Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes – Tim & JVL: America Used to Know This Was Wrong

Host: Tim Miller (Tim O)
Guest: JVL
Date: January 10, 2026

Episode Overview

In this candid and emotionally charged episode, Tim Miller and JVL dissect America’s changing attitudes toward state-sanctioned violence, police accountability, and the country’s drift from a “culture of life” to a “culture of death.” Reflecting on the killing of Renee Good by government agents and the reactions to it, they explore why such violence is increasingly tolerated, how the standards for deadly force have eroded, and what this means for the future of liberal democracy in the United States. Through passionate debate and thoughtful counterfactuals, they grapple with whether the nation's moral compass has irrevocably shifted.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Rage and the Lowered Bar for State Violence

• [01:40] Tim opens with his sense of “chest constricting rage” about the public and political reaction to the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent, especially the casualness with which many accept such state violence.
• A recurring theme is the high bar they personally set for when government agents may use deadly force, contrasted sharply with the apparent acceptance by many Americans of much laxer standards.
  • Quote – Tim: “If you’re going to kill one of us, the bar has to be, like, up here at the sky…a very, very explicit...you had no other choice.” [04:47]

2. Double Standards and Right-Wing Excuses for Violence

• [05:41] JVL highlights a disturbing duality in conservative attitudes: extreme suspicion toward most government bureaucrats, yet absolute trust in armed law enforcement officers.
  • Quote – JVL: “We literally have the laxest standards for the people with the most power.” [07:44]
• The conversation references Kyle Rittenhouse, Ashley Babbitt, and “stand your ground” laws. Both hosts note the tendency to excuse or even justify deadly force, so long as the victim is perceived as being on “the other side.”
  • Quote – Tim: “If the victim’s on the other team…All right, we’ll call that one good.” [05:13]

3. American Cultural Acceptance of Violence

• [12:21] The hosts reflect on America’s staggering rate of police killings compared to the UK (~40x higher per capita) and how the public has grown desensitized, tolerating violence from both the state and vigilantes.
  • Quote – Tim: “It doesn’t feel like there’s anybody that’s actually fighting against that right, that everyone is on the right…It’s kind of the opposite, actually.” [13:33]
  • Quote – Tim, on Matt Walsh's comments: “Whether or not she was trying [to hit the officer], this Daily Wire guy, whether or not she was trying [was] immaterial to me…her actions meant she deserved to die.” [13:42]
• Both hosts agree America has shifted from a “culture of life” to a “culture of death.”

4. The Liberal vs. Illiberal Divide

• [14:16] JVL frames the issue in philosophical and political terms:
  • Liberal society: “Only acceptable violence is violence carried out by the state in accordance with strict standards in the rule of law.”
  • Illiberal society: “Violence is just a tool that we use against our enemies…we are strong, they are weak, therefore, we are allowed to do what we want.”
  • Quote – JVL: “That is fascism.” [14:16]

5. Counterfactual: What If January 6th Had Been a Bloodbath?

• [19:10] The central “bad thought” of the episode: If police had responded to January 6th insurrectionists with the same hair-trigger as the ICE officer in Minneapolis, would America have wound up in a “better” place?
  • Tim wonders if mass use of deadly force would have prevented Trump’s comeback and galvanized the defense of liberal democracy, even as he recoils from the implication.
• JVL tries to “square the circle” by arguing that, while wanting de-escalatory professionalism from police is good, a harsher response on Jan. 6 might have forced a moral reckoning that steered America away from its current path.
  • Quote – JVL: “If it had happened, we’d live in a better world today.” [21:25]
  • Quote – JVL: “The national reaction to January 6th does not feel like we dodged a bullet. It feels like Kent State and worse…The revulsion…would have had to have made the Senate convict Trump…” [23:14]

6. The Dilemma of Policing, Professionalism, and Backlash

• Both wrestle with whether increased police violence would have simply created new cycles of violence and backlash, or if more professional policing (as initially seen during Black Lives Matter protests) offers hope for reform.
• Hopeful Note: Tim suggests that, just as outrage over George Floyd’s killing triggered real political shifts in 2020, there remains a potential for events to “boomerang” public sentiment back toward valuing accountability and professionalism in policing.
  • Quote – Tim: “Maybe you kind of need a worse actor to sort of boomerang you back to the…other side.” [31:13]

7. The Path Forward

• JVL calls for serious police reform – more oversight, ending qualified immunity, and professional standards – but expresses doubt that even the proliferation of police videos has yet created mass demand for real change.
  • Quote – JVL: “I figured, well, people are going to want to have professional cops…But, you know, we’re not there yet.” [29:38]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Tim O: “If you’re going to kill one of us, the bar has to be, like, up here at the sky…it has to be a very, very explicit, you know, example of, like, this was…an acute moment of life saving necessity.” [04:47]
• JVL: “We literally have the laxest standards for the people with the most power.” [07:44]
• Tim O: “In Britain…the police violence is…0.09 (per 10 million), and in America it’s 33. And it’s like 40 times more in America than over there.” [12:23]
• JVL: “The only acceptable violence is violence carried out by the state in accordance with strict standards in the rule of law…Illiberalism says…violence is just a tool we use against our enemies.” [14:16]
• Tim O: “I can’t be there. I cannot be made to be like them. I can’t be on the side that believes that we should just be killing people who are US citizens.” [20:45]
• JVL: “Had the Capitol Police acted like ICE…I think, again, at least dozens of people die, probably more. And…the revulsion…would have had to have made the Senate convict Trump and not allow him to run again…” [23:14]
• Tim O: “That’s really my only hope for this, is that…I think that there will…be a category of people that have already been turning off from [Trump]…they’re like, ‘man, it was a wake-up call, right?’” [26:50]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Tim expresses his rage and struggle with America’s acceptance of violence: [01:40–05:41]
• Double standards for state violence, “Conservative Inc.” contradiction: [05:41–07:44]
• Systemic protection of violent law enforcement and lack of accountability: [08:50–09:50]
• Comparison of US and UK police violence; “culture of death” concept: [12:21–14:16]
• Liberalism vs. illiberalism in state violence, links to fascism: [14:16–16:33]
• Reasonable fear as an expanded legal excuse for violence: [17:08–18:54]
• Counterfactual: What if Capitol Police had mowed down Jan 6 rioters? [19:10–23:14]
• Is policing professionalism still possible? [23:14–26:25]
• Hope for reform and civic backlash: [26:50–31:13]
• Takeaways on professionalization and international examples: [32:49–33:45]

Memorable Moments & Tone

• Raw Honesty: Tim’s “bad thought” about January 6 (“maybe they should have done that”) and his struggle to reconcile his values with the country’s trajectory is a gut-punch, highlighting the episode’s raw honesty.
• Dark Humor: JVL occasionally uses gallows humor (“A minigun, like they were in a Schwarzenegger movie” [20:11]) to underscore the absurdity and horror of possible alternatives.
• Resigned Frustration: Both express a weary frustration at America’s inability or unwillingness to recalibrate toward justice and life.

Conclusion

This episode painfully interrogates America’s evolving relationship with violence, state power, and public morality. By dissecting real cases and hypothetical scenarios, Tim and JVL expose just how far the standards – among the public and in government – have fallen, and what’s at stake for the country’s democratic project. While glimpses of hope flicker in memories of “better angels,” both hosts remain soberingly clear-eyed about how far there is to go.