Not Above the Law?

Recently the Left has been bleating that “no one is above the law, not even the president.”  Really?  Why do we have members of Congress guilty of sexual harassment who get to use taxpayer money to settle their cases and remain in office with anonymity?  Why was Occupy Wall Street able to destroy public and private property with impunity?  Why was Black Lives Matter given “space” to express themselves by rioting, burning, and looting Baltimore?  Why did the San Jose police stand by impotently as street thugs threw eggs and other missiles, tore up signs, and sucker punched people attending a Trump campaign rally?  Why are sanctuary cities and states allowed to not only offer “safe space” to illegal immigrants (criminal and non-criminal) but to actively interfere with federal law enforcement officials and prevent them from carrying out their legal responsibilities?

Why is it that Hillary Clinton and James Comey can play fast and loose with classified information, release it to the media, and even delete subpoenaed documents yet not even get a slap on the wrist?  Why is it that liberal college students are allowed to harass, interrupt, threaten and even shut down conservative speakers?  Santa Clara University denied club status and access to funding for Young Americans for Freedom because ”…bringing conservative speakers to the California campus—would contribute to an unsafe climate for marginalized students.”

Finally, Antifa (a classic domestic terrorist organization!) not only trashes the city of Portland but also assaults and brutalizes anyone who does not conform to their “direct action,” i.e., violent creed and tactics.  In a Baltimore, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose déjà vu, Portland police are spectators at best and unable or unwilling to protect life and property.  Don’t be surprised when citizens begin to defend themselves against the lawless!

Toxic Taxation and Road Rage

Gasoline prices in California have climbed nearly fifty cents to an average price of $3.793/gallon in the last 30 days and will probably top $4.00/gallon by the time this is printed.  The national average is $2.745!  Don't forget the State gas tax will jump up another 5.6 cents per gallon on July 1st because you voted down Proposition 8 last November.

Remember when we were told the Lotto was necessary to fund public education and improve our roads?  Remember when sales taxes were increased to improve public education and our roads?  Remember when casino gambling was enacted to solve our problems with public education and roads?  Remember when the legislature got a blank check to raise gas taxes and vehicle registration fees to improve the quality of our roads?  So what did we get for our money?  California ranks near the bottom in education (42d) and about the same in road quality with bridge safety practically being the worst!  But never fear, the supermajority Democrat legislature in Sacramento is now proposing $6.2 billion in new taxes and would be more than happy to overturn Proposition 13.

Meanwhile, the legislature introduced Senate Bill 24 in December to require student health centers on all University of California and California State University campuses to offer medical abortions free of charge.  Curiously, as fees are increased for out-of-state students, illegal alien/immigrants are allowed in-state rates!  Jerry Brown’s last budget included $33 million in taxpayer money to fight deportation and many cities and counties are following suit.  The new governor is pushing universal health care for all, including illegals in our sanctuary state.

However, Democrats are considering cutting taxes for one consumable—marijuana, in order to help legal pot shops compete with the black market and of course increase tax revenue…for public education and our roads…again.

The "New Face" of the Democrat Party?

The chair of the Democrat National Committee, Tom Perez, has anointed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the "new face" of the Democrat Party.  She is attractive, enthusiastic, and totally without a clue.  In fact, she probably has a winnable lawsuit against Boston University for giving her a diploma without an education!  Her degree was granted in economics and international relations but her ignorance in both areas is astounding.

For instance, she and her flock successfully sabotaged the new Amazon headquarter relocation to Long Island City and the opportunity to add 25,000 new jobs.  AOC railed against the $3 billion tax break the state and city had offered up as an incentive.  In a burst of jaw dropping stupidity, she proposed that the $3 billion now be used to hire more teachers and repair the subway.  Apparently she is unable to grasp a simple concept that a tax break (not that Amazon needs them given their record of zero federal income tax payments!) does not become immediate tangible funds available for redistribution!  Potential non-tax revenue does not become a current asset.  Is that so hard to understand for a college graduate and member of congress?  If you ever read her "Green New Deal," you will quickly understand there is much more this Democrat Socialist doesn't understand.

For the moment however, AOC is upstaged by the other rising star, Robert Francis O'Rourke, with the culturally appropriated nickname "Beto."  You can already see Robert and his aspiring presidential flock currying favor with Speaker Pelosi.  Pelosi labeled the wall as an "immorality" and "Beto" has said it should be torn down!  Ignore what the Border Patrol agents recommend; ignore what ICE has to say; ignore what Mark Morgan (the chief of the Border Patrol under Obama) has to say; and ignore the heartbreak of the Angel Moms and their families.  And of course, the vapidity of mainstream media will ignore the disastrous nature of their foolishness.

Until such time as the media earns the right to their constitutional protection, we will see personality prevail over proficiency and glibness conquer the gullible.  We will see one party pursue open borders, sanctuary cities, and fight voter identification requirements.  We will see one party refuse to stand when the President says the USA will not be a socialist country.  We will see one party extend the role of government into every imaginable facet of American life and erode our God-given unalienable rights.  And we are letting it happen.

“Straddling the Wall/Fence/Barrier”

By William L. Garvin

In typical congressional double-speak, being for border security does not mean you secure the border!  In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill granting amnesty to 2.7 illegal aliens in exchange for Democrats securing the borders and cracking down on businesses that hire illegals.  Estimates are that we have 11-22 million illegal aliens in this country but nobody knows exactly how many!  Here’s what Democrats used to say:

“It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.”  President Bill Clinton

“Real reform means strong border security, and we can build on the progress my administration has already made—putting more boots on the Southern border than at any time in our history and reducing illegal crossings to their lowest levels in 40 years.”  President Barack Obama

“I voted numerous times when I was a senator to spend money to build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in.  And I do think that you have to control your borders.”   Secretary Hillary Clinton

“When we use phrases like ‘undocumented workers,’ we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration, which the American people overwhelmingly oppose.  If you don’t think it’s illegal, you are not going to say it.  I think it is illegal and wrong, and we have to change it.”  Senator Chuck Schumer

Keep in mind that the USA is the most generous and welcoming nation on this planet when it comes to LEGAL immigration.  As of 2016, we had 43.7 million legal immigrants.  That is four times more than any other country.

