Op-Ed: Is the Local GOP Ok?

September 2, 2022, 2:05 am 24.4k Views 146 Comments

By Joan Albion

Not long ago I posted a comment on the edhat board about some headlines the local GOP party was putting out to its members. An especially quarrelsome frequent commenter said I was making those headlines up and I responded with links and said I’ll put together an opinion piece on what I’ve seen lately. So, here it is. 

A little about me: I’m a registered Independent. In years past I’ve voted for Republicans, I’ve voted for Democrats, I’ve voted for Libertarians, heck I even voted for Ross Perot once. I like to watch/listen to MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, and conservative leaning podcasts to see what all sides are saying. I’ll do my own research and then make up my own mind. Both major parties are quite skilled at twisting narratives and pushing their agendas, it’s politics baby!

But we can’t deny in the last 5 years or so things have taken an aggressive turn for the worse. Misinformation and fear is running rampant and people are more obstinate than ever. I subscribe to both the Santa Barbara County GOP and Santa Barbara Democrats email newsletters and here is what both sides have been sending out this past month.

For the local Republican Party, I’ve gotten various emails from “Take Back Our Schools,” “Santa Barbara Republicans,” and “Santa Barbara County GOP.” I only signed up for one of these so it seems I was added to all of them, but they are all signed by the SB Republican Party chairwoman Bobbi McGinnis.

1. August 7, 2022, the top image has a headline from Fox News that reads “Hormone Blockers and Trans Surgery for minors is the Biden admin’s version of “normal.” Bobbi then writes, “the Biden administration is promoting dangerous hormone blockers and life-altering surgeries for minors… the Left has declared an all-out war on the basic biology of helpless children!”

These and similar sentiments have been swirling in right-leaning circles this summer as the education system has been targeted. It’s a pretty obvious attack on the LGBTQ+ community as a slew of anti-trans bills have been passed in varying states. Also of note, when clicking on the image it links to a fundraiser page for the local GOP party that reads “Support Conservatives Who Will Oppose The Left’s Racist, Transgender Agenda in Our Schools!”

FACTS: Biden signed a bill this summer that protects transgender children to seek medical care in states that are now attempting to charge parents with abuse for their child simply identifying as trans. Gender-affirming care is recommended by all major medical associations and can range from social transition — changing pronouns or dressing differently — to medical transition, including reversible puberty blockers and hormone therapy. For pre-pubertal transgender children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, doctors recommend avoiding gender-affirming medications, according to the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Practice Guideline, which sets standards of care for transgender people. Read more facts on this topic here.

Conclusion: Misleading, Misinformed, Transphobic, Discriminatory.
 

2. August 9, 2022:  Bobbi sends out another email titled “Take Politics out of school” seemingly contradicting the above message just two days prior. She further states, “We must put education over politics — the future of our kids and Santa Barbara County depends on it!” Can’t make this stuff up, the email goes on to bullet point the following in bold. 

  • Parents have a right to be involved in their child’s education;
  • Racist propaganda is banned from the classroom; 
  • Our schools are safe learning environments! 

FACTS: The hypocrisy is astounding but let’s break it down. True, parents do have a right to be involved in their child’s education, but it seems like both sides are frustated with the other. Although, when books are being banned and historical facts and events are questioned it makes one wonder. 

Racist propaganda. This one is interesting because it seems to touch on Critical Race Theory, which has been proven numerous times is not taught in public school and is ONLY a graduate level law school course. However the talking points on this one seem to suggest that basic American history should be excluded from children’s learning as it doesn’t paint white people in a good light. 

Schools are safe learning environments. Hmm.. well based on the previous email it appears it’s not safe for transgender or non-binary children. 

Conclusion: More Misinformation and Contradictory Statements
 

3. August 9, 2022: Title reads “FBI Raids Trump” then goes on to further state, “If we let the Radical Left get away with attacking the 45th President of the United States like this, just think what they will do to you!!!” … Just think… if a judge also thinks you broke the law and you fail to respond to numerous requests from the court to answer, and your lawyer signs off on it, they’ll do the same to you!

FACTS: The investigation is still in its early stages but some of the facts are, a federal judge magistrate signed the warrant after “finding probable cause that evidence of multiple federal crimes would be found” at Trump’s property.  A property receipt of the items taken from Mar-a-Lago listed 11 sets of classified records, including four sets labeled “Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents” and one marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which stands for “Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.”

Conclusion: While all the evidence thus far points to either ignorance, guilt, or both, rhetoric like this continues to call the rule of law and our justice system into question, rattling the core of our democracy. If everything is an attack, everything is political, no one or anything can be trusted but one man, where does that leave us as a nation? 

Now, let’s compare with the emails from the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party within the same time frame. 

