Thanks, Brent. I find it so offensively looney that our government under Newsom claims it's doing good for humanity and helping poor people have a better life by enforcing this Prop. This is not how you help poor people. I grew up in Santa Barbara. My step dad was head of the Boys and Girls Clubs here for 38 years. He actually did help poor kids have better lives. In fact, after he retired, we'd often be out in Santa Barbara and some man would come up to him and thank him for showing him how to realize his dreams in honest, hard working ways. This happened so many times. Once I took him to the ER and the male nurse attending to him said “You probably don't recognize me now that I'm a middle aged guy, but when I was a teen you saved me from becoming a gang member. I stole a skate board and you put me straight. And now I have a great life rather than a life in jail because of you. Thank you.” Of course, Newsom's made it so that guy wouldn't have to go to jail today, he could keep stealing skateboards. But will these current thieves thank Newsom with tears in their eyes years from now? No. Because Newsom is not only ruining the lives of business owners and people who pay for their shopping - he's ruining the lives of all the poor people who live in California, too.
I agree with J. Livingston's comment below. Also, Newsom is himself everything he accuses Trump of: any teenager can look at him and say, yeah, Newsom's a crook, no different than the head of a gang. And he gets away with it. It's hilarious that Newsom holds Trump up as a criminal, when our governor parades his sleazy gang (that would be the Pelosi gang) leader-like life. Gangs perpetuate little boy behavior. And let's face it, Newsom will never be a grown man who takes responsibility. That's why it's so heartening to see the reaction of young people to J D Vance. We are going to see a major Gen Z awakening - and not a “woke” one.
I really doubt we are going to see a Gen Z awakening for JD Vance. In fact, Vance's positions are at odds with many of the values and concerns typically associated with Generation Z including LGBTQ Rights, Abortion,Climate Change and Gun Control
Those issues already belong to Democrats. You are correct, they will not budge. But many young people are now registeredIndependents and are looking to explore better options. Vance can reach the younger undecideds, who have not yet fallen under the counter-productive Democrat "progressions spell" .
They are also learning to do the math because they are now the ones required to pay off the huge debt Democrat promises continue ring up in their names. Biden claims "he is not done yet". He still wants universal health care, universal childcare and universal senior care.
We have so many superb resources in town for young people, Boys and Girls Clubs among the finest. I can never support the oft-made claim that young people in this town join gangs because they need social support. Time to stop that crime-enabling excuse in its tracks. Gangs exist only to commit crimes; there is no other way to gain membership.
We are living with the consequences of misguided “ compassion.” It is not love to fail to disciple your children or criminals.
Failure to seriously punish someone for theft gives theft a pass. These crazy ideas start in our homes. Raising children is the most important and difficult job a person will ever have. If children get away with disobedience, lying, theft, disrespect, all the sins we are all prone to, these behaviors become the accepted family norm. How often do you see a child having a public tantrum, and wonder at the incompetence of the adult with them in handling the situation? Fast forward to when these feral children grow up, and their inept parents become progressive city council members, school board members, judges and district attorneys. Raising children who are obedient and respectful should be a pre requisite for consideration for a leadership position. In fact, this is Biblical wisdom. Witness the obvious dichotomy of Hunter Biden and the grown children of Trump. Voting for people, incompetent as parents, many of who never ran their own business, has consequences. The disaster we see in California and other blue areas is a clear demonstration of this.
It would be unfathomable 40 years ago, but now we have the majority of Californians who are ok with rewarding criminals and punishing hard working folks. It reminds me that to look at the Heritage Foundation's project 2025, the same adherents of the Culture of Death make the inverted claim that project intends a dystopian nightmare, so report the proponents of a dystopian nightmare.
I do think Target is a public nuisance for their foul ideologies, but not because they called on 375 robberies, that is absurd. Can you imagine targeting the victims of the crime? Thanks to Gavin Newsome and all the masses of brainwashed who follow his lead.
I read this article by Attorney Zepke titled "License to Steal" and I qoute
"What is the “rule?” “Felonies are a deterrence because violators get prosecuted:
misdemeanors are only a nuisance because violators do not get prosecuted."
The real title to this article should be "SB Leaders License to Steal" so what
happens when the "Local Justice System" ends up being the criminals?
Who investigates them may I ask? Let me be very direct as fomer FBI
Executive Thomas Parker was in his article to us all "Preception of Public Corruption
To Often Harbingers of Stark Realty" and I quote>>>
"Perceptions are too often the harbingers of stark reality. This is especially true when it comes to questioning the ethics or illicit acts of local government officials. While spending nearly 25 years in the FBI and convicting a number of local, state, and federal officials on corruption charges, it did not take long for my colleagues and I to learn how to spot those who had crossed the bright line into unethical, and sometimes corrupt, behavior"
Yes I am a broken record but Santa Barbara County is broken like that good ole looney tunes record.