In 2013, Schumer sponsored a $46.3 billion immigration bill that provided for 19,200 additional southern Border Patrol agents, $8 billion for “fencing, infrastructure and technology,” $4.5 billion to implement DHS border security strategies, and $750 million for E-Verify.  It did not pass the House. That was then; this is now.  Today, the Democrat House (Pelosi) and Schumer’s Democrat senators will not even pony up $5 billion for physical barriers on the southern border.  Why?  Because they hate Donald Trump so much that they are willing to jeopardize national security, jeopardize American lives, continue the flow of deadly drugs, and continually increase illegal alien numbers.

Numerous Democrats are even calling for eliminating or reducing the funding for ICE.  For the record, in 2018, ICE arrested over 17,000 adults with criminal records.  Over 6,000 were gang members such as MS-13!  In addition, they seized or helped seize 282,000 pounds of cocaine, 248,000 pounds of meth, 6,500 pounds of heroin, and 2,400 pounds of fentanyl!  Nineteen percent of prisoners in the federal system are illegal aliens.  All the Border Patrol boots on the ground say walls will help but Pelosi will not listen to them nor the Angel Moms.  Now that is an actual “immorality”!

AT WAR WITH THE TRUTH

By William L. Garvin

"The first casualty when war comes is truth."  It is clear that Senate dems are at war with truth, with basic concepts of fairness, decency, and fundamental concepts such as "innocent until proven guilty."  In their psychotic hatred of President Trump and their slavish devotion to a mother's "right" to murder her babies, they have no concern about slaughtering innocents nor collateral damage.  As Alinsky devotees, they isolate, mock, ridicule, humiliate, and intimidate opposition into submission.

We have seen this ruthless methodology played out in the confirmation hearings for JUSTICE Kavanaugh and by several local liberal writers who are long on name calling and invective but short on logic and facts.  Innuendo, uncorroborated allegations, outright smears and ludicrous charges are just means to an end--an insatiable need for power.  Therefore, they believed Dr. Ford before she ever testified.  They knew they would oppose "with tooth and nail" ANY nominee submitted by this president.  They hated Judge Kavanaugh before they ever heard him say a word and their venom dripped from nearly every question.  The mask was off; the gloves were dropped; the knives were sharpened, and they proceeded to slice and stab a thousand cuts into every fiber of his lifetime of superb professional accomplishment.  They hoped to intimidate and humiliate him into running away from the nomination.

However, once he stood up to the bullies and decided to fight back, they had to offer up the sacrificial Dr. Ford, an undoubtedly troubled woman with repressed memories of an episode of 36 years ago.  While she may have been sincere, her story had so many holes that no rational person could find it substantiated in any way whatsoever.  Her fear of flying is untrue.  Her witness list all refuted her contentions.  Her story about the second door in her house if contradicted by the construction timeline, etc., etc., etc.

Oh wait!  He's still fighting back! Now he fails to show the "temperament" for the Supreme Court.  Doesn't he know he's not allowed to emotionally defend himself, his wife, his daughters, his reputation and his professional accomplishments?  He is supposed to bow his head as he is called evil, alcoholic, serial rapist; as he is emotionally scourged like a democrat whipping boy; as his character is systematically gang raped by those who should not be throwing stones!  Doesn’t he know he and his supporters are supposed to “shut up!”  What happened to that Aloha spirit, Senator Hirono?  Being lectured on “falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus” (false in one thing, false in all things) by lying “stolen valor” Senator Blumenthal had to be the epitome of irony.  But wait, hold my beer says Spartacus!  This self-admitted sexual molester assumes his holier than thou persona to cast stones from within his glass house!  What a travesty.  What an unnecessary spectacle.  And it could all have been avoided by Senator Feinstein and Ford’s attorneys.  You sacrificed your pawn, but you also sacrificed your honor, your dignity, and your sacred duty.

Hypocrisy, Deceit and Destruction

“Hypocrisy, Deceit and Destruction”

By William L. Garvin

“The ends justify the means.”  This immoral and barbaric principle in the naked quest for power typifies democrats on the Senate Judicial Committee.  In fact, minority leader Chuck Schumer has stated: “The consequences are going to be down the road. We are not going to settle on a Supreme Court nominee…we are going to oppose them tooth and nail,” and “It's hard for me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican support that we [Democrats] could support."

The strategy of “Borking” was used by the cowardly “Lion of the Senate” who allowed a woman to drown in his car.  It was followed by Joe Biden conducting a “high tech lynching” of Clarence Thomas.  Now Diane Feinstein and democrat colleagues have choreographed a hideous intellectual gang rape, torture and assassination of the character of Judge Brett Kavanaugh without a shred of evidence to support an allegation of 36-year-old sexual misconduct.  They would make MS-13 proud!

What a cast of characters.  Feinstein employed a Chinese spy as her driver for 20 years while her husband made millions dealing with Chinese companies and receiving no-bid government contracts.  Richard Blumenthal falsely claimed on numerous occasions that he had served in Viet Nam in order to secure “Stolen Valor.”  Sheldon Whitehouse pored over every adolescent comment made in a high school yearbook and imputed a salacious intent to every entry his fertile mind could concoct.  Perusing the Holton-Arms yearbook would have been more satisfying to his prurient interest.  Long time Californians know exactly how Kamala Harris leveraged her entry into the hallways of political power.

