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Counting to three only works if you're willing and able to do whatever the thing is you said you would do to the child when they are misbehaving.

I think it's less that people see a slap on the wrist, and more that people see the systemic, wholesale capture and gutting of regulatory bodies and are not surprised that nothing substantive happens in this kind of case.

And why are they not paying attention 99% of the other time? When people lose faith in institutions it's not because they're dumb. They understand things.

And then to be gaslit into thinking "don't trust your eyes", you can see why some people are pretty angry nowadays.

I think the message is more like "eh, we're on your side, but once in a while we gotta pretend to do something... just play along and wink, will ya?"