Blogs & News

• • Feinstein's shameful Kavanaugh Hail Mary pass
• • Cutting federal prison sentences would increase crime - it's already happening in California
• • New York City Council Approves Bill Adding Third Gender to Birth Certificates

In an act of desperation designed to block Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court by smearing his reputation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., hinted Thursday that someone she would not name has made unspecified accusations about Kavanaugh that possibly might involve criminal conduct.

Feinstein's Hail Mary pass came exactly one week before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of the highly qualified judge, who now sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
 

Feinstein is leaving it to the media to fill in the facts about her vague and unsubstantiated claims about Kavanaugh, who was nominated by President Trump. She clearly is counting on Trump's many opponents in the media to help her keep the president's nominee off the Supreme Court - as they would seek to do for anyone nominated by Trump.

Feinstein said in a statement: "I have received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities."

What the heck does that mean? (Translation: I got nothing).

OK - Feinstein is claiming she knows something - but she's not saying what that mystery something is. How on Earth is anyone supposed to evaluate that? How would any of you reading this like someone to make a cryptic charge like the one Feinstein has thrown out about you, without presenting a shred of evidence?

Fox News reported that two sources said Feinstein got a letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in July making the allegations against Kavanaugh - although the senator never spoke about it publicly before Thursday. That's the way Hail Mary passes work - you don't throw one until you're desperate and headed for a loss on the football field.

The mystery letter wasn't even concerning enough for Feinstein to show to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

The Intercept reported the letter was sent by someone associated with Stanford University and involved a woman and Kavanaugh when she and the 53-year-old judge were both in high school.

The New York Times reported that, according to two sources it did not identify, the letter referenced possible sexual misconduct between Kavanaugh the unidentified woman. Possible, but that is awfully vague for this late stage of a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation.

With so little information, how is anyone supposed to figure out what is going on?

Top

I spent 26 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, retiring in 2015 as a detective. To this day, I'm saddened when I think of the many innocent victims of the rampant violence and crime so pervasive during the crack epidemic in Los Angeles in the 1990s.

In 1992, over 140 people were murdered in my police precinct in South Central Los Angeles. Twenty years later, the toll (though still tragic) had fallen by 80 percent, thanks to tough laws that locked up the worst criminals.

Good policing, tough state and federal sanctions for offenders, and having secure places to keep the bad guys cleaned up that neighborhood and hundreds like it across the country.

But sadly, many members of Congress have developed collective amnesia about the bad old days of rampant crime that plagued Los Angeles and far too many other U.S. cities.

These well-intentioned but deeply misguided lawmakers want to shorten federal prison sentences for dangerous repeat offenders - both violent criminals and drug traffickers.

By reducing the penalties for serious crimes and putting criminals back on the streets sooner, members of the House and Senate supporting shorter sentences would make our communities more dangerous and inevitably increase the number of crime victims - including those seriously injured and killed.

All the while, heroin, its deadly cousin fentanyl, and other dangerous drugs take more lives each year than the number of U.S. military service members who were killed during the war in Vietnam.

Decades ago - when do-gooder lawmakers passed weak laws and soft-on-crime judges released violent, dope-peddling criminals back onto the streets - everyday citizens were rightly outraged that their communities were being used as guinea pigs for social justice causes.

In my career as a Los Angeles police detective, I saw hundreds of convicted criminals released after months, weeks or sometimes even just a few days thanks to programs like early release and judicial leniency.

Unsurprisingly, many - if not most - of the released convicts did not become law-abiding citizens, but instead returned to a life of crime. The drug dealers sold their poisonous wares to desperate addicts. Some former prisoners gunned down innocents and each other in violent turf wars

Eventually, voters and lawmakers wised up and cracked down - taking repeat offenders off the street for good. Crime fell dramatically and neighborhoods that were no-go-zones are now flourishing.

Lulled into complacency about crime, California's leaders have undone years of progress on public safety. With their hands tied, cops are now arresting fewer criminals because they know that perpetrators won't see any jail time. Felony arrests are down 30 percent in California since 2014, when tough sentences were rolled back.

