Tag: crime

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Slams Lee Zeldin As “The Architect Of The Big Lie”

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul(D) appeared on MSNBC’s 11th Hour (11/04/22) to essentially make her closing argument against her Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in the election slated for this coming Tuesday(11/08/22). You’ll remember Hochul, then Lt. Governor, took over when former Governor Andrew Cuomo was forced to step down amid sexual harassment allegations. Hochul is now seeking election to a full term.

Asked to comment about her challenger, Lee Zeldin, Gov Hochul didn’t mince words, telling New Yorkers that Zeldin was “the architect of the big lie”, which formed the basis of former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. She specifically said(0:50): “This is something that needs to come out. Lee Zeldin was described by Donald Trump as a brilliant lawyer. You know why? Because Lee Zeldin had sent text messages right when the question of the presidential election was out there. He sent messages helping strategize on how to create the big lie. So you think about the architect of the big lie, actually undermining our democracy, as well as being out there supporting the insurrectionists, refusing to certify Joe Biden’s election on the same day as the attack on the seat of our democracy. He is so extreme, opposes women’s right to choose, doesn’t support a single bit of gun safety legislation, says he’s tough on crime, but boy, is he soft on guns, so people need to know, that’s who’s running for Governor, trying to hide all that now, like ‘Oh no, he would never do all these things’. Come on, voters in New York are smarter than that.”

Gov Hochul then touched on one of the biggest questions related to Zeldin’s quest for the governorship, and that is, whether it’s all tied to a possible Trump pardon. Gov Hochul specifically said(1:46): “Being so close to Trump though, you got to wonder, does Donald Trump raise money for him, associate with him…Donald Trump is probably sizing up saying, boy, this guy could give me a pardon if he were the Governor.”

Asked whether a Governor Zeldin could derail all the investigations into Trump’s businesses currently being conducted by New York Attorney General Letishia James, Gov. Hochul said(2:26): “Absolutely. Tish James is one tough prosecutor, she’s a great friend, and I know she’s going to go to the mat, but if there’s a conviction, that’s when a Governor has the power to pardon or grant clemency. Donald Trump knows this because he granted a pardon to a guy who went to jail who defeated me for Congress, Chris Collins, so he knows all about how this game is played. Let them do what they want, their dirty tricks, get convicted, but then you got a friend in the Governor’s office who can pardon you. That’s what Donald Trump is banking on, that’s why he’s so supportive of Lee Zeldin, and people need to know that close connection between the two of them. Lee Zeldin was called one of Donald Trump’s earliest and staunchest supporters. That should mean something to New Yorkers.”

The interview then shifted to probably the biggest topic in the New York Governor’s race, and that is, crime. Asked what she has done to combat crime in New York, Gov Hochul said(3:46): “Last January in my state of the state address, January 5th, this is not an election conversion here. January 5th, you can go look at the records, I was talking about how people are feeling insecure, we need to reduce crime, we need to get more guns off the streets. Since I’ve been Governor, we have 8,000 more guns off the streets. Why? Because I took my police force, state police, and said we don’t need to give out as many tickets, let’s get them stopping the guns from flowing into our streets, and for the first time in decades, you have the Governor of New York, working in partnership with the Mayor of New York City…No Governor has spent more money than I have on public safety in history.”

Gov. Hochul also addressed the contentious bail issue, that her challenger Lee Zeldin has used to cast her as weak on crime–criminals getting arrested, only to be released back on the streets due to a lax bail system. Gov Hochul told host Stephanie Ruhle(6:48): “You mentioned the bail laws. The reason the New York state budget, my very first budget was nine days late, I wanted it on time, but I said I’m not leaving here until we deal with the repeat offenders you mentioned, who will keep taking things off the shelves in the drug stores every day, the bail laws now cover them. Anything with a gun, the bail laws now cover them. I gave more powers and discretion to judges and district attorneys than they had before. We made those changes in our law, but they’ve only been in effect a short time.”

Asked whether she thinks the perception that she’s weak on crime is in any way related to her gender, a sexist perception based on New York’s history of “alpha male, macho men” Governors, she responded(7:44): “People ought to know I’m as tough as hell. I’m from Buffalo. My father and grandfather were steel workers, grew up in a big, Irish Catholic, rough and tumble family. There’s no one tougher than I am, and I’ve been through hell and back in this job, and I loved every minute of it. But there’s no one tougher than me, and if anyone thinks that I’m soft on crime, look at what we’ve been doing. We have been aggressive about this, and so I’m breaking the mold perhaps, people haven’t seen a Governor who looks like me, I want to make sure that this becomes the norm. We have the toughest, I am a mother, I’m actually a grandmother, so this is personal to me when people have that fear, so I have my own toughness, but also that compassion and the empathy that perhaps others don’t have.”

