Newsom Smokes DeSantis

I have to admit I’m stunned, I liked Ron (DeSantis) a lot.  I thought he would run away with the nomination.  He is a popular Florida Governor, swing state, speaks both English and Spanish.  He is now the incredible shrinking candidate.  Similar to Scott Walker 8 years ago he will go from favorite to also ran.  SAD!

This past week has not been great for Ron.  His campaign has laid off staff, this is usually a sign of running out of cash.  His largest donor has demanded that DeSantis go far to the left or be cut off financially. He offered to debate Kamala Harris…she turned it down.  My question is why would you want to debate her?  You are running for President, not VP.  Harris knew she would lose so she smartly turned it down.  Then he agreed to debate Gavin Newsom.

Big mistake.

First there is nothing for DeSantis to gain from this.  Gavin is not a candidate (yet).  Furthermore, the debate would be on Fox and moderated by Sean Hannity. It seems odd that Gavin wants the debates to be held in either: North Carolina, Georgia or Nevada…oh wait they are swing states.  Still Think Gavin isn’t running?

 Better yet, Gavin has a built-in excuse if things to awry…. he is on a “far right network” with a “far right debate moderator.”  Essentially, he can play the “its unfair 2 vs 1 card.” 

Secondly, look at the rules DeSantis proposed:

  • DeSantis suggested four dates from between Sept. 19 to Nov. 8, while Newsom proposed two dates in November.
  • DeSantis wanted a live audience with a 50-50 split, while Newsom said, “no live audience.”
  • DeSantis does not want opening remarks, while Newsom would like both participants to get four minutes.
  • DeSantis proposed that they each submit a two-minute-long video that must be approved by Fox News before it is played at the top of the debate.

I will address these one at a time. 

I have zero issue with timing of debates, I prefer DeSantis timeframe but if you’re going to debate both sides need to agree to a mutual date.

The live audience thing is wild… I mean is this like Cheers in disguise?  Filmed before a live studio audience?  I agree with Gavin, I would do no audience, I think the cheering and jeering takes away from a policy debate.

The opening video is also strange, it speaks to wanting a hype video that’s pre-recorded, I prefer Gavin’s idea of a four-minute opening statement.  Also, this should set DeSantis up better as it helps frame a Florida vs California policy debate.  It would be easy to show a stark contrast.

Again, this just seems bizarre, Ron should be chomping at the bit to face off with Gavin, assuming Gavin is a candidate (more on this later).  But the terms are wild.

Gavin as the Blog Father pointed out is a skilled debater; in a sense he doesn’t need facts, he just makes things up as he goes.  Worst yet he still believes it to be true.  This is what makes Gavin a skilled politician, and again, if Hannity tries to call him out, he can play the “2 vs 1 card.” 

In short, DeSantis has no chance of looking good.  He can either stumble badly (and sadly his demands paint a picture of him not being a good debater) or he looks good, and Gavin/democrats/state run media play the “right wing network, right wing moderator, of course DeSantis looked good.  It’s a lose, lose I would never agree to.

As for Gavin, folks I’ve said it before in this space, he is up to something, either Joe is going to whack Kamala off the ticket (possibly) or the democrat party is going to whack Joe from the ticket entirely.  Interestingly enough, the democrats are all in on Feinstein being too old to serve, everyone except Pelosi wants her gone so Gavin can appoint someone to fill the seat.  I know he has said it will be a black woman, this is his way to brandish his “woke credentials.”  Gavin in our opinion is not electable nationwide without widespread voter fraud on levels even the democrats know they cannot pull off.  So, the easiest way is to use Joe again as a conduit.  Joe is a likeable guy…I do not like his politics, but he is uncontroversial…the opposite of Trump some may say.  Get Joe re-elected, have him have a “health episode” and viola VP Gavin will take over as president going forward.  Democrats keep the Senate, re-claim the house and next thing you know the Supreme court has 25 judges, and boom, liberal utopia here we come.

The Chief

PS and yes, I think DeSantis is cooked, Trump is too far ahead in the polls and appears inevitable.

Why I Will Never Own a Rental In CA

It sounds great, doesn’t it?  Owning a rental?  Someone else pays your mortgage each month, you get the leftover cash.  It’s cash flow baby, how can you go wrong?  You get income each month, and if they do not pay you tack on a late fee.  They still don’t pay?  Evict their butt!  Raise the rent yearly and voila, you can buy another, and another and another.  WRONG!

Let me give you a real-world story. First, a friend of mine rented out his townhouse to a couple college kids.  He had since bought a newer, bigger house.  It worked fine for a couple years, then when move out time was happening (tenants graduating college) they proceeded to have a massive party, trashing the place to the tune of 40,000 dollars.  Yes, 40k.  Let’s just say that was equal to the amount of rent paid over the two years they rented from him but it likely was not.  I helped with repairs, but they thew a kegger, had a bunch of folks over, and flooring had to be replaced, the bathtub/shower insert was broken, the toilet bowl was missing a chunk out of it.  Yikes.  All this for a little income?  My friend sold the place at a loss, this was circa the housing bust.

