Month: January 2019

It’s the time of the year for the NFL playoffs, and so I can now stop my boycott of the NFL, and watch some games. This coupled with a recent absurd statement by Bill Walton that Barack Obama would be a good choice for the open U.C.L.A. basketball coaching job probably caused me to wake up suddenly in a cold sweat! Was it just a bad dream?? Barack Obama was the commissioner of the N.F.L.! My initial thought was that the N.F.L. deserved it, but then I thought about the integrity of the game and what a mess he could make of it. 

Consider: In pro-football there are many more black (African American to be P.C) offensive linemen than white or Asian offensive linemen. Why? I don’t know, and I don’t care – that’s just the way it is. What I do know is that these offensive linemen not infrequently get called for “holding” by the referees. They are penalized because they are breaking the rules. (“Holding” is not allowed and everybody knows it.) If Barack Obama were ever to become the commissioner of the N.F.L., he would probably send out a “guidance” letter to all of the chief referees that essentially threatened action if holding penalties on black linemen were not reduced. Even though his new policy would not specifically mention race, the referees would be in violation if there was a disproportionate effect on offensive linemen of a specific race, meaning that if more holding penalties were called on black linemen than on white linemen, the referees would be disciplined. When you look through B.O.’s non-colorblind vision of guards and tackles, it would not matter to him that the vast majority of holding occurs on the offensive line of scrimmage, and that the vast majority of offensive linemen are black. Can you imagine what would happen if a white ref called a holding penalty on a black left tackle? Even if the holding call was found to be justified on replay, B.O. might call the ref a racist, and then . . . perhaps hold a beer summit after the game, so that the press could fawn over him!

After the cold sweat stopped, I realized that I was merely dreaming. Obviously we can all recognize that this football analogy is ludicrous, but Barack Obama applied the same sort of faulty reasoning in 2014 when, in essence, he demanded racial parity in school discipline –  no matter who was causing trouble. This meant that a holding penalty (misbehaving in school) was, in essence, ignored by the referees (school teachers and school principals), because too many children of color were being disciplined. If this type of illogic were to be followed, what would happen on the football field? Duh! There would be real holding by the offensive linemen on practically every play. The game would be chaos. The referees would no longer be in control. Basically the same thing was happening in schools as the teachers were losing the option of disciplining unruly students. On the gridiron, holding is holding, no matter the color of the left tackle’s skin, and in the classroom those acting out and being disruptive should be disciplined,, no matter if the perpetrator’s skin is black, white, yellow or green!

Finally, recently Betsy DeVos and the School Safety Commission rescinded the Obama era policy “that was supposed to reduce racial disparities in school discipline.” Hooray for common sense, and hooray for the concept that schools are for educating children, not coddling trouble-makers. Usually one can tell if a reversal of an absurd policy is a good thing by observing who is against such a reversal. In this case both the Washington Post and Rachael Maddow of MSNBC thought that the School Safety Commission erred in reversing that Obama policy . . . do I need to say any more?

Even though I do not care for Roger Goodall, I am glad that his tenure as commissioner of the N.F.L. is holding!

For years the Middle East has been chaos – a chaotic morass! The Syrian Civil War has been going on for eight years with Assad and his Russian partner now close to waltzing to an Assad victory and a Russian Mediterranean seaport. “Red lines” came and went, while for years Obama tangoed with ISIS on the eastern Syrian dance-floor. In 2017 President Trump cut in and like Dick Clark turned it into a successful American Bandstand as ISIS is no longer a significant threat. Despite that the Middle East is still a quagmire. It is difficult to separate the players as some are Sunni (Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia) and some Shia (Iraq, Lebanon, Iran). And then there is Syria, and of course, Israel . . . i.e. still a chaotic morass.