  • August 12: Save the Date! Labor Day Picnic and November Election Filing Deadline. Literally that’s all. Reminders for upcoming events.
  • August 16: “Help us kick off our campaign in Goleta! Join us Sunday, August 28th at 1pm at Stow Grove Park for a fun afternoon with Democratic candidates and door knocking!” and Labor Day Picnic Reminders
  • August 22: Tickets now on sale for Labor Day Picnic, canvassing reminder, and list of potential local endorsements
  • August 29: Final endorsement list
  • August 31: Labor Day Picnic reminder

 

It’s important to call out lies and stick to the facts, now more than ever. So after all of that, which local party seems unhinged to you? The answer is obvious to me.

Op-Ed’s are written by community members and organizations, not representatives of edhat. The views and opinions expressed in Op-Ed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of edhat.
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  2. In conversations on this website there are unfortunately so many Republicans that condone election lies, election fraud, support hate groups as well as far right terrorist militias and the attack on our capitol.
    They support Jim Crow Era laws, phobia of the LGBTQ community, xenophobia, outright propaganda and lies, not to mention unconcealed racism. They are underwater in conspiracy theories and support authoritarian government regimes. These are the redemtionists that wanted to return to slavery after the Civil War.

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    • Examples like the uproar when gop bans books but Dems banning books is completely ignored ? Going to forget about all the Dem politicians who straight up lied about having proof trump colluded with the Russians? Most of the same ones that encouraged and incited violence during the blm riots and bailed our rioters? Claims of “saving democracy” when the Dems actively sue to get third parties off the ballots? Or how it’s racists to require voter Id but are ok requiring ID and proof of vaccination for basics like dining, going to the gym, even though it disproportionately affect the POC communities? Or how they changed the name of the Florida bill to Don’t Say Gay to rile people up while naming a bill the Inflation Reduction Act which does nothing of the sort? Or trying to cancel student loan debt to buy votes without proposing a single thing to prevent an entire new generation of students from taking out that same debt tomorrow, and certainly not mention a peep about the mostly liberal universities who charge outrageous tuition, their non profit status and their hundreds of billions in endowments? I could go on and on but CHIP is right, the projection and hypocrisy here is astounding and you do need to cut that tree down to see it.

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    • And yes, the ever so hypocritical Chip hypocritically accused others of hypocrisy. I think my response hit the nail on the head:
      Chip: “Would you apply the same level of scrutiny to the other side?”
      Me: Every accusation by a right winger is a confession.
      Chip: “There seems to be a bit of a double standard…”
      Me: Yes indeedy. About Hillary: “Lock her up!” About Trump: “You just hate him! He didn’t do anything wrong!”
      The hypocrisy of the right wing in this regard is so blatant that you folks really would be better off to give it up. It’s bad enough that you defend a guy who has done what Trump has done, but to do so by deflecting with “but Hillary!” shows that it’s just a game by people with no moral character.

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    • “the projection and hypocrisy here is astounding”
      Somewhat, but it’s SOP for right wingers. Whataboutism is fundamentally hypocritical. Whenever someone says “you’re complaining about X (e.g., banning books) but you guys do it too” they are excusing X on their part while criticizing the other party for it (without any support for the claim that they do). This is one of the oldest fallacies–tu quoque, sometimes called “appeal to hypocrisy” … it charges the other party with hypocrisy, when it’s actually the fallacy wielder who is committing hypocrisy. It’s the playground fallacy–“Bobby did it too!” People who use this fallacy are morally bankrupt.

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  4. Simpletons need simple explanations to help calm their insecurities and fears. False equivalencies and what-about-isms are tantamount to their abilities. They are incapable of nuance nor critical thinking and as we’ve seen play out, very, very, very, easy to fool and manipulate. I am talking about MAGA R’s who are almost always Boomers (the biggest group of fools who fall for fake news and propaganda) or lonely, uneducated younger white men, who are virgins and spend their whole lives online, alone…
    –
    As for the GOP. They are high on their own supply. This is what happens when you live in an info silo. Insularity always breeds insanity. Look at any cult, religion or following. The more insular the group, the worse the behavior. Its never healthy and never, ever ends well for the participants.
    –
    When the indictments come in the winter (post election), most of these people will fall away. There are going to be serious crimes charged and many big names will go down. The GOP is about to find out what happens when you push too far and think you’re invisible. As for their “base” they’re bluster and couch-cowards. Like Mike Tyson says, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”… They’re about to get punched in the face.
    –

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    • ” I am talking about MAGA R’s who are almost always Boomers ”
      Not actually … Turning Point, the people who marched in Charlottesville yelling “Jews will not replace us”, the J6 rioters, Boogaloo Bois, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers … few of these people are boomers.
      “the biggest group of fools who fall for fake news and propaganda”
      It’s a big group by definition–the post-war baby boom. But by percentage there are more such people in the prior generation.

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    • If you slowed down a bit Marcel and read the words of what others write before jumping into a reply, you’d have read the line “…or lonely, uneducated younger white men, who are virgins and spend their whole lives online, alone…”
      –
      Those are the young white supremacists and pseudo-libertarians who have gathered together in chat rooms the last decade and then, under Trump suddenly felt embolden to come out of their basements, garages, trailers and of course, their mother’s houses… They have always existed, but were shamed by their local communities and kept in check by society. The internet brought them together and made them believe there were more of them then there actually are… This is something to pay mind. People are easily fooled into thinking what they’re into online is reflected in what happens in real life. We know that’s not the case.

