“They seem to be actively recruiting people who have no moral principles.”
In 1987, I checked out joining the FBI. Just curious, really. I knew someone who did join, but he hated it and left before his training was completed. At the time, I had passed one of the most rigorous psychological screenings the military could possibly give, yet, the FBI dismissed me up front with the excuse that I was “not a fit”. I thought then it was because I was not a liberal. Today, knowing some who have joined and are agents, I am convinced that was it. They were and are looking for liberal traitors. They want recruits who have sympathy for their cause of power and money.
I vaguely recall first hearing the term “Jack-booted Thug” in the early 1990s ... shortly after your up-front dismissal from the Feebs (to whom it referred).
I have known several too. You are lucky you did not join.