Top

The New York City Council approved legislation Wednesday that will add a third gender to birth certificates for New Yorkers who don't identify as male or female.

The resolution, which passed 41-6, creates a "non-binary" gender option referred to as "X" and received the backing of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Council speaker Cory Johnson, who introduced the legislation in June, said he hopes it will make"New York birth certificates more inclusive for all and will send a powerful signal to the world that New York City government works for everyone."

"Today is a historic day for New York in its role as a worldwide champion for inclusivity and equality," Johnson said in a statement sent to NBC News. "I especially want to thank the LGBTQ community for their advocacy and work on this issue to keep New York City in its rightful place as a leader in human rights."

Under current law, transgender New Yorkers must submit documentation from a physician certifying their non-binary status. But under the new legislation, set to take effect January 1, 2019, those born in New York City will be permitted to submit an affidavit requesting a gender-identity change absent a doctor's note.

Councilman Robery Holden (D., Queens) voted against the bill due to "public safety" concerns born of a lack of oversight.


 

Top

NEW YORK - Julia Salazar, a democratic socialist, overcame intense scrutiny of her personal life and questions about her truthfulness Thursday to win the Democratic primary for a state Senate seat in Brooklyn.

The 27-year-old, first-time candidate defeated Sen. Martin Dilan in New York's 18th Senate District, joining the ranks of leftist insurgents nationwide who have knocked out mainstream Democrats.

There is no Republican candidate running in the district in the general election, virtually guaranteeing her win.

Dilan, 67, was a 16-year incumbent representing a district that has gone through major changes, with longtime residents being pushed out by rising rents and an influx of mostly white, wealthier newcomers.

Salazar built a grassroots campaign to unseat Dilan on the grounds that he hadn't done enough to help the poor or stop gentrification. She assailed him for taking campaign contributions from real estate interests.

Her campaign began attracting wide attention after fellow democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scored a surprise win in June's congressional primary over U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley.

But in recent weeks, the race became a soap opera as reporters dug into her background.

Salazar faced criticism for saying she was an immigrant from Colombia who struggled financially growing up when she was actually born in Florida and had hundreds of thousands of dollars in a trust fund. She was scrutinized, too, over a political and religious conversion during her years at Columbia University, where she transformed from a Republican, anti-abortion Christian to a hard-left, Jewish Democrat.

One group revoked its endorsement after learning Salazar hadn't graduated from Columbia, as she said on its survey.

Salazar said she "inadvertently misrepresented" her family's history and chalked up some biographical discrepancies to mistakes by her staff.



 

By Associated Press

February 25, 2018 
 

CYPRESS, Texas - For the second year in a row, a transgender wrestler has won the Texas girls' Class 6A 110-pound division.

Mack Beggs, an 18-year-old senior from Euless Trinity High School near Dallas, entered the tournament in Cypress outside Houston with an undefeated record. He beat Chelsea Sanchez - whom he beat for the title in 2017 - in the final match Saturday.

Video posted online showed a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd following Beggs' win.

Beggs is in the process of transitioning from female to male and taking a low dose of testosterone.

It was his steroid therapy treatments while wrestling girls that stirred a fierce debate about competitive fairness and transgender rights last season. It's been a lot quieter since last year, when his march to a state championship was dogged by a last-minute lawsuit that tried to stop him.

Beggs had asked to wrestle in the boys' division, but the rules for Texas public high schools require athletes to compete under the gender on their birth certificate.

Beggs entered the state tournament with a 32-0 record, beating three female wrestlers on his way to the championship.

"He has so much respect for all the girls he wrestles," said Beggs' mother, Angela McNew. "People think Mack has been beating up on girls ... The girls he wrestles with, they are tough. It has more to do with skill and discipline than strength."

McNew would not make Beggs available for interviews ahead of the state meet. The solitude allowed him to concentrate on the task ahead and perhaps shield him from attacks on social media and occasional insults from the stands - or even other wrestling mats - during meets.