Then there’s the pompous, preening Prince of Pontification, Cory “Spartacus” Booker who has earned special opprobrium.  You see, Cory has already confessed to fondling and sexually molesting a drunken female.  (See Stanford Daily archives, Vol. 201, Issue 12, page 4.)  Cory expected, nay DEMANDED expiation for his sexual sin as a now evolved, “woke” beta male.  One would think that he might have some sensitivity to the allegations.  But, no.  Instead, he proclaimed Kavanaugh to be “evil” and anyone who supported him to be “complicit in evil” before the hearing, before Dr. Ford’s testimony, and without a single piece of corroborating evidence.  Obviously, this is a classic case of projection; since he was guilty, Kavanaugh must also be guilty.  As did the remainder of his colleagues, he found Ford to be “credible” and “courageous” well before her testimony.  Unfortunately for her, every supposed witness to her ordeal (including her best friend!) not only failed to corroborate her account but effectively refuted her testimony!  Still, even with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, she and senate dems believe her version of events.  While her belief is credible; her story is not.

The senate democrats would have you believe that the judge was a stumbling, falling down drunk and frat boy serial rapist. Their media propaganda arm marches in lock step with that motif by devoting 95% of their coverage to the charges and less that 5% to the defenses and holes in her story.  Surprisingly, this “functioning alcoholic” remained at the top of his class in high school, college and law school.  Then a miracle occurred.  From the moment he entered professional life, there is not a smidgeon of sexual predation.  Not only did women from his high school stand in his support, but hundreds of women from his every professional stop joined in his defense.  His support, mentoring, and promotion of women is consistent and unwavering regardless of their political affiliation.

Feinstein could have dealt with these allegations in a private and timely manner, but she chose instead to expose Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh to senatorial and/or public excoriation.  Kids, you are warned about bullying but this is how the pros do it.  Dr. Ford, you may not think you are a political pawn, but you have been played, sacrificed, and will soon be discarded.  Hopefully your GoFundMe pages will see you through.  As for Judge Kavanaugh, Nancy Pelosi is already floating the idea of impeaching him in his present exemplary performing appellate role. Given the barbarism of their performance, I would not be at all surprised if they armed themselves with pointed sticks and started dancing all the while chanting “Kill Piggy, kill Piggy, kill Piggy!”  They have shown a willingness to abandon all sense of fair play, decency, due process, the presumption of innocence, rules of evidence, and factual decision making as the minority party.  God help us all if they ever secure greater power as the majority party!

  

Letter to the Editor: Facts about firearms

Facts: after 26 parishioners were murdered in Sutherland Springs, Texas, the murderer was confronted, shot, then fled from a neighbor wielding an AR-15. A Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, homeowner shot and killed three masked intruders with an AR-15.  Is that good enough for starters?

 

On a larger scale, President Obama commissioned a $10 million CDC study on gun violence.  The Institute of Medicine and National Research Council released their results and noted that “almost all national survey estimates indicated that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.”  This is supported by a previously unreported CDC study from 1996-1998 that showed approximately 2.46 million DGUs (defensive gun uses) per year.

 

Fact: in our worst school shooting (Virginia Tech, 32 fatalities), the murderer used two pistols: a .22 caliber Walther and a 9 mm Glock. In the most recent Santa Fe shooting, the murderer used a shotgun and a .38 caliber revolver.  Contrary to media reports and Beacon writers, no AR-15s were involved.

 

Fact: Britain has highly regulated gun laws.  So far this year, New York City has 32 homicides by firearms; London has 32 homicides by knife!  Knives with blades over 3” have now been banned in London.  Here in the US in 2016, there were 374 deaths by rifles (of all sorts) but there were 1,604 deaths by knives/sharp objects!

 

“Military, rapid fire killing weapons” is deliberate mischaracterization and fear mongering at its finest but that’s what anti-gun zealots do when it comes to the AR-15.  This weapon did not create the culture of violence and banning it will not solve the nature of evil in the hearts of those who murder others.  They will find a way.

Letter to the Rio Vista Beacon

To the empty vessels:  The "AR" in AR-15 does NOT stand for "assault rifle" nor does it stand for "automatic rifle," of which the aforementioned semi-automatic weapon is neither.  It stands for "ArmaLite Rifle," the original manufacturer.  It does not have a selector switch to fire short bursts or become fully automatic.  It is NOT "...a powerful military weapon converted for civilian use" nor is it a "military-style assault weapon" contrary to the erroneous pronouncements of Senator Feinstein.  Anti-gun forces are probably just as frightened by the form as the function: it just looks so scary and they are so triggered!

There are more people beaten to death with "assault bats," "assault clubs," and sundry "assault blunt objects"  in the U.S than are killed by rifles.  There are more people killed by "assault hitting and assault kicking" than are killed by rifles.  There are over four times as many people killed by "assault knives and assault sharp objects" than are killed by rifles.  If a generation doesn't have sufficient "maturity" to purchase a rifle until they are twenty-one, maybe they shouldn't have a license to drive an "assault auto," especially given their propensity to text while driving and kill innocent people.  Maybe there should be a reconsideration as to whether they possess the necessary maturity to cast a vote as well.  They have every right to grieve publically and to demand safer schools but they should have no say whatsoever in deciding what sort of weapon I can use to defend my home and my family!

Sincerely,

Bill Garvin

"...they know so much that isn't so."