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    • Ahh yes, a Boomer! The worst generation in American history and the ONLY one to leave their children / grandchildren worse off then they… In 40 years the Boomers inherited the greatest economy in history but indebted their great, great, great grandkids while sucking up all the wealth and giving NOTHING back or PAYING ANYTHING forward.
      –
      Your generation is and will forever be known as the Locust Generation. You arrived when everything was fertile and left nothing in your wake but death and destruction.
      –
      –
      Every other generation but the Boomers hates the Boomers… Good thing time is on our side and in the next decade, you’re all but dead and gone. It’s time for the Boomers to sit down and shut up. They’ve done enough damage. We’ll keep Rock-n-Roll, but you can have everything else back…

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    • Typical Boomer. You make it all about you! Marcel, I realize you’re old, angry and scared, but know that nothing you say or do will change the fact that the majority of younger Americans believe that the Boomers are the worst generation is our history. And the facts and figure support this belief on practically every measure.
      –
      Regardless, you’ve only got about a decade left. So what are you going to do to pay back the future generations for all your theft, greed and myopia? Better hurry, times almost up!

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  5. The “both sides are terrible” argument doesn’t really work anymore when one side is advocating violence and treating top secret documents like comic books in a closet. And the other is what? Trying to give people healthcare? Addressing global warming? I used to be a Republican but never again. Complete out-to-lunch whackjobs now, the whole lot of them! Get a clue!

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    • Chip: It’s apples and oranges. Idiot had them in boxes, in his desk, and empty folders with who-knows-what originally in them. Accessible to his housekeepers, assistants, lawyers, whoever. No security clearances. In a country club! And how long can you really beat the dead horse of “hIlLaRy’S eMaILs” before it gets laughable. Don’t let the least likeable politician in recent history live in your head rent free like that lmao

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    • But her emails! That article that whataboutist (= morally bankrupt) Chip dragged out from January 20, 2016 (well before the facts had been sorted out) has a highly misleading headline, as the body of the article itself makes clear: “”None of the emails that are alleged to contain classified information were written by Secretary Clinton. The question of whether she received emails with classified information has nothing to do with any action taken by Secretary Clinton,” she said. “Additionally, none of the emails that were sent to Secretary Clinton were marked as including classified information, a requirement when such information is transmitted.””
      And from https://www.factcheck.org/2016/07/revisiting-clinton-and-classified-information/
      “Comey said three emails had “portion markings” on them indicating that they were classified, but they were not properly marked and therefore could have been missed by Clinton. He said the emails were marked as classified with the letter “C” in the body of the email.
      Kirby said the State Department believes that at least two of the emails were mistakenly marked as confidential. He could not speak to the third email, saying ​the department didn’t have​ “all of the records and documents that the FBI used in their investigation.”
      Comey told the committee he is “highly confident” that FBI investigators consulted with the State Department about the marked emails. But he said he did not know that the department believes that any of them were marked in error.
      The issue is a bit complicated, but important, because it provides Clinton with a stronger defense against claims that she sent and received material that was marked as classified over her private server when she was secretary of state.”
      Meanwhile, we now learn (from the unsealed property receipt) that the DOJ recovered *10,000* classified documents from Mar-a-Lago in August, and 43 empty folders with “CLASSIFIED” banners and 28 empty folders marked “Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide”
      Trump is a lifelong criminal and this is just the latest in a long list of such crimes. His defenders are pathetic hypocrites, dishonest to the bone.

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    • “the DOJ recovered *10,000* classified documents from Mar-a-Lago in August”
      My mistake … 10,000 documents belonging to the U.S. Government were recovered … they are not all (or mostly) classified. But the criminal statutes that the DOJ is investigating violations of don’t hinge on classification.

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    • Marcelk: There is an old joke that goes something like this: Q: Why do chickens go across the street? A: To get to the other side of the street. The answer to the joke is quite simple, yet many people answer with things like “to get to the chicken coop” or “cup that is where their food/water is located.” Basically, when a person complicates things unnecessarily, frustration sets in where it should not. Better to be an uplifting human than one who attempts to degrade, hummilite, and tear down. And to what end? Simple:To no good end my friends. Namaste to all you good Edhatters…we are all in this together. Be kind.

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    • SBO: You certainly are correct about the “mothering” instinct that comes across in my comments that you find humorous. I guess having a nurturing personality and using odd (or humorous, as you say) phrases is not intentional. Someone thought that I should go into comedy writing, but it’s impossible for me to be anything other than me (like telling an unfriendly/negative person to be friendly/positive….simply does not work as it comes out as disingenuous), All I can say is what I tell those who ask for my advice, and that simply is: Be Your Own Person and Follow Your Own Path….do NOT get roped in by bullies. As far as being wrong about so many things, well, all I can say to that is that some people think the world is round…when it isn’t.

