Need another reason to recall Newsom?

The governor has allowed the release of David Weidert, a killer who served four decades in prison for the murder of a developmentally disabled Clovis man who was buried alive.

The governor let stand his release after the Parole Board – which often sees no problem releasing murderers who should have met their fate on Death Row – said Weidert poses no threat to society once released.

Weidert was supposed to serve a life sentence for killing Michael Morganti, 20, of Fresno in 1980 to cover up a $500 burglary. He shouldn’t be breathing.

Let’s review what this great citizen of California did in 1980: Weidert lured Morganti out of his apartment and tortured him for nearly an hour before stabbing and strangling him. Weidert then forced Morganti to dig his own grave and buried him alive. How a calloused individual like that could qualify to live amongst the rest of us is beyond me. Would you like a guy like that moving into your neighborhood or apartment complex?

Last year Newsom blocked the killer’s parole saying he saying then that Weidert “currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time.” Gov. Jerry Brown blocked his parole in 2016 and 2018.

What changed in a year, Governor? The release of Weidert is surely going to motivate Republicans to turn out for the Sept. 14 recall. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp believes Newsom is pandering to “people who want to end incarceration.” He is one of them!

If you’ll recall, when Newsom ran for governor in 2017 he told the Modesto Bee editorial board that he believed in the death penalty. Keep in mind that the last prisoner executed by the state was in 2006. Efforts to abolish the death penalty in California failed with Prop. 62 and Prop. 32. Clearly, Californians favor having the death penalty and Newsom knew that. So he lied and told the voters he favored reinstating it. What he did after he became governor was to place a moratorium on the death penalty. It was a typically sleazy move of a dishonest and sleazy politician who said one thing for votes and did the opposite afterward.

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In reaction to the July 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, Richard Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government, issued the following statement:

“It is evil to encourage people to choose unemployment over work. July’s unemployment numbers is another stark indicator that the Biden policy of giving extra COVID payments to the unemployed continues to have this effect.

“Even as the number of unemployed in America dropped by 782,000 in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that a whopping 560,000 of these coming from the roles of the long-term unemployed. This rapid decrease in unemployment coincides with many states ending the extra COVID related payment of benefits to the unemployed as those payments were blamed for the unemployed staying on the sidelines of the labor market.

“The number of unemployed unfortunately remains 2.3 million higher than in February 2020 demonstrating that even in a robust jobs market. It can be expected that many of these people will get jobs as the extra payments end in the months ahead. The sad part is that this process has been artificially delayed due to the refusal of the Biden administration and Congress to end the unnecessary extra payments which were originally intended to get people over the hump caused by the economic shutdown due to the China virus.

“Conversely – and much more concerning in the report – is the increase by 276,000 people to 2.3 million of Americans who find themselves unemployed for less than five weeks. With employers begging for workers, the fact that 276,000 people were added to this number of recently unemployed is somewhat confounding. It is reasonable to ask how more than a quarter of a million more people became newly unemployed in July above the already inflated June number?

“We don’t know this answer, but if the short-term unemployment number continues to rise and these people remain unemployed in August, this could be the first tremor of a shifting workforce earthquake.

“Looking ahead on the broader labor policy front, it is reasonable to expect that when the massive extra federal subsidization of unemployment comes to an end, the summer of labor shortages will also end, bringing millions more back into the labor force in early fall. But this will only occur if the politicians resist the urge to re-engage the failed health policies of economic shutdowns. The science shows that economic shutdowns had no effect on health outcomes from the virus while causing increases in preventable deaths across the board. If states shut down again, the July unemployment numbers may be viewed as the high water mark of the COVID economic recovery.

“And as Congress faces the end of the extra COVID unemployment payments, it is essential that they end as they are both economically and personally destructive. Any attempt to reinstate these payments must be vigorously opposed by people on both sides of the aisle who want to promote both a healthy workforce and healthy American ethos.”

Well said, Rick Manning.

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I’m wondering if there is any hope left for California. The liberalism is so pervasive in the government culture and it just keeps doubling down and it’s always linked to the spending of your hard-earned money.

Consider this press release from Caltrans issued on Friday: “Caltrans announced today that it has approved nearly $82 million in Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) funding for 134 local public transportation projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve transportation sustainability by providing new and expanded bus and rail service for disadvantaged and low-income communities.

“The climate crisis is disproportionately affecting low-income households and communities of color,” said Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin. “This investment will help reduce environmental impacts from transportation and help connect communities, particularly those facing economic barriers to transportation options.”

In the state’s eyes, everything affects “communities of color disproportionately.” So, if the air quality is bad, it will always affect the lungs of poor people worse than people who breathe the same air in the same town. It’s just pure nonsense that, when repeated over and over, the unthinking masses just nod their heads in complete stupid agreement and say, “Yep, yep, that’s right. Spend what you want.”