Reading this confirms why I left the Republican Party. It used to be the party of ideas, and men. All I read here is a lot of whinning, finger pointing and few ideas or actual solutions. What happened to the America full of innovation, ideas and solutions? All I read these days are a bunch of hate filled complaineres. It’s not the worthless democrats fault, it’s Americans who prefer to be victims instead of innovators.
It is Democrat politicians enacting legislation without regards for the welfare and wellbeing of communities that has resulted in criminals being let go without consequence which only emboldened them.
Gene it seems like you just want to be a contrarian when you say "This is why I left the Republican party" when you lack any robust criticism of the party. As a Carlist, I have legitimate grievances with the Republican party which consistently has refused to use their power effectively in promoting truly conservative causes, and their embrace of pragmatism which favors political popularity over holding onto objective moral truths like the sanctity of life.
Today’s party wouldn’t know a conservative value if it hit the
Mister head. Fiscal responsibility was a conservative value. No longer. Bush spent like crazy. Conservative does not mean stripping women of their right to bodily autonomy… that’s religious dogma, not political conservatism. Today’s political parties prefer to spread hate and devissiveness over solutions. The border bill is a classic example. People from BOTH parties hammered out a decent compromise and then the children showed up and killed it. Was it a perfect bill? No! Would it have helped reduce border problems? He’ll yes. That’s why I say the party is no longer the party of problem solvers, it is the party of whiners.
A bill is not necessary to close the border. It seems that the biggest whiner here is you. Why is a bill needed to close the border? It is the law, enforce it. Trump will close the border in one day. No bill, no spending. How thick is your skull?
That piece of legislation was not needed. All of the laws needed are already on the books. All that bill strove to do was to water down the already existing (and not enforced) laws. It's not the lack of laws! It's the lack of ENFORECEMENT.
Gene, religious dogma is claiming life does not begin at conception. You have your ideologies mixed up.
The recent "border bill" was a non-starter. The Wall sends the right message - come here legally, or come here not at all. Plenty of other "neutral countries exist outside our contiguous borders, if they are truly serious about "seeking asylum".
Build the Wall Bring back Trump's highly effective US immigration policies. They were working, until Biden smashed them all on Day One.
I agree, the Republican party has no idea what it means to be a conservative, your own beliefs expressed in your response highlight how you don't even know what truly conservative values are. I am a Carlist, a Catholic Monarchist, and unlike contemporary conservatives/Republicans who embrace liberal ideas/institutions (particularly those rooted in the enlightenment and classical liberalism), like free markets, democratic/Republican forms of government, an emphasis of individualism as opposed to communal welfare and a common good, a rejection of traditional authorities like monarchs and the rejection of a state working with the Church (as seen by their adherence to the separation of Church and state). Conservatism and the Republican party are ultimately plagued with liberal and secular beliefs, they idolize pragmatism and relativism, and only care for economic matters without respect for moral absolutism and objective moral truths that have been divinely revealed to us. Many “conservatives” are atheists and it's puzzling to understand what exactly they seek to conserve if they reject any objective moral framework, what are they preserving when they reject an traditional institution like the Catholic Church that has maintained essential and objective truths for over 2000 years?
As for your comment regarding “women's autonomy”, that is simply a tactic liberals use to paint the pro life cause as anti-women (THE PROLIFE CAUSE SUPPORTS THE HANDMAID'S TALE, AHHH!) to destroy the legitimacy of the movement without actually confronting their ideas. I am opposed to abortion under any circumstance, a moral evil should never be justified, and I most certainly do not supoort violating the life of the unborn child simply because their parents are irresponsible and view abortion as a method of birth control (I also despise the use of contraceptives that are part of this larger culture of death).
Wrong again!! … but never ruin a conservative crying game with facts.
Proposition 47: • Keeps Dangerous Criminals Locked Up. Authorizes felonies for sex offenders and anyone with a prior conviction for rape, murder or child molestation. Prioritizes Serious and Violent Crime. Stops wasting prison space on petty crimes and focuses resources on violent and serious crime.
Of which the savings are placed into safety measures like drug and mental health treatment, homelessness prevention, and victim services centers.
Shoplifting is, and always has been, a national problem. Not just California. But I can understand conservatives wanting to spend more tax dollars on building more prisons to house all the petty theft criminals out there. No need to try to “educate” parents to take more responsibility and accountability for the crap this kids pull.
Good luck with Garvey winning anything, and good luck trying to fix anything he does win anything. Just more conservative griping, whining and dreaming of better conservative days in California.
Progressives have failed in California. Other than taking more than their fair share of the state budget, for themselves. Under their direction, public safety has failed, our public schools have failed, our state government has failed, and now our state business climate is failing.
When state voters are presented a choice between Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey for our next senator from California, there is no other choice than to choose Steve Garvey.
Adam Schiff is a confirmed, reckless, and lying career politician whose name is now permanently associated with everything that has gone wrong in this country over the past few decades of Democrat politics and ever-expanding Democrat-controlled Big Government.