“It’s not that liberals are ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”  Ronald Reagan

A recent “critique” of my letter was so erroneous that it was almost laughable.  I had pointed out that there are exceptions to protections regarding freedom of speech such as libel, slander, defamation, threats (“fighting words”), obscenity, child pornography and language that is incendiary or likely to incite to riot.  If my critic had even a modicum of knowledge of constitutional law, he would know that these examples are not “childish”.  Case law is replete with situations where sanctions are imposed in each of these areas because the speech was not constitutionally protected.  It is frequently speech that escalates crime to “hate crime” calling for enhanced penalties.  Search engines are your friend.  Use them before you suggest that I have a “perverted version of the constitution”!

He then shifts to the “Russian collusion delusion.”  After numerous investigations, countless hours and thousands upon thousands of dollars, where’s the evidence?  Where’s the proof?  Where’s the crime?  It’s not like President Trump’s spouse received $500,000 for a single speech or the Trump Foundation received millions of dollars from Russian oligarchs as did Bill and Hillary Clinton.  And when the FBI launched their investigation into Russian hacking, the RNC gave them full access to their computers and servers but the DNC did NOT!  Methinks it’s curious at best.

Finally, he complains about racist language used against Barack Obama.  I have never used such language nor do I condone those who do.  Therefore, this complaint is irrelevant to my letter but consistent with his previous erroneous observations.   Please find another foil for your foolish, ad hominem strawman arguments.

In the future, “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

The “death rattle” of the Democrat Party!

Listen!  Did you hear that?  It’s the “death rattle” of the Democrat Party!  Suffocating in the chokehold of the radical left, they flail mindlessly searching for a semblance of relevance.  The alt-left Alinsky acolytes know that truth is an inconvenient impediment to their lust for power and principles are merely sacrifices to pragmatism. Meanwhile, “moderate Democrats” stand by impotently as their dreams go up in smoke and their policies go down in flames!  As their death throes drag them farther and farther to the left, their “resistance” becomes nothing more than a comical caricature of what used to be known as “loyal opposition.”  As the alt-left becomes more vulgar and violent, the old-school Democrats stand mutely by tacitly lending aid and comfort to those who would destroy our country and our government.

 

Nationally and locally, Alinskyites are relentless in their “trite and true” tactics of “isolate, personalize, ridicule, and destroy” anyone who opposes their progressive (sic) agenda.  Of course, it is quite difficult to ascertain exactly what their “new” vision for America will be since their last eight years has failed so miserably.  In any event, this predictable strategy surfaced quite recently when I compiled a cumulative list of slurs, slanders, libels, innuendoes, falsehoods, and childish name calling written by local liberals.  Lo and behold, another liberal writer took it upon himself to respond.  Every single comment he made was either a complete distortion or a blatant falsehood.  He even characterized the liberal lies and slanders as “astute.”  That’s a bigger lie than any I previously documented!

 

It is this sort of impolite, impolitic polemics; it is this sort of scorched earth intransigence; it is this lack of civility that threatens the fabric of our democracy.  Since they have no message, they viciously attack the messengers.  It’s pitiful…what a shame!    

The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!

By William L. Garvin

To make sense out of the current progressive political panic and media feeding frenzy surrounding Russia, it is necessary to employ selective political amnesia.  You must forget the cold war leftist shibboleth of “Better Red than Dead!”  You must forget détente, glasnost and perestroika.  You must forget the slobbering love affair the left had for Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev.  Forget sycophantic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her plastic “Reset Button.”  Forget presidential candidate Romney identifying Russia as our number one geopolitical foe and presidential reelection candidate Obama mocking him by saying “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”  Forget President Obama leaning forward in a conspiratorial whisper to his Russian counterpart and promising that this was his last election and after that he would have more “flexibility.”

Forget that the Clinton State Department and the Obama presidency allowed twenty percent of the U.S. uranium production to be sold to the Russians.  Forget the New York Times reporting that “...while the State Department was involved in securing a uranium mining deal with Russia, investors in the company involved in the deal, Uranium One, gave millions to the Clinton Foundation” and “…shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, Mr. Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock."  No “play for pay” here, folks, just move along!  Forget the hideous corruption within the Democrat National Committee and the partisan collusion with major cable networks that was revealed by WikiLeaks.  Just keep moving!  If you manage that significant memory loss (or equivalent prefrontal lobotomy!) then you can begin to understand the Nixonian media obsession of “what did the President know and when did he know it?”  This is the media, sometimes and more accurately known as the “opposition party,” emerging from its eight-year hibernation along with the Russian bear!  Such a coincidence!!!

For eight long years, the MSM has been in their “hear no evil, see no evil, print/broadcast no evil” mode in regards to the Obama presidency, scandals, and Russia.  Now they have reverted to their “hear no positive, see no positive, print/broadcast no positive” mode in regards to the Trump presidency.  This is typical of their approach to any “other than Democrat” political figure.  Their antipathy to real scandals during the Obama years and proclivity to invent scandals in the first month of the Trump administration has become a travesty to the profession of journalism.  Their “snowflake” response to criticism and challenge to their self-declared elitism is at best an overly defensive reaction to having been so wrong on so many levels on so many things for so many years!  To give them credit, at least they are fighting back, albeit on a dirty tricks level, rather than cowering in a safe space, cuddling puppies, putting on safety pins, and screaming their primal hearts out!

There are many other questions about their hypocrisy that remain.  When President Clinton (Bill) decried illegal aliens, why weren’t they outraged?  When senators Schumer, Clinton (Hillary), and Obama complained about illegal aliens and voted for a wall, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama bragged about his number of deportations, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama identified seven countries that were hotbeds of terrorism, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When President Carter rounded up and deported Iranians, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama sent millions and billions of dollars to Iran, the number one state sponsor of terrorism, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama cozied up to Castro and his Communist regime with its continual practice of human rights abuses, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?  When Obama ended the “wet foot/dry foot” policy for Cubans, why weren’t they and their readers outraged?”  Oh, you didn’t know that?  That just proves the point.