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    • AlexBlue: There is a popular TV program called “The Shark Tanks,” and the basis of the show is for entrepreneurs to present their company/product to several highly successful businesspeople who are referred to as “Sharks.” One of these sharks is a nasty bald guy who bullies people by calling them cockroaches and saying that their ideas/companies/products are terrible and suck and should be “taken behind the house and buried in a shallow grave.” A LOT of people love this bald guy because he is so nasty and treats the tv guests like trash. Some people love to see others lose, do poorly, give up, and fail, but I am not one of those people. I want people to put up a good fight, but not at the expense of wanting those with whom I disagree an early demise. If others want to be that way, then so be it, but not my cup of tea. Please keep in mind that not all of us have that much time left, so we want to see others be successful, and not bashed simply because someone disagrees with the way they vote…..who wants to do that? Who has time to waste on hate or constantly play the blame game? My life changed some years ago when I spent a vacation with about two dozen developmentally challenged adults. I wish everyone could have that same experience that I stumbled upon. All I can say is “Wow!”

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  8. I agree the Trump Republicans are blowing it hard. They’ve given in to being afraid to lose their jobs because they’re afraid of Trump – straight up. That’s politics?
    I also feel, don’t flame me (or do I don’t care it’s my opinion), that there are Dems who are WAY over the top Blank Check Liberal (= Socialist) and who knows where they’re headed with their agenda.
    I personally subscribe to the same philosophy as Chico B. and the author, except I don’t even bother wasting my valuable time in this one shot life watching the likes of MSN and Fox politics. That shouldn’t be where you get your opinion, in my opinion.
    How about this? Do you know the corporate motto of IBM (I know they’re dead)?
    Think

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  11. 4:36 – “California will take custody and provide that care to any child 12 and up.” – absolute and outright LIE. Man oh man you guys really are getting hooked by Fox and OANN lies aren’t you?
    Let me guess, you didn’t even read it, did you?
    3424. (a) A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and the child has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child……
    Yeah, if a kid is thrown out of his/her house and left here, the state can assume temporory custody OR if the kid is being abused because they want treatment. So what? OF COURSE the state should be able to protect them!
    NO, nothing in the bill says CA will provide that treatment.
    LIES.

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  14. Chevy 67. Did you read the article authored by Joan? It states her name as the author.
    When a person writes articles about local issues, yes I look to see who is speaking. Don’t you?
    I wonder if they have kids in our local public schools. I wonder if they attend school meetings or volunteer in the classroom. I do see why they’re writing about issues they have no experience in except what the propaganda states. And yes there is propaganda from Dem & Republicans. Silly fighting about politicians and people looking to climb a ladder or line their pockets.
    The issues I wrote are true. Fact check it.
    I have personally experienced what I wrote about as I have children in school and attend meetings and volunteer at the schools.

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  16. Just look at the difference between the endorsement policies. The Dems have a very rigorous process starting with an application that is often 5-6 pages of essays where a candidate must explain his or her qualifications and how they will support the party priorities. It takes several hours to complete the application and the interview process is rigorous. I do not think the Reps. have any kind of screening. If you are a registered Rep. you get on their mailers, etc. I was told they have no application or screening process in place. Maybe that’s why they get such weak candidates or candidates that are in the extreme. Read the Republican party platform online. It’s about a one minute read. Read the Democratic Party platform. Thorough and thoughtful and reflective of Democratic values. Night and day.

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  17. There was no “fact checking” in the Nixon era because there was a law in place by the FCC called the “Fairness Doctrine.” It was removed in 1987 and the next year Rush Limbaugh became nationally syndicated. Fox News was created not long after Rush’s rise to extremism. So that’s why there was no fact checking, because it was illegal to publicize misinformation.
    Can we get this law back?
    And everything else you posted is complete fabrication, misinformation, or misrepresentation of the facts to fit your narrative.
    Edhat nanny – I hope you’ll delete this comment for all the violations it has.

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  20. You are free to send your kids to any school you choose. No one is stopping you. That is if you’re capable of making enough money… If not, you should not have kids. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and stop relying on the hard work of others to support your decisions in life. That’s what every GOP politician and candidate today calls communism and socialism.

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  22. Thank you, thank you, Joan for having the intelligence and taking the time to point out what the reality and facts are. There are more of us living in the real, factual world, those who haven’t been conned by Trump, so all we have to do is get out and vote. But calling out the malignant lies of the poor, gullible MAGA GOP is important.

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  24. I have no love for radical hardcore left wing nut Democrats nor for radical full of hate racist wing nut conservative Republicans. This country is falling apart because of them. I too am an Independent (Non Partisan Party), and I will vote for a good moderate Democrat and for a good moderate Republican. And it is long overdue to have Independents to be voted in local cities, counties, states for Governors, Senate, Congress and for Presidency. In 2024 if Liz Cheney decides to run for Presidency I will vote for her. I did vote for Biden in 2020 because I did not want El Trumpo the “Orange Monster” (wannabe Dictator/King/God) to serve a second term.