Still wrong!! But predictable. Let’s put Trump or Bush back in the White House. See how well that went. Care to examine the facts regarding both dysfunctional administrations? Oh! that’s right, you’re the guy who complains without facts. I remember you now. Love to compare facts with you any day.
Never fails with you people, You can't handle coherent arguments because you're so warped and gullible and believe your warped ideas. Not once have I read an UNBIASED argument on this site. The only way to get through to you is with what you take as insults. You not only can't accept facts but can't take them either, so what's the point?!!.
So here you go. Try to read it. The election of Donald Trump as president represented a failure of American politics. Trump is a serial liar, a sexual predator, deeply conflicted financially, hostile to bedrock democratic institutions such as free press, and ignorant of even the broad brushstrokes of important policy matters. The best evidence suggests that he is a white nationalist, a plutocrat, and a professional con artist, dangerously attracted to corrupt and incompetent sycophants, self-obsessed and aggressive to the point of psychopathy, and otherwise temperamentally unfit to be in charge of the world’s largest military and nuclear arsenal. There is some evidence that Trump or members of his campaign conspired with a hostile foreign power to help secure his election. His electoral opponent (whom he promised to prosecute criminally if elected) re-ceived nearly three million more votes than he did, and he assumed office as the least popular elected president in recorded history. No credible account of a healthy electoral process can abide Trump’s election as an acceptable outcome of that process.
But you want to know what I really think. Less clear than the status of the Trump presidency as a political failure is whether Trump’s election also represented a failure of the U.S. Constitution. Do our constitutional arrangements predict just the kind of political failure that materialized in November 2016? If so, does that mean that the long-term remedy for that failure lies in constitutional reform? Does our constitutional fate, in other words, determine our political fate?
I stopped reading this as soon as you said "unbiased". Mark, you are a dishonest when your profile description reads "unbiased opinion". All people have biases, and I take pride in my own Catholic biases. You always resort to your confrontational, dismissive, and vulgar tone when other engage you in a civil manner. The only person who has meltdowns is yourself when you blow up on others.
The parents of these individuals have failed, and until they face harsh sentences for their repeated offenses it will only emboldened them. As for sex offenders, their criminal acts are already felonies so I don't see how this accomplishes anything.
I don't know what crack you've been smoking stringbean, but I'd seek rehab if I were you. Yet again, maybe it's best you stick with your crystal meth, or crack or glue or whatever you've been ingesting. That way you may be able to handle Trump's loss once again come November. Sorry!! Not really.
The life in our large cities have become uninhabitable. LA, SF, SD, Oakland are disgraceful, crime ridden hell holes. Prop 47 has become a regressive tax that law abiding citizens must pay here in California.
Making goods and services more expensive. Companies such as Target, Walgreens or Rite Aid have closed many stores, mostly in Black neighborhoods. Poor people that live near are held captive for lawlessness perpetrated by liberal policies. The Democratic Party is the party of crime, homelessness and financial ruin.
MANY more serious crimes begin with shoplifting and progress to armed robbery or worse.
Time for a change. Don’t be distracted by white liberals who live in upscale neighborhoods and have NO clue as to what they are talking about. When is the last time ANYONE on this site, visited South Central?
We the people did pass Prop 47. How did this Proposition appeal to the mood of the voters at that time.
Was this when Gov Jerry Brown was under court orders to "reduce the prison population"? When law and order types in this state were scolded by "progressives" that we should be embarrassed by the state's high incarceration rates and do everything we could to reduce those numbers?
Who was demanding greater shares of the state budget be spent on themselves, instead of building more prisons, Voters of this state instead of gave potential prison residents a free pass to continue their business as usual.
Good time to revisit the players and the pleas that led to the passage of Prop 47 (Ballotpedia) - did alarm bells go off warning about these very outcomes, that now seem so predictable in retrospect. Yet voters did pass Prop 47. Again blaming only "the state" for Prop 47 is a fools errand. We the voters cannot escape responsibility, since a majority was onboard that ship of fools.
Build more prisons. Look how long it took to build the North County jail. Look how long it is taking to finally build a badly needed new police station in Santa Barbara. Pogo was right again, we have met the enemy and (gasp) it is us.
Minutes after Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., liberals began flooding social media platforms with conspiracy theories.
They claimed the blood on former president Donald Trump’s ear was from a theatrical gel pack; that the shooting was a “false flag,” perhaps coordinated by the Secret Service in collaboration with the Trump campaign; that the scene of a bloodied Trump raising his fist under an American flag was “#staged.”
The term ‘conspiracy theorist’ was coined by the CIA in the aftermath of the JFK assassination in order to demonize those that put forth questions & lines of logic that didn’t fit the government’s narrative…
So long as we can agree on a definition, I’ll wear the label…
“Conspiracy theorist is nothing but a derogatory term for a person who researches a subject then uses logic and critical thinking to form an educated opinion instead of just blindly believing whatever they see on their television.”