 For your edification, here’s the text of the Obama DHS policy statement: “Today, the United States is taking important steps forward to normalize relations with Cuba and to bring greater consistency to our immigration policy. The Department of Homeland Security is ending the so-called "wet-foot/dry foot" policy, which was put in place more than twenty years ago and was designed for a different era. Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities. By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea.”

If you noticed the political relevance of Cuban refugees being generally conservative in the swing state of Florida, are you just cynical?  Nope!  If you noticed that Lois Lerner and the IRS specifically targeted Tea Party and conservative groups, are you just cynical?  Nope!  If you believed “there’s not a smidgeon of corruption,” think intelligence leaks are harmless, and the MSM doesn’t have a progressive agenda, you’re in progressive political denial!  Unfortunately, ongoing political amnesia leaves too many people brain dead and in large cities, zombies still vote!   

THE APOCALYPSE IS UPON US!

According to liberal letters, all is lost; the apocalypse is upon us; and there is no hope for anyone! Just this last month, they have wailed that we didn't have an election, we had a coup d'état and are on the brink of World War III. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be destroyed and no one will have jobs, homes, or healthcare. Coal sludge will clog our rivers and toxic nuclear waste will contaminate our ground water and air. But don't worry about a slow death because crazy people will be running around with guns and it will be too dangerous to fly to try and get away!

Bush and Cheney were cowards and were why Obama couldn't negotiate a status of forces agreement and President Trump has already killed one soldier and wounded three. Now, "white wing thugs," crooks, liars, and con artists make up the presidential cabinet (what few have been confirmed!). Furthermore, the cabinet is made up of white supremacists, racists and the Attorney General is a member of the KKK! Anybody who voted for President Trump is "stupid,' "uninformed," "troglodyte few," "mindless minions," and possess "no ability for independent thought."

The president himself is "narcissistic, delusional, racist, stupid, uninformed, inept, a joke, politically ignorant, gross buffoon, big liar" and of course "not legitimate"! That is because he was chosen by the Kremlin and is a Russian puppet and there is an actual video in the Russian "dossier" that shows President Trump in a hotel room with prostitutes. But wait...it's "Herr Trump" and a cabinet of "Vichy Republicans." I'm confused...is he fascist or communist?

I won't even dignify the lewd slurs you have made about the First Lady with a response. All of the above foolishness is contained in letters to this paper from the supposed party of tolerance in 2017. I'm not going to call you out but I would hope that responsible members of your party would take exception to you being the public representation of Democrats. It is this sort of irresponsible hyperbole, blatant falsehoods, and alt-left propaganda that sets the stage for the anarchy surrounding what should be peaceful protests. I wonder who are the real "puppets" for the enemies of democracy? Who are the real "useful idiots?" I can't imagine how anything I have been reading lately would persuade anyone to join your cause. 

Some Rhymes for These Times

(Ed. note: the two fools mentioned in the first two entries are local lefties who fill the editorial page of the local fishwrap with their "wisdom"...LOL.)

Beware of Frito Zamboni;

His letters are full of baloney.

Wherever he goes,

It's hatred he sows,

An angry political phony!

His sidekick is always Ms. Willing;

Who believes the kool-ade she's swilling.

With lies and half truths,

Reality she spoofs,

But fantasy she finds quite fulfilling!

The elections over, you lost.

Our country chose a new boss.

You may think he's a chump,

But it's President Trump,

Learn how to deal with your loss!

The thing you feared the most,

The middle overcame the coast.

Another election,

Provides new direction

Liberal dreams are now toast!

Hopefully someone will fret

Over outrageous national debt

And provide some order

To our national border,

Something we haven't seen yet!

Hillary’s Brave New World

By William L. Garvin

"I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views…my treatment of the issues is often partial and incomplete."  Barack Obama

When Candidate Obama pursued the presidency, gullible voters and malleable media wistfully opted for a “post-racial” president.  Attention to his radical roots and strongest influences (Alinsky, Davis, Wright) was scant if at all.  Those who scrutinized his upbringing and writings (to the minimal extent they are available) were not at all surprised by Obamacare and the government seizure of one-sixth of the American economy.  They were not at all surprised by the many other socialist expansions via increasing governmental regulations and controls.  The utopian “hope and change” morphed into “radical transformation.”

It is patently obvious that race relations in this country has deteriorated significantly during his tenure and Obamacare is neither affordable nor does it improve health care.  Over half the exchanges have already collapsed and insurers are leaving in droves.  And lest we forget, before it was Obamacare, it was called Hillarycare!  Hillary and her socialist surrogates continue to trumpet the need for a “public option.”  Since government never needs to show a profit (don’t forget our $20 trillion national debt!), it will undercut the private sector rendering it even less profitable and soon they will have their single-payer government monopoly.  Think VA travesties on a national scale.  As for race relations, Hillary continues down the same divisive status quo track.  As does the president, she sees “systemic racism” throughout law enforcement and sees “Black Lives Matter” as an important voice in formulating public policy.  Will she glamorize and glorify common criminals with presidential representatives at their funerals?  She certainly hasn’t distanced herself from any current administration biases.

How can she possibly be a president of all the people when she sees her opposition as a “basket of deplorables” and “irredeemable?”  When queried by Anderson Cooper as to enemies she was most proud of, she immediately responded: “Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians; probably the Republicans.”  As to showing respect for the Constitution, she has already warned “I’m going to speak out, I’m going to do everything I can to rally people against this pernicious corrupting influence of the NRA.”  Her daughter, Chelsea, said that with Justice Scalia gone, her mother would nominate a justice that would uphold “common sense gun control” regulations.  This, as always, is lib-speak for “confiscation.”