President Trump has long called for the U.S. to leave the Middle East. On the campaign trail, he said the region was a “total and complete mess” and wished the government had spent the trillions of dollars in the U.S. instead. In 2013, long before he was elected, he said the U.S. should “stay the hell out” of the Syrian war. We did not stay out. After Trump was elected it was only a matter of time before the US military was pulled out of the chaos that is Syria, as Russian and Iranian influence over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was far too great to be effectively countered by a small U.S. presence in eastern Syria. In March of 2018 President Trump stated that the U.S. would be getting out of Syria very soon, but nothing happened until fortuitously on December 14, in his phone call with President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly promised that Turkey would take responsibility for finishing off the Islamic State if the U.S. pulled out of Syria, a senior White House official told NBC News. Erdogan reportedly said to the president, “In fact, as your friend, I give you my word in this,” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose details of a presidential phone call.

A way out of the chaotic morass of the Middle East? Strange things happen in strange ways. After asking John Bolton if a pullout was feasible, President Trump decided to pull the US military out of Syria. Of course, there are differing opinions on pulling out of this mess. For me, a U.S. withdrawal won’t turn Syria over to Russia because the Russians already own it. We finally have a chance to escape the chaotic morass of the Middle East, and as a bonus, Turkey now owes us.

What about Afghanistan? It is another morass, that is also chaos . . . one that has been going on for 17 years, the longest war in U.S. history. Before he ran for president President Trump talked of an end to U.S. military deployments overseas. In 2013, he tweeted: “Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA.”  Getting the U.S. out of non-winnable wars became a campaign promise of Mr. Trump. In 2017, 17 members of the U.S. military were killed in Afghanistan, bringing the total to 2297 since the U.S. entered this quagmire back in 2002. Last week President Trump acted on another of his campaign promises, and as Commander-in-Chief he is cutting the U.S. presence in half from 14,000 to approximately 7,000. Of course, there was a difference of opinion on this decision. A statement by Daniel Davis, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank and a retired lieutenant colonel, sums up my feelings on Afghanistan. He said, “As important as it is for the U.S. military to withdraw from Syria, it is even more critical that President Trump end the 17-year war in Afghanistan to focus on higher priorities, like deterring great power conflict,”  in reference to heightened tensions between the U.S. and its top military rivals Russia and China.

As a footnote, I need to address the resignation of James Mattis, the 26th Secretary of Defense, and a retired 4-star Marine General. I have nothing but the greatest respect for James Mattis. As a military man he did not agree with pulling out of Syria  or cutting back troop strength in Afghanistan. He did what he thought he needed to do, and he resigned. One has to admire his standing on principle, but remember, he was but an adviser to the President. Despite what CNN, WaPo, and the NYT say, he was not the Commander-in-Chief that the people elected.

Well it’s happened again!  Last week before Christmas, Gustavo Garcia, an illegal, who could have been/should have been turned over to ICE, was released from custody because of our sanctuary state policy (SB54). He killed at least one and injured four more within 24 hours of his release. The sheriff of Tulare County blamed California’s sanctuary state policy for this senseless tragedy. Now within days following Christmas another illegal, Gustavo Perez Arriaga, has killed another person in Newman, a small town of about 10,000 in Stanislaus County, California. What makes this tragic is that the victim, Cpl. Ronil Singh, was a police officer with a five month old son. What makes this ironic is that Ronil Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji, was fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer.

Sheriff Adam Christianson said Perez Arriaga publicized his gang affiliation and had been arrested twice for driving under the influence, but because of California’s sanctuary law, local authorities were prevented from reporting Perez Arriaga to U.S. immigration officials. “Law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws, and that led to the encounter with Officer Singh,” Christianson said. “I’m suggesting that the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn’t restricted, prohibited or had their hands tied because of political interference.” 

Predictably, former state Sen. Kevin de Leon, the Democrat who wrote the sanctuary state legislation, said it’s “highly irresponsible” to blame the law for the officer’s death. Kevin, we are at two and counting! I think that it was “highly irresponsible” to pass that sanctuary state legislation, as anybody with half-a-brain could have predicted that there would be multiple senseless tragedies as a result. The aforementioned two examples are merely the beginning. These are not unforeseen consequences, but rather foreseen, predictable consequences. Now lest anyone be offended by my “half-a-brain” comment, let me go on record that I meant exactly what I said! 

