Karl Misinterprets Polls; Voters Do Want Trump

Some 15,000 people showed up for a rally down the street from the debate

by Roger Kimball for American Greatness

These days, I am often plagued by the nagging sense that I really don’t understand the dynamics of contemporary politics. It pains to admit that it often comes down to a simple matter of logic, as in

If X, then not-Y.  

X.

Ergo?

If you said, “Not-Y” then you and I are on the same page. That was my conclusion, too.

But I fear we might be wrong. My old friend Karl Rove just wrote a column for The Wall Street Journal arguing that “Voters Want Anyone but Trump or Biden.”

“Voters” want this, said Karl, explaining that “Neither looks good in the latest polls.” Both parties should consider alternatives for the 2024 presidential election.”

It’s certainly possible that Karl has access to more recondite polls than I do, though the ones he cites are the ones we all know—the recent New York Times/Siena  poll, for example, which has the agita-inducing news that Trump leads Biden in five of 6 swing states, Nevada (+10), Arizona (+5), Michigan (+5), Georgia (+6) , and Pennsylvania (+4). The poll had Biden ahead of Trump in Wisconsin, but only by 2 points.

Who was polled to arrive at those numbers? Voters.

Last week saw the third (can we hope that it will be the last?) Republican debate. It took place in Miami. Some 40 percent fewer people tuned in to watch the five contenders than had tuned into to the first GOP debate this summer. Just down the street, in Hialeah, Florida, Donald Trump held a barn-burner of a rally at which some 15,000 people—most of them voters—showed up, many waiting for hours to gain access to Milander Park where the rally took place.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the Governor of Arkansas, made headlines by endorsing her former boss at the rally and as I write, the most recent (November 9) RealClearPolitics summary of GOP polls has Tump at 60, Ron DeSantis at 13, Nikki Haley at 5.

What do such polls measure? Some version of voter sentiment, often skewed or massaged in such a way as to cater to the pollsters’ preferences.

And speaking of pollsters’ preferences, what about Nikki Haley? She appears to be something like the final cause of Karl Rove’s column, the end or telos after which it hankers.  After telling us that “voters”—though it’s not clear which voters he has in mind—want a “fresh face,” Karl writes that “former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley beats Mr. Biden in all six battlegrounds now. In four states, her margins are wider than Mr. Trump’s.”

So is she the “fresh face” he has in mind?  Or is she just, as Vivek Ramaswamy said at the GOP debate, a tired old neocon, “Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels?”

I conclude that there is something to that charge because The Babylon Bee thought it current enough to run with. “Nikki Haley Stumped,” their headline ran, “When Debate Moderator Asks Her To List Some Countries She Wouldn’t Invade.” Ha, ha, ha. The Bee continued the fun: “‘I don’t understand the question,’ a bewildered Haley said in response. ‘You’re asking me about countries to not invade? Why would there be any countries I wouldn’t want to invade? Is this a trick question?.’”  Ha, as I say, ha.

Well, columns are not written under oath, and I suspect that there is an explanation for the burden of Karl Rove’s column that can save us the embarrassment of that version of modus ponens with which we began. For one thing, polls often have their meaning, at least in part, in the eye or heart of the beholder. People see in them what they want to see. So it is not surprising that Karl, who does not like Donald Trump, interprets a suite of polls most of us understand as encouraging for Donald Trump as encouraging for his candidate for a “fresh face,” Nikki Haley.

And then there is the issue of voters. The thousands of voters at Trump’s rally, the millions that tuned in to watch it on line, find in Trump’s countenance the freshness they desire. But if you step back and understand “voters” to mean people who agree with Karl Rove about Donald Trump then the world comes back into focus. By “voters,” you see, he didn’t mean “voters.”  He meant something like what Rabbit, in Winnie-the-Pooh, meant when he spoke of his “friends and relations.”

Perhaps this is the place to acknowledge that none of us knows what is going to happen in the 2024 election. There are many, many variables which have yet to be assigned a value. A lot could happen, to the candidates, in the country, in the world. The burden of Karl Rove’s column is less factual than emotional. That is, it was meant less to inform than to cajole. It was meant to instill doubt about Donald Trump, fear about the course of the election, anxiety about the fate of his home team, the GOP. I am not sure it succeeds. It’s partly because the polls he adduces speak with different voices to different people. And it’s partly because those “voters” he alludes to just won’t line up in the queue he has prepared for them.

