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March 28
1934 - Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, replacement for ill-fated St. Francis Dam & reservoir, begins to fill with water [story]
Bouquet Reservoir


The Real Side | Commentary by Joe Messina
| Monday, Jan 20, 2014

joemessinamugI guess it’s in my DNA, being from Boston. The rivalry between New York City and Boston is almost natural, as it is between the Angels and Dodgers in Southern California.

However, being an American takes priority over being a Bostonian or a Republican. New York is one of the first things that pops into your head when you think of America, along with freedom, mom and apple pie.

New York was among the first of our foundational cities in our fight for freedom from oppression and tyranny. It was where many fought and died for freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and just plain freedom. (Cue Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.)

If you want to take a swipe at America, you attack New York. New York has always been a micro-history of this great country.

Well, no more.

New York and its politics are becoming symbols for the very things this country has always fought against. Freedoms in New York are being lost at an alarming rate. New York’s government leaders must be “inhaling deeply” when they pass the pot shops on the corners.

Where to begin?

The Twitchy.com staff summarized Gov.Andrew Cuomo best as basically saying: Attention all wingnuts bitterly clinging to the “extreme” notion that there’s a “right to life” – there’s no place for you in the state of New York.

Well, thank God. (Yes, I used the “G” word.) I certainly wouldn’t want to be with a group of progressive, left-leaning, closed-minded, extreme elitists who see Cuomo as an asset to New York. (Did I insult them all? If I left anyone out, I’m sorry. I’ll try to get to you later.)

Here’s what the governor said about New York state’s elected Republican representatives:

“Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

There is a large number of New Yorkers who are religious, God-believing, right-to-life-believing people and, obviously, voters. Many simply want to go about their business and let people live their lives. Those people are about to get bitten. Between Cuomo and De Blasio, they are almost guaranteed there really is no place for them in New York.

Where’s the outrage over the governor calling conservatives who stand for the right to life “extreme?” Can you imagine if a conservative or Republican dared to say, “there’s no place in California for ‘extreme liberals’ who are pro-choice and pro-abortion?” There would be a virtual media bloodfest. Oh, the humanity. The outrage of every liberal would be on him like we have recently seen with Gov. Christie and President Obama.

Obama. Twenty-two issues. Christie. One issue. Yet, as usual, the media can only see fault in the Republican (and not even a conservative at that). Hypocrites.

So. There is a right to life for bald eagles. We protect the right to life for tigers, whales, sea lions, dolphins and leopards. But not humans.

Even as more and more stories and studies come out as to the viability of the unborn, we still turn a blind eye. In a recent story, a 19-week “baby” (or as some of you call it, a fetus) survived outside the womb for a while. Many hospitals try, and succeed, at saving the lives of “preemies.” Should they stop doing that? Do they have a right to life? Do the parents have a right to let them die? Let’s hope they aren’t traveling through New York when the time comes.

Then there are those “extreme conservatives who are …. pro-assault weapon.” Oh, wait. Those are actually “pro-Constitution” Americans, both on the extreme right and the extreme left, who believe in a republic (not a dictatorship where the governor decides what the rules are).

“Assault weapon” is a term being thrown around like “racism” and “global warming.” What does it mean? Five rounds in a clip? Ten rounds? Some states say it’s any gun that can carry a clip. This is the real lunacy. Gun violence has gone down in this country over the last 30 to 50 years as gun ownership has increased and gun technology has improved. Talk about fear mongering.

And the best one: “extreme conservatives who are … anti-gay.” Really? This is like the word game the Democrats play with the term, “illegal alien.” They say “people can’t be illegal.” No, really? But people can commit illegal acts.

Many of those religious conservatives (some are even Democrats – oh, my!) don’t believe in the “gay lifestyle.” They don’t hate gays. Period. Which means they are not “anti-gay.” But if you must label it, it would be more accurately termed “anti-gay lifestyle.”

As if that weren’t bad enough for the state of New York, there is the Democrat-socialist, card carrying Castro- and Chavez-loving mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio. You New Yorkers are soooo screwed.

You loved Rudy Giuliani, a Republican. He cleaned up the streets, both crime and garbage. Got the economy cranking again and made New York City a great place to do business again. No Bible, religious, anti-gay, anti-gun, extreme conservative talk. Just good government policies.

Then you chose Michael Bloomberg. Mr. Nanny himself. He made you nuts, but he, too, kept the city safe, clean, and brought new business in. Unfortunately, he went off the rails regulating guns and food and, as a result, really seemed to lose traction during his last days in office. But he did make important strides in safety and the economy.

Now, how De Blasio is going to save New York City, I don’t know. And why? What was so bad?

He is going to save the horses by banning them from being used to pull horse-drawn carriages because it’s mean? No, not really. The real backstory is it’s because one of his real estate friends wants the property where the stables are located to build an apartment complex.

De Blasio is also going to make sure there are more Planned Parenthood locations by giving them space in city-owned buildings and shutting down all of the “choice”-type pregnancy centers. Sounds like a fair and level approach … not. Giving taxpayer space to a group that already gets taxpayer money to perform abortions as its main source of revenue isn’t extreme, if you’re Mayor De Blasio.

Oh, and while  Cuomo is freezing taxes for 10 years on new companies moving into New York, De Blasio is raising taxes to fund many of the programs he wants to implement. Glad they’re working together.

So, New York, you deserve what you voted for. Well, at least what about 40 percent of you voted for. Those of you who didn’t vote, you got what you didn’t vote for, and you earned it through your apathy. Congratulations.

The once great city of New York will eventually be the mirror image of Detroit. Hopefully local officials can salvage the rest of the state.

Americans (and especially New Yorkers), wake up. You’re losing this country little by little.

 

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also a member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.

 

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1 Comment

  1. Mandy says:

    Thanks for letting people know how it really is.

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