The interview then shifted to the “tightening polls” being parroted by Fox News and other rightwing media outlets. Gov. Hochul dismissed these bogus polls as gimmicks commonly employed by Republicans to raise more money for their candidate based on the false perception that they are on the brink of victory. Gov Hochul specifically said, regarding the “tightening polls”(10:43): “All you have to do is see the name Trafalgar. It’s going to show that we’re neck and neck , or that Lee Zeldin is beating me today. Our own polls show that that’s wildly wrong, but you’re making money. You’re getting super billionaire donors like Ron Lauder to dump millions ans millions and millions of dollars in negative ads against me to prop up your election because you gave them a fake poll. Democrats are too honest to do that, we’re not playing that game, and so that’s what’s going on here. I think that is having an effect, but I don’t care, I’m not intimidated by them, by their polls, their money, I have my faith in New Yorkers, and I know they’ll do the right thing. All I need to win on this election, is Democrats turning out. We have enough Democrats, but they get complacent…That’s when you get in trouble. We cannot let that happen.”

Gov. Hochul finished with this powerful message(11:17): “I’m calling on all New Yorkers to stand up, defend your democracy against a Trump-loving, climate change denier, election denier, abortion denier-denying abortion rights, that’s who’s on the ballot. It’s time people understand that.”

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Is Nikki Haley Running For President In 2024? Sure Looks Like A YES

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Nikki Haley on Fox News’ America Reports show(07/19/22)

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, appeared on Fox News’ America Reports show (07/19/22) for an interview that raised a lot of eyebrows because it is the strongest indication yet, that she is indeed running for president in 2024. When asked by the Fox News hosts about a hypothetical match-up pitting her against Democrats Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or even California Governor Gavin Newsome, the usually reserved Haley appeared uncharacteristically upbeat, telling the Fox News host, “bring it”–a clear indication that that she’s up for the challenge.

America Reports host (video at 3:22): “In terms of 2024…Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsome reaching out to some big money Wall Street donors about a potential run for 2024. When you take a look at Joe Biden’s polling numbers in that Sienna poll, he is well under water with every major demographic. Do you believe he’ll be the nominee in 2024?”

Nikki Haley: “I don’t know who they’re going to decide. I would love it if it is Biden, I’d love it if it is Kamala, I’d love it if it is Gavin Newsome, because we can beat them all day long, bring it. If that’s all they’ve got, bring it, because at the end of the day, we know what the American people want, and they want freedom, and they want to get government out of the way, and they want to make sure that their dollar is valued, and they want to make sure their kids have a better life, and that we have a strong America…that’s what they care about…”

She was then asked about her recent remarks at the Christians United For Israel(CUFI) event where she said this while talking about the Iran nuclear deal(video at 5:43): “No deal is better than a bad deal, and if this President[Biden]signs any sort of deal, I’ll make you a promise. The next President will shred it on her first day in office. Just saying, sometimes it takes a woman.” There was a long applause from the crowd, which obviously noted the “her first day in office” reference in her remarks. There’s absolutely no question that the politically savvy Haley intended for this to be a hint to the CUFI crowd and Americans generally, that she is strongly considering seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Pressured by the Fox News hosts to elaborate further on her remarks at the CUFI event, Nikki Haley said(6:29): “Do I think the first female president, that it would be great if it was a strong conservative Republican? Of course I do. And sometimes does it take a woman? I mean we’ve tried men for a while, maybe a woman is what we need, but I don’t think I have to make that decision until the 1st of next year. Right now if we don’t win in 2022, there is no 2024.”

Asked whether she had the fire in the belly to mount a presidential run in 2024, she responded in the affirmative, saying: “I have the fire in the belly for America. I always have, and my parents reminded us every day how blessed we were to live in this country. All I’ve ever known to do is to fight for her, and so whether I run or not, I’m going to fight for this country until my last breath. It’s all I know to do.”

Bottom line folks, it has been widely speculated, including by Yours Truly, that Nikki Haley will mount a presidential run in 2024, so this should come as no surprise. It is however interesting because she took a few steps back on the issue in 2021 when it appeared that former President Trump had taken notice of her presidential ambitions and was displeased by them. Haley backtracked a little after that, saying she would not run for president if Trump was running. Has she now decided to run regardless of whether former President Trump runs? Hmm, sure seems like it, given her latest interview on Fox News’ America Reports show.

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White Nationalism Cited As Motive In Terrorist attack On Buffalo Grocery Store

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Tops grocery store in Buffalo New York, the site of a racially motivated terrorist attack on 05/14/2022

As news reports continue to trickle in about today’s(05/14/22) shooting at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo New York, a troubling picture of the suspect is emerging and that is, he was steeped in the kind of White nationalism we are increasingly witnessing in populist Europe, and at home with Trump’s GOP. The common theme among these budding White nationalism movements is their belief in the so-called “replacement theory”–a belief that there is a global conspiracy to replace/eliminate White people. This naturally instills in them a deep-seated hate of immigrants and non-Whites generally. NBC law enforcement analyst Jim Cavanaugh made a bombshell observation on American Voices show, telling host Alicia Menendez that this replacement theory rhetoric and the associated White nationalism screeds were commonplace in Trump’s White House, a startling revelation indeed.

