General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWTF: Kash Patel's new FBI challenge coin displaying his personal logo and using the Marvel "Punisher" insignia's shape
what a clown
GenThePerservering
(3,711 posts)underpants
(197,183 posts)Is the Punisher symbol political?
The symbol has since become widely controversial after becoming appropriated by hate groups, law enforcement groups and United States military personnel, often to symbolize bigotry, openness to murder, and American superiority; thus, in the 2022 run featuring the character, Marvel instead has Castle, after joining The .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher
Marvels Punisher Problem
The Punisher has been adopted by right-wing extremist groups and there isn't much the company can do about it.
https://www.newsweek.com/marvels-punisher-problem-1574579
Marvels Punisher Was a Hate Symbol Long Before Police Co-opted His Character
https://truthout.org/articles/marvels-punisher-was-a-hate-symbol-long-before-police-co-opted-his-character/
Maru Kitteh
(32,010 posts)I really didnt know much at all about the background of what I was looking at on dudes with dick issues trucks, hats, t-shirts, etc. all these years. Thanks.
jls4561
(3,268 posts)SSJVegeta
(3,133 posts)Or maybe he didnt.
Vinca
(54,332 posts)Deep State Witch
(12,756 posts)Disney owns Marvel. While they generally don't stop small vendors from using their IP without licensing, I'm sure that this will be an exception. Let's see what happens.
canetoad
(21,029 posts)That this kind of thing makes them look like cartoon characters?
LetMyPeopleVote
(182,061 posts)The problem isnt that the FBI director is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that he isnt even trying
The problem isn't that Kash Patel is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that the FBI director isn't even trying.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-10-06T17:27:39.716Z
Take his firing of a field agent who wouldnât humiliate James Comey, for example. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/fbi-tenure-goes-bad-worse-kash-patel-abandons-pretense-seriousness-rcna235945
Around the same time, the public learned that Patel fired an agent in training for displaying a gay pride flag on his desk while appointed to a field office in California last year. That coincided with news about the FBI directors ridiculous challenge coins. (Patels coin does not convey ... gravitas, The Atlantics Tom Nichols summarized. Instead, it says: I am a grown man who has spent way too much time on the internet.)
But arguably the lowest of the recent low points was the news about another one of the FBI directors recent firings. Reuters reported:
An FBI agent was relieved of duty for declining to arrange a perp walk of the bureaus former director, James Comey, in front of news media cameras after Comey was federally charged last month, four people briefed on the matter said on Friday. Comey was charged on September 25 with making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation, in a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trumps retribution campaign against his political enemies.
This has been confirmed by MSNBC, which reported that an FBI agent in the Washington, D.C., field office really was fired for refusing to arrest and perp walk Comey, the former FBI director.
In other words, Patel wanted to disregard Justice Department policy and humiliate Comey after Trump orchestrated the politically motivated indictment. When an agent balked at playing along with this partisan game, the FBI director ended the agents career.
To be sure, Patel has spent 2025 overseeing a political personnel purge at the bureau, but these new revelations suggest the problem is still getting worse.
I was happy to see that there was no perp walk for Comey today
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