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  28. I work with two die-hard Magattes and they have no issue with appointing Trump or any other similar GOP extremists as Dear Leader For Life.
    I listen to these morons go on and on about the only way “the we” can take back this country is by violent force and subsequent rule by a single family. They openly talk about Trump and his spawn forming a permanent dynasty of rule.
    They are talking a Caesar, a Pharaoh, a Mafia Don – some shyster strongman that will rid them of all the uncomfortable truths about being alive in this time and place.
    These guys have families, a well paying job , a house, a very expensive pickup and multiple flat screen TVs. They lack for none of the shiny beads used to calm the Natives. Yet, for some reason, they are still threatened by people not like them from asking for the same opportunities.
    I don’t understand their fear and they don’t do a good job of explaining why they are afraid. What I do know is that scared people are unpredictable people and will, and can , willingly destroy the very thing they worship just to keep it from someone they hate.
    The fact that 70 million people voted for this GOP Frankenstein and according to the last polls on the media, at least 40 million of them would again tells me that the next Civil War in this country is very close to becoming a reality and all driven by the Party formerly aligned with “law and order’, “respect for the rule of law” , “family values” and yet, now seemingly willing to toss all of that aside for the single pursuit of eternal power.

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  30. I now know why so many people are worried about Trump. If any of you caught his speech last night, OMG. Whether you like him, hate him, or ambivalent toward him, he really is a compelling public figure. I get it…people really/really/r-e-a-l-l-y do not agree with him “just because” he’s the “orange man.” I only watched a bit of his speech (5-8 minutes or so), but yeah, I see why he is polling so high and could quite possibly end up as our president once again. Do not underestimate his abilities like was done in 2016 where he mocked every GOP contender into submission, and then on to send the Clinton’s to the dustbin of history (Clinton Foundation donations went down by 93%….hmmmm…..that’s odd).
    My point is people, be prepared for the unthinkable….Trump back in the White House. Really? Yes, Really. Now pay attention and start doing the right thing, and stop saying that half of the people in this country are Fascists or risk losing again to the Orange Man.

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    • SBO: He may be insane, but people are clearly and demonstrably very concerned that because so many people are sick of the current administration and their policies (simply look at the poll numbers), that the twice-impeached ex-President could certainly be re-elected. If it happened once, it can, indeed, happen again. The cities that were burned to the ground by BLM and Antifa are far worse off than before their social-justice movement and defund the police policies put in place. I cannot name one city that is better off after the BLM/Antifa riots, and all of those cities are reeling economically. The tourist industry is nearly completely dead in places like Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Baltimore, and so on. Insanity is to continue to follow policies that put criminals back out on the streets to commit more crime, death, and destruction.

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    • Babycakes, you extremists love to claim that there are other extremists doing massive damage. “Burned to the ground”. LOL. The FACT is that there are a couple thousand hardcore ANTIFA types whereas there are many, many more right wing crazies out there stockpiling weapons and really rubbing their hands at the prospect of a civil war that will allow them to murder their neighbors. You hear almost no one on the left talking about massive internal conflict and relishing it the way the Trump cult does.

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    • I’m not a judge, on the jury or have seen any evidence and neither have you. We just know what has been carefully selected and presented to us on the news and/or internet. If he is guilty of a crime he should be convicted and face the consequence just like everyone else that has broken the law. You don’t know what he did or didn’t do, I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, and neither does everyone else here even though they claim to know otherwise.

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    • Hi “Voice of Reason,” you posted the below two statements today.
      “If he is guilty of a crime he should be convicted and face the consequence just like everyone else that has broken the law.”
      “how could you be guilty of obstructing an investigation into a crime that didn’t happen.”
      Here is some info for you to consider:
      DEFINITION: Obstruction of justice
      18 U.S.C. § 1503 defines “obstruction of justice” as an act that “corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice.”
      Overview
      Someone obstructs justice when that person has a specific intent to obstruct or interfere with a judicial proceeding. For a person to be convicted of obstructing justice, that person must not only have the specific intent to obstruct the proceeding, but that person must know (1) that a proceeding was actually pending at the time; and (2) there must be a connection between the endeavor to obstruct justice and the proceeding, and the person must have knowledge of this connection.
      § 1503 applies only to federal judicial proceedings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, however, a defendant can be convicted of obstruction of justice by obstructing a pending proceeding before Congress or a federal administrative agency. A pending proceeding could include an informal investigation by an executive agency.

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    • VOICE at 1:55
      – “I’m not a judge, on the jury or have seen any evidence and neither have you.”
      – “If a President is allowed declassify anything they want, and the docs in question were not returned when asked (as far as the actual information we know today) how exactly is it “stealing”?” – Wait, I though you’re not a judge? You’re allowed to defend him, but I’m not allowed to suggest he stole the classified documents that were found in his home?
      Cry to us again about the hypocrisy… Oh woe is me! LOL.

