I went in DC and don't recall any of their humor being sexual

For what it's worth, the sociological swagger intended to project certainty, is in fact a mask that hides our resentment toward economics. ;)

For the most part, LE professionals have their hearts in the right place. In my experience, they do very difficult work because they want to make the world a better place. But to rework a quote from Pericles, those who don't foster a political analysis will be condemned to live as political tools

Second (and related), LE pros need to develop their ethical reasoning skills. That is, before they can decide what to do when they are are asked to follow an unethical order or to enforce an unethical law, they must first have a robust means of figuring out how they know it to be unethical!

First, LE professionals need to have a sense of the political strategies, or how law is being reinterpreted & stretched by state elites, especially in the service of accomodating dubious goals. LE pros need to become experts in navigating the gray zone btwn following orders & exercising discretion.

Now, more than ever, law enforcement (LE) professionals, like ICE, the FBI, the ATF, & the USSS, need to be equipped with durable educations in political analysis and ethical reasoning. Why you ask? Read on...

Makes perfect sense. Ty. Keep up the great work!

Love your syllabus and approach. I'm curious about your thoughts are on throwing some Judith Butler into the mix. If you avoid her, I'd love to hear why.

P.S. - Go read Walter's book, How Civil Wars Start www.amazon.com/How-Civil-Wa...

In other words, we meet and get to know motivated others who share similar concerns, and who pass along important information and resources. We build trust and support together, and this "social capital" we develop with each other becomes a tool for resisting aspiring autocrats.

Why are such nonviolent campaigns important? Walter notes that nothing scares "wanna-be autocrats..as much as seeing much of society against them." This is true of course, but I want to add that campaigns and protests also foster the development of a new type of resource: social capital

She points to research that examined more than a century of peacful protests and concluded that nonviolent campaigns were always successful when at least 3.5% of the population participated (Don't read too quicly past that adjective in front of "campaigns") youtu.be/3ZvT2H0SHI4?...

I don't know who needs to hear this, but generally speaking, the less states succeed in manufacturing the consent of the governed, the better The People are at effectively governing themselves.

Thus, the West Wing influencers and others have mostly "misrecognized" the situation. The influencers and other "reporters" fail to see they were invited or given access to to the White House briefing to sell the Admin's policies, or as Herman and Chomsky put it, to manufacture consent.

In other words, the sychophants of the West Wing press briefing room naively believe that in the context of a democracy, and by voicing their spirited support, they are helping to direct how state power is applied, but actually, the state was always directing them (without compensation!)

I think the concept of 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 helps explain why so many people in that room participate in the creation of this propaganda (shoutout to m'boy Pierre Bourdieu!). 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 refers to situations where people fail to recognize the way power structures shape their perceptions and actions.

Press briefings are probably always propaganda outlets, but if you've noticed such briefings becoming unabashed displays of sychophantic "reporters" complimenting the Trump Admin, you're not alone. It's a thing and corresponds with bringing influencers into the briefing room. tinyurl.com/y3zvh475