If that doesn’t scare you, or you are very naïve now read, on for my personal reasons not to own one (again in CA specifically).

Rent Control Laws: They will keep getting more not less favorable to the tenet.  Try making money/keeping up with inflation and property tax hikes when you have strict limits on how much you can raise rent annually.

Property Taxes: Prop 13 is/has been under siege for the longest time, eventually prop 13 property tax protections will go away for commercial buildings, this likely will include rentals someday.  Prop 13 for those of you not familiar, limits property tax hikes to a set percentage a year, 2% I reckon.  Without prop 13, Katie bar the door.

Tenant Has all the Rights: In CA Landlord = Bad, Tenant = Good.  The laws are all on their side.  All the time.  Stove goes out?  They can withhold the rent.  AC/Heat goes out? If not fixed quickly…ditto.  And withhold means straight up not paying for the month by the way.  Trust me, I know this, as my office partner owns a rental, if it wasn’t paid for he would sell.

Eviction is HARD:  Again, like the above, the laws are all on the tenant side.  First, months upon months of payments must be missed.  Then you must file with the court, then have the Sheriff serve the tenant in person, not via email, or snail mail.  Then you will need a good lawyer, not a cheap one, because again if the “I”s are not dotted and “t”s not crossed then the process starts over.  With your tenant living for free.

“Plandemics”:  Yup, it was planned not a pandemic.  Fauci came in and made the rules, governors enacted them.  We shut down, but worse, you could not evict anyone for non-payment or any reason.  Check out that sentence again.  So, folks quit paying their rent, actually you would have been stupid to keep paying it.  Now good luck collecting that bank rent. Oh by the way, I think CA just finally allowed evictions to start to proceed, literally a year plus after the plandemic was declared over.

Utilities: See above, but the tenant likely wasn’t paying those either, but since it’s your house and you the landlord are the owner…you owe them now or face a shut off.  Again, as landlord good luck getting the state to forgive those.

Upkeep:  It’s not the tenant’s house so don’t expect much from them.  Major wet/dry rot, dead trees, water leaks, uncared for appliances will be the norm.  Don’t expect them to make you aware of the cosmetic damage either.  A client of mine had a rental with 25k of dry rot on the entire side of his rental.  The sprinkler was hitting the side of the house for probably 2 years straight causing major damage.  (Also not covered by insurance btw).

Mortgage: Whether the tenant pays rent or not, your mortgage is still due.  Just remember that.  Just like the property tax, insurance and utilities that are your responsibility.  Those entities do not give a rip that your tenant ain’t paying you.

If these have not convinced you to not buy a rental in CA, then by all means go for it.  I am sure a lot of you have wonderful stories of great tenants/experiences etc. so the obvious disclaimer, your experience may vary.  I just do not see the upside in CA or any blue state for owning a rental property.  For me there is too much risk involved.  I see way too many negatives, and I do not wish to not sleep at night due to stress or whatnot.

The Chief

Throwing Water on the “Homeless Crisis”

I was reading the latest edition of the Sacramento Bee when I stumbled across an editorial that made my blood boil.  Alvie Lindsey is her name, and her article reads like any other article you can find on the inter webs or print… we need to do something.  It talks about the Bee doing an investigation (LOL) and asking the hard questions (LOL) then being transparent with the answers given (LOL).  Since I didn’t die of laughter, I guess I’ll continue my commentary below.

First of all, Alvie, you work in a dead profession, not dying, dead, so I question your sanity.  Journalism died when you guys went all in on left wing politics and policies.  Ask yourself this, how can you possibly hold Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, or any other elected in California/US accountable when you did nothing but pump them up while running for office?  You can’t.  Sorry, not sorry.

When I was in college 2004-2008 Gavin Newsom (yes that one) was mayor.  His reign lasted through 2011.  During that same time span, a politician named Kamala Harris (again, that one) was District Attorney, then she elevated to be Attorney General of CA. 

My point in naming these two is simple, the Bee and other publications have supported their motives for years, since 2004 to be exact.  Never have either of these two done anything to draw the ire of any news organization in CA.  In fact, you doubled, and tripled down to support them.  But on to the homeless issue to make my point.

California is very rare in that we have a massive state, home to massive corporations, also we have three very different, distinct regions.  All three, however, are very progressive, and seem to be racing each other to the bottom.

Through my time in California, I never used to witness much homelessness, even when in high school and I had to volunteer at Loaves and Fishes there were not a “ton” of homeless, more like a few hundred.  I went to college in Marin County, and the problem was substantially worse.  This was circa 2004-2008.  My time there I got introduced to San Francisco/Oakland/Bay Area this was an eye opener.  Open air drug markets (Civic Center, SF) tent cities (Oakland) and massive crime (any area with mass transit).  Things have gotten progressively worse, in all 3 phases.  Now the homeless crisis has taken over our state with Sacramento County claiming to have 10,000 homeless alone.

How did we get here?

