5 ms·
Nabbing the little guy for show, very much like Henry Hill taking one for Paulie and the gang. The same gang that robbed the Lufthansa vault at JFK Airport, ste
by k310 6mo ago
Nabbing the little guy for show, very much like Henry Hill taking one for Paulie and the gang. The same gang that robbed the Lufthansa vault at JFK Airport, stealing six million dollars in cash and jewelry.
When the history of this administration is written, provided that history itself has not been completely rewritten a la "1984," Goodfellas will be required reading/watching.
And the highly profitable daily mood-induced oil price bets will just be forgotten.
Wilhoit's Law:
Wilhoit's law.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
https://pylimitics.net/wilhoits-law/ https://pylimitics.net/wilhoits-law/
- paulpauper 6mo agoI made a similar argument and was downvoted. Yeah, the well-connected pay a fine when caught. This guy's mistake was not knowing he did not belong to that club. He amounted to no more than a fall guy.
- nickburns 6mo agoThey don't call 'em cannon fodder for nothin'!
- RhysU 6mo agoWilholt's essay is a nice one. But it amounts to defining the opposition in a way that's easy to tear apart followed by tearing it apart. It's a cute trick but isn't much of a basis for serious discussion. Watch: Wilholt's essay consists of exactly and only one indefensible, rhetorical sleight of hand. Consequently, no one can honestly defend it. Attempts to do so are undeserving of serious scrutiny. After tearing down a strawman, he claims high ground: > The law cannot protect anyone unless it binds everyone; and it cannot bind anyone unless it protects everyone. But you'll get a fair bit of support for Wilholt's so-called anti-conservative principle from a fair number of prominent conservative thinkers.
- zaptheimpaler 6mo agoThe modern US conservative party really does seem to believe only in that one principle and nothing else. They will pardon actual sex traffickers like Andrew Tate and worse as long as they're on their side. They will defend any action at all by Trump, no matter how vile or illegal or stupid or wrong. It's not a sleight of hand if its true.
- RhysU 6mo agoGo read a few months worth of the National Review. Many prominent conservative thinkers are not particularly big fans of Trump. They like portions of his initiatives and policies but not him as a standard bearer, because he does dumb, ill-principled stuff at odds with conservatism. Peggy Noonan of the WSJ can't write two sentences without letting you know how much she disdains Trump, e.g.
- zaptheimpaler 6mo agoI guess I should clarify it to the modern US conservative party. I know there are a few dissenters even there, but 95% of them vote the way he wants and of course we could have impeached Trump and many cabinet officials long ago if they voted that way. They unquestionably enable this administration. I think its fair to say they represent the conservatives broadly, certainly they are the people the nations conservative citizens elected and continue to support.
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- ashtonshears 6mo agoA few annecdotal voices dont change reality; american conservatism is poisoned, and must be rejected by all sane/moral humans for multiple generations.
- gabagool 6mo agoPer Goodfellas, "Paulie and the gang" ended up in jail while Henry Hill received witness protection. So, it wasn't just for show
- busterarm 6mo agoAuthority-wise, a MSG in the army isn't exactly a little guy either. That's quite a senior role. In their battalion they likely head either operations, intelligence or supply. This isn't joe schlub making side bets here. This is a senior late-career enlisted in an extremely sensitive position violating all of their trust and authority to cash out big.
- herewulf 6mo agoThat MSG works for a Captain or a Lieutenant. If said MSG is good, there might be a future of advising a commanding officer on uniforms and length of grass at increasingly higher echelons. The rank is not newsworthy.
- bluegatty 6mo agoEverything about this statement is completely wrong. False, conspiratorial, dogmatic, juvenile. The arrest and indictment of someone for betting on Polymarket - which has not yet been tested in court - is going to give huge attention and precedence to the likely illegal activities of some of Polymarket shenanigans coming out of the white house. Edit: if this was political, it would be pushed in the other direction. This is the NY DOJ doing their jobs.
- behringer 6mo agoWhat? Military trials are not necessarily public.
- bonsai_spool 6mo agoThis was charged by DOJ not under a military tribunal
- bluegatty 6mo agoIt's by the Southern District of NY and the case will get national attention. This is a hugely negative thing for the Administration, as District Attorneys, SEC staff, etc. are going to be actively seeking how this could parlay into investigations and indictments of the people in the White House making Polymarket and other speculative bets just before government actions. There are 100's lawyers reading that right now getting inspired on how they can take action to turn their investigative powers onto whoever those actors are aka family members or associates of those in the White House / Cabinet. An investigation could be done at the State Level, away from the control of the DoJ, and, if it yields evidence, it wouldn't have to even make it's way through the courts in order to be political destructive. The suggestion by the OP this has anything to do with ideology or the ruling power throwing one under the bus is ridiculous. Note that the ruling regime isn't above such a thing, but that's not what is happening here because it definitely does not serve their interests - it's the total opposite. This could turn into a political nightmare that crashes the party. Edit: if we want to be 'hopefully cynical' - recognize that this could absolutely be the vector that takes the man down, or even many of them. Imagine how many WH, Cabinet Members, family members could get investigated for this and under purvue of state investigators where the investigation can't get shut down.