So aren’t you happy to hear that millions are being spent on public transportation that few people actually use? I mean, look at the next public transit bus you pass in your car and see how empty they are. Ceres, which I am sure is classified as a “community of color,” had to give up its transit system to Modesto because it wasn’t meeting its fare-box to expense ratio, which means collecting at least 10 percent of operational costs through fares. So, in essence, government officials designed a system to make the taxpayers fund 90 percent of the cost of public transportation! If this was a private business it would have closed years ago!

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When we were kids a popular cartoon was Scooby-Doo. It ran from 1969 to 1985. As you know the four characters solved mysteries with their frighten dog. At the end they usually unmasked the culprit who used a disguise or costume.

So that leads me to another good meme I saw where Fred Jones takes the sheet off the head of a shackled character labeled “Society’s Problems.” The unveiled foe is “Bad Parenting.”

I couldn’t agree more.

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The good people of Ceres far outweigh the bad.

Recently a community BBQ was thrown for police and fire employees on Darrah Street. It’s an annual tradition of Jameo Walker and Bubba Jackson. They have always appreciated the Ceres Police for keeping a lid on crime in their neighborhood, which was once known as the worst street in town.

I have to mention that Jameo and Avery are black in light of all this well-publicized Black Lives Matter anti-police crap.

In fact, while the mostly younger set was staging its “defund the police” nonsense protest in Whitmore Park in June 2020, Walker was keeping his eye for any harm that might come to officers from those in the crowd. At Third and North streets, Walker, a pro-police resident of Ceres, kept his eye out for trouble. Prior to the event he said a red Chevy rolled by with an occupant who yelled “ F*** the police” and “No justice, no peace.”

Bubba posted on Facebook: “We really appreciate you guys and respect the jobs that you all do. We love that you officers come to our BBQ and get to know the community and our kids by name and play football and even skateboard with them, Officer (Mike) Welsh lol. Thank you so much.”

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I couldn’t help but notice that the coloring books handed out at the National Night Out ceremony in Ceres, courtesy of state Assemblyman Adam Gray who had an “ad” on the back, were printed entirely in Spanish. There were no English versions available, I was told by a volunteer handing them out.

Granted, kids who use coloring books may not be reading yet and that all of the English books were depleted. But there is no melting pot in America anymore.

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We live in an age in which people are outraged at the smallest things. This time the outrage was expressed in China where a state media channel journalist referred to Olympic shotput champion Gong Lijiao as looking like a “manly woman.”

If you saw her you can understand why the statement was made. I thought she was a man.

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I’m getting real scared about our water picture here out west. Last week a major hydroelectric power plant was shut down at Lake Oroville because there isn’t enough water to generate power. But let’s keep releasing water to maintain river temperature requirements for the fish.

Democrats are now trying to cover their rears for failing to build more water storage projects and think that we can conserve our way out of this.

State Assemblyman Adam Gray should really think hard about renouncing his political affiliation and switch from Democrat to Republican. He is outraged about the State Water Resources Control Board’s decision to label water used to grow food as a “wasteful and unreasonable use,” and its developing plans to halt flows to farmers throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed.

Keep in mind that the board is made up of mostly Democrats, appointed by Democrat governors. So, blame the Democrats for such radical and reprehensible policies that use stored water for farms to grow our food is “wasteful and unreasonable.” When will Californians wise up and flush these people out of office. We don’t have to live like this, folks.

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I love the pushback given in response to these American-hating U.S. athletes. Megan Rapinoe, the purple-haired soccer athlete who disrespected the country she represents by kneeling during the National Anthem, has upset a lot of Americans. They are now calling for a boycott of Subway, a place that I like to frequent, because their ads use Rapinoe.

At a gathering of Subway franchise operators, one shop owner in Wisconsin demanded that Rapinoe be cut from all Subway commercials after a customer taped a message on the door that read: “Boycott Subway until Subway fires the anti-American … Megan Rapinoe, the creep who kneels for our beloved National Anthem!”

It’s almost poetic justice that the performances of the anti-American American athletes have been poor.

Americans are tired of woke nonsense being shoved on us. They are also not watching the Olympics because of the Left has invaded what was formerly a sense of American pride to watch their athletes.

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in New Jersey, said woke protests by U.S. athletes condemning the U.S. or national anthem have alienated conservative Americans.

The opening ceremonies saw their lowest viewership since 1988. NBC’s primetime coverage of the Tokyo Olympics on July 26 averaged 14.7 million viewers, which was 49 percent less compared to the equivalent night from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and 53 percent less than the 2012 London Olympics.

Of course, the mainstream media was not interested in what black U.S. wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock had to say when she wrapped herself in the flag and proclaimed: “I love representing the U.S., I freaking love living here." She was the first female Black American wrestler to win Olympic gold.

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