Well, it’s a combination of things; there is no sole answer or cause.  To understand one needs to realize humanity is not perfect, but it is resourceful.  What I mean by that is while homelessness may be avoidable for some, others have chosen homelessness.  First and foremost, I would say 75-80% of most folks have zero saved up for an emergency.  Thus, when something happens (health, layoff, car/house repair) occurs they have no means to afford it.  Thus, some are pushed into homelessness due to circumstances out of their control.  I include in these folks evicted/foreclosed on, as they typically have no viable options.  Drug/alcohol abuse is also a large cause of homelessness, a friend of mine (RIP) lost his house, due to his alcohol addiction, he was foreclosed on.  Abuse leads to loss of employment that turns into loss of residence.  Others just want to live underground and avoid paying for things.

Sure, there are some who are down on their luck, lost a job, had major health scare etc., and for them I hope they are able to get into transitional housing and start work again.  I really do and I feel this blog’s staff feel the same.  California has spent millions on this type of housing, and I see zero results, the problem is actually getting worse.  Getting worse due to decisions made by left leaning elected that the news media went in the tank for.  Gavin Newsom has raised the minimum wage, built low-income housing (even sued local cities to force them to build), waived most permit and environment rules, decriminalized drugs and low-level crimes, all in the guise of “helping folks out of poverty.”  It hurt the problem.  Honestly very few of these tiny homes have been built, and when they have been, the units end up trashed, due to you guessed it drugs, alcohol, and more disturbing sex trade.  Most of these “camps” are staffed with a medic, security, and social workers… added amenities include showers, toilets, and community areas.  Yet somehow these units end up in a state of disrepair.  Who knew people who don’t have any purpose in life or have no fear of consequences will trash the place?

Here is my solution: Warning it is not constitutional and will never be allowed but understand my take. 

We round up all homeless in each county.  Yup, I said it.  You have two choices, you want to better yourself, get out of homelessness?  You go one way, board a bus and live in a tiny home compound.  You have access to social workers, but most importantly you apply for jobs, entry level, who cares, the goal here is you have a safe place to live temporarily, and getting a paycheck coming in.  This is the best, easiest and most effective way to get out of homelessness.  You have a place to live, a safe one at that, bathrooms and shower facilities, and a schedule.  There will be no, drinking, sex, or drugging at this place.  PERIOD.  The other group of folks who want to drink, drug, and have sex like crazy they get on a different bus, and go to a compound away from society.  They can live their lives out over there, away from a civilized society.

I know what folks are thinking, how can I be so cold, low hearted, and call myself a Christian?  I do, and I can.  I sleep just well at night as well by the way.  Recently I morphed into an angry white male, I took a look at the taxes I pay and I’m sick.  I’m sick because I see billions being spent on homeless liberal BS and it isn’t working.  I see/read stories of tons of trash, destroyed property, and the like, it’s my damn taxpayer money being spent on liberal BS.  And by the way the GOP supports it out here as well.  San Francisco is a wasteland; a once proud city is destroyed.  Downtown Sacramento, near where this blog is headquartered (for now) is trashed.  I was there for a Spartan Race (I’m kind of a big deal) K street and L street smelled like piss, and scat, of the human variety.  In front of our new basketball arena, which was supposed to turn the area around, they were blasting music at 6am…. yes, to ward of the homeless folks who want to camp out.

It’s time for a new idea, no more liberal BS maybe try my idea?

The Chief

Editor’s Note: In the 1980’s, it was alleged by Mitch Snyder and parroted by a willing media that there were 3 million homeless in the United States. At the time the government (U.S. Census Bureau) claimed about 300,000 homeless. Since the media (including the Sacramento Bee) are always truthful, let’s use their number of 3 million. Why is it that there were no tent cities or poop on sidewalks? In fact, sightings of homeless people were infrequent in many areas. Currently the number of homeless is allegedly 582,462. This is one sixth the number of homeless that liberals claimed existed during the Reagan Administration. Why is the problem now so much worse? Why is homelessness a crisis in areas governed almost exclusively by Democrats?

Donald Trump was a Necessary Evil

Speaking to the 90-day guy today I gave my thoughts on his comments about “Trump being up in the polls vs Biden.”  This is nice and wonderful I said, but I have no appetite for a rematch.  Make no mistake, I supported Trump after Scott Walker dropped out of the primary and supported him during his entire first term and re-election campaign, but I have tired of him and his act.

Make no mistake about it, Trump was the most conservative president of my lifetime so far, I am 37.  Trump did some amazing things; he singlehandedly remade the Supreme Court.  Got a tax cut done, albeit temporary (expires in 2024), we also had a thriving economy.  Covid hit, and destroyed all of this, even worse, Trump got bad advice from his inner circle and turned into a mad man.  In this blogger’s opinion, he self-destructed.  Now we have a vegetable in the White House.