Then there are all sorts of pesky little developments. The news, for example, that Robert Bigelow, one of Ron DeSantis’s most prominent supporters, has withdrawn his countenance from DeSantis and is speaking kindly about Trump. He has yet to make a financial commitment for the very understandable reason that Trump is plagued by “kangaroo court” problems that could possibly land him in jail.

I suspect that eventually Bigelow will decide to support Trump, just as Home Depot Founder Bernie Marcus has decided to do.  In a remarkable column for RealClearPolitics called “High Stakes and a Simple Choice,” Marcus, 94, explained that he was tired of politics and had intended to sit out on this election cycle. But the stakes were just too high, he decided. “We cannot,” he wrote, “let the America we see today be what we leave to our children and grandchildren.”

Many of our once-great cities have devolved into lawlessness with random violent attacks on innocent people, rampant looting, and large-scale homeless encampments. There are rarely consequences for the wrongdoers because George Soros-elected prosecutors across America refuse to prosecute them.

Karl Rove might agree with all that. The problem comes with the “simple choice” that Marcus outlines. “Let’s face it,” he writes, “Donald Trump is going to win the nomination.” Republicans who have the good of the country at heart “should be doing all you can to ensure his winning the general election.”

Marcus goes on officially to endorse Trump. His reasoning is interesting, not least in the context of what Karl Rove says about the voters. “I endorse him not only because he has the best chance of winning the general election but because he is the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America.”

Then there is the rest of the world. We all know that Marcus is right when he notes that, “The new war in the Middle East will present great challenges for the free world for some time, especially in keeping other terrorist groups or nations out of the conflict.” Who is best equipped to face this challenge?

Marcus argues that Donald Trump is. After all, in his first term, Trump displayed “the judgment, strength, decisiveness, and courage” that brought peace to the Middle East, partly by ridding the world of creeps like Qasem Soleimani, partly by fostering world historical diplomatic initiatives like the Abraham Accords. Would Putin have invaded Ukraine on Trump’s watch? Would Hamas have invaded Israel? We cannot know for sure. But we do know that neither happened when Trump was president. Karl Rove tells us that “the voters” want a fresh face. I suspect that Bernie Marcus may be closer to the mark when he says that they want a seasoned and successful hand on the tiller.

X22, And we Know, and more- November 13

 

An MMA fighter asks the right question about Epstein’s clients

Andrea Widburg reporting for American Thinker 

I like MMA, having trained in it (in a mostly risk-free, exercise way) for many years. I also really like MMA fighters, who have proven to be people who are brave, not only in the ring but also outside of the ring, when it comes to standing against woke leftism. The most recent example is Joel “King Bau” Bauman, who walked into the fight arena wearing a shirt that asks just the right question about Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book.

As we all know, Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t the only one playing around on Pedo Island. Instead, he had a long list of well-connected people who went there with him to enjoy the peculiar amenities he offered. The FBI has that list but…no prosecutions. Now Epstein is conveniently dead, and his sidekick, Ghislaine Maxwell, is keeping her mouth shut. Still, people like King Bau have questions:

“Trump was indicted before anyone on Epstein’s client list.” Indeed, Trump continues to be indicted while no one on Epstein’s client list has even been named. We know that rich and powerful people across the Western world are taking sexual advantage of vulnerable children, but our government—and other governments in the Western world—are inert. The apparent rule of thumb, as was the case in England, is that you only “out” famous pedophiles and their confederates when they’re dead.

That governments across the West refuse to move against these pedophiles is concerning at more than the obvious level. The obvious level is that these people committed heinous crimes, both in terms of manmade and moral law, and they should be punished for having done so. Justice demands that.

However, there’s something even more problematic going on here, and it speaks to who’s doing what in our government. Given the refusal to act against these pedophiles, there are only two possible conclusions. The first is that our government is controlled by completely evil human beings who will, naturally, never turn on themselves. When you look at Biden’s hair-sniffing and groping proclivities, it’s very easy to believe this to be true.

The second disturbing hypothesis is that the Deep State, rather than using the Epstein information to achieve justice, is using it to control people. There is no better way to move legislative votes or court rulings than to say, “Nice little sinecure ya’ got here. Shame if something happened to it because people learned that you were the Epstein client who had a special fondness for 11-year-old blond girls.”

This is not a particularly far-fetched hypothesis. We know that, during J. Edgar Hoover’s tenure at the FBI, he specialized in collecting dirt on those whom he deemed his enemies (and probably on his “friends,” too, in case they became enemies). The point, always, was power and control. Someone who knows your nasty little secrets (and a lot of people have secrets that they’d prefer stay that way) has you on a leash.

