Podbit · The Bulwark Podcast
The DOJ can still deliver justice against people it dislikes — as in the Prairie Land shooting case. But friends of the regime get impunity. David French calls this the 'dual state': normal justice for most people, and a second track where crimes committed in service of the sovereign go unpunished — reportedly for as little as $2 million.
Where this was said
At 38:20 · chapter starts 37:30
Miller flags the Prairie Land Antifa case — where the DOJ press-released 'leaders of an Antifa cell' facing 100 years in prison — as context for the broader pattern of the Trump DOJ targeting immigration protesters under domestic terrorism designations. French offers a careful analysis: in Prairie Land, a cop was shot, violence was real, and jury verdicts under federal sentencing guidelines deserve respect absent compelling evidence of a miscarriage. But the double standard isn't Prairie Land — it's the Chicago cases. [1] — David French "The DOJ can still deliver justice against people it dislikes — as in the Prairie Land shooting case. But friends of the regime get impunity…" 38:20 There, case after case has been dropped by prosecutors, grand juries have taken the extraordinary step of refusing to indict, and U.S. Assistant Attorneys are accused of improperly lobbying grand juries. A woman shot five times was labeled a domestic terrorist in a press release, only for charges to be dropped when evidence emerged. French connects this to his concept of the dual state: a justice system can still function normally for most people while operating a parallel track of impunity for regime allies — reportedly available for purchase at $2 million — and a track of 'justice plus' for regime enemies.
Reporting cited by David French suggests it is an 'open secret' that $2 million can secure a presidential pardon from the Trump administration.
Multiple DOJ immigration protest cases in the Chicago/Broadview area have been dropped, with grand juries refusing to indict and U.S. Attorneys accused of improper conduct before grand juries.
Zohran Mamdani said the Constitution looks fine as-is when asked whether the natural-born citizen requirement should change for his benefit. David French — who thinks any citizen should be eligible for the presidency — says that's the wrong answer, but credits Mamdani for not doing the wink-and-nod Trump did on the same question.
Fei-Fei Li went back to Stanford from Google in 2018 specifically to build a multi-stakeholder governance framework for AI. Her argument: market forces are not societal norms. Just as biology uses IRBs and cars have safety laws, AI needs layered oversight from educators, governments, and the public — not just a few industry titans.
Andrew Santino's personal MCU of political villains is collapsing. He and Bobby speculated that a circulating photo of Mitch McConnell with a Chinese official was AI-generated compositing two separate images.
Mass surveillance is here to stay. The real battle isn't stopping cameras — it's ensuring judges and laws keep that data out of family court and civil disputes, admitting it only for violent crimes and national security. The surveillance economy currently yields more upside than downside, but only if we build the legal guardrails now.
When people cite Scandinavia as proof socialism works, Galloway says they've got it backwards. Northern Europe runs highly competitive free-market economies with more competition in many sectors than the US — they just make sure taxes are actually paid and redistributed. Billionaires and universal healthcare can coexist.
Two percent adjustments to income tax and stamp duty tweaks are deck-chair rearrangements. The UK's competitiveness hinges on four structural levers: currency valuation, energy costs, regulatory burden, and tax rates. Devalue the pound, build 56 nuclear plants, slash red tape, introduce a flat tax — and the country transforms.
Lisbon had one of Europe's worst heroin crises. Then Portugal legalised drugs and redirected all enforcement money into rehabilitation and housing. Crime collapsed. Addiction fell. Then politics moved the money elsewhere, and the problem started creeping back. Chesterton's Fence: you forget why you were spending that money.
Congress passed the Boland Amendment 411 to 0, explicitly banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras. Reagan signed it — then immediately moved the operation deeper underground, essentially responding to a bipartisan prohibition by going more illegal.
The CIA planted mines in Nicaraguan commercial harbors, wrote the Contras' press releases taking credit, and promptly blew up ships from four allied nations. The Wall Street Journal broke the story, Congress erupted, and the Boland Amendments multiplied.
Oliver North was a decorated Marine and devout Catholic with zero covert operations experience. He ran the entire shadow war against Congress — planes, airstrips, arms shipments, shell companies — learning on the job. And by every operational measure, he crushed it.
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