PS…since 2019, the ‘Mainstream Media’ has conspired to hide & uplift Biden, rather than searching for Truth & reporting the results…tsince 2016 the media has conspired (4 AM talking points) to smear Trump & create the Hitler caricature…the media is complicit
Actually it wasn't. But I'll let you read up on that. In fact stating "The term ‘conspiracy theorist’ was coined by the CIA..." is considered a conspiracy theory.
“…The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries…”
PS…the “Fact Checkers” are a contrived cottage industry & part of the psyop…
From Snopes:
“But there is not a single sentence in the document that indicates the CIA intended to weaponise, let alone introduce the term ‘conspiracy theory’ to disqualify criticism.”
LMAO ... No surprise there!. Hard to take you serious when you seem not to take your own BS serious. Here, lets get serious below. Calm down and try to read it.
Definitions are particularly important when discussing conspiracy theories, because what we count as a conspiracy theory determines how we view that theory’s veracity. Also, our definition of conspiracy theory determines who the conspiracy theorists are. If one’s use of conspiracy theory excludes ideas believed by the left, for example, then people on the right will always appear as conspiracy theorists, and the characteristics shared by the right will always be found to predict conspiracy theorizing. Skewing the definition biases all findings. We have therefore agreed to a broad neutral definition of conspiracy theory that should not bias our discussions. The term conspiracy theory and its derivatives can evoke strong emotional responses; therefore we want to be clear that our terminology is intended in the most impartial way and without pejorative connotation. This issue is of such importance that we have dedicated four chapters to it.
Beyond conspiracy and conspiracy theory, there are a range of terms used throughout the volume. Authors have taken great care to define their terms. Readers will note that there is some disagreement among researchers about the best term to use and about the concepts tied to particular terms. For example, to refer to a similar concept, Alfred Moore uses the term conspiracy politics while Matthew Atkinson and Darin DeWitt use the term conspiracy theory politics. These sorts of disagreements will be settled over time in the marketplace of ideas. But for now, I provide definitions for conspiracy, conspiracy theory, conspiracy belief, conspiracy thinking, and conspiracy theorist.
I like the legal definition…Legally, a Conspiracy exists when 2 or more persons join together and form an agreement to violate the law, and then act on that agreement. The crime of Conspiracy was created to address the inherent dangers posed to society when people come together and join forces to commit criminal acts…see also RICO…
theories are like opinions…everybody’s got one, but the more data points the better when researching, discussing, persuading…
recall any other (right side) journalists having surveillance issues? Members of Congress? Presidential candidates? What are they hiding? Select [DS] news members / journalists are vital to delivering the message. Imagine if these people were removed.
FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS NOT FREE AND INDEPENDENT…
was brought up to consider all sides of differences (augments)…360 reviews…enjoyed listening to these “conspiracy theorists” at the RNC today… https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqGovNbarXKv
Thanks for a to-the-point article. As a small business owner not involved with retail, we have non-the-less had to board up our windows more than once incurring thousands of dollars in labor and materials. We have had to increase our alarms on the offices, too, as break-ins are so common. We're looking to locate to Tennessee. It's been 44 years since we returned to Ca. I have 0 faith on Ca. voters getting these issues right. Sorry, we just won't take this any longer. We gave Ca. 44 years. Failing grade, fellow voters. Ya'll are some sick folks.
You can bet the politicians who gave a nod to this ridiculous 'law' never owned a business of their own, they certainly don't understand what these losses mean. I can't understand how any business, large or small, can survive in this cesspool of lunacy. Sure glad I live in Florida where our state motto is 'f*ck around and find out'!
Thanks, Brent. I find it so offensively looney that our government under Newsom claims it's doing good for humanity and helping poor people have a better life by enforcing this Prop. This is not how you help poor people. I grew up in Santa Barbara. My step dad was head of the Boys and Girls Clubs here for 38 years. He actually did help poor kids have better lives. In fact, after he retired, we'd often be out in Santa Barbara and some man would come up to him and thank him for showing him how to realize his dreams in honest, hard working ways. This happened so many times. Once I took him to the ER and the male nurse attending to him said “You probably don't recognize me now that I'm a middle aged guy, but when I was a teen you saved me from becoming a gang member. I stole a skate board and you put me straight. And now I have a great life rather than a life in jail because of you. Thank you.” Of course, Newsom's made it so that guy wouldn't have to go to jail today, he could keep stealing skateboards. But will these current thieves thank Newsom with tears in their eyes years from now? No. Because Newsom is not only ruining the lives of business owners and people who pay for their shopping - he's ruining the lives of all the poor people who live in California, too.
