New York Post - 06.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019

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Deadly Racism in Action:

A Weekend of Bloodshed

THE ISSUE: The shooting in El Paso, Texas that left 22

dead and the one in Dayton, Ohio, that claimed nine.

There can be no excuses

for the violence perpe-

trated on the innocent

people in an El Paso

shopping mall (“Mall

massacre,” Aug. 4).

It was a venomous act,

allegedly committed by a

deranged and evil 21-

year-old who was con-

sumed with hate for im-

migrants.

Accused shooter Pat-

rick Crusius is the text-

book definition of a rac-

ist. Trump is not a racist.

All the accounts Demo-

crats cite relating to his

racist remarks in Char-

lottesville have proven

inaccurate. His rhetoric

targeting illegal immigra-

tion is not racist.

Having said that, it is up

to Trump to continue to

embrace the American

people, talk to us face-to-

face, offer us words of

consolation and state em-

phatically that he will not

tolerate these horrific

acts of terrorism on

American soil.

Sharon Borenstein

Springfield, NJ

When will enough be

enough? How many

more shootings does it

take before this president

takes action to end

senseless killings?

The president must

take a stand to protect us

from harm, end the vio-

lence and distance him-

self from the NRA.

Diane Oriente

Springfield, NJ

As someone who has

taught and studied rheto-

ric for over 40 years,

what we say or don’t say

matters. Enough with

politicians calling for

“thoughts and prayers.”

That only eases our

minds, makes us feel bet-

ter and normalizes vio-

lence. But it obscures the

real problem.

Let’s be candid about

the contributory causes

of this crisis — including

easy access to high-ca-

pacity assault weapons,

increasing mental illness

and, yes, the incitement

of hate and fear spurred

by our president. To-

gether, these constitute

the perfect storm.

One thing is clear: As

long as we have a presi-

dent who incessantly

spews racist and hateful

words that are applauded

by white nationalist and

Republican leaders who

are cowards and refuse to

stop him, little progress

will be made to fix this

dangerous problem.

Richard Cherwitz

Austin, Texas

The shooting at the mall

that left at least 22 dead

in El Paso raises perti-

nent issues.

Obviously, those who

support strict gun control

can cite the murders as

an argument to limit the

sale of such weapons.

Yet restricting the sale

of guns is no answer

when so many are already

in the hands of citizens.

In place of limiting gun

sales, perhaps banning

the sale and availability of

ammunition should be

considered.

Nelson Marans

Manhattan

This administration has

shown time and again it

doesn’t care. All those in-

volved in this fiasco

should be held account-

able, and that includes

members of Congress

who, along with the presi-

dent, are simply not taking

action to stop the carnage.

Unfortunately, we have

to wait until Election Day

to oust this disgraceful

bunch of know-nothings

and do-nothings.

Anyone who thinks this

president is doing a great

job (with his foul-

mouthed rhetoric, keep-

ing the nation divided,

praising dictators and de-

monizing the press and

anyone who happens to

disagree with him) is

truly delusional.

He says he cares but

only about himself, as he

continues his daily bar-

rage of lies and misinfor-

mation while supporting

the NRA and stoking

white nationalism.

Herb Stark

Mooresville

Another two shootings

involving rapid-fire/large

magazine military-type

assault rifles (and a total

of some 31 dead) within

24 hours, and Trump

again cites “mental

health” for these horren-

dous circumstances.

While not making light

of those suffering mental-

health problems, it is ab-

solute lunacy to continue

to allow the wrong set of

guns to be sold in Amer-

ica to the wrong set of

Americans.

Why give such people

easy access to any type of

gun in the first place — let

alone to military-type as-

sault weapons — to con-

tinue to slaughter Ameri-

can citizens in such great

numbers?

Please do something.

Trump. This could be

your finest hour — or

America’s flags may well

be perpetually flying at

half-mast.

Howard Hutchins

Victoria, Australia

A memorial in El Paso.

America’s oldest continuously published daily newspaper

I

n the wake of two horrific mass shoot-

ings, President Trump on Monday of-

fered welcome words and a few useful

starting points to address the madness.

But he — and all of Washington — have

a long way to go.

Americans are “outraged and sickened by

this monstrous evil,” said Trump. “Our

hearts are shattered for every family whose

parents, children, husbands and wives were

ripped from their arms and their lives.”