Now I am not a lawyer (although I once did stay at a Holiday Inn Express), but it seems to me that in the last two weeks there are two dead individuals as a consequence of California’s sanctuary state legislation. I have always thought that immigration was under the purview of the federal government, and California’s sanctuary state laws seem to be direct opposition to federal laws on this issue. The two families of the murdered individuals now have “legal standing,” as they have suffered as a result of these two illegals having been released when they should have been turned over to I.C.E. Who is responsible for the deaths of these two people? . . . two and counting! It seems to me that all of those legislators who voted for AB54, the sanctuary state law in California, are at least partially responsible! Yes, yes, I know that legislators are not supposed to be legally responsible for the bad consequences of their laws . . . but, here, is SB54 actually an illegal law because it is in opposition to Federal law? If so, I would love to see the families of these two murdered individuals bring suit against the State of California, all of the individual legislators who voted for AB54, and Governor Jerry Brown who signed the “death warrant” into law.

Happy New Year!

Some people in Tulare County are having a happy new year, because they are happy to still be alive, whereas others in Tulare County are not having a happy new year because their friend or family member is dead because of Gustavo Garcia and California’s sanctuary state law. Have you heard of Gustavo Garcia? If you live in San Diego and possibly in other areas of California that have liberal newspapers, you probably have not, because the story of Mr. Garcia goes against the religion of leftism that is prevalent in many areas of California. (I sent a letter to the editor about the hell that broke loose in Tulare  County as a result of California’s sanctuary state policy and Gustavo Garcia. Of course now 1 week later, it has not been printed . . .  no surprise!) Gustavo Garcia was an illegal. However, not only was he an illegal, but he had been deported  twice, and also had a prior felony conviction for which he served time over fifteen years ago. After his last arrest in 2014, he was deported . . . but wallah, he was back in California, and was arrested in Tulare County on 12/13/18 because he was behaving erratically. ICE learned he was in custody and issued an immigration hold. However, even though he tested positive for a controlled substance, he was released after ten hours.

Why? Because in 2017 the Democrats in Sacramento passed SB54 and the Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown, signed it into law . . . effectively making California a “sanctuary state.” Before S.B.54 Mr. Garcia would have been turned over to ICE, but as the Tulare County Sheriff stated, “After S.B.54 we no longer have the power to do that.”Now to me this dude is a bad dude. He is not your run-of-the-mill innocent hard working illegal who was arrested for some minor offense. He is not some “good Joe” (or perhaps, I should say, “good Jose”), who was arrested merely because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gustavo Garcia is a bad dude. However because he was arrested for a misdemeanor, those lawmakers who authored S.B.54 ( inexplicably named “California Values Act”) deemed it best to release this type of individual, bad dude or not!

Within 24 hours of his release Mr. Garcia would shoot and kill a man in Visalia, rob a convenience store of $2000 while firing several shots, steal a GMC truck, fire shots at a patrol car, and lead police on a high speed chase at speeds over 100 mph, and while driving the wrong way on Hwy. 65, smashing into multiple cars, injuring four people who were subsequently hospitalized. Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux placed the blame for this senseless carnage on S.B.54. “The tool (of coordinating with ICE) has been removed from our hands. And because of that our county was shot-up by a violent criminal.”

Now I can almost hear Governor Brown and his Democratic cronies say that “nothing is perfect, and there will always be some unforeseen consequences!” However what we will never hear from these liberal lawmakers is an apology. A Christmas apology to the friends and family of the dead man in Visalia, and likewise we will never hear anything close to an apology to those injured in Tulare County because their “California Values Act” allowed Gustavo Garcia to be set free instead of being turned over to I.C.E!