Tiffany bringing up a good question on MSNBC. Why is Andrew Gillum being

[Baitball Blogger]

charged with conspiracy and fraud for accepting Hamilton tickets and taking a Circle line boat ride, when others go free? It was about $5000 that he did not disclose and they threw the book at him.

So, why have all the other white politicians in Florida given a pass? Christ, not only white. The first thing that happens here if you have any kind of promise, is that they try to win you over with all kinds of perks. Including borrowed BMWs. And then they have you, you dopes.

Florida's local political circles generally start with meet and greets where promises are made and perks are offered. And that's how they like their politicians. Compromised and blackmailable. So, when a promising young black man comes around, it's easy to take him out. To get Gillum, it required FBI people disguising themselves as developers. They're the ones who went on the New York trip.

Do you have any idea how easy this kind of thing is in Florida? De Santis was given an easy pass with a $50,000 donation that he just returned. No harm done. Was Gillum given the same opportunity to pay back the perk he received? Of course not.

Florida is graft. Florida is greed. The FBI should find a way to check on De Santis before he does something really dangerous to this country if he becomes president. But it will require the right kind of FBI agents, because I'm convinced they're too infiltrated to be objective.

[onecaliberal]

1. The FBI is a joke.

[TxGuitar]

14. Cops are pigs

No matter how fancy their titles

[diehardblue]

2. Even though Andrew made a poor decision, I have always felt that DeSatanis had a lot to do with

his downfall. He probably spied on him, found his weakness, and set him up. Gillum was doing a lot of registration in rural parts of Florida and was a threat to DeSatanis's campaign. Always have been my thoughts.

[Jose Garcia]

3. He is being prosecuted for his actions before and during hid gubernatorial campaign

Very hard to lay the blame on DeSantis for this an they predate him being governor. Especially considering that the Biden Justice Department is prosecuting him.

[mopinko]

4. i dont think it's biden's doj in anything but name.

besides him assiduously avoiding any appearance of influence, garland is likely dealing w whack-a-mole leave behinds. this aint on joe.

[jaxexpat]

10. If the DOJ is acting on this in any way and Meadows isn't in jail for contempt, it's corrupt.

It's time to open our eyes. It's not on Joe Biden and probably not on Garland either but the DOJ is either corrupt or inept. There is no in-between and excuses are going to look pretty damn lame when all the higher-ups in Trump's outfit walk.

This is shaking out more like Iran-Contra every day. Only the Ollie North character hasn't had his screen test yet.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. They all make poor choices. Florida's good ole boy system is such a gauntlet that it's

near impossible to get around them. You have to play along and promise to play nice, which means you have to be reachable to their backwater phone calls, which might come late at night. A good, progressive candidate will have to self-finance and bring their own support group in order to break this bad equation.

My hope is that Val Demmings is an exception.

[rubbersole]

13. The smears are coming for Val Demmings.

It's the republican's tried and true playbook. With no identifiable platform, what else can they do? Run on Lil Marco's record? DeSantis will rig this election. Count on it.

[Ford_Prefect]

6. IMO some of these "investigations" go for low hanging fruit exclusively.

The big fish are much harder to catch and cost much more to prosecute. You don't get points for costing the agency time and resources unless the payback is very big indeed.

FBI and DOJ are also bureaucracies with an eye on bottom line costs.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. One thing I learned about agencies that work in Florida, they don't do shit without someone

in politics giving the order. If someone like me were to ask for help, nothing happens. And trust me, I have tried. It has to be someone who is well connected or an elected officer in a high position.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. Imagine...

In the most corrupt state in the US too!

[IronLionZion]

9. Bisexual black man who has abused drugs

so Florida is fine with throwing the book at him to make an example.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. In the nineties, Central Florida allowed an extreme nutcase to push property rights

to an extreme, that also weakened government. He was a prominent figure. You could find him at meetings held in the Citrus Club. Turned out he was a huffer. You can't tell me that nobody knew about it. Hard habit to hide. Everyone found out when it finally killed him. He was white.

We also have a prominent lawyer who is alleged to have 8 DUIs. He is white.

Again, we are talking about selective justice, but that comes as no surprise. Gillum's tragedy should be told and retold as a precautionary tale for minorities to learn from. Florida is a hard state to break through, because you have to make those secretive monthly barbecues where the good ole boys get to sniff you out. If you show any signs of being a boy scout they will begin a defamation strategy against you. And trust me, when it comes to spreading rumors, nothing gets smaller than the small minds in Orlando. Even the newspaper plays a role. I know a potential candidate who submitted answers to their inquiries for their candidate profile section, and they didn't print it. They said he didn't answer their inquiry. Trust me, if this was someone they were serious about they would have called him to confirm.

So, the only way that minorities can seriously break through is if they arrive with their own group support, and are willing to live stoic lives. Forget the flash and dash. These people are vultures and will pick you clean. Only your support group will keep you viable when you trip up.

[former9thward]

16. Not a Florida prosecution.

This is a US DOJ case. It is DC is that throwing the book at him.

[bringthePaine]

11. very good goddam question

[ecstatic]

15. Had tfg and his co-conspirators been black, they would have been in jail already.

Guaranteed. They wouldn't have had almost 2 years to destroy evidence, get their lies straight and continue their crime spree.