Citing the El Paso gunman’s “racist” man-

ifesto, he called on Americans to “condemn

racism, bigotry and white nationalism” —

“sinister ideologies” that must be “de-

feated.”

Finally, Trump warned that Americans

can’t let themselves feel “powerless.”

“We can and will stop this evil conta-

gion,” he said, then offered specifics:

He ordered the Justice Department to

work with other agencies and social-media

companies to “develop tools that can detect

mass shooters before they strike.”

He repeated his calls for red-flag laws,

which allow judges, after “rapid due pro-

cess,” to bar dangerously troubled individ-

uals from possessing firearms. The Park-

land high-school shooter, he noted, had

raised many red flags, yet no one acted.

He called for “reform” of mental-health

laws “to better identify mentally disturbed

individuals who may commit acts of vio-

lence” and get them treated and, when nec-

essary, involuntarily confined.

Plus, Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe

Manchin (D-W.Va.) met with the president

and say he “showed a willingness to work

with us” to toughen up background checks.

Trouble is, Trump’s tone-deaf follow-up

tweet linked passage of new background-

check laws to his pet subject, immigration:

“Republicans and Democrats must come

together and get strong background checks,

perhaps marrying... this legislation with

desperately needed immigration reform. We

must have something good, if not GREAT,

come out of these two tragic events!”

Huh? Immigration reform has absolutely

nothing to do with mass shootings, and the

president’s linkage makes it sound like he’d

agree to one only if he got the other. Worse,

some might even think he’s somehow justi-

fying the lunacy of the El Paso wacko, who

lashed out at immigrants in his manifesto

and waged his attack at a place near the

Mexican border where immigrants shop.

Also disappointing: Trump said nothing

about the broader gun-control issue — spe-

cifically, for example, passing a new and

better assault-weapons ban.

“Mental illness pulls the trigger, not the

gun,” he asserted. Yet unless high-powered

weapons are made significantly harder to

get, there will still be triggers around for

the mentally ill to pull.

T

o those who say any new gun laws are

an infringement on the Second Amend-

ment: Our nation gives citizens the right

to bear arms. But it does not, and it should

not, give them the right to become an arse-

nal. This isn’t about handguns, it’s about

weapons of war.

Trump is right that Americans are not

“powerless” in the face of ongoing gun vio-

lence. Yet, as president, he has more power

than anyone. He needs to use it.

L

ess than a year on the job, and Rep. Alex-

andria Ocasio-Cortez just had her first

purge.

AOC’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti,

and spokesman, Corbin Trent, announced

their resignations Friday. They were two of

the top leaders at Justice Democrats, the

lefty outfit that recruited her to run in the

first place, basically ran her campaign and

proceeded to dominate her DC office.

Trent is moving to her 2020 re-election

campaign... more than 10 months before

the primary. Chakrabarti is headed to New

Consensus, a nonprofit focused on climate

issues — which sounds a lot like the old

barely face-saving “to pursue other career

opportunities” shtick.

Officially, the moves were long-planned.

More likely, AOC sacrificed both hotheads

to appease Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Chakra-

barti’s venomous tweets slamming other

Democrats were the trigger for last month’s

tiff between the speaker and The Squad.

Or perhaps they’re clearing out before a

legal storm: The feds are looking into pos-

sible campaign corruption involving two

Chakrabarti-run PACs, Brand New Con-

gress and Justice Democrats.

Between them, according to Federal Elec-

tion Commission filings, they funneled

more than $1 million to two private compa-

nies incorporated and controlled by

Chakrabarti — which looks like an effort to

get around federal rules on reporting PAC

spending and could also conceal illegally

high contributions to a single campaign.

(The attorney for the PAC said the arrange-

ment fully complies with the law.)

Ocasio-Cortez has probably avoided

some major headaches here, but only time

will tell if it was worth ditching advisers

who got her where she is.

A Start, But We Need More

AOC’s First Purge

“Hong Kong police need to protect Hong Kong people, but now they are

only fighting Hong Kong people.... Police need to be punished. We need an

independent committee to make them stop the violence and stop fighting

Hong Kong people.” — protester Neil Chan, on strike from a delivery job and

addressing a crowd of thousands on Monday as the city tumbled into chaos

A Message to Beijing