The Second Amendment is not the only constitutional right under attack in Hillary’s brave new world.  “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” does not apply to the unborn.  She left unchallenged the charge that she would allow a baby to be aborted up to the day of delivery and has never repudiated partial birth abortions.  She reiterated her support of Planned Parenthood and their grisly practices even though PP officials and other abortion advocates have stated that a child surviving an abortion should not unconditionally receive appropriate medical treatment!  A baby’s right to life does not exist even after he or she is born!

Of course, in Hillary’s brave new world, taxpayer money from those who believe life begins at conception will still be funneled to PP.  Then again, she recently said: “All the laws we’ve passed don’t count for much if they’re not enforced.  Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will.”  (Naturally she wasn’t talking about handling confidential material, private servers, money from oppressive regimes and other conflicts of interest!)  So far so good but then she concluded: “And deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”  In other words, she not only knows what is best for you common folk -- she even knows what is best for God!  What incredible hubris!!!

So yes, conservative groups will continue to be terrorized by the IRS; the FBI and DOJ will decide to prosecute on the color of skin or political affiliation; the EPA will put coal mines and miners out of business; and millions of dollars will be funneled to bundlers and cronies via government contracts.  Irrational lessons in morality and behavior will be inculcated via endless repetition of platitudes through the educational system and the malicious, mendacious media.  Opponents will be vilified; their speech will be deemed “hateful” and therefore silenced.  Her new world order without borders will be one gigantic safe space.  It will tolerate anything but dissent….  Vote wisely.

  

Political Potpourri

By William L. Garvin

This year’s presidential campaign bears out a couple of aphorisms.  The first is “politics is acting for unattractive people.”  The second is: “Never get into a mud fight with a pig because you lose a lot of ground; everyone gets dirty; and the pig likes it!”  As Trump is finding out, the Clintons are experts in mud wrestling and the Democrats have raised the politics of personal destruction to an art form.

During the party conventions, much ado was made about Melania Trump’s speech containing words and phrases previously used by Michelle Obama.  One should note that Michelle’s speech was not her original thought but a carefully crafted text written by a speech writer to be read from a teleprompter. Likewise, Melania’s presentation also was a carefully crafted text written by a speech writer which she too read from a teleprompter.  Let’s ignore the fact that the wording in question in both cases was a time honored cliché about a man’s word being his bond and one should always do what you say you are going to do.  The main point is that the conventions were carefully managed Hollywood stage productions scripted and directed for entertainment rather than political edification.

Of course, the mud wrestling comes in when the final contest is between a political outsider with no political record and a lifelong politician with no political accomplishments of note.  It is far better for Hillary to attack Donald’s character and temperament than to defend her own failures and the continuation of failed Obama administration policies.  To quickly recap, economic growth is anemic, wages are stagnant, labor participation and home ownership are falling, illegal immigration is rampant, terror and crime are up, and Obamacare is collapsing.  Over half of the state exchanges have failed, premiums are up, deductibles are up, and choice is down.  The fiscal year 2016 deficit was $588 billion which boosted the national debt to an astounding $19.7 TRILLION!  So Hillary wants to raise taxes and spend more on a “stimulus package” which will have REAL “shovel ready jobs” this time around.  Right!

She doesn’t want to talk about Russia’s increasing bellicosity following her laughable reset button nor her numerous mid-East disasters.  Why even Yemen feels emboldened to fire missiles at U.S. warships and send “spotter craft” to direct the targeting with no concern of significant retaliation.  Naturally she doesn’t want to talk about her own infamous temper tantrums and vulgar language documented in the many books about her time in the White House.  It’s far more important to focus on Donald’s mean words that according to Michelle Obama “have shaken me to my core” since she never heard that language before.  Apparently Michelle missed the performances in the Obama White House by Beyonce and the cop-hating rappers with their vulgar and hateful lyrics.  The Democrat party in general, which dismissed all the impropriety of the Clinton presidency as “just sex,” now seems obsessed with moral outrage.  What should we think of the millions of women who fawned, fondled, fantasized and flaunted their fascination with FIFTY SHADES OF GREY?  Are they likewise “shaken to the core”?  Doubtful.

Her mudslinging innuendoes about Trump tax returns are also interesting.  Ignore the fact that all of her charitable contributions go to the Clinton Foundation.  When she talks about Trump losing nearly a billion dollars one year, she “forgets” that she lost $6 billion of taxpayer money while Secretary of State.  Trump recouped his losses; she won’t.  And when it comes to taking deductions, many will remember the famous Mike Royko column where he mockingly noted that the Clintons would donate Bill’s old skivvies to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and deduct four dollars per pair and twelve dollars per pair of long johns!  He also noted that used underwear in thrift shops in Arkansas usually went for about fifty cents!  And whatever we do, let’s not talk about how twenty percent of our uranium was sold to Russia.  Let’s continue to talk about her lifelong fight for children but not the donations to her foundation from countries that denigrate and destroy women and children in deed as opposed to words.

Donald is losing the mud fight to the experts, losing to the media tag teams of Clinton supporters, losing to the Washington elite, and losing to the debate moderators.  It is likely that this time the entire White House, not just the Lincoln Bedroom, will be up for sale.  If the allegations about Trump are ever proven to be true, then win or lose, a sexual predator will be stalking the halls of power.  Interns beware!

AN "ABCD" SPEAKS

By William L. Garvin

I am an “ABCD—Anybody But Clinton Deplorable.”  This presidential election is regarded by myself and many others as a choice between “Horrible Hillary” and “Terrible Trump.”  Be that as it may, I think Horrible Hillary won the first presidential debate but to use her own words, “At this point in time, what difference does it make?”  Of course I am only referring to a relatively inconsequential exchange of words but she was heartlessly referring to the murder of four Americans in Benghazi.  Naturally, in typical mainstream media fashion, that travesty was not discussed.