- jandrewrogers 6mo ago> nabbing the little guy Politics aside, he isn't a "little guy". He apparently holds the rank of master sergeant. That's a senior battalion-level role and somewhat political. This isn't some random E-4 getting dragged.
- 9x39 6mo agoCompared to a member of US Congress, or the senior executive branch, or the CEO class, they’re still nobody and the “little guy”. Not that it’s defensible behavior.
- usefulcat 6mo agoIs he important enough to get a presidential pardon? That's how you know whether he's a "little guy". To be fair, that bar is quite a bit lower these days, but still..
- denom 6mo agoWhat's the going rate for pardons these days?
- Tangurena2 6mo agoDuring the first Trump term, Giuliani said that the cost was $2,000,000 per pardon. Many went through him. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/giuliani-accused-offering-sell-trump-pardons-2-million-new-lawsuit-rcna84569 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/giuliani-accu...
- herewulf 6mo agoThis might burst some bubbles but this is absolutely a little guy because anything below a field grade officer (or the CSM sidekick below brigade) is a little guy and a battalion is actually quite low on the food chain. Yes, there are some hard working NCOs and junior Os out there that make shit happen, but they are not the decision makers and make for great fall guys when shit hits the fan.
- Aurornis 6mo agoAs other comments said, this wasn’t exactly a “little guy” in rank. He also made it all very obvious and traceable for them through the email addresses he used. From the report it doesn’t appear that he made any effort to conceal his identity or hide his tracks until afterward, by which time it was too late.
- ElProlactin 6mo agoWell, if people in Congress, the Supreme Court, the administration, etc. don't have to conceal their "activities", why should this guy? He wasn't a "little guy" but apparently his only mistake was not being high enough.
- Aurornis 6mo agoI don’t know why people are trying to defend this guy. We should be upset when anyone tries to use confidential information for personal gain. It’s also a security risk if anyone is incentivized to place bets based on confidential info. I know you’re trying to make a separate point about Congress, but it’s silly to try to turn this into a class warfare thing. Congress didn’t even have this information at the time.
- jrumbut 6mo agoI haven't seen anyone defend his conduct, but it is natural to discuss his political clout because of this line on TFA: > Today’s announcement makes clear no one is above the law What others are saying, IIUC, is that no reasonable person believes an enlisted soldier (even a senior one) is above the law and that in fact there is a history of them being used as fall guys or scapegoats for people who do enjoy protection on the basis of their social class or government position. Without this specific statement from the FBI director, then it would be "soldier gets caught doing bad thing" and the other part would be off topic. But the article itself introduces the idea of class and impunity.
- ElProlactin 6mo agoNobody is defending this person. > ...but it’s silly to try to turn this into a class warfare thing. You can ignore the class warfare but the class warfare isn't ignoring you/your country.
- JohnTHaller 6mo agoFor everyone saying this isn't some little guy... compared to the administration which is engaging in the same thing, it's a little guy designed to be a distraction.
- jongjong 6mo agoThere seems to be a pattern that if someone who was not pre-selected by some elites ends up making their own money (I.e. real 'self-made') they are swiftly attacked by the system. On the other hand, look at Nancy Pelosi; she didn't get into any trouble. Are people allowed to be self-made anymore? For me personally, after years of planning and hard work, I once managed to secure myself about $40k of passive income from a blockchain in crypto; this lasted a few years but eventually the founders suspiciously abandoned the entire tech stack (for no reason) and switched to Ethereum; this destroyed the opportunity for me; literally lost that stream entirely. Now, recently, I was able to re-establish a passive income stream of about $10k per year from a non-crypto source; this is from an opportunity I took over 10 years ago... I'm worried about that being taken away somehow.
- janalsncm 6mo agoOne soldier being arrested does not prevent others from being arrested. If anything, it sets a precedent. Yesterday, people could justifiably say that betting on polymarket had essentially no consequences. Today, we learned there can be consequences. If in a year’s time this is the only person to ever be charged, that’s a different story.
- akudha 6mo agoWhen the history of this administration is written I often think about how much we can trust history 20-30 years from now. It is hard to trust history from hundreds of years ago, either because it was written by victors or because there just isn't enough material in the first place. I suppose we have the opposite problem now (and in the future) - too much noise and junk, whole bunch of it generated by AI slop - where does one even start?
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- george916a 6mo agoOh, and let’s not forget the politicians like Pelosi, the Clintons and many other top Democratic Party politicians, repeatedly engaged in insider trading of stocks, often times using classified information, for multi million dollars profits. Almost never investigated. Practically never convicted.
- ourmandave 6mo agoYes, please, by all means with full transparency and public trials. Then clear the docket because you're going to need a lot of investigators to even begin on the Trump administration. Here's a recent article from the American Bar Association on the rampant and on-going f*ckery. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/resources/human-rights/2026-march/trump-administrations-rampant-pay-to-play-corruption-threatens-our-democracy/ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/resources/human-righ...