I’m convinced that there’s a generation who was raised right here in the Valley – indeed the country at large – without the benefit of ever receiving a periodic corrective swat on the behind when they acted up or did wrong.
We’re now seeing this lack of correction manifesting in the entitled generation who have spun out of control. Used to getting their way, they can’t handle life now that they are “adults.” I hesitate to use the word “adults” because they act like spoiled 13-year-olds in rioting in Portland and Seattle and other big cities. It also applies to some young people in Ceres who threw a fit recently when we shut down comments on our Twitter account because of extremely vile and baseless comments – indeed slanderous – about mayoral candidate Bret Durossette.
In my experience of over 33 years as Courier editor, few people care about attending City Council meetings or read Courier articles covering council actions. Normally a mayoral candidate wouldn’t even pop up on a young person’s radar but Durossette is well known at Ceres High School as a teacher and coach. That, in itself, will put a target on his back by present and former students. Under the spell of Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and defunding police, some have apparently made the non-partisan mayor’s race all about race. Durossette is white and opponent Javier Lopez is Latino. Apparently that has caused some Latinas in the community to take sides against Durossette.
Sad. (I think we should raise the voting age to 21 given how much longer it takes kids to grow out of immaturity than, say, kids in the 1940s and 1950s).
We all know what a cesspool Twitter and social media have become with its unfettered tasteless attacks. Anyone can assume an anonymous name and cowardly take potshots at anyone, which they never would say to someone’s face.
Courier staff member Dale Butler, who handles our Twitter account, made me aware of despicable comments made by some. The comments consisted of vile and vulgar trash talk which won’t be repeated. So we shut down the comments which resulted in another comment that the Courier was “racist” and a “disgusting ‘news’ outlet.”
Weeks ago I wrote about how the Left absurdly labels anything racist. They might as well call mashed potatoes racist. They are just detached from reality, have perverted the meaning of words and diluted real examples of racism. They are products of the media and mostly leftist instructors in public schools and state colleges. Their illogic brains come up with this equation: Durossette is Republican. All Republicans are racist. Therefore Durossette is racist.
Their simplistic minds stereotype people and assume Lopez is a Democrat, which we understand he is Republican.
Here’s an example of the potty-mouth comments from a Justice Dizney who posted: “F*** the Ceres Courier all my homies hate the Ceres Courier.” This is what we’re talking about. Sadly, the sniveling malcontent won at least 83 “likes” from her “homies.”
Another young woman posted: “The amount of American flags, Ted Howze signs and Bret Durossette signs I see in Ceres really f***** concerns me man like I’m really surrounded by these people in my neighborhood.”
With dangerous thinkers like those two products of our public education system, it’s easy to see what cities like Seattle and Portland are being destroyed.
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Remember how Gov. Newsom squawked loudly when President Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from California when the state decided it was going to shield illegal aliens from federal immigration authorities seeking to deport them? Remember how he responded with name calling?
Remember when Trump threatened to pull federal aid for 2019 wildfires because Newsom did a “terrible job of forest management.” Remember how Newsom responded to Trump by saying: “You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation.”
Well that same governor has exacted revenge on city leaders in Atwater and Coalinga because they weren’t going to enforce his unconstitutional restrictions on business operations. Newsom blocked $65,000 in COVID-19 relief money going to Atwater and $35,000 going to Coalinga.
Earlier this year the Atwater City Council declared itself a “sanctuary city” for businesses and made it clear it wouldn’t enforce the state’s public health order. Likewise the Coalinga City Council approved a resolution calling all businesses “essential,” thus enabling them to remain open despite Newsom’s shutdown orders.
Atwater Mayor Paul Creighton believes in freedom as do about 80 percent of the city. It’s too bad the governor wants to take it out on the citizens of one of the most impoverished areas of the Valley.
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Do you remember T.J. Cox? He ran for the 10th Congress District against Jeff Denham in 2017 and quit the race to move to the 21st District he could win in 2018, flipping a red district blue. The 21st district stretches between Fresno and Bakersfield.
I found his fundraising email in my junk folder I found a series of pleas for $5 in campaign money. I don’t know if it’s a ploy to get his donors to give but he sounded desperate when he wrote: “I won’t lie: We’re worried. I know that I’m target #1, and I know how powerful Republican dark money is. The GOP thinks if they are relentless that we will just give up. But I’ve been up against the odds before …”
The email went on: “I’m the most vulnerable Democrat in Congress. If Republicans flip a seat anywhere, it will be here ... and the GOP is spending like there’s no tomorrow trying to defeat me.”
Cox and Harder sense there could be trouble because of what happened in March when Republican Mike Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith in a special election for the 25th District. Garcia received 95,667 votes to Smith’s 78,721 count. Keep in mind this same district flipped from red to blue in 2018 when Katie Hill took the seat and later resigned because of nude photos shot of her in a lesbian affair with a staffer – and she was married to a man.
What’s interesting is that in 2018 Cox defeated GOP Rep. David Valadao by a narrow 862-vote margin while in 2016 Valadao defeated his Democrat rival by a margin of 17,844. In 2014 the Republican kept the seat by 12,437 and in 2012 by a margin of 18,046. The 21st CD is obviously conservative so why did the GOP barely lose in 2018? The answer: Democrats outhustled Republicans in ballot harvesting. Republicans are now onto the game and will be doing the same.
And as long as Democrats continue to hold kangaroo court hearings like they did last week with AG Barr – where they wouldn’t let him talk – voters will say enough.
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Why is the ACLU so fraught with compassion for jail inmates as opposed to concern for average citizens?
The ACLU is railing against Tulare County Sheriff Michael Boudreaux because he won’t give into their demands to release his inmates out of concern for the spread of COVID. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP filed a class action lawsuit to compel Tulare’s sheriff to “release as many medically vulnerable people as possible to home confinement.” The lawsuit also compels him to hand out masks, hand soap and sanitizer. The ACLU says that “these conditions are not only dangerous and unconstitutional, they’re inhumane.”
My 79-year-old mother is not allowed to go outside from her assisted living unit so why should any inmate be allowed to run free his or her jail cell? Are you serious, ACLU?
I think the average California thinks more like, tough! Jails are the best quarantine mechanism available for people who couldn’t behave. Inmates are in jail for reason and if they get COVID, they’ll probably survive unless they have crappy health. If they don’t, well, sorry they placed themselves in jail because of their actions. I’ll give the ACLU two good reasons why they are irrational. Inmates should not be released to home confinement because many don’t have homes and most have proven they can’t follow the rules anyway. If law-abiding citizens are dying of COVID, stands to reason some in jail will too.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