Trump however will be seen in a great light by me because he exposed the charlatans and frauds in the party and media.  Lindsey Graham found his spine after being a thorn in the side of the Party for years.  McConnell got the judges through and confirmed, but Trump laid waste to him and exposed him for being a fake.  Ditto for Kevin McCarthy.  McConnell and McCarthy are two of the fakest conservatives you will meet.  Both love to say one thing on Fox News and vote a different way in DC.  However both love to lecture us about how “Democrats are going to destroy our way of life” while voting the opposite.  How many times have we raised the debt ceiling?  What’s the point of a ceiling if you keep raising it?

Trump loved using the bully pulpit with soft Republicans, he loved whacking the Democrats as well, but what he did against the GOP was a thing of legends.  The way he called out “Lyin Ted, Little Marco, Low Energy Jeb” was something no Republican had done before.  There are no scared cows with Trump, he is a piece of work, but man could he get deep into the mud.  He wouldn’t back down from anyone. 

That trait has been sorely lacking from the GOP for decades, maybe for life?  The way I see it, the GOP is good for one thing; talking tough.  That’s it.  They will shut down federal, state or local governments, only to relent and give in a certain time later.  Getting nothing by the way!  I watched this most of my adult life, the Party would hold out, and then suddenly reverse course and give the Democrats everything they wanted.  Trump was having none of it.

Trump has left office he is politically toxic, but he did do some great things as far as I am concerned.  Gone are the days of Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham leading the party.  Fox is no longer viewed as conservative.  I would say Trump is the leader in the clubhouse of the Party, it certainly is not McCarthy or McConnell.  Ted Cruz got muzzled, Marco Rubio is hardly heard from anymore.  Trump gave a playbook on how to win in the media.  The Party never acted, thus they never learned from their mistakes.  Anyone remember the massive red wave that was supposed to come in 2022?  There wasn’t one.  It’s a leaderless, rudderless ship right now and I do not see it ending.  Looks like the Republican Party has circled back to the only hope for a GOP win at the national level is for a milquetoast moderate to run…. Mittens Romney anybody?

The Chief

Covid Lockdowns:  A Democrat and Liberal Republican Wet Dream

Editor’s Note: This was written on the third year anniversary of two weeks to flatten the curve (March 2023) but somehow I missed the submission. Sorry, Chief.

Oops, I just said it.  Hate me?  I want you to get mad at me!  Get mad!  But you cannot.  You were scared, frightened.  Everyone was going to die.  We all needed to lock ourselves in our homes and smear Chick-fil-A sauce over the doorway.  El Oh El!

Oh, trust me there are/were plenty of Republicans who needed to change their undies too.  They finally showed their true colors to me.  Hence, I left the Party.

You picked winners and losers, both in business and people.  The liquor store and weed dispensary?  They needed to stay open. “Essential” were they.  Yeah, those are the most unessential businesses going… but hey I gotta buy my booze and weed!

Food places?  Close them to dine in!  But by golly shucks, let the people gather in the vestibule area to wait for their takeout order!  El Oh El!

All the dental offices in my building were closed down…. imagine that every time I used to go to the dentist, the personnel minus the front counter folks were masked up…. Oh, this was long before Covid took place.  I guess you could say they masked up before it was cool?  El Oh El!  Now no one is going to the dentist, in my building they are struggling to hire hygienists and RDA’s.

The local park had the basketball hoop removed….and playground roped off.  Thank god… I heard the covid monster was known to frequent that basketball court.  No word on the “lawsuit” likely filed by the child molester types, I heard they demanded the playgrounds for children be deemed essential!

The Indian casinos/cardrooms were allowed to be open…. thank god, see weed and liquor stores.  As a nation we have our priorities just in line, don’t we?

Workers who wanted to work; i.e.. Waiters/service folks were told stay home and given extra benefits to do so.  Yet some of the most vulnerable, including a good friend of mine who works at a grocer were told show up/no time off or consequences would be severe.  He works as a senior cashier, while the Subway Sandwich artist lays on the couch at home eating Bon-Bons making more money than my friend.  Good luck getting those folks to return to the workforce in any meaningful capacity.

Crime:  Boy howdy! Was this ever a thing to watch.  You were more than welcome to protest if you’re a BLM sympathizer, it was actually encouraged.  So much so that you were in essence given immunity from prosecution.  The jails were subsequently emptied of all “non-violent” criminals.  Yup, who would have thunk crime would be as bad as it is now?  The courts were shut down, and sweet deal plea bargains were handed out like candy on Halloween.  I know of 2 people who caused DUI car wrecks which killed people, their sentences?  Neither included any jail time. 

We pause this blog to allow the Democrats and GOP reading this blog to change your undies.

While person to person contact was discouraged, using a hook up app like Tindr was fine.  But of course, going to a strip club was not.  Artificial stimulation (weed and booze) was ok, but human touch was frowned upon?  Except in the comfort of your own bedroom?  El Oh El.  I guess I’ve been having sex wrong all these years?  Me and my girlfriend of choice were always breathing heavily, heart racing within inches of each other.  But I guess your experience may vary?  LOL

You allowed folks to not pay rent or their mortgage with no fear of eviction/foreclosure.  Smart, you just told a generation, or 2 that personal responsibilities doesn’t matter.  To date I do not think the eviction process has completely re-started yet.  The foreclosure process?  Who cares?