While I say Hillary may have won, that can only be said in the context of suspending the reality of history and ignoring her hypocrisy and the strident irony of her many pronouncements, all accepted at face value by the “moderator,” Lester Holt.  For instance, too much time was spent on whether or not Trump supported the Iraq invasion based on a minuscule quote Trump made during a Howard Stern radio show.  There was no mention made of the consistent opposition he made in writing and on videotape shortly thereafter.  NOTHING was noted about Senator Clinton actually voting FOR the invasion and also supporting the “premature evacuation” of American troops that made possible the genesis of ISIS!

It was almost impossible to listen to her speak about “cybersecurity” and how important it was given her absolute ignorance in fact and behavior about safeguarding intellectual property and state secrets.  Tangentially, she made many innuendoes about Trump’s need to “hide” his tax returns because of many possibly nefarious motives.  This is similar to Harry Reid lying on the Senate floor about Mitt Romney’s tax returns.  As usual, the sequel is even worse than the prequel.  You see, every possible motive she attributed to Trump could be applied to the Clinton Foundation and to her deliberately setting up several private servers (which no Secretary of State has ever done!) thereby compromising our country’s most sensitive communications.  This was not a “mistake” for which she has accepted responsibility; this was an egregious error in judgment for which others who are not above the law would be and have been imprisoned!  Lost in the bureaucratic shuffle and the incomprehensible refusal of the FBI to recommend prosecution, is the fact that she let many of her personal lawyers have access to, review, and delete many of the public records even though none of them had a security clearance of even the lowest level.  Despite her extensive “experience” in government at both state and federal levels, she obviously has failed to master even the fundamentals of document security or safeguarding secret government information!  She has however mastered the fundamentals of wiping her numerous servers clean with BleachBit (not with a cloth) and smashing some of her many cellphones with a hammer!!  Now let me ask you, who has something to hide?  It is public record that the Clinton Foundation had to “revise” years of tax returns to include donations from foreign entities that they “forgot” to previously list.  Naturally none of her deleted emails from her “personal” server would include communication with those foreign entities that contributed to her personal foundation, would they?  And just as an aside, why would any foreign entity or person contribute to a foundation that only spends about six percent in actual charitable donations?  But let’s not worry about that…let’s argue about who started the ”birther” controversy, Trump or Hillary’s campaign when she was running against Barack.  Maybe that’s why Barack aired a campaign ad in retaliation that said Hillary would “say anything and change nothing.”

In the debate, with typical glib responses and no regard to truth, she denied support for NAFTA and the TPP trade agreements (because she desperately needs union votes).  As Bill Clinton’s First Lady (sic) she vigorously supported NAFTA on her whistle stops and CNN clearly documents her support for the TPP:  "This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field.”  But again, the Clintons have never been in favor of a level playing field in word or deed!

As a Yale educated lawyer (who flunked the Washington D.C. bar exam!) with a lifetime of experience in political double-speak and a plethora of experience in presidential and primary debates, she should have wiped the floor with Donald, the political ingénue.  She didn’t.  She won a split decision in style according to political pundits who similarly have no regard for substance but prefer syntactically correct albeit meaningless phraseology.  However, her mean spirited personal attacks and smug arrogance changed neither hearts nor minds.  It did reinforce however that Barack was right: “She’ll say anything and change nothing”….just like Benghazi.

Cheap Shots Often Misfire

By William L. Garvin

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker.  It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”  President Ronald Reagan

Rahm Emmanuel, the current Democrat mayor of Chicago and prior Senior Advisor to Bill Clinton and White House Chief of Staff to Barack Obama, once opined that “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”  Accordingly, politicos and their sycophantic surrogates immediately rushed to make political hay out of the Orlando atrocity.  Their primary goal was to obscure the truth that ISIS has not been contained and that radical Islamic terrorism once again slashed deeply into our American psyche.

It is abundantly clear that Islamophilia (the morbid fondness for rationalizing, excusing, and denying the existence of Muslim extremists) is much more prevalent than Islamophobia.  Simply look at all the rationalizations offered up for Omar Mateen’s slaughter of 49 American citizens.  ACLU lawyers called out Christians and conservatives; a Florida bishop called out the “Catholic contempt for homosexuality”; Black Planned Parenthood activists singled out “toxic masculinity”; the Obama administration said it was a problem of “underfunding”; the Unitarian Universalist Association proclaimed the cause to be “demonization of other faiths”; and the proverbial “easy access to weapons of war.”  Simultaneously, the President and assorted minions sounded their usual clarion call for “gun control.” And let’s not forget to blame Republicans, Trump supporters and the NRA, perpetual liberal whipping boys.  Adding Orlando to Little Rock, Fort Hood, Boston, Moore, Oklahoma, Garland, Texas, San Bernardino and Chattanooga will still not allow an Islamophiliac to reach the conclusion that Mateen was a radical Muslim.  On top of that, our top cop, Attorney General Loretta Lynch initially doctored the 911 transcripts to remove the jihadist’s pledge of allegiance to ISIS!

