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If only California would follow Georgia
Opinion

There has been a lot said about Georgia’s new voting law. A lot of lies have been spread about it by the Left. Why they are lying about it I can only imagine they are not concerned about voter fraud if because they benefit from it.

Biden himself calls the law “un-American” and describes it as a “blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscious.” It is nothing of the sort. It is, however, all about safeguarding voting integrity.

To vote now in Georgia, you must show a state driver’s license number, ID card number, date of birth and the last four digits of a social security number or another approved form of identification must be printed on the outside of an absentee ballot. Seems like common sense to insure that the one marking the ballot is actually the registered voter.

To suggest that minorities aren’t smart enough to get a state ID or driver’s license is an insult to intelligence.

Georgia Senate Bill 202 expands in-person early voting for general elections! Two early-voting periods are required on a Saturday for each county, with optional voting on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (hours may be extended to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.).

In prior elections, early voting began on the fourth Monday before a primary or election and ended the Friday before an election day. For runoff elections, voting began as soon as possible before Election Day.

The new law imposes a deadline for the issuance of absentee ballots at least 25 days before a federal primary, general election or special election or 22 days before a municipal general election or primary election.

The law also puts in safeguards for ballot drop boxes, which are prone to tampering. Boxes must be located inside the clerk’s office or inside a voting location and will only going to be accessible during early voting hours, and then closed when the early voting period ends. This is a departure from the 2020 elections, when drop boxes were available 24-7. And there can only be one drop box for every 100,000 voters in a county.

Results of elections are to be reported faster than ever. Remember CBS News didn’t project a winner in the presidential race in Georgia until 10 days after Election Day because it took counties so long to count ballots. Counties must now report returns from absentee ballots by 5 p.m. the day after Election Day or else they could face an investigation.

These are common sense measures that will never see the light of day in our far-from-transparent California State Capitol.


* * * * *

Apparently there are a lot of short-sighted drivers who should not possess a driver’s license. A woman in Keyes recently voiced her concern in the Keyes City News page on Facebook that read: “Whatever happened to doing donuts in empty parking lots or going out to the back roads where there’s no one around like we did as teens? Not in the middle of the street in a housing community where children are outside constantly playing in the middle of the day... you are not only putting your life at risk. But now the life of my toddler (who likes to ride his bike outside and being that there isn’t many sidewalks in Keyes we are going for a walk in the street), the life of my family, and all of the other children and families who also like to go for walks. You will not be able to see them nor stop in time... please take it somewhere else. Thank you.”

There are a lot of selfish narcissists who should not be driving.


* * * * *

There’s a lot of bad stuff being taught in California schools, thanks to Black Lives Matter types. The teaching is to shame you if you’re white. It’s stupid, it’s racist and it’s wrong.

Nobody in their right mind would shame a black person for being black, or a native American for being Native American. But it’s okay to shame white people for being white, and trying to convince them that if they have become successful it’s not because of hard work or smarts or risk but because of color. It’s a ludicrous concept but it’s being taught in our schools and colleges as Critical Race Theory.

Santa Clara is where a real battle is taking place. In June 2020 the county school board there announced the commitment to Ethnic Studies curricula in Santa Clara County.

Critics say it’s nothing but bashing white people. Abraham Lincoln, a champion of freeing slaves, is now cast as a villain.

Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News anchor, said that she was so put off by what she saw as a radical turn in K-12 education that she’s pulling her three kids from their schools in New York City.

Parents like Lia Rensin have no problem building “bridges of understanding, which is really the purpose of ethnic studies,” but said such studies have been hijacked by a particular, politicized type called ‘critical’ ethnic studies.” She helped get a petition signed by 500 other parents that condemns the board’s  resolution as promoting a “militant” and “anti-Western agenda” that forces students to define themselves as either racial oppressors or victims. They say it’s blatantly Marxist ideology.

According to an article written by Anna Mussmann of the Federalist: “Similarly, the Model Curriculum smears or erases a variety of actual minority heroes who defy critical race categories. Martin Luther King Jr. is treated as a passive racial ‘accommodationist’ who should — at best — be ignored. Furthermore, instead of listing inspiring minority figures like Katherine Johnson of NASA or the Navajo “code talkers,” the Model Curriculum invites students to admire figures like Yuri Kochiyama, who has admired al-Qaida, Osama bin Ladin, and Assata Shakur, a bank robber convicted of first-degree murder for killing a police officer.”


* * * * *

It seems to me that we don’t have a problem with racist police in this country. We have a problem with people resisting arrest at their point of contact with police.

Michael Brown resisted arrest in Ferguson. In fact, he charged at the officer.

Sandra Bland resisted arrest in Waller County, Texas.

George Floyd most certainly resisted arrest in Minneapolis.

Rayshard Brooks resisted in Atlanta.

Tamir Rice, 12, resisted in Cleveland, refusing to set down a toy gun police believed to be real which he was pointing to bypassers.

Stephon Clark was burglarizing into cars and house before fleeing cops before he was shot in Sacramento.

Daniel Clary was resisting arrest when two Pennsylvania state troopers tried to arrest him for DUI and he shot both Cpl. Seth Kelly and Trooper Ryan Seiple before being shot himself.

And Daunte Wright resisted arrest.