Or as Chuck Schumer famously warned Donald Trump, intelligence agencies “have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you.” In Trump’s case, that meant creating false claims about Russia and Ukraine collusion. But in other people’s cases, it may mean letting them know that there’s dirt on them and that the intelligence agencies are the only thing keeping that dirt from going public.

Every American, regardless of political stripe, should be disturbed by the protection our and other Western governments extend to the Epstein client list. That wall of silence either means that the people in power are corrupt or are at the mercy of even more sinister forces working behind the scenes.

The Unnerving Reason FBI Showed Up to This Journalist's Home

Sarah Arnold reporting for Townhall 

The FBI has reportedly knocked down the door of a journalist who, in the past, exposed illegal activities along the southern border, including sex trafficking. 

This week, Sarah Fields, a journalist with The Publica Now, revealed on social media that FBI agents came to her home on October 17 unannounced. She claimed the agency demanded that she talk with them about her coverage of an alleged Hamas training camp on the US-Mexico border.

In her posts, Fields claims that the FBI was trying to get her to reveal her sources.

More from the Publica:

[Fields] added they later called her and attempted to arrange a private meeting at the FBI office in Tyler, Texas. They noted their interest in her coverage of violence and trafficking along the US-Mexico border. Fields had previously revealed the exploitation of pregnant women by the Mexican cartels, who would “have their babies removed and left on the ground, and their stomachs stuffed with drugs.” Speaking exclusively to The Publica, Fields confirmed that the FBI had specifically pressed her on her coverage of an alleged former Hamas training ground in Matamoros, Mexico, which stands directly across the border from Brownville, Texas. While she noted that several outlets had claimed the story was false, Fields said that her sources suggested that it had instead been shut down sometime between 2021 and 2022. When Fields pressed for more details, the agents said they weren’t comfortable discussing any details over the phone. After refusing to meet, FBI agents once again turned up at Fields’ home on November 7. While not at the border, Fields said she uses a team of “boots on the ground undercover journalists” who provide her information and videos of what’s happening “almost on a daily basis.”

Fields included several screenshots of calls from the U.S. government in Texas. In recent years, she has covered numerous on-the-ground stories along the U.S. border with Mexico. 

Spain's conservatives rally against deal with Catalan separatists

 

Protests have been held across Spain against an amnesty deal with Catalan separatists aimed at securing a new term for the Socialist-led government.

The biggest rally was held in Madrid, where tens of thousands took part.

Centre-right leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused acting PM Pedro Sánchez of pursuing his own interests rather than Spain's and called for a new vote.

Mr Feijóo People's Party (PP) came first in a snap election in July but could not form a majority.

But pro-independence Catalan parties agreed to support Mr Sánchez, who has been in office since 2018. The deal, announced on Thursday, includes an amnesty for separatists who led a failed bid to secede from Spain in 2017.

The agreement triggered anger from conservatives.

An estimated 80,000 people took part in Sunday's rally in Madrid.

Addressing supporters in the capital, Mr Feijóo said: "We will not shut up until there are new elections. What is being done now is the contrary of what [Spaniards] voted for."

Many protesters held Spanish flags and banners with slogans including "respect the Constitution". Similar marches were held in cities including Granada, Seville and Valencia.  

Before Thursday's agreement, Pedro Sánchez had sealed a deal with one pro-independence party. The Catalan Republican Left (ERC) is in power in Spain's north-eastern region.

His negotiators then clinched an agreement with the more radical Together for Catalonia (JxCat). It is led by Carles Puigdemont, who led the breakaway independence vote but fled to Brussels to avoid being sent to jail  

While Mr Puigdemont went into exile in 2017, nine other Catalan leaders were jailed for sedition before being pardoned by Mr Sánchez in 2021.

The crime of sedition has since been removed from the penal code but Mr Puigdemont is still accused of disobedience and embezzling public funds, and others have faced similar allegations.

Under the agreement pages, the draft amnesty covers charges arising from the start of the Catalan push for independence in 2012 to 2023 but it does not refer to any named individuals.

It says JxCat will propose holding a "self-determination referendum on the political future of Catalonia" within the terms of the Spanish constitution while the Socialist party says it will defend the "broad development" of Catalonia's autonomy by judicial means.

The text also refers to "lawfare", a word used by JxCat to refer to judicial cases it claims were used to persecute pro-independence figures politically.

Mr Puigdemont said the deal marked a step towards resolving "the historic conflict between Catalonia and Spain".

Santos Cerdán, the Socialist party negