Shepherd is an interstellar cop without accountability and unilateral authority to do whatever he wants as a member of the spectres. The media culture of the mid to late 2000s is unrecognizable to us, it was shit like the Wire and 24 and Mass Effect. Propaganda was insidious and everywhere (it still is) and the very few dissenters didn’t have anywhere to link up unlike now.

It’s more a testament to how much the culture has changed since the last 14 years that these things are causing actual friction that’s catching on. It’s also a testament to how much you’ve changed, too.