A Deeply Fractured US

[Navy_Pete]

@Colin Parkinson , according to a quick search, about half of American household income in below the $75k threshold. If they are talking individual income, I suspect that the majority of Americans will be below that.

Distribution of household income in the U.S. 2020 | Statista

So if 51% of the audits are done on people below $75k, that's actually either consistent with the household income, or means that they do more per capita audits on higher earners (which makes more sense really as they will likely be more complex with additional tax claims).

And you can actually pay a minor fee on TurboTax to have support from a certified accountant; I think it starts at $90 per filing, and H&R block type places are pretty similar for basic personal tax returns, so not really a sign of being an 'elite'.

@Blackadder1916 (haha just got the nickname), the 70s was mostly before my time, and wasn't paying attention to DT in the 80s, but don't doubt his greasyness goes way back.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Moderates are tossed under the bus in favor of those who blindly follow Trump. AM I correct in saying that?

Sure, when they attach themselves to the "we must burn the Republican party down and re-create it in our image" faction, which is immoderate and obviously self-serving. And it pisses off all the voters who want Republican government, warts and all, who voted in the past for Cheney's clique and then watched the clique members work against other Republicans when the clique didn't get its way. 2000 and 2004 : "Thank you for your support." 2016 and 2020: "We're voting Democratic."

 

[Jarnhamar]

Alarming Details Emerge About The Unit In Charge Of The Mar-A-Lago Raid​

As the New York Post reports, the division in charge of the raid is being investigated by Special Counsel John Durham over alleged "abuses of power and political bias" stemming from the Russia investigation from the 2016 election that looked into Trump's alleged collusion with the country. Journalist Paul Sperry originally shared this finding via RealClearInvestigations. And what he reports about the unit is nothing short of alarming.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Meanwhile, in LA:

Footage shows ‘flash mob’ of looters ransack 7-Eleven in Los Angeles​

Footage shows ‘flash mob’ of looters ransack 7-Eleven in Los Angeles

Snacks, drinks, cigarettes, lottery tickets and more were stolen by flash mob that ransacked a 7/11 in Los Angeles.

nypost.com

 

[brihard]

Alarming Details Emerge About The Unit In Charge Of The Mar-A-Lago Raid​

Yeah, that's not new or surprising info. This is casting a very broad brush on the entirety of the FBI counterintelligence division, which is a sizeable element within the larger FBI. The CI Division itself contains quite a number of subordinate units. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a few hundred people, though from quick searching it looks like their exact complement is classified.

So yes- five years ago an investigation went sideways based on misconduct. The person who headed that was fired, some will have transferred out or moved around (a lot of people move on career wise after a shit show like that- go somewhere else without that cloud hanging over you), and a few may still remain within the unit. You get a lot of turnover in five years, particularly when people want to distance themselves from something.

Within any major investigation there will be a small leadership team making actual decisions, and the rest of the investigators will simply carry out tasks as assigned. There's a ton of work goes into doing a bunch of interviews, examining and analyzing voluminous documents, etc., executing search warrants, etc. Most of it is simply carrying out assigned work. The people doing that work will be feeding their findings back up the chain for consideration. I say this to illustrate that even in an investigation that becomes horribly tainted, most participants won't wear any of that, and their subsequent participation in other investigations shouldn't cause undue concern. If a cop is told "reach out to so-and-so and take a statement to ascertain what they know about x", the officer in question will do so, write a report, then on to the next task. That shouldn't tar that member at all.

This article has been floating around for several days now and appears to be part of a broad effort to chuck shit at the wall and se what sticks- anything to discredit the search warrant or its underlying investigation. That's utterly unsurprising, but it also relies on low-info consumers of information to get any traction.

 

[dapaterson]

Meanwhile in Florida...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561023130839044097

 

[RangerRay]

Meanwhile in Florida...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561023130839044097

WTF is wrong with people. There is NO fucking excuse for this, especially from candidates for public office. This is how people will get hurt or killed.

 

[RangerRay]

More on this crazy talk.

Czech Yourselves Before You Wreck Yourselves

We’re not on the cusp of a civil war. But we are way over the precipice of dangerous stupidity.

gfile.thedispatch.com

 

[Jarnhamar]

Yeah, that's not new or surprising info. This is casting a very broad brush on the entirety of the FBI counterintelligence division, which is a sizeable element within the larger FBI. The CI Division itself contains quite a number of subordinate units. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a few hundred people, though from quick searching it looks like their exact complement is classified.

Good info thanks. My question didn't post properly. I was asking if the FBI had any option to send another group/team but it looks like it was creative reporting.

 

[OldSolduer]

Meanwhile in Florida...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561023130839044097

He should be very publicly arrested - for whatever charges the Justice people can think of.

Even if he’s found not guilty his name is out there.
What
A
Loser

 

[The Bread Guy]

WTF is wrong with people. There is NO fucking excuse for this, especially from candidates for public office. This is how people will get hurt or killed.

And it only takes a (very) few crazies for bad things to happen

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Meanwhile in Florida...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561023130839044097

Yea, and what happens when they start shooting back??

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Last I checked: People get killed.

 

[Furniture]

He should be very publicly arrested - for whatever charges the Justice people can think of.

Even if he’s found not guilty his name is out there.
What
A
Loser

That would play directly into his game.

It's better to prove him an idiot, than make him a martyr for the cause.

 

[KevinB]

Meanwhile in Florida...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1561023130839044097

Well one bonus, it proves that not every nutbar down here is a white male, we are open to Hispanic males too.

 

[Kirkhill]

Well one bonus, it proves that not every nutbar down here is a white male, we are open to Hispanic males too.

On the less humorous front I think that is one area where the Democrats have shot themselves in the foot with their Latinx rhetoric and lumping "Browns" in with "Blacks".

Not all "Browns" are appreciative of the association.

Gandhi was a racist by modern standards.
The Latin community produced Galtieri and Allende as well as Castro and Chavez. It includes Mexican Mennonites as well as Roman Catholics, Hidalgos, Gauchos and Rancheros as well as Indians and Mestizos.

One message will not sell to all.

 

[KevinB]

Trump had over 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

 

[dapaterson]

They were the most classified documents ever. Bigger and better than any other classified documents ever. Not like those crappy classified documents other presidents got to see. These were the best.

 

[brihard]

I just read the… whatever it was his lawyers filed today in response to the search warrant. If that’s the quality of legal counsel he has on this, he needs to be concerned. Frankly I think his submission to the federal court in Florida today is more a fundraising exercise than a serious attempt and litigating the matter to his legal advantage. They made terrible arguments today on something a good lawyer should have made competent arguments for two weeks ago, on the morning after the search, if not earlier.

I’m loath to take the NYT reporting on some of the specifics as definitive or reliable, out of erring on the side of caution and away from the sensational. The details they disclose today, if true, are damning from a legal standpoint.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Yea, and what happens when they start shooting back??

History repeating itself?

U.S. Senate: Civil War Begins

1851: Civil War Begins -- April 12, 1861

www.senate.gov