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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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Two stolen suitcases is “beyond reasonable doubt” that he has a fetish that he can’t control

It's hardly that. It's good evidence that he is in fact a thief, but it's not good evidence as to why he is a thief. As I pointed out in another comment, even someone stealing two bags at random would expect to get two women's bags about 25% of the time. When purely random targeting would yield the same results with decent frequency, the case is not settled beyond a reasonable doubt as to what his motives are.

People's argument basically boils down to "he's a sexual deviant in other ways, so this behavior must be related to his sexual deviancy". But that's a poor argument. I have the bad habit of drinking too much soda, it doesn't mean that if I steal two bags that it must be because I thought there was soda inside.

I don't think this is sexual fetish as such, but Brinton did look at the baggage tags. Now, if the tags just said "S. Smith", then it could be a guy's case. But if it was "Sally Smith", then they know this is (probably) a woman's case.

While we're all playing Herr Professor Freud here, I wonder if this is Brinton's way of getting back at their parents. The origin story is that they came out as bi to their Southern Baptist missionary parents, who sent them off to a 'conversion camp' for two years. Are the suitcases Brinton is stealing the type of cases their parents, particularly their mother, used on travels? Is this a subconscious attempt to both defy and shame the punitive parents by engaging in condemned behaviours? Yeah well who knows, we'll have to wait and see what happens after the court case in Minnesota (first) and then what happens in Nevada (the second alleged theft):

Samuel Brinton, the Department of Energy's (DOE) deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition, was charged Thursday with grand larceny of an item valued between $1,200 and $5,000 by Las Vegas prosecutors. Records showed that an arrest warrant was issued for Brinton, one of the few federal officials to ever identify as nonbinary.

...Brinton is scheduled to appear at a court hearing in Minnesota state court later this month to face similar charges from a September incident at the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP). Police accused Brinton of stealing a suitcase worth $2,325 from an MSP baggage carousel Sept. 16, according to a criminal complaint filed Oct. 26.

You’re not accounting for the full information available.

  • He specifically wants to steal suitcases.

  • He leaves the suitcases he steals in his hotel room.

  • Knowing that he is being extra scrutinized, he still chooses to steal suitcases at an airport rather than a thrift store or somewhere less risky.

  • There is evidence he does not steal random objects routinely (his gainful employment), yet that packed suitcases specifically are irresistible.

  • He loves to dress like a woman which is pretty good evidence for a motive, and humans commit crimes for motives. He is obsessed with this identity. There is no financial or acquisitive motive (left suitcase in room).

I thought he left the suitcases' contents in hotel rooms but allegedly kept and used the suitcases themselves?

They claimed they left the woman's clothes behind in the hotel room but not the suitcase which they took with them, but the hotel denied that any clothing had been left in the room.

I hadn’t read that but if true it would poke a hole in my theory

He claimed he did that, but the hotel denied it.

That was his story in the middle. I'd be curious to (have somebody else) search his drawers though, to see if there's evidence of trophy-taking.