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    • VOICE at 4:46 – the question I asked was, “Since A, is B still crying about “locking her up?” Now, if I made the statement that, “Since A, B should not cry about “locking her up[.]” then that would be a statement.
      Here, let me help you again and this time make it as easy as possible for you:
      ques·tion Submit
      pronunciation:
      kwes chn
      parts of speech:
      noun, verb
      phrases:
      beyond question, in question, out of the question
      features:
      Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
      part of speech:noun
      definition 1:a sentence that asks for a reply.
      Did you ask me a question?
      synonyms:
      inquiry, query —— https://kids.wordsmyth.net/we/?level=2&rid=33722
      state·ment Submit
      pronunciation:
      steIt mnt
      features:
      Word Explorer
      part of speech:noun
      definition 1:something stated in words.
      The company made a statement to everyone about the new work hours.
      definition 2:any sentence that is not a question.

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    • Oh SAC. Voice is saying that A in “Since A” is a statement. That’s true.
      But he blatantly lies when he says that it is “something you and everyone else who referenced it can’t possibly know at this time” — your statement was “Trump was basically caught red handed stealing top secret documents” which not only is something that we can and do know, but that Trump acknowledged when he said that he hadn’t just left the documents in the photo on the floor (no one had claimed he had) but rather he had them in cartons. Trump illegally took possession of over 10,000 documents that belonged to the U.S. government, not him (contrary to his idiotic ignorant assertions).
      And for anyone inclined to mention Obama, a) whataboutism is moral bankruptcy, a *tu quoque* fallacy that is both irrelevant to and an admission of the original charge and b) it’s not true–Obama’s documents are housed with NARA.

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    • “If a President is allowed declassify anything they want”
      a) They aren’t — nuclear secrets cannot be declassified.
      b) They have to follow a procedure laid out in the Executive Order governing classification, and Trump didn’t.
      c) Classification is irrelevant — none of the laws mentioned in the probable cause search warrant hinge on classification.
      As for the rest of that ridiculous blather, this is not a court of law. We all make claims here that have not been established by a jury … including the serial liar and hypocrite (and no, he hasn’t been convicted of that, but it is still true) who wrote that nonsense. It’s an established fact that Trump was “caught red handed” via a legal warranted search of his residence of possession of over 10,000 documents belonging to the U.S. government–he took those documents, and that’s theft. Anyone who “hasn’t seen the evidence” has willfully shut their eyes to it.

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    • MARCEL – ehhh close, but he is saying (behind the cover of “anonymity”) that I made a statement. It was a rhetorical question, but a question nonetheless, not a statement. I was wondering, given the FACTS we all have about Trump, is he still calling for HRC to be “locked up?” Yes, wondering aloud and ok, admittedly, implying he shouldn’t be, BUT, it’s not relevant as you point out in such an articulate manner.
      I have a funny feeling VOICE is also the “new guy” at 3:52. His sole contribution to this site is to pick arguments (heck, I at least participate in March Edness!), which is EXACTLY what 3:52 is attempting in his veiled “observation.”

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    • If a President is allowed declassify anything they want, and the docs in question were not returned when asked (as far as the actual information we know today) how exactly is it “stealing”? This bares striking similarities to the claims he obstructed justice during the Russian collusion investigation, and how could you be guilty of obstructing an investigation into a crime that didn’t happen. With all the false claims and straight up lies/hoaxes that have come out about him in the news since 2016, it is surprising so many still rush to judgement and believe, without a doubt, anything the media says about him the second the tweet/headline comes out.

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    • There is a rigorous set of protocols for control of classified documents, which includes a process for declassification. That process was not followed by the orange moron. Anyway, that’s all a bit of a red herring, because merely keeping documents that are the property of the government (the National Archives) is a crime. It would be nice to nail that bastard on espionage charges, too, though.

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    • Whatever the standard is, in this matter and others, it should be applied equally and across the board; no matter someone’s position, title, political party, gender, race, or cause they purport to support. This simply isn’t being done and if you disagree with that, you aren’t being honest with yourself. The ENDS do not justify the MEANS – HOW we do things is just as important as WHY we’re doing them.

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    • “Whatever the standard is, in this matter and others, it should be applied equally and across the board; no matter someone’s position, title, political party, gender, race, or cause they purport to support. This simply isn’t being done and if you disagree with that, you aren’t being honest with yourself. ”
      You’re right — Trump-appointed (during the lame duck period when he had already lost the election) and venue-shopped judge Aileen Cannon, life member of the Federalist Society, wrote a decision that gave Trump privileges never given to any other human in history and with no basis in the law.

