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[SayMay @saymaysmith]

Both of these pictures are from this week.

[😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 @aintscarylarry]

“I’m a young, vibrant man!” — Donald trump

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Shared today by Bev Perry in the Expand Dem Values in the House and Senate Facebook group.

I need to say something that's been bothering me for a while, and I'm saying it as a Marine Corps veteran who leans center-right.
This isn't partisan. This is observation.
We've slow-faded into accepting militarized police as normal, and nobody seems to notice or care.
Even as a USMC pilot, I went through six months of infantry training as an officer before flight school. I've worn the gear. The helmet, the tactical vest, the whole kit. And I can tell you from experience, it changes you.
There's a psychological shift that happens when you strap that stuff on. You feel different. You carry yourself different. You start seeing the environment differently. In the Marine Corps, that shift was appropriate because it's a combat culture and organization.
But these are American streets. American citizens. And we've got law enforcement dressed like they're kicking down doors in Fallujah to serve warrants in suburbia.
What happend to high standards and real policing tactics? Think Adam-12...Officers Reed and Malloy. Crisp uniforms. A revolver. A baton. High standards and professionalism. They looked like public servants because they were public servants. They de-escalated. They talked to people. They were part of the community.
Now? Tactical gear, beards, ball caps, Oakley sunglasses, sleeve tattoos, and a tactical kit that would make special operators jealous. And we've turned it into a fetish. We celebrate it. We assume that because someone looks hard, they must be a professional.
They're not.
I loved the Marine Corps. But I'll be honest, I was also blinded by it for a while. Mission first. Unit over everything. And that mentality made sense in that context.
But law enforcement doesn't get that critical examination. "Back the Blue" has become a shield against accountability. A blanket assumption that a badge plus gun equals hero. That tactical gear equals competence.
It doesn't.
Most people who join law enforcement aren't special operators. They're average people who desperately want to belong to something bigger than themselves. I understand that impulse deeply, it's why I joined the Marines. But wanting to belong doesn't make you qualified. Looking the part doesn't mean you can perform under pressure. And wrapping yourself in warrior aesthetics doesn't make you a warrior.
Old school law enforcement represented something. Standards. Bearing. Discipline. Professionalism that was demonstrated, not costumed. A revolver and a baton meant you had to rely on your training, your words, your judgment, not overwhelming firepower.
What I see now in law enforcement is the costume without the culture. The gear without the training. The authority without the accountability.
Are there good people in law enforcement? Of course. I know some personally. But this reflexive "law enforcement can do no wrong" mentality is lazy, dangerous, and intellectually dishonest.
A woman is dead. And before we sort ourselves into teams and start assigning blame, maybe we should ask harder questions:
Why do we accept a militarized police force as normal?
Why do we assume tactical gear equals tactical competence?
Why have we let "Back the Blue" become a substitute for actual standards?
I wore the uniform. I went through the training. I know what that gear does to your head.
It shouldn't be normalized on American streets against American citizens.
And we shouldn't pretend everyone wearing it is qualified to carry it. The fact that he called her a “fucking bitch” after he shot her three times should be a huge red flag for all of us.

[Scott MacFarlane @MacFarlaneNews]

EXCLUSIVE: Congressional Democrats launch probe into whether Jan 6 Capitol rioters are now working for ICE

Just filed to @cbsnews

https://t.co/TZ0WUclLeV

[Crooked Media @CrookedMedia]

This admin wants us to shut up and take it. Sorry, losers, not a chance in hell!

[capitolhunters @capitolhunters]

Talking about the dumbasses of Jan 6 as some secret takeover warps what really happened that day. Jan 6 involved steering an extremely flawed, mostly witless mob to flood the Capitol. It succeeded ONLY because it was organized. Those folks would not have managed otherwise. 3/

[God of Prompt @godofprompt]

n8n + nano banana is insane

just look at these static ads i generated

adding this workflow to my automations bundle soon

grab it 👉 https://t.co/C8Zzw2IMzE

[Mother Jones @MotherJones]

Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man. https://t.co/PhqTwDmkWw

[D r e a m k i d @dreamkid83]

I will never get over the fact that @rickygervais was an 80s pop star

PS I love this song

[Ruben Gallego @RubenGallego]

I fought in some of the hardest battles of the Iraq War. Saw my brothers die, saw civilians being caught in the crossfire all for an unjustified war. No matter the outcome we are in the wrong for starting this war in Venezuela.

[AI Images @PITHY_SPACEK]

aww you deserve it, now you need to come back and host the Oscars again (unless they are too afraid lol)

[Ricky Gervais @rickygervais]

I wont get the official figures for a few days, but seeing that Mortality was Top 10 in 51 countries in its first 24 hours makes me think it might be my biggest special yet.
All thanks to you ❤️

[AI Images @PITHY_SPACEK]

No longer in the land of the living by #May1

[Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski]

All these doctors going on TV and posting on social media their comments that Trump’s self-medicating regimen and diet are unhealthy just need to mind their own business and let the man do his own research.

[BravoBabe @thebravobabe_]

The things that stuck out to me in the documentary were
-Mary and Robert got married less than 10 days after she divorced her first husband.
-Knowing the context now, it was awful for Mary to make a scene at Whitney’s house where she talks about a young woman who passed away from a car accident and says “should have worn a seat belt”
It was a 24 year old young mother who loved and considered Mary family.
-Robert senior is sketchy and if we want to look at anyone for any wrong doings, it’s him #TheCultoftheRealHousewife

[AI Images @PITHY_SPACEK]

Madonna had a team behind her to create and execute all of videos and tours. I bet she never gave THEM a $100,000 bonus EACH

[leon @skyferrori]

to think this was mainstream pop 30 years ago, now we have taylor swift watering down artistry and doing tiktok dances in her music videos with the same ass boring tune and inconsequential lyrics

[Stuart Stevens @stuartpstevens]

So, in 2026, the United States can hold a foreign president responsible for breaking US law but not an American president. Interesting.

[Agatha Christie @agathachristie]

Coming soon to Netflix 🕰️

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials debuts 15th January worldwide, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce, Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman.

Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Chris Sweeney

[Jon “Bowzer” Bauman @JonBowzerBauman]

This should be the year of Jack Smith.

Jack Smith is America.

Jack Smith is the truth. If you don’t see it, there’s just something deeply wrong with you.

If they come for Jack Smith, we come for them.

[AI Images @PITHY_SPACEK]

@AstroEngineer3 @Be_Believing together since 2009 IF YOU HAD TAKEN THE TIME TO READ....you know what adults do

[AI Images @PITHY_SPACEK]

Gift article

[Trip Gabriel @tripgabriel]

NYT editorial board with a bracing Jan. 6 anniversary reminder of Trump's role in stoking the attack, the violence against police & the complicity of elected R's and conservative media in whitewashing history. Names are named.
https://t.co/U8SpXmEuJU

[Harlan Coben @HarlanCoben]

A new true crime series debuts on @CBSNews @paramountplus this Wednesday night at 10PM.