Host Alicia Menendez(video at 4:02):“Jim, officials say that they believe that the suspect acted alone. How are they going to confirm that?”

Jim Cavanaugh:“It’s going to be what we[law enforcement] call like a psychological autopsy. We go back and we look at all of his telephone, computer, all of his contacts. He’s going to have contacts on the web, Alicia. He’s going to be reading the White supremacist websites, there’s many of them out there, and he’s going to have read them, maybe even posted on them, and he’s talking to these like-minded people like this is all okay. And of course he’s probably railing against immigrants–this is another thing where the DA or the police chief mentioned, the screeds about immigration, these White hate books. There’s a screed from Europe called “The Camp of The Saints”, and it’s just a horrendously racist book about immigrants to Europe. It was passed all over the White House when Trump was president, everybody’s reading it like it’s some book to read, I mean it’s just garbage, and they put this out in these White supremacist circles and these people read it, and they start to believe it, and what it does is it denigrates immigrants, anybody of color…That’s why the constant talk about the immigrants at the border is really coming right from this White nationalist perspective…”

You’ll remember the Trump administration was notoriously anti-immigrant, so this bombshell revelation about a White nationalist screed being circulated at his White House raises a whole host of questions as to whether racism was driving force behind his administration’s immigration policy. The anti-immigrant sentiment within the GOP remains strong even with Trump outside the White House, so it will be interesting to see how congressional Republicans and their allies on Fox News(looking at you, Tucker Carlson), respond to this White nationalist screed bombshell. Just the other day there was a news report saying Fox News’ Tucker Carlson show was a hit among White nationalists, and specifically, that the show’s segments dealing with the border/immigration draw the highest ratings.

Bottom line folks, it would foolhardy for anyone to argue that we do not have an immigration problem in the United States. Reasonable people will agree that our immigration system is broken, and has been for decades, largely due to our equally broken Congress(dithering on a permanent legislative fix). But having said that, it is impossible to ignore the racism that has emerged within Trump’s GOP, when it comes to immigration. One only hopes that this horrendous terrorist attack in Buffalo New York, will ignite a serious discussion about the replacement theory rhetoric that belies Trump GOP’s immigration policies.

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Rep Beth Van Duyne Defends Gov Abbott’s Immigrant Bussing Ploy

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Rep Beth Van Duyne(R-TX) on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures(04/17/22)

Texas Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, a former Mayor of Irving who is considered to be a rising GOP star, appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures show(04/17/22) to discuss the Biden administration’s recent lifting of Title 42 and other immigration issues related to the southern border. Rep Van Duyne defended Texas Gov Abbott’s controversial bussing of migrants caught crossing the southern border to Washington DC, saying this will make politicians in DC “see what it has been like in areas all around Texas.”

Rep Beth Van Duyne specifically told host Jason Chaffetz(video at 4:38):“In Texas we are seeing a huge influx of illegal immigrants, a huge influx of illegal drugs, of illegal weapons, and quite honestly the citizens of the state of Texas are sick of it, which is why I think you see some of the desperate measures that our Governor is taking to put them on buses and send them to Washington, DC since the Biden administration finds themselves too busy to actually be able to come back to the border, well maybe they need to see what its like in DC, what it has been like in areas all around Texas…I guarantee you if we see a mass immigration of illegal aliens, you are going to see those walls go back up around the Capitol to be able to protect the politicians, while we are leaving a wall down on our southern border and ignoring the effects it’s having on the rest of the nation.”

She went on to add that the number of illegal immigrants that have come through the southern border in the last 15 months is more than the combined population of three U.S. states, and that mixed in with these illegal immigrants, are people from “questionable countries” like Syria and Yemen–presumably terrorists.

For the record, illegal immigration has been and still remains a big problem in the United States, and the concerns Rep Van Duyne raised in her Fox News interview regarding the sheer numbers of migrants illegally crossing the southern border, and the prospect of some of them being criminals/terrorists are for the most part, valid concerns. The question here is whether Governor Abbott’s bussing ploy, and that’s exactly what it is–a ploy, is the best way to deal with this decades old, complex immigration problem? Reasonable people will agree that the bussing ploy employed by Gov Abbott, which essentially amounts to playing with the lives of desperate migrants, is no way to deal with a complex problem like immigration. The bussing ploy may play well among Fox News viewers eager to embarrass Democrats in Washington, but it will ultimately blow up in the face of Texas Republicans because it does zero to address the real illegal immigration problem at the southern border.

Bottom line folks, illegal immigration is a complex problem that calls for serious politicians to sit down and come up with concrete solutions to fix it. Texas Governor Abbott, and it appears Rep Van Duyne, are clearly not up to the task of coming up with a concrete solution to this complex problem, and have instead settled for ploys/gimmicks, or “stunts” as Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Beto O’Rourke calls them.

Maybe it’s time stuntman Abbott stepped aside, and allowed Gov O’Rourke to work with serious Texas Republicans, to come up with concrete ways of tackling the complex illegal immigration problem. Hopefully Texas voters will arrive at this conclusion this Fall.

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