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.”

  • 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?