Ditto for telling folks they didn’t have to pay their utility bills.  I know of quite a few folks who fit this category.  Again, teaching folks they can use a service and not pay…. and thinking this is somehow ok?

But keep telling yourself you believe in limited government, the free market, and small business.  The government shut you down, if you even work.  Told you where you could and could not gather, and you listened.  No spine at all.  Churches closed, but hey that’s ok, I’ll just fire up the ole television and watch it.  They shut the schools down, and you followed.  They weaponized the police to track down folks who disobeyed their order.  This went on for years.  You obeyed…good for you. 

You got multiple shots; what you actually had put into your body you will never really know.  But its ok, the President and Governor got the shot on live TV.  You are not a conservative, you are a follower, scared of your own shadow.  You were finally confronted, and you showed your true colors for all of us to see.  Congrats on your Covid card!  I am sure you are also the one complaining about how the restaurant is understaffed and out of ingredients! 

Congrats!  You all did this.  Good luck making things right again in the world.  But hey you didn’t get Covid.  Hope you don’t suffer from the side effects of the shots you got.  And if you do?  Sorry the drug companies have full immunity.  El Oh El.  The Joke is on you.

The Chief

My Take on Iraq War 20 Year Anniversary

Editor’s Note: it is my fault this post was delayed, the Chief did his part.

Today, 3/20/2023 is a day of reflection, as it marks the 20-year anniversary of the US invading Iraq.  When looking back, I was a high school sophomore at the time.  Our nation had gotten attacked on 9/11, our mission was to find those in charge, and eliminate them from earth.  In hindsight, what happened on this date set the US back as a world superpower.

US Bases in Iraq following invasion

I was all for the invasion, you do not dare invade the US and live to tell the tale.  We as a people, myself included, were gassed up by George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld saying we had intelligence on who did this.  First it was radical Muslims, then jihadists, etc.  John Bolton was another one of the cheerleaders for invading Iraq.   But the worst was Colin Powell, yep, the “decorated” general who aspired to be President.  He went in front of United Nations and gave a speech citing an intelligence document that Iraq had nuclear weapons and was hiding them.  We had to move now.

Move we did.  Even though Britain and Germany questioned the validity of this document, it didn’t matter.  We invoked the article of NATO and had the backing of the largest alliance with us.  We invaded Iraq.  I was fully in support, at least for a while.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell delivers his address to the UN Security Council February 5, 2003 in New York City.

Then it turned out there were no weapons.  None.  Powell lied.  Even though we rolled through Iraq and killed Saddam Hussein the worst was yet to come.  Bush termed out of office and new President Barack Obama was sworn in, Colin Powell ditched the GOP for the Dems and basically kept the same job in the White House.  Some liars get promoted or ignored, I still remember the democrats saying Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld were war criminals, somehow Powell escaped that title.  Just keep in mind the vote to go to war was 268-161 or something like that.  Those in favor included John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton mind you.

Iraq quickly became a quagmire, who would have thought right?  We lost over 5,000 servicemen, and likely thousands of civilian contractors.  Untold are the stories of our young people who came back stateside scarred for life from what they saw.  Terrorists and those with nothing to lose do not fight fair.  Roadside bombs, IED’s, and knife attacks leave a lasting horror story. 

We did not free the Iraqi people, we just put different groups in charge of different zones.  In essence it is a lawless nation now.  Any mission we claim to have won, was pointless.  Sure, we rid the world of a horrible man (that we kept in power for many years before turning on him), but is the situation any better?  Bottom line is many in Iraq hate the US and all it stands for.  We showed our collective rear end to the world.  We feel we can just bomb any nation and rebuild it to look like ours.  It will never work in this part of the globe.  How many lives need to be lost and dollars squandered just to win a pyrrhic victory?

This reminds me so much of the situation of Russia invading Ukraine, even if Russia ultimately succeeds, Ukraine does not want to be occupied by Russia so violence and fighting will always be a thing.  Never underestimate a country’s people who do not want to be under another country’s rule.  It is for that reason I oppose our “helping” of Ukraine. 

The Chief

Jorge Riley (Drunken Jedi) Cops a Plea

by The Chief

Jorge Riley, a local Sacramento GOP activist, pled guilty last week to charges relating to his storming of the Capital to “Stop the Steal” a couple years ago.  In exchange for pleading guilty, he will only have 1 count on his record, the other 4 will be dismissed.

This comeuppance has been a long time coming for Riley, he has been on a destructive path for years.  Riley has a rap sheet that makes career criminals jealous.  I know of at least 1 DUI, likely more, and a slew of charges related to unpaid child support.  I am not sure of the number of kids and how many women they are by.  Riley also is a heavy drinker, I refuse to say he has a problem, because he never has a problem finding the bottle.