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    • And yet you’re crying and whining because your feelings were hurt by a random internet comment about your terrible generation… And you think you’re a tough guy? LOL. Enjoy your last few years but know one thing, you’re the last generation of Americans who will have SS or Medicare to aide you in your old age. Why? Because your fellow Boomers stole all the money and left nothing but debt for everyone else…

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  34. On a lighter note, here’s some text from the SB GOP’s newsletter from today.
    “The self-styled socialist California Democrats are taking the same failed command-and-control approach as the Soviet Union – top-down mandates that destroy a healthy market economy and jobs – and it is leading our beautiful state to ruin.
    We know how the story of communism ended. Let’s not replay it.
    California Democrats might have acquired a history lesson from their wiser peer, Premier Gorbachev. He just passed. R.I.P. ”
    Hahahahahahaha, these fools are crazy.

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  35. I am fascinated at the pathology that may be lurking behind some of these comments. Petty, mean, unnecessarily nasty. I’m new here, and it looks weird to me that instead of just stating their own point of view, and stating why they disagree with another point of view , lots of commenters instead belittle, stalk, harass , and gang up on others. I noticed one commenter made some rather bland observations and was attacked in a pile-on by several others who appeared to be working as an “attack team.” Wow, do you really need to enlist a team of apparently regular commenter cronies to gang up on others? Are you that insecure? The attacks seem out of proportion to the attacked commenters’ somewhat middle of the road tone, so that sends a message that on here you are either in complete lockstep with the correct lingo from the dominant ruling gang here, or you are the enemy! News flash: It doesn’t make you or your position look attractive or mentally or emotionally secure or stable when you act that way.

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    • 3:52 – Do you seriously think people, who have no idea who each other are, “enlist” others to “attack” people? I get that you’re new here, but the simple fact is that some of the regulars (one of which is hiding his name) post extremely condescending remarks and statements, while refusing to provide any evidence or citations for their outlandish claims, meanwhile calling others hypocrites, and making other objectively objectionable and sometimes underhandedly offensive statements. You may think everyone is “ganging up” on that person, but after years of these statements and unfounded claims, many people here have gotten tired of it. No “enlisting” required.

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    • @3:52 – could it be that the majority of readers here are exhausted by the lies, bigotry, and misrepresentations GOP leaders and their followers are perpetuating? What you classify as an “attack” could actually be vigilant readers doing their best to keep this last remaining local comment boards free of that nonsense?

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    • VOICE at 4:36 – not at all. And seriously, enough with the boo hoo mean ol’ liberal stuff. This is a local news site in a HEAVILY liberal town. Not sure how this is “news” to you and your “attack team” at 3:52. You come in here, just like 3:52, looking for a fight Every. Single. Time. and then cry when others disagree or get fed up with the constant spewing of lies, “hate, condescension and insults” by you and your fellow non-liberals, because oh yeah…… you’re “not conservatives,” lol. Cry us a river.

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  36. Funny how the right side likes to tout law and order….yet they seem to have more people prosecuted within their own establishment, one term after another. As soon as they leave office. I urge you to roll back the clock and do some reading about this.
    they are also anything but fiscally conservative, they can’t seem to do basic arithmetic.
    Back to law and order. Trump is nothing more than a big cry baby and a pure embarrassment to the RNC, the reps that follow him are dumb as rocks. He has split the country and further split the republican party into shreds.
    Wake up.
    I don’t need either side of the aisle pushing their agendas on my kids. Keep your stupid religion out of the classrooms as well as your gender bending confusion talks. All of it. Stay out of the classroom.
    Our kids don’t need your poisons.

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    • 1:51, I’m sure many of the charges in that article are valid.
      But I don’t use sources like “newspunch”
      “NewsPunch is a Los Angeles-based fake news website.[1] Originally named Your News Wire,[5][11][12] it was founded in 2014 by Sean Adl-Tabatabai and his husband Sinclair Treadway.[3][6][13] In November 2018, it rebranded itself as NewsPunch.[11] Your News Wire was revived as a separate website in November 2020, and has continued publishing hoaxes similar to those in NewsPunch.[14]
      A 2017 BuzzFeed report identified NewsPunch as being the second-largest source of popular fake stories spread on Facebook that year,[6] and a June 2018 Poynter analysis identified NewsPunch as being debunked over 80 times in 2017 and 2018 by Poynter-accredited factcheckers such as Snopes, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, and the Associated Press.[7]
      The European Union’s East StratCom Task Force has criticized NewsPunch for spreading Russian propaganda, a charge Adl-Tabatabai denies.[3]
      Regular contributors to NewsPunch include Adl-Tabatabai, a former BBC and MTV employee from London previously an employee of conspiracy theorist David Icke,[15] Adl-Tabatabai’s mother Carol Adl, an alternative health practitioner, and Baxter Dmitry, who had previously been posing as an unrelated Latvian man using a stolen profile photo.[16][17]
      Fake news stories
      NewsPunch has published false stories, including:
      Stories pushing the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory.[18][19] NewsPunch was one of the first sites to propagate the conspiracy theory, publishing a falsified story that was later used as a basis for Pizzagate’s viral spread among the alt-right.[20]
      Claims that the 2017 Las Vegas shootings and Manchester Arena bombings were false flags.[21][22]
      Anti-vaccination hoaxes alleging that Bill Gates refused to vaccinate his children[23] and “admitted that vaccinations are designed so that governments can depopulate the world”.[24]
      Claims that Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory in the 2016 United States Presidential election was the result of voter fraud.[25]
      Allegations that Clinton was responsible for Anthony Bourdain’s suicide.[26]
      False claims that Justin Trudeau was the love child of Fidel Castro.[11]
      Inaccurate claims that “California scraps Pledge of Allegiance because it’s ‘racist'”[27]”

