Is the FBI Trying to Rehabilitate Its Tattered Reputation By Overpublicizing What Is, Let's Face It, a Fairly Rinky-Dink College Bribery Scandal?

I saw the FBI preening about this and disliked them even more than I had before. These were real crimes, and they should be punished; but the stagecraft of the announcement was purely political. It wasn't about law enforcement; it was about public relations.

PJ Media's Morning Briefing notes this, as well as the typical federal overkill of sending men with drawn guns to arrest what I guess turns out to be a Very Very Dangerous Housewife:

Lori Loughlin, one of the Hollywooders involved in the college bribery scandal, is out on $1 million in cash money. Loughlin paid $500k smackers to get her kids into USC. The system is not taking kindly to this bribery operation. Hollywooder Felicity Huffman was the recipient of some Elian Gonzalez treatment.

I'm guessing the FBI needs to rehabilitate itself after the agency's Trump scandals dominating the headlines for the last couple of years. With clowns like Comey, McCabe, Lisa Page and various and sundry DOJ employees engaged in questionable anti-Trump political activity, the FBI and DOJ need some redemption. Folks are probably scratching their heads wondering what it is they actually do for America at the agency. This is a great case everyone can rally around and point fingers at: rich people buying favor. What's not to like?

Hey, FBI? Maybe use that RICO act you used here to start going after a criminal conspiracy that operates across state lines to beat and intimidate citizens from expressing their first amendment rights. Go after Antifa.

What, no stomach for that?

Oh well then, keep picking easily-demonized targets the public can have a collective sneer at and think, "Boy, that FBI sure is protecting me."

My problem isn't that I have sympathy for rule-breakers and cheaters. My problem is that I feel manipulated into supporting the FBI -- which corruptly cooperated with the DOJ's plan to immunize all of Hillary's fellow conspirators and insulate her from any legal consequence -- by their offering up a nice, easy Two Minute Hate we can all shout ourselves horse in denouncing.

We don't like schools who arrange payments for athletes who are, by NCAA rules, not to be compensated for their athletic work. But how much should we really get enraged when we see a school doing so?

What I'm saying is -- this is just a law enforcement agency doing standard, and frankly, not terribly important law enforcement work.

Why are we now all national spectators cheering on the FBI to Really Get Those Bad Guys Good?

I mean, I know why: Because the FBI is exploiting the intense anxiety of parents of college-age children to place their kids in a school that will increase their social status. (And they also think this will increase their prospects of making a good living, though there's a lot of evidence that says that's a straight-up delusion of the masses.)

So the FBI is exploiting emotionally vulnerable, anxious parents and giving the nation a Hate Object we can enjoy hissing at.

All to increase its own popularity.

Yay government? Yay FBI?

posted by Ace of Spades at 11:48 AM

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