Riley was arrested a couple months after the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Capital.  Not due to anyone ratting him out, he ratted out himself.  Riley is a Grade A braggart when it comes to his Facebook and other social media.  He posted over 150 messages and videos according to the complaint against him.  Worst yet, the man has never had an unspoken thought; his rantings (likely fueled by booze) target minorities, Democrats, women and other groups.  His comments are typically vile in nature making even this single male blogger cringe.  One may ask why no one tried to stop his behavior…that’s because those around him and in power supported it.  I literally saw him countless times at GOP meetings and conventions literally walking around with a backpack filled with vodka that he was drinking through a siphon.  He reeked of hard liquor, so much so I could barely tell what brand it was.  My understanding is his use of drugs and alcohol was to cope with PTSD or some type of condition he got while in the military.  My issue?  During a hearing, his attorney admitted Riley has never been outside the US.  I’m trying to be sensitive to mental health, but I just think Riley is an addict.

I have a source who claims Riley had numerous outbursts at his initial hearings here in Sacramento at the federal courthouse.  So much so he was ordered held on no-bail.  Annoying a judge isn’t the best move when that person is likely to sentence you.  NOTE:  The venue was moved to DC so it will be a different judge who heard the guilty plea and will handle sentencing.  Riley was also far from the model prisoner at Sac County jail, having to be moved multiple times due to being a Grade A dickhead.  AKA normal behavior for Riley.

Riley is still in a lot of trouble, preliminary reports are a federal lockup of 41-51 months, another report said maximum of around 20 years, a different report had a line about judge Amit Mehta considering “enhancements.”  I would bet he is looking at around 6 years in jail, his behavior, plus his bragging and some of his comments online will hang him.  The judge is seeing that Riley is not sorry or repentant at all.  Problem for Riley is that he is facing federal not state time. The feds typically do not do good time credits for behavior, he will serve his entire sentence.  (Riley’s indictment and plea can be found in this article.)

My hot take:  Riley is a clown and piece of work, more so it’s his enablers that made this happen, he was never reigned in.  Sue Blake, Terry Mast (RIP), Craig DeLuz, Bill Cardoza and others routinely looked the other way or supported him.  In the case of Cardoza, he was even stupid enough to post to Facebook the local CRA chapter giving Riley a lifetime achievement award.  DUMB

Riley is going away for a while, but the CRA and other groups should not be left unscathed.  Sorry, not sorry.  They needed to remove Riley as a member and put pressure on the local group to do the same.  Riley is a net negative, not a single redeeming quality about him.  Yet several of the members attacked my conservative credentials.  Yup they chose a drunken moron over me.

The irony in this whole bit?  Riley was a never Trump guy, like most of the rest of the CRA.  It’s sad.    

Ukraine’s Leader is an Ungrateful Prick

Yes, I said it and stay tuned because I mean it.  Volodymyre Zelensky or however the heck you spell that Scrabble winning name has finally done it.  He touched a nerve that cannot be untouched.  Crossed the red line that cannot be crossed back.  He has become an ungrateful prick.

This guy is a former actor or comedian or something. Frankly I do not care. He is not a leader; he is the definition of a bottom feeder.

He won election in 2019, as such he should have been well aware of Russia illegally annexing Crimea, and parts of the Donbass Region (Donetsk and Luhansk) back in 2014.  This is when Russia rolled through and Ukraine more or less just let them take the area’s they wanted.  No defense was raised, and little was ever done except international condemnation.  I’m sure Putin is still shaking about other countries calling it “an illegal occupation.” 

Biden with Zelensky earlier this week

He knew full well Ukraine was not a member of NATO or the EU because Ukraine didn’t want to be.  They are and still remain one of the most corrupt nations in the world, just look it up for yourself.  If you think the; Biden’s, Clinton’s, or Trump’s are bad, get ready to be stunned, Ukraine is very corrupt.  Back to my point about NATO and EU, since they are not member nations, they are supposed to get no benefits.  Think of it like declining to buy healthcare insurance, then after finding out you have cancer, you think you can buy and get benefits.

Well for about a year Russia was stockpiling troops, vehicles, and tanks at the border with Ukraine.  For God only knows what reason, Ukraine didn’t seem to care or heed the warnings from the West about the build-up.  Then came Russia putting up makeshift hospitals and blood banks. Again, Ukraine didn’t react.  Finally in February of 2022, Russia attacked, and rolled through quite a bit of Ukrainian territory.

Once this occurred the supreme leader of Ukraine made daily demands of weapons and artillery from the West.  Bear in mind, Ukraine is not a member of NATO or the EU, and the alliance was not bound to help.  Keep in mind he ignored the Russian threats for about a year prior to the attack, it was all choreographed.  SAD!

“Please sir, can I have some more?”

Zelensky’s demands grew louder by the day, and as a result some NATO countries sent supplies.  Ukraine was fighting Russia with mostly the same military vehicles and the like.  The problem with NATO and EU supplying Ukraine with military might is the Ukrainians are not trained to use it, so the host country would need to send trainers (military advisors) as well.  As such, now NATO began to get involved in the war.