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    • The amount of self-righteous hypocritical filth in the RepubliQan party is downright disturbing. Google “list of Republican pedophiles.” The most prominent is Dennis Hastert, House speaker 1999-2007, a convicted child rapist. Jim Jordan, a leading GOP House member, was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State when the team doctor was caught molesting dozens of students. Jeff Ford, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “faith advisor” quit his day job teaching high school when it was discovered he was having a relationship with a student. The list goes on, there are literally hundreds. Textbook projection.

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  37. MarcelK: It would be helpful to make comments/critiques/etc. that kinda/sorta relate to the question in the article headline: “Is the Local GOP OK?” After making 25% of the total comments so far on this thread, any person would maybe tone it down because few folks enjoy being lashed incessantly. Is the local GOP okay? I don’t know, but it certainly seems to be a sore subject to bring up by reading many of these comments. I don’t get how anyone can expect to be taken seriously with the constant barrage of acidic verbiage being spewed out in hateful ways. This is NOT helpful or warranted in my opinion. I can only think that such negative language is coming from someone who is inexperienced or ineffective in real life. In one of my “past lives” I created and delivered trainings for professional folks (mostly high-tech, but also some in biotech and finance) who have difficulty dealing with co-workers and subordinates, and most of the “trainees” grew and matured during these sessions. It’s fantastic to see the transition, and quite fulfilling to be able to have such a positive effect on these struggling people. FYI: the technology and science industries are filled with workers who have difficulty dealing with others.
    We have such a short time on Earth, so best we get along rather than creating conflict where none should exist (like name calling). Like my Mother used to say, “Better to extend an olive branch than a pitchfork.”

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    • BABY – with the constant and blatant lies and deflection exhibited by so many of your co-commenters, I can understand MARCEL’s frustration and use of more aggressive tone/words. It’s enough to make any reasonable person lose their cool. NO ONE is going to change each others’ minds here. VOICE will continue to deflect and take a condescending tone with us. CHICO will continue to spew hate and insults. CHIP will continue to lie (while his little buddy cheers him on. And yes, MARCEL will continue to bark, I’ll continue proving VOICE wrong at every turn, GT will continue to do what he does. Etc etc etc…… We are all polar opposites, but only 1 side is truly hellbent on defending criminals and lies. We’ll NEVER agree or come close to admitting fault (except when I’m proven wrong, which has happened and I’ve acknowledged). This is what’s wrong with our country and no amount of olives will change the fact that there are still adult humans who think January 6th wasn’t an insurrection. Will think Trump should be excused for taking possession of THOUSANDS of classified documents, but HRC should be jailed. Will have no compassion for those in need. Will cling desperately to the lie that the 2020 election was rigged. Blah blah blah.
      Thanks for the olive branch, but we’re fundamentally different in our cores. I’ll never accept the lies they’re pushing as truth and they’ll never admit they’re lies. They’ll never accept the measures liberals take and promote to help the planet, the poor, the minorities, etc and we’ll never stop trying.

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    • SacJon: Sometimes I cannot tell if you are just joking around with your comments or not. I take it that many of the things you say are a bit “tongue-in-cheek” and meant to be a bit mischievous (like when you attribute anonymous comments to a specific commenter and saying you are done/done, but then immediately get back into the fray….to me that’s funny). I was blessed with many of the traits that my father had, and that was to remain “cool under fire” and not let words or opposing opinions bother me…but that’s me. For example, I mentioned that some towns were “burned down” by BLM/Antifa, and a couple of folks took it literally. It would be the same as saying that it was “boiling hot” in SB last Sunday (Boiling? No, it was NOT boiling…of course not) or that the homeless have “taken over” downtown SB (Taken over? No, they have NOT taken over….of course not.). So, maybe consider giving it a rest, take a couple of puffs, maybe a shot or two of Patron or Fireball. Take it down a notch. Live and let live. CoExist. Tolerance….and all that jazz.

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    • Babycakes, the problem is that many people literally believe that certain cities are uninhabitable due to radical leftists.
      When you say that the towns were “burned down”, you may be speaking metaphorically, though frankly I doubt you have the level of self awareness to do so, but people who are stockpiling ammunition and praying for civil war are listening to people using the language that you use and are using it to bolster their paranoid fantasies.
      So, essentially, if you want people to stop being divisive, you should really start with yourself.

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Community Environmental Council Applauds CA Legislature for Climate Bills

Pavement Rehabilitation Coming to Western Goleta this Fall