I've seen tweets from people in DC noting that some of them are visibly wearing their own t-shirts under their tactical outer layers.
And here's the thing: if the situation (specifically meaning, the situation where Trump is creating a stormtrooper army of loyalist feds) lasts long, I think eventually he's going to "solve" this by creating a uniform for them, formally creating the Presidential PD or whatever.
And here's the thing about the thing: all along, if you've struggled to believe the worst warnings about where Trump was leading us because you couldn't imagine how he'd wind up with his own Gestapo...
The answer was always going to be something that sounds silly on its face.
The answer was always going to be something that sounds silly on its face.
It doesn't have to make sense en toto as long as each step along the way can be justified in a way that makes enough sense that even most of his critics see it as a policy dispute.
If he sent a note to Congress, when the GOP held both houses, that said "I really think I should have my own personal police force that has no particular mission, it only exists to do my bidding.", Ryan and McConnell would have put him off gently.
But here he's created an ad hoc presidential police force by taking the officers of several distinct agencies that all have their own individual missions (horrible as they may be) and removing them from the context of those missions.
And right now they're deployed in DC, where there's not the sovereignty of a state to contend with and the White House is an 800 pound gorilla* that the civic authorities must appease, and for a single, almost specific purpose.
(*Hi, fat jokes will get you blocked.)
(*Hi, fat jokes will get you blocked.)
Buuuut if he can claim that they were useful? If he can call this a successful mission? If he enjoys the power of having his own private fed army that does nothing except what he tells them?
If he thinks he can get away with more, I expect him to do more.
If he thinks he can get away with more, I expect him to do more.
Before someone screenshots the first tweet with "hahaha libs think the only problem with cops is that they don't have uniforms" - no, I said it's one of the things that worries me. Having people do the work of uniformed officers, while not actually being, in fact, uniform.
Like, if the police bust down a door and kill someone, that's a problem even if they identify themselves, but there's another, different problem that is also there if they don't identify themselves.
Several of these federal agencies, I expect their officers are probably generally going to be worse than municipal PD about reacting with brutality when they feel they're being disrespected, not obeyed quickly enough, etc. Just as a matter of their training and work culture.
And they've been put into a situation where it's almost inevitable, almost 100% certain, that they're going to be interacting with people who aren't clear about their actual authority.
Because there's no standardized uniform. Few emblems. And lots of "militia" types out there.
Because there's no standardized uniform. Few emblems. And lots of "militia" types out there.
Returning to the thread of Trump's bulk fed assortment: the Democrats share my concern. Will be an interesting (but probably not that interesting) test of where the Republicans who are "struggling" with being "more honest" actually are.
And I know, I know... just as I disclaimed in the thread... that some of the response to that is going to be "So Democrats are fine with federal jackboot occupation as long as there are badges."
But until it can be stopped, it's worth lessening the harm they can do.
But until it can be stopped, it's worth lessening the harm they can do.
And the order to not ID themselves is evidently coming from above, not just something the agents themselves are doing, and I would bet it's all the way from the very top.
And it both heightens the danger they pose now, and the long-term danger of breaking norms and limits.
And it both heightens the danger they pose now, and the long-term danger of breaking norms and limits.
Donald Trump categorically rejects every attempt to place any kind of limit his actions or any kind of oversight over them. Hiding the identity of his stormtroopers is part of that.