NATO countries Turkey, Britain, Germany, Canada, and the US all sent surplus weapons, drones, supplies etc.  Ukraine demanded more, and better ones to boot.  Turkey sent quite a few drones, and applicable bombs, the US sent Javelin anti-tank missiles, and NATO began to empty old stockpiles and it became a proxy war.  This still was not good enough as Ukraine continued to want more and more, also for free.  Now Ukraine has begun getting even more modern NATO weapons such as the US HIMARS (a very expensive mobile missile launcher.)  AKA a massive killing machine with very long range.  Poland sent the Krab, France has sent the Caesar, all of these are modern killing machines.  Oh, now that Ukraine has exhausted the ammo, they now are demanding more ammo.  Free gratis by the way.

Then came November 15th of last year, a missile hit NATO country Poland, killing at least one.  Poland summoned Russia to essentially ask what happened, Ukraine claimed it was all the fault of Russia and for NATO to enact title 5.  Title 5 is NATO’s way of saying an attack on 1 is an attack on all, and basically God have mercy on the attacker’s soul because NATO will not.  Turns out it was a Ukrainian missile, yup.

Ukraine has also been employing Taliban type tactics of housing military under hospitals, or air defense inside a school…. don’t believe me?  Check out the news.  Sure, Russia has blown up homes and schools, but they also blew up the air defense system located right on top of it.  Of course, that won’t be reported here by the mainstream media as it doesn’t fit the narrative.  Also, the news about the wayward missile that hit Poland?  Oh yeah it is no longer discussed.

Now there is talk of a major Russian attack coming. Our intelligence has told Ukraine this for a couple weeks now, again Ukraine did nothing, and now they are demanding fighter jets, more modern weapons including our signature tank.  Free again; well because we hate Putin too.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing this Zelenskyy guy all over the media/news all the time.  He never says thanks, demands all kinds of stuff.  Like the homeless guy you walk by each day, first you gave pocket change, now he wants dollar bills, then higher bills, now he wants lodging and food for free.  Where does it end?  How come they had no military?  Why did they never join the EU or NATO?  Nothing is good enough for this guy.  I feel bad for what is happening there but I’m sorry you aren’t in the alliance; we have no duty to help you.  Biden keeps sending more and more, and by the way did you see the report from the Pentagon that Ukraine cannot account for about a third of what we have sent them?  No breakdown of equipment or money, but they cannot account for it.  Corrupt nation anyone?

The disturbing thing about that last sentence is not the unaccounted for money, we have a bigger problem with that at home than abroad, it’s the equipment.  You see in NATO, countries share technology and in essence can buy weapons off one another.  All weaponry is equipped with a kill switch so if a plane, tank, or what not is taken down or disabled, the kill switch blows up the equipment.  Thus, you cannot copy the IP.  If Ukraine has lost NATO’s state of the art weapons who is to say China won’t copy the IP?

And we want to let Ukraine into NATO when this is over?

Think about it!

The Chief

Negotiations: Trump vs McCarthy

I know, I know I’m whacking poor Speaker Kevin again, but I want to illustrate a point I failed to make in yesterday’s blog.  One thing that irritated the establishment GOP and the Left is Trump’s negotiation skills.  While many likely went out and bought Art of the Deal, you could have saved your money and just watched. 

Trump is a master at negotiating because he knows exactly what he needs and has his finger on what the other side wants.  He knows he can give the other side some while getting all of what he wants.  A perfect example is the stimulus checks, he insisted they have his name and signature on them.  The Democrats got a check, the GOP was fine with it (the bloggers here were not) but Trump got what he wanted.  Also look at the judges Trump got onto the court, he tried to negotiate, knew it was pointless and told Mitch McConnell via the media to “go nuclear.”  Suddenly Mitch turned conservative on Trump’s judges.  Bottom line, Trump knew how to negotiate and when to let someone else (media) do it for him.  Case in point, Lindsey Graham.  Either his balls finally dropped, or he realized getting called out in the media was going to burn him badly, suddenly he became a fire breathing conservative.

Contrast that to Kevin McCarthy, our new Speaker.  McCarthy strikes me as the awkward kid no one liked growing up, then he realized if he gained power folks would like him, and if they didn’t, he could wield his power and change their mind.  His negotiating skills bear that out.  During his time in the Assembly in Sacramento, and in Congress he always seemed to negotiate from behind.  This is the opposite of Trump.  McCarthy would start at zero and try to get to 50/50.  He would call that a win, to be fair Ryan, and Boehner before him operated the same way.  Boehner was known for chain smoking and crying, Ryan was known for being a policy wonk and speaking in robotic terms about GOP talking points.  It is because of these 3 “conservatives” that people like those on this blog have given up on the party.

In fairness to the 3 aforementioned leaders of the party, I will say again, what does the GOP actually stand for?  I heard my entire adult life, get us elected and we will; cut taxes, reduce spending, yada, yada, yada.  It never happens like that.  I’ve watched for 20 years the GOP giving the other side at least half of every deal, likely more, even when we had sizable majorities in the House and Senate. 