Here is a tribute to my step dad, George Chelini.
https://www.independent.com/2020/07/01/george-chelini-1931-2020/
I agree with J. Livingston's comment below. Also, Newsom is himself everything he accuses Trump of: any teenager can look at him and say, yeah, Newsom's a crook, no different than the head of a gang. And he gets away with it. It's hilarious that Newsom holds Trump up as a criminal, when our governor parades his sleazy gang (that would be the Pelosi gang) leader-like life. Gangs perpetuate little boy behavior. And let's face it, Newsom will never be a grown man who takes responsibility. That's why it's so heartening to see the reaction of young people to J D Vance. We are going to see a major Gen Z awakening - and not a “woke” one.
I really doubt we are going to see a Gen Z awakening for JD Vance. In fact, Vance's positions are at odds with many of the values and concerns typically associated with Generation Z including LGBTQ Rights, Abortion,Climate Change and Gun Control
Those issues already belong to Democrats. You are correct, they will not budge. But many young people are now registeredIndependents and are looking to explore better options. Vance can reach the younger undecideds, who have not yet fallen under the counter-productive Democrat "progressions spell" .
They are also learning to do the math because they are now the ones required to pay off the huge debt Democrat promises continue ring up in their names. Biden claims "he is not done yet". He still wants universal health care, universal childcare and universal senior care.
You're too smart to know that Biden has never been behind universal health care, child care or senior care. Why do you make these mis-statements?
We have so many superb resources in town for young people, Boys and Girls Clubs among the finest. I can never support the oft-made claim that young people in this town join gangs because they need social support. Time to stop that crime-enabling excuse in its tracks. Gangs exist only to commit crimes; there is no other way to gain membership.
We are living with the consequences of misguided “ compassion.” It is not love to fail to disciple your children or criminals.
Failure to seriously punish someone for theft gives theft a pass. These crazy ideas start in our homes. Raising children is the most important and difficult job a person will ever have. If children get away with disobedience, lying, theft, disrespect, all the sins we are all prone to, these behaviors become the accepted family norm. How often do you see a child having a public tantrum, and wonder at the incompetence of the adult with them in handling the situation? Fast forward to when these feral children grow up, and their inept parents become progressive city council members, school board members, judges and district attorneys. Raising children who are obedient and respectful should be a pre requisite for consideration for a leadership position. In fact, this is Biblical wisdom. Witness the obvious dichotomy of Hunter Biden and the grown children of Trump. Voting for people, incompetent as parents, many of who never ran their own business, has consequences. The disaster we see in California and other blue areas is a clear demonstration of this.
Trumps kids raised by a team: their mom, Nannie’s, boarding school staff.
Yes, Democrats have turned California into a hellscape in part by Prop. 47. Time for a change in leadership…Steve Garvey for US Senate!
Good piece. Welcome to life under anarcho tyranny, where we punish the good guys and empower the bad ones.
Unbelievably !
Important article Esquire Zepke!
It would be unfathomable 40 years ago, but now we have the majority of Californians who are ok with rewarding criminals and punishing hard working folks. It reminds me that to look at the Heritage Foundation's project 2025, the same adherents of the Culture of Death make the inverted claim that project intends a dystopian nightmare, so report the proponents of a dystopian nightmare.
I do think Target is a public nuisance for their foul ideologies, but not because they called on 375 robberies, that is absurd. Can you imagine targeting the victims of the crime? Thanks to Gavin Newsome and all the masses of brainwashed who follow his lead.
Excellent! Thank you for the researched facts.
What do you say when someone says they are disappointed that Trump was NOT killed?
Ask them what they think would happen if someone succeeded in assassinating crooked Joe or loopy Kamala…
The country would be in flames with people leaving Target with more than $900 worth of merchandise 🙄
Dr. Aijian,
Yes, Proposition 47 is no more than a sick, twisted, diabolical scheme to extort money from taxpayers. Reparations disguised as Legislation!
I read this article by Attorney Zepke titled "License to Steal" and I qoute
"What is the “rule?” “Felonies are a deterrence because violators get prosecuted:
misdemeanors are only a nuisance because violators do not get prosecuted."
The real title to this article should be "SB Leaders License to Steal" so what
happens when the "Local Justice System" ends up being the criminals?
Who investigates them may I ask? Let me be very direct as fomer FBI
Executive Thomas Parker was in his article to us all "Preception of Public Corruption
To Often Harbingers of Stark Realty" and I quote>>>
"Perceptions are too often the harbingers of stark reality. This is especially true when it comes to questioning the ethics or illicit acts of local government officials. While spending nearly 25 years in the FBI and convicting a number of local, state, and federal officials on corruption charges, it did not take long for my colleagues and I to learn how to spot those who had crossed the bright line into unethical, and sometimes corrupt, behavior"
Yes I am a broken record but Santa Barbara County is broken like that good ole looney tunes record.
It just keeps on playing that Corrupt song.
Howard Walther, member of a Military Family
Reading this confirms why I left the Republican Party. It used to be the party of ideas, and men. All I read here is a lot of whinning, finger pointing and few ideas or actual solutions. What happened to the America full of innovation, ideas and solutions? All I read these days are a bunch of hate filled complaineres. It’s not the worthless democrats fault, it’s Americans who prefer to be victims instead of innovators.