We know about Daunte Wright was pulled over because his car registration was expired, not because he was racially profiled. When Officer Kim Potter ran his DL, it came back that he had a warrant related to an armed robbery case against him. Wright was no angel. He and another man had been charged with first-degree attempted aggravated robbery in December 2019 for allegedly trying to steal $820 from a woman at gunpoint. Wright and company crashed at the victim’s home in Osseo after attending a party there – then demanded money the next morning while flashing a gun, saying “Give me the f - - - - - g money — I’m not playing around.” The victim refused and began screaming.

“Give me the money and we will leave,” Wright allegedly told her. “Give me the money, and we will go.”

The two eventually left the home empty handed. Wright was later arrested and released on $100,000 bail. But he violated his bail conditions in July when he failed to stay in touch with his court monitor.

When the officer tried to arrest Wright, he broke away and jumped back in the car. Officer Potter fired a single fatal shot at Wright — claiming she thought she was holding her Taser instead of her service weapon.

Both Potter and her boss, Brooklyn Minnesota Police Chief Tim Gannon, also resigned.

It’s apparent to me that Wright could have complied and would be alive today. And the lives of two police officials would not have been disrupted.

It’s real simple, folks. When you are pulled over, comply. Call your attorney from jail; don’t fight the officer at the scene. To do so is to be stupid.


* * * * *

CNN has been exposed. What was revealed recently is proof of what I have been saying about the national news media hype over COVID-19.

Why would CNN deliberately want to instill fear in Americans? Simple – ratings which translates to money from advertisers.

Footage released by Project Veritas shows CNN technical director Charles Chester admitting that CNN hyped the pandemic to drive up their ratings. Chester is heard saying: “COVID? Gangbusters with ratings. Which is why we constantly have the death toll on the side. Let’s make it higher, like why isn’t it high enough, you know, today? Like it would make our point better if it was higher. And I’m like, what am I f***ing rallying for? That’s a problem that we’re doing that. You know?»

Chester explains that fear drives ratings up because fear keeps a person tuned in. Well, for the gullible masses, maybe.


* * * * *

Things have gotten unhinged with political correctness in Fresno, just 75 miles southeast of us down Highway 99.

Fresno is a city of 525,010 residents, of which eight percent is black, 49.5 percent Latino, and 27.6 percent white. I tell you that in context of this story.

Juan “Paco” Balderrama, the police chief of Fresno, fired one of his white officers named Rick Fitzgerald because he claimed that he participated in a Proud Boys extremist group. Newly elected Fresno Mayor and former Police Chief Jerry Dyer gloated over Fitzgerald’s dismissal.

Balderrama reasserted his “prior comments in strongly disapproving of any police officer affiliating with hate groups, or any group known for engaging in violent criminal behavior. Such ideology, behavior, and affiliations have no place in law enforcement and will not be tolerated within the ranks of the Fresno Police Department.”

Are the Proud Boys a hate group, or is that what the media has promoted us into believing? Is the label applied to the Proud Boys by the Left merely to shut down conservatives who protest injustices, just as Black Lives Matter does? What do I mean? Well, when was the last time you heard BLM labeled as a “hate group” with its 220 violent encounters and at least 38 incidents in which demonstrators have significantly damaged or torn down memorials around the country?

Who are the Proud Boys anyway? It isn’t a white supremacist organization, according to leader Enrique Tarrio, who is Afro-Cuban. He says the group has “longstanding regulations prohibiting racist, white supremacist or violent activity.” Tarrio further stated: “We do not care what color you are or what your background is ... if you love America ... we consider you a brother.” (Must be true for he is half black and half Cuban). He said the group condemns racism, fascism, communism and socialism.

The Anti-Defamation League has a different take and claims the group’s ideology has been labeled “misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic, and anti-immigration.” I discount their view for they just condemned Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for his valid views on Democrats’ lack of support for common sense immigration policy. What was it that Carlson said that the ADL didn’t like and wants him fired over? That Democrats support mass immigration because it increases their electoral advantage and power, adding that “In order to win and maintain power, Democrats plan to change the population of the country.” The truth sometimes hurts! The ADL tried to silence Carlson by having Fox fire him, saying he “embraced a foundational theory of white supremacy,” the “great replacement” theory.” See how this works? You point out an obvious truth and you’re attacked as – as what else? – a racist!

Fitzgerald told KFIV radio talk show host Trevor Carey last week that he welcomes anyone to look into his record and that he has nothing to hide. The fired officer explained that he had been in two Proud Boy gatherings (but disavowed any participation after seeing things he didn’t like at the Nov. 21 rally in Sacramento). Fitzgerald didn’t like what happened at Cesar Chavez Park where the 18-year police veteran had a minor scuffle had with a female protestor. When she brushed aside a metal flagpole she held near his head, he pushed it out of the way. She turns around begins jerking on it. The tussle lasted seconds. Another person snatched the flag and handed it to Fitzgerald who claims he didn’t want it. It’s unfortunate when protests turn violent but let’s be honest. Each side has a right to protest and if violence erupts on both sides yet one is called a “hate group,” then that goes for the other. If Proud Boys is a hate group, so is Black Lives Matter and Antifa.

As a citizen Fitzgerald has a constitutional rights to his opinions and be a part of groups. Of course, the chief and mayor painted his involvement as “conduct unbecoming of an officer.” Fitzgerald wasn’t afforded due process and not even questioned about things in the so-called internal affairs investigation. The accused wasn’t allowed to explain his side of the story. It was nope, he’s gotta go because of political reasons.

Fitzgerald is suing. I hope he prevails because another good officer just went down in the flames of political correctness.


This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com