Even the Trump tax cuts had to be bulldozed through by the Trumpster himself, and even then, they are temporary.

I will go back to my point on McCarthy and my perception of his upbringing again.  McCarthy and other folks who negotiate like him are always trying to “buy friends” or in their case “buy votes.”  They do not want to be the mean guy who upsets anyone, so as a result I’ll give you what your side wants if you don’t say mean things about me.  Remember the chief goal of a politician is not making good on campaign promises, slogans, or other sayings, it’s about getting re-elected.  In the case of McCarthy, it’s about keeping a majority as to guarantee him the speakership.

Congrats to the Democrats on getting at least half of what they want.

The Chief

Sean Hannity is Dooming the GOP

Happy New Year. To those of us in California, I hope you are weathering the storm.  It has been a crazy first couple of weeks for the national GOP.  Speaker McCarthy has already been a trash fire.  Here is my take on things.

First off, remember back to when Donald Trump was elected President.  First thing he said to Congress was “Let’s get a plan to repeal and replace the health law.”  Predictably they did nothing.  The law stands in place today.  I see this current Congress playing out the same way.

First, the Speaker vote was embarrassing on every level.  How does it take 15 votes to elevate the Minority Leader to Speaker when no one else even ran against him?  How can one be so tone deaf?  McCarthy had to have known the hard right, aka the real conservatives, were tired of the status quo. Why didn’t he reach out to this group and negotiate behind the scenes with them? He only had two months to work out a deal, but it seems he did nothing until after he started losing votes.

Did McCarthy think being a smug prick was wise toward this group?  They embarrassed him!  The items the Group of 20 or so asked for aren’t out of line at all.  A motion to dismiss the chair is never out of order, unless Madam Pelosi is Speaker, but McCarthy didn’t want to lose power.  The members of that Group of 20 who lost committee assignments wanting them back, this isn’t out of line either.  Term limits goes back to the old Contract with America circa 1994.  I’m not seeing much out of order here.  Put it up for a vote, when it goes nowhere…. say sorry, I tried but we must move on.

However somehow McCarthy was not the biggest clown in the circus these past couple weeks, that award goes to Sean Hannity of Fox News fame.  Full disclosure, I do not have cable. I watch bits and pieces while I work-out daily, about 20 minutes max then I turn something else on.  Hannity spent each night on his show trying to go to bat for McCarthy for reasons I do not understand. Hannity kept saying its “his turn.” 

(Editor’s Note: this is the same logic that gave us such great political luminaries as Bob Dole and John Kerry as frontrunners for President. It was their turn. Yuck. Also, this was actually McCarthy’s second turn to try for Speaker, but he dropped out last time after it went public that he was poking interns on the side. Somehow, I missed the apology tour where he got the wife to “stand by her man” as he faked contrition for getting caught.)

Hannity’s argument was that the Speaker’s job is reserved for only the powerful elite.  Hannity rolled out Newt Gingrich and a whole host of GOP establishment types to bully the Group of 20 to “just relent.”  He even went as far while interviewing Lauren Boebert, one of the Group of 20, to tell her “You and your colleagues should stop your circus.”  Little did Sean understand, no one else wanted the job of Speaker, they just wanted concessions on a couple of things.

Sean and Kevin got their way, but at a major price.  McCarthy is wounded. First why hold a vote when you will not win, then decide to hold a “vote-a-rama” whilst watching your vote totals keep dropping?  What is the definition of insanity? This shows an alarming lack of leadership. McCarty had to have known this would happen.  Then he, just like Hannity, chose to sit back and insult and make fun of that group.  This creates hurt that can backfire big time. Little does Hannity understand that Group of 20 is not a rubber stamp for McCarthy.  Worse yet, if they vote in blocks against it, his “agenda” goes nowhere.

Speaking of which, what is the GOP agenda?  I never heard a plan, let alone ideas.  Seems to me the plan is just block Biden and investigate Democrats. While that is admirable, fixing the issues plaguing this country would be a better start.  McCarthy and Hannity do not understand that voters want solutions not more inaction.  I am seeing nothing out of either.

In closing I will say this Hannity looks and comes off as a total clown.  I think he views himself as a kingmaker in the GOP, he is the opposite.  I actually used to like him. He held the Democrats to the fire and held the GOP accountable.  He does not hold the GOP accountable at all anymore.  His ardent support of McCarthy proves one of two things; either Fox executives are telling him what to say, or he just wants to remain relevant with the GOP leadership. 

It’s odd really. Hannity used to go on nightly monologues about lower spending, less regulations, lower taxes. Now he goes out of his way to elevate a CA moderate who at best likes to play nice with the other side. And folks wonder why no writer for this blog is registered as a Republican anymore?  Hannity blew all of his credibility; or maybe he was always this way? At his best, maybe he just mimicked Rush Limbaugh for his nightly talking points and now that Rush is gone he’s showing his true colors. Makes you wonder.

The Chief

PS Wanna bet Hannity called McCarthy a “good conservative” as the Speaker votes were being held?