I think it's a mistake to separate these two things--and, notably, this is as much because of what it says about Sandifer as about Yud. It's worth noting that one of the first things Yud ever wrote--before the Sequences & HPMOR--was this obituary about his dead brother: sl4.org/archive/0411...

if anything, this should give hope to people on the left. these morons actually believe that firepower is deterministic in the resolution of civil conflicts. similarly, you are already in a position of extreme weakness if your belief, confidence in power is dependent on the *image* of power.