This is not law enforcement. It’s behavioral theater, a manufactured crisis designed to justify authoritarian overreach.
What we’re witnessing is the strategic deployment of perceived threat to override legal boundaries and flood cities with militarized force. As I’ve written cruelty isn’t incidental, it’s currency. The spectacle of domination becomes the message.
From a behavioral lens, this is classic incentive distortion: redefine reality, reward compliance, punish dissent. When courts defer to “alternate facts,” they don’t just enable executive overreach, they erode the cognitive scaffolding of democratic accountability.
I’ve been exploring how identity evolves through experience. This moment demands that we evolve our civic reflexes too—-to recognize when legality is being hollowed out and replaced with performative despotism.
—Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics and Applied Cognitive Theory
As far as I am aware mainstream US conservatives are the only ones on the planet who are repeatedly trying to cause riots and civil unrest. Strange times we live in. I just hope angry folk of the left don't get sucked in.
I’m concerned that every time the press asks Trump about invoking the Insurrection Act they’re handing him a fine opportunity to normalize, justify, and convince the public to go along.
Two things must be done in the future under mature leadership; develop an apolitical supreme court and eliminate presidential pardons. It would be a good start.
It’s curious: When SCOTUS moves to execute federal prisoners (its current fad), it delves into the character of the accused … but Trump, a felon and fraudster, gets a free pass—no examination of his character, a deliberate ignoring of lower court findings, near absolute immunity, rubber stamp.
It may seem like a small thing, but when I read the puff piece on Greg Bovino on CNN, I was struck by the opening photo where he appears to be giving the white power hand sign. It’s clearly a posed photo intended to be flattering, so having his hand in such an odd position could hardly be accidental. Says a lot about what might be driving ICE behavior under his direction.
Could anyone please explain to me how the Texas National Guard is supposed to "do" law enforcement? Do they carry a Chicago statute book, or have the statute numbers available to them? They'll need that if they're going to write municipal tickets for, say, disorderly conduct. Are they familiar with the paperwork required to process a drunk driving arrest? Do they even know how to conduct field sobriety tests?
Do they know the procedure for legally effecting an arrest in general, and what they are allowed and not allowed to do incident to that arrest?
trump, his fascist admin, and conservative scotus destroy democracy one day and one word at a time. Congressional dems acting to late as usual, but hopefully not too late to save the nation.
Excellent piece…thank you, Liz!
This is not law enforcement. It’s behavioral theater, a manufactured crisis designed to justify authoritarian overreach.
What we’re witnessing is the strategic deployment of perceived threat to override legal boundaries and flood cities with militarized force. As I’ve written cruelty isn’t incidental, it’s currency. The spectacle of domination becomes the message.
From a behavioral lens, this is classic incentive distortion: redefine reality, reward compliance, punish dissent. When courts defer to “alternate facts,” they don’t just enable executive overreach, they erode the cognitive scaffolding of democratic accountability.
I’ve been exploring how identity evolves through experience. This moment demands that we evolve our civic reflexes too—-to recognize when legality is being hollowed out and replaced with performative despotism.
—Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics and Applied Cognitive Theory
Former Foreign Service Officer
As far as I am aware mainstream US conservatives are the only ones on the planet who are repeatedly trying to cause riots and civil unrest. Strange times we live in. I just hope angry folk of the left don't get sucked in.
Or sucked into prison.
It appears that the Democrats are the conservatives and the Republicans are fascists. Just sayin'...
I’m concerned that every time the press asks Trump about invoking the Insurrection Act they’re handing him a fine opportunity to normalize, justify, and convince the public to go along.
Two things must be done in the future under mature leadership; develop an apolitical supreme court and eliminate presidential pardons. It would be a good start.
It’s curious: When SCOTUS moves to execute federal prisoners (its current fad), it delves into the character of the accused … but Trump, a felon and fraudster, gets a free pass—no examination of his character, a deliberate ignoring of lower court findings, near absolute immunity, rubber stamp.
It may seem like a small thing, but when I read the puff piece on Greg Bovino on CNN, I was struck by the opening photo where he appears to be giving the white power hand sign. It’s clearly a posed photo intended to be flattering, so having his hand in such an odd position could hardly be accidental. Says a lot about what might be driving ICE behavior under his direction.
Could anyone please explain to me how the Texas National Guard is supposed to "do" law enforcement? Do they carry a Chicago statute book, or have the statute numbers available to them? They'll need that if they're going to write municipal tickets for, say, disorderly conduct. Are they familiar with the paperwork required to process a drunk driving arrest? Do they even know how to conduct field sobriety tests?
Do they know the procedure for legally effecting an arrest in general, and what they are allowed and not allowed to do incident to that arrest?
trump, his fascist admin, and conservative scotus destroy democracy one day and one word at a time. Congressional dems acting to late as usual, but hopefully not too late to save the nation.
Are we waiting to vote ourselves out of this? Will that work? (this is my daily 0900 'devotion')