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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 28, 2022

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There's a level of theft that I think is immediately disqualifying from this level of a federal job, but I'm skeptical this is it. From a quick look at MN state law, this is technically chargeable as a felony, but it's an incredibly bad fit for it and really should get plead down just because the value estimates are going to be janky.

What? This is clearly insane behavior.

Stealing a bag an easily identifiable bag at a place with hundreds of cameras is objectively insane. If you said perhaps they should be sent to a 12 month rehab instead of prison, perhaps. But left in an important federal job? You might as well appoint Bubbie to the fentanyl taskforce.

At the most obvious level...

No. The most obvious level is that we are dealing with a kleptomaniac or a compulsive fetishist. Neither is suited for a job other of a higher level than shelf stocker because of the compulsion.

I don't think that's a norm that we established very widely. There's individual jobs you can lose for an individual thefts on this scale (or even more severe crimes like DUIs), but they're things like 'police chief'. I expect that's why you're moving to the psychological profile, but in addition to the limitations and risks of remote psychological diagnosis, the above poster's specific question was "First, should he be fired for stealing?"

((That said, I also think the position is a benchwarmer's benchwarmer's job; anyone following nuclear science knows nothing's going to actually happen when it comes to nuclear waste policy. So I may be evaluating it differently.))