The Russian soldiers who invaded Crimea wore no insignia and posed as local citizens who'd taken up arms for regional independence from the central government. Ukrainians called them "little green men" - invaders from outer space.
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The streets of DC have their own little green men, armed riot cops in military gear who refuse to identify themselves or which branch of the US government they represent.
politico.com/news/magazine/…
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politico.com/news/magazine/…
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They are members of the myriad, ramified network of fed cops whose ranks have swollen by about 2,500 cops/year - creating a federal police force that now outnumbers the entire headcount for the ATF. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center trains inductees into 80 forces.
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These agencies are only cursorily overseen and are generally unaccountable. They're a shitshow.
Take the CBP, who serve as a kind of praetorian guard for Trump. Remember, during the Muslim Ban, the CBP supervisor who hung up on Members of Congress who oversee the agency?
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Take the CBP, who serve as a kind of praetorian guard for Trump. Remember, during the Muslim Ban, the CBP supervisor who hung up on Members of Congress who oversee the agency?
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The Reps asked the CBP chief who he reported to, and he said "Donald J Trump" and hung up the phone?
The CBP is a shitshow's shitshow. On average, a CBP officer is arrested for corruption EVERY SINGLE DAY.
FOR A DECADE.
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The CBP is a shitshow's shitshow. On average, a CBP officer is arrested for corruption EVERY SINGLE DAY.
FOR A DECADE.
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The FBI once declared CBP corruption to be the greatest threat to US border security.
It's not just CBP - Federal policing agencies from the Bureau of Prisons to the US Marshals are routinely rocked by ghastly scandals.
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It's not just CBP - Federal policing agencies from the Bureau of Prisons to the US Marshals are routinely rocked by ghastly scandals.
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Trump's cabinet doesn't care. They don't want the rule of law, they want armed stooges. That's why Scott Pruitt used his 20-person security detail to buy him moisturizer; why Mike Pompeo uses Diplomatic Security Service to pick up Chinese food.
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Few of these agencies even have permanent chiefs; they're filled by a now-you-see-em-now-you-don't rogues' gallery of cronies appointed as interim heads, a job they inevitably lose when they fuck up in some predictable way.
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All this is from an outstanding @politico piece by @vermontgmg, who goes on to note that the ATF hasn't had a constant oversight by a Senate-approved chief since 2002, because the @NRA rejects EVERY SINGLE qualified person as too soft on gun control.
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Most recently, Chuck Canterbury's application for the job was withdrawn after NRA-enthralled Senators made it clear they wouldn't approve him. Who is this gun-grabber, Chuck Canterbury?
He's the former head of the Fraternal Order of Police.
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He's the former head of the Fraternal Order of Police.
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