McCarthy Blames Crime on Dems While It Rages in His GOP-Led Hometown
YES, IN YOUR BACKYARD
The murder rate in Bakersfield, California, is double that of New York or San Francisco. The mayor and the prosecutor are Republicans.
Michael Daly Special Correspondent
Updated Jun. 11, 2022 3:05AM ET Published Jun. 10, 2022 10:13PM ET
OPINION
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Hours before the House Jan. 6 committee commenced its televised hearings into the violent lawlessness by Trump supporters at the Capitol, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sought to blame the Democrats for the violent lawlessness surging across the county.
“As Democrats in Washington abuse their power to attack their political opponents, they are ignoring America’s crime crisis,” he tweeted. “The Democrat Party is for lawlessness and the breakdown of society. While they defund the police, violent crime is skyrocketing in our communities. Enough is enough.”
McCarthy posted a collection of video clips of violent crimes in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Los Angeles
“Violent crime is skyrocketing,” the accompanying text repeats.
But McCarthy said nothing about Bakersfield, the California city where he was born and which he now represents in congress. The murder rate there in 2021 was 11.91 per 100,000, more than double the murder rate in New York City (5.55) and Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco (5.6). The murder rate for Los Angeles is 6.74, also considerably lower than McCarthy’s hometown.
To be fair, Bakersfield’s murder rate is about two-thirds of New Orleans’ (30.67) and around half that of Philadelphia (22.47). But it is still markedly above that of a great majority of American cities.
And McCarthy can hardly blame the Democrats. Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh and District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer of Kern County—which encompasses the city—are both Republicans. Donald Trump won Bakersfield by nearly 10 percent in the last presidential election.
Anyone who seeks to keep the onus on the Democrats can point out that California went for Biden. But a Democrat can then cite the national murder stats in a March report by the center-left think tank Third Way. The report, titled “The Red State Murder Problem,” notes that “in 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.”
“Eight of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century,” the report further observes.
The most recent additions to the murder rate in Bakersfield include Tuesday’s killing of two residents at the California Veterans Assistance Foundation apartment complex on Decatur St. A staffer came upon the victims at 8:40 a.m. and immediately called 911. The Kern County Sheriff’s office responded and determined that the two men had what appeared to be gunshot wounds. One, identified as Timothy Blevins, 63, had retired after a career in the Air Force. The other, who was 62, was not immediately identified pending notification of his family.
A local news outlet ran a photo of a half dozen people huddled in prayer by the yellow crime scene stretched across the complex’s entrance. The foundation released a statement.
“We sympathize and grieve with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in this incident. Veterans are a tight-knit community, and that is especially true for CVAF residents. CVAF intends to provide emotional support and grief counseling for residents, CVAF staff and fellow veterans affected by this trauma.”
No doubt some of the residents had been in combat. They were now being offered help in coping with killing at home.
Investigators soon identified 80-year-old Guadalupe Mojica as a prime suspect. He is a vet and also resides at the complex.
“They all knew each other,” a sheriff’s spokesperson told The Daily Beast, declining to say what may have triggered the violence.
On Wednesday, Mojica was arrested at a Bakersfield bus stop. He was allegedly carrying a loaded firearm.
Mojica was in the county jail facing two counts of first-degree murder on Thursday as McCarthy tweeted video clips of violent crime in other cities. He does not seem to have said anything publicly about the killings in Bakersfield even though he has repeatedly visited the complex. Last November, he posted a photo on Facebook of himself delivering socks there.
“Thank you to everyone who donated socks! We were able to deliver over 1000 pairs to the California Veterans Assistance Foundation for our Kern County veteran community,” he wrote.
At 3 p.m. on Friday, Mojica appeared in Part FA in Kern County Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty to murder and weapon charges. He agreed to have his arraignment delayed until June 17.
As of Friday evening, McCarthy had not replied to a request seeking to confirm he had uttered not so much as a syllable about the latest horror in his hometown.
On Twitter, he had switched from crime to inflation.
“I call on Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to hold a prime-time hearing on the out-of-control inflation their policies have created,” he tweeted.
McConnell, McCarthy Chose Their Careers Over Consciences SWEET SURRENDER Matt Lewis
As documented by a tape recording obtained by The New York Times, McCarthy was so disturbed by the lawless violence at the Capitol that he privately told fellow Republican leaders that he intended to urge President Trump to resign.
“I’ve had it with this guy,” he was recorded saying.
That momentary spasm of actual patriotism was short-lived. The Times revelation sent him scurrying to Mar-a-Lago to deny the truth. He has now become an accessory after the fact by doing everything he can to divert attention from the hearing to what he once rightly considered an actual assault on our democracy.
Meanwhile, with the murder count in Republican-led Bakersfield threatening to exceed last year’s record, you have to wonder if the latest two victims and the suspected killer were all wearing McCarthy-delivered socks.
Bryan Tyler Cohen nails it when he says they - Ingraham, Hannity. McCarthy et al - Trump was responsible for Jan. 6, but they lie for political reasons.
Jan. 6 panel subpoenas McCarthy, four other GOP lawmakers [...] Subpoenas for McCarthy, R-Calif., and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama come as the investigation is winding down and as the panel prepares for a series of public hearings this summer. [...] McCarthy has acknowledged that he spoke with Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, which happened as Trump’s supporters were beating police outside the Capitol and forcing their way into the building. But he has not shared many details. The committee requested information about his conversations with Trump “before, during and after” the riot.
McCarthy took to the House floor after the rioters were cleared and said in a forceful speech that Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack and that it was the “saddest day I have ever had” in Congress — even as he went on to join 138 other House Republicans in voting to reject the election results.
The GOP leader soon made up with Trump, though, visiting him in Florida and rallying House Republicans to vote against investigations of the attack.
The other four men were in touch with the White House for several weeks ahead of the insurrection, talking to Trump and his legal advisers about ways to stop the congressional electoral count on Jan. 6 to certify Joe Biden’s victory. Several of their efforts were detailed in texts released to the committee by Meadows, who was Trump’s chief of staff at the time. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=168842215
Since they have created the situation that a year later still some 79% of Republicans believe Trump's big lie, what else are they to do. See:
-- The fact that some 79% of Republican voters still say they believe Biden did not legitimately win the election is very worrying.
"Woodward and Bernstein thought Nixon defined corruption. Then came Trump."
It means some 79% of Republicans are either so ignorant of the politics of America they haven't seen enough of the overwhelming evidence which clearly makes a lie of Trump's position in his big lie. Evidence so clear even Lindsey Graham know it's a lie:
"Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, Trump lawyer and confidant, made similar allegations of a rigged election and massive voter fraud. Giuliani wrote his claims in long memos that he sent to Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump insider. When Graham investigated the claims, he found nothing. “Count me out,” Graham said dramatically on the Senate floor." https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=169084862 --
Fish in a barrel of their own making. It's too easy for so many to lie. And it's too easy for so many to believe. It's much harder to come back to the truth.
Against massive forces the Democrats are doing the best for the nation they can do.
Justice will only be done if enough American people are able to convince themselves they would, rather than live Trump's lie they would, rather live the best truth they can.
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