The Islamophiliac of the liberal left prefers to focus on the trigger rather than the person who pulled the trigger hence their full throat baying for more gun control.  Understand that when liberals say gun control, they really mean gun confiscation.  Dylan Matthews, a writer for the liberal VOX said: “This is not a Dems’ sales pitch but I’m totally down with letting the prez unilaterally ban people (hopefully everyone!) from buying guns.”  Joe Manchin, the Democrat senator from West Virginia ominously said: “Due process is what’s killing us right now.”  Bernie Sanders called for a ban on automatic weapons, apparently unaware that machine guns and other automatic weapons have been banned for decades.  Democratic Representative Keith Ellison posted a picture of an AR-15 and an M-16 and asked if you could tell the difference—another case of weapons profiling.  First of all, the AR does not stand for “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.”  It stands for “ArmaLite Rifle,” the original developer and manufacturer.  Secondly, it was not used as a weapon of choice in Orlando; the terrorist used a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. ( Previous weapons of choice by terrorists have been box cutters, airplanes, pressure cookers, shoe and underwear bombs, fertilizer, knives and handguns.)  Thirdly, semi-automatic means you must pull the trigger for each round to be fired.  It is physically impossible to fire “700 rounds per minute” as Florida Rep. Alan Grayson foolishly claimed.  And for Rep. Ellison’s edification, an M-16 can toggle between single shot, bursts, and fully automatic; an AR-15 cannot.  Fourthly, the AR-15 is not a “high powered rifle.”  It is of intermediate strength using .223 cartridges rather than the .30-30 or .308 rounds used for hunting large game.  It has light recoil and does not “bruise shoulders,” “feel like a bazooka,” “sound like a cannon,” or cause “temporary PTSD” as New York Daily News’ Gersh Kuntzman foolishly wrote.

It is an anathema as to why liberals think that taking weapons away from law abiding citizens will increase their security.  If gun control actually worked, we would not have had the terrorist atrocities in Paris and Brussels which are gun free countries.  The FBI says they have over 1,000 active terrorist investigations in all fifty states.  The CIA says ISIS attacks will intensify and they will infiltrate via refugee and smuggling routes.  From 2009-2014, this administration issued 832,014 green cards to people from majority Muslim countries. Since 2015, the administration has processed 11,086 Muslim and 433 Christian refugees from Iraq and 5,435 Muslims and 28 Christians from Syria.  The administration claims that background checks of Americans are inadequate but somehow background checks and vetting for people with no documentation who come from countries with no available records is reliable.  In addition, the federal government has just released 86,000 criminals from prison who should have been deported.  Buy a gun and learn how to use it.   When the prey is armed, predators have second thoughts. 

Start Your Engines

By William L. Garvin

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”  James Madison

The major political parties have now determined their respective “presumptive nominees” for the presidency of the United States.  Two of the most unpopular candidates ever nominated will vie for the coveted office.  If history is our guide, both will be subjected to scrutiny but one will be scrutinized more closely and with more vigor than the other.  One will have faults and foibles magnified and the other’s will be minimized.  That’s why she can wear a $12,000 Armani jacket with nary a care while Ann Romney was pilloried for a $900 blouse.  One will have his change in positions characterized as “flip-flopping” while her change in position will be seen as “evolving.”  She will characterize him as a “loose cannon” and “dangerous.”  He will point out her lifetime record of lies, scandals and that when that 3 a.m. phone call came, she was nowhere to be found.

P.J. O’Rourke noted: "Every person in America has done or said something that would keep him or her from being president. Maybe a nation that consumes as much booze and dope as we do and has our kind of divorce statistics should pipe down about 'character issues.”  "... in our brief national history we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their character."   It is surprising that anyone would still want the job but let the games begin anyway.

If you believe the polls, two-thirds of the country thinks we are on the wrong course.  That’s why a 74-year old socialist with no record of significant accomplishment and who was never even a Democrat won so many states over Hillary.  Bernie argued that the system was corrupt and Donald echoed the same tune from the opposing party.  Nonetheless, Democrats chose Hillary to continue the same policies and agenda of the Obama administration.  This is the administration that has increased the national debt from $10.6 trillion to $19.3 trillion and counting.  This is the administration that has seen food stamp recipients soar to record numbers as wages decline and the labor participation rate plummets.  The first quarter GDP was a miserable 0.8 and last month the country produced only 38,000 jobs of which 10,000 were in government!  Thanks to 500,000 people giving up and dropping out of the work force, the unemployment rate fell to 4.7%.  Income inequality has worsened under this administration while health care premiums continue to escalate to unaffordable heights accompanied by huge deductibles despite solemn promises to the contrary.  Over 25 million remain uninsured.

We have Russian nuclear bombers and fighter planes increasing their flights around Alaska and “buzzing” American ships in the Black Sea.  Chinese fighter planes make dangerous passes at U.S. recon planes and China builds an artificial island to extend their “ownership” of international waters.  Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan are all ensnared in the ISIS tentacles and we have no coherent military strategy let alone an exit strategy.  “Leading from behind,” “strategic patience,” and “smart diplomacy” are nothing but euphemisms for failure!  Where are the victories from this great assemblage of “coalition forces”?  Empty words and unfulfilled promises.

Meanwhile, domestic race relations continue to deteriorate under the guidance of a “post racial president” who seems more interested in which bathroom should be used than the murder rates in inner cities.  He ignores mayors who tell the police to stand down to give rioters room to burn and loot.  He ignores sanctuary cities and police forces that stand idly by while watching innocent people being assaulted and beaten by groups of thugs at political rallies.  He insists on releasing prisoners from Guantanamo that end up on the battlefield killing American soldiers.  He allows ICE to release 86,000 criminals between 2013 and 2015 and refuses to say who they are and where they are.  According to a Boston Globe study, thirty percent reoffend including rape and attempted murder.  He continues to expand immigration from war torn countries even if we don’t know who they are and where they are from.  Of course, if you disagree with any of his policies, you are a racist and a bigot!

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power,” noted Abraham Lincoln.  This administration has egregiously abused its power and two-thirds of America say we don’t need more of the same!  How many will still vote the same?