"Hate filled complainers".
It is Democrat politicians enacting legislation without regards for the welfare and wellbeing of communities that has resulted in criminals being let go without consequence which only emboldened them.
Gene it seems like you just want to be a contrarian when you say "This is why I left the Republican party" when you lack any robust criticism of the party. As a Carlist, I have legitimate grievances with the Republican party which consistently has refused to use their power effectively in promoting truly conservative causes, and their embrace of pragmatism which favors political popularity over holding onto objective moral truths like the sanctity of life.
Today’s party wouldn’t know a conservative value if it hit the
Mister head. Fiscal responsibility was a conservative value. No longer. Bush spent like crazy. Conservative does not mean stripping women of their right to bodily autonomy… that’s religious dogma, not political conservatism. Today’s political parties prefer to spread hate and devissiveness over solutions. The border bill is a classic example. People from BOTH parties hammered out a decent compromise and then the children showed up and killed it. Was it a perfect bill? No! Would it have helped reduce border problems? He’ll yes. That’s why I say the party is no longer the party of problem solvers, it is the party of whiners.
A bill is not necessary to close the border. It seems that the biggest whiner here is you. Why is a bill needed to close the border? It is the law, enforce it. Trump will close the border in one day. No bill, no spending. How thick is your skull?
That piece of legislation was not needed. All of the laws needed are already on the books. All that bill strove to do was to water down the already existing (and not enforced) laws. It's not the lack of laws! It's the lack of ENFORECEMENT.
Gene, religious dogma is claiming life does not begin at conception. You have your ideologies mixed up.
The recent "border bill" was a non-starter. The Wall sends the right message - come here legally, or come here not at all. Plenty of other "neutral countries exist outside our contiguous borders, if they are truly serious about "seeking asylum".
Build the Wall Bring back Trump's highly effective US immigration policies. They were working, until Biden smashed them all on Day One.
I agree, the Republican party has no idea what it means to be a conservative, your own beliefs expressed in your response highlight how you don't even know what truly conservative values are. I am a Carlist, a Catholic Monarchist, and unlike contemporary conservatives/Republicans who embrace liberal ideas/institutions (particularly those rooted in the enlightenment and classical liberalism), like free markets, democratic/Republican forms of government, an emphasis of individualism as opposed to communal welfare and a common good, a rejection of traditional authorities like monarchs and the rejection of a state working with the Church (as seen by their adherence to the separation of Church and state). Conservatism and the Republican party are ultimately plagued with liberal and secular beliefs, they idolize pragmatism and relativism, and only care for economic matters without respect for moral absolutism and objective moral truths that have been divinely revealed to us. Many “conservatives” are atheists and it's puzzling to understand what exactly they seek to conserve if they reject any objective moral framework, what are they preserving when they reject an traditional institution like the Catholic Church that has maintained essential and objective truths for over 2000 years?
As for your comment regarding “women's autonomy”, that is simply a tactic liberals use to paint the pro life cause as anti-women (THE PROLIFE CAUSE SUPPORTS THE HANDMAID'S TALE, AHHH!) to destroy the legitimacy of the movement without actually confronting their ideas. I am opposed to abortion under any circumstance, a moral evil should never be justified, and I most certainly do not supoort violating the life of the unborn child simply because their parents are irresponsible and view abortion as a method of birth control (I also despise the use of contraceptives that are part of this larger culture of death).
Gene, the author presented a solution. Vote to revoke Prop 47.
Wrong again!! … but never ruin a conservative crying game with facts.
Proposition 47: • Keeps Dangerous Criminals Locked Up. Authorizes felonies for sex offenders and anyone with a prior conviction for rape, murder or child molestation. Prioritizes Serious and Violent Crime. Stops wasting prison space on petty crimes and focuses resources on violent and serious crime.
Of which the savings are placed into safety measures like drug and mental health treatment, homelessness prevention, and victim services centers.
Shoplifting is, and always has been, a national problem. Not just California. But I can understand conservatives wanting to spend more tax dollars on building more prisons to house all the petty theft criminals out there. No need to try to “educate” parents to take more responsibility and accountability for the crap this kids pull.
Good luck with Garvey winning anything, and good luck trying to fix anything he does win anything. Just more conservative griping, whining and dreaming of better conservative days in California.
Progressives have failed in California. Other than taking more than their fair share of the state budget, for themselves. Under their direction, public safety has failed, our public schools have failed, our state government has failed, and now our state business climate is failing.
When state voters are presented a choice between Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey for our next senator from California, there is no other choice than to choose Steve Garvey.
Adam Schiff is a confirmed, reckless, and lying career politician whose name is now permanently associated with everything that has gone wrong in this country over the past few decades of Democrat politics and ever-expanding Democrat-controlled Big Government.
Still wrong!! But predictable. Let’s put Trump or Bush back in the White House. See how well that went. Care to examine the facts regarding both dysfunctional administrations? Oh! that’s right, you’re the guy who complains without facts. I remember you now. Love to compare facts with you any day.
And Trump failed because...?
Also you just insult people most of the time because you lack any coherent arguments. Be a little more introspective.
Never fails with you people, You can't handle coherent arguments because you're so warped and gullible and believe your warped ideas. Not once have I read an UNBIASED argument on this site. The only way to get through to you is with what you take as insults. You not only can't accept facts but can't take them either, so what's the point?!!.
So here you go. Try to read it. The election of Donald Trump as president represented a failure of American politics. Trump is a serial liar, a sexual predator, deeply conflicted financially, hostile to bedrock democratic institutions such as free press, and ignorant of even the broad brushstrokes of important policy matters. The best evidence suggests that he is a white nationalist, a plutocrat, and a professional con artist, dangerously attracted to corrupt and incompetent sycophants, self-obsessed and aggressive to the point of psychopathy, and otherwise temperamentally unfit to be in charge of the world’s largest military and nuclear arsenal. There is some evidence that Trump or members of his campaign conspired with a hostile foreign power to help secure his election. His electoral opponent (whom he promised to prosecute criminally if elected) re-ceived nearly three million more votes than he did, and he assumed office as the least popular elected president in recorded history. No credible account of a healthy electoral process can abide Trump’s election as an acceptable outcome of that process.
But you want to know what I really think. Less clear than the status of the Trump presidency as a political failure is whether Trump’s election also represented a failure of the U.S. Constitution. Do our constitutional arrangements predict just the kind of political failure that materialized in November 2016? If so, does that mean that the long-term remedy for that failure lies in constitutional reform? Does our constitutional fate, in other words, determine our political fate?
I stopped reading this as soon as you said "unbiased". Mark, you are a dishonest when your profile description reads "unbiased opinion". All people have biases, and I take pride in my own Catholic biases. You always resort to your confrontational, dismissive, and vulgar tone when other engage you in a civil manner. The only person who has meltdowns is yourself when you blow up on others.
The parents of these individuals have failed, and until they face harsh sentences for their repeated offenses it will only emboldened them. As for sex offenders, their criminal acts are already felonies so I don't see how this accomplishes anything.
I don’t know what you’re smoking buddy, but save me a puff.
I don't know what crack you've been smoking stringbean, but I'd seek rehab if I were you. Yet again, maybe it's best you stick with your crystal meth, or crack or glue or whatever you've been ingesting. That way you may be able to handle Trump's loss once again come November. Sorry!! Not really.
Time to take the trash to the curb and throw these scumbags out of office beginning today with Bob Menendez!
The life in our large cities have become uninhabitable. LA, SF, SD, Oakland are disgraceful, crime ridden hell holes. Prop 47 has become a regressive tax that law abiding citizens must pay here in California.
Making goods and services more expensive. Companies such as Target, Walgreens or Rite Aid have closed many stores, mostly in Black neighborhoods. Poor people that live near are held captive for lawlessness perpetrated by liberal policies. The Democratic Party is the party of crime, homelessness and financial ruin.
MANY more serious crimes begin with shoplifting and progress to armed robbery or worse.
Time for a change. Don’t be distracted by white liberals who live in upscale neighborhoods and have NO clue as to what they are talking about. When is the last time ANYONE on this site, visited South Central?
We the people did pass Prop 47. How did this Proposition appeal to the mood of the voters at that time.
Was this when Gov Jerry Brown was under court orders to "reduce the prison population"? When law and order types in this state were scolded by "progressives" that we should be embarrassed by the state's high incarceration rates and do everything we could to reduce those numbers?
Who was demanding greater shares of the state budget be spent on themselves, instead of building more prisons, Voters of this state instead of gave potential prison residents a free pass to continue their business as usual.
Good time to revisit the players and the pleas that led to the passage of Prop 47 (Ballotpedia) - did alarm bells go off warning about these very outcomes, that now seem so predictable in retrospect. Yet voters did pass Prop 47. Again blaming only "the state" for Prop 47 is a fools errand. We the voters cannot escape responsibility, since a majority was onboard that ship of fools.
Build more prisons. Look how long it took to build the North County jail. Look how long it is taking to finally build a badly needed new police station in Santa Barbara. Pogo was right again, we have met the enemy and (gasp) it is us.
It’s difficult for me to believe we the people voted in Biden, Newsom and prop 47 when dominion is involved ..
It’s more difficult when people are gullible enough to believe in conspiracy theories.
The term conspiracy theory’ was created to push back at the valid contradicting realities
Open your mind and challenge the narrative of convenience in their agenda.. look around you mark.. proof is everywhere
I mean leftists do belive in conspiracy theories, they think the assassination attempt on President Trump was staged for political gain.
LOL where did you read that? Let me guess. Either here somewhere or at one of your right wing conspiracy theory blog, forums, or Facebook pages.
In other words! BS!!!
Nope. Look at leftist Twitter, it's all there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/14/blueanon-conspiracy-theories-trump-rally-shooting/
Minutes after Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pa., liberals began flooding social media platforms with conspiracy theories.
They claimed the blood on former president Donald Trump’s ear was from a theatrical gel pack; that the shooting was a “false flag,” perhaps coordinated by the Secret Service in collaboration with the Trump campaign; that the scene of a bloodied Trump raising his fist under an American flag was “#staged.”
The term ‘conspiracy theorist’ was coined by the CIA in the aftermath of the JFK assassination in order to demonize those that put forth questions & lines of logic that didn’t fit the government’s narrative…
So long as we can agree on a definition, I’ll wear the label…
“Conspiracy theorist is nothing but a derogatory term for a person who researches a subject then uses logic and critical thinking to form an educated opinion instead of just blindly believing whatever they see on their television.”
PS…since 2019, the ‘Mainstream Media’ has conspired to hide & uplift Biden, rather than searching for Truth & reporting the results…tsince 2016 the media has conspired (4 AM talking points) to smear Trump & create the Hitler caricature…the media is complicit
Thank you:)
Actually it wasn't. But I'll let you read up on that. In fact stating "The term ‘conspiracy theorist’ was coined by the CIA..." is considered a conspiracy theory.
FYI…
“…The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries…”
Background,
https://www.coreysdigs.com/u-s/cia-coined-weaponized-the-label-conspiracy-theory/
PS…the “Fact Checkers” are a contrived cottage industry & part of the psyop…
From Snopes:
“But there is not a single sentence in the document that indicates the CIA intended to weaponise, let alone introduce the term ‘conspiracy theory’ to disqualify criticism.”
Mark, straight shooter journalist Sheryl Atkinson has good take on "conspiracy theories": https://store.sharylattkisson.com/collections/conspiracy-theories
You're suggesting Mark buys a mug, shirt or tote? I'm confused.
LMAO ... No surprise there!. Hard to take you serious when you seem not to take your own BS serious. Here, lets get serious below. Calm down and try to read it.
Definitions are particularly important when discussing conspiracy theories, because what we count as a conspiracy theory determines how we view that theory’s veracity. Also, our definition of conspiracy theory determines who the conspiracy theorists are. If one’s use of conspiracy theory excludes ideas believed by the left, for example, then people on the right will always appear as conspiracy theorists, and the characteristics shared by the right will always be found to predict conspiracy theorizing. Skewing the definition biases all findings. We have therefore agreed to a broad neutral definition of conspiracy theory that should not bias our discussions. The term conspiracy theory and its derivatives can evoke strong emotional responses; therefore we want to be clear that our terminology is intended in the most impartial way and without pejorative connotation. This issue is of such importance that we have dedicated four chapters to it.
Beyond conspiracy and conspiracy theory, there are a range of terms used throughout the volume. Authors have taken great care to define their terms. Readers will note that there is some disagreement among researchers about the best term to use and about the concepts tied to particular terms. For example, to refer to a similar concept, Alfred Moore uses the term conspiracy politics while Matthew Atkinson and Darin DeWitt use the term conspiracy theory politics. These sorts of disagreements will be settled over time in the marketplace of ideas. But for now, I provide definitions for conspiracy, conspiracy theory, conspiracy belief, conspiracy thinking, and conspiracy theorist.
I like the legal definition…Legally, a Conspiracy exists when 2 or more persons join together and form an agreement to violate the law, and then act on that agreement. The crime of Conspiracy was created to address the inherent dangers posed to society when people come together and join forces to commit criminal acts…see also RICO…
theories are like opinions…everybody’s got one, but the more data points the better when researching, discussing, persuading…
another conspiracy confirmed…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-confirms-sharyl-attkissons-computer-hacked/
recall any other (right side) journalists having surveillance issues? Members of Congress? Presidential candidates? What are they hiding? Select [DS] news members / journalists are vital to delivering the message. Imagine if these people were removed.
FAKE NEWS MEDIA IS NOT FREE AND INDEPENDENT…
was brought up to consider all sides of differences (augments)…360 reviews…enjoyed listening to these “conspiracy theorists” at the RNC today… https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqGovNbarXKv
Another of your attempts debunked .... Try again!
Thanks for a to-the-point article. As a small business owner not involved with retail, we have non-the-less had to board up our windows more than once incurring thousands of dollars in labor and materials. We have had to increase our alarms on the offices, too, as break-ins are so common. We're looking to locate to Tennessee. It's been 44 years since we returned to Ca. I have 0 faith on Ca. voters getting these issues right. Sorry, we just won't take this any longer. We gave Ca. 44 years. Failing grade, fellow voters. Ya'll are some sick folks.
You can bet the politicians who gave a nod to this ridiculous 'law' never owned a business of their own, they certainly don't understand what these losses mean. I can't understand how any business, large or small, can survive in this cesspool of lunacy. Sure glad I live in Florida where our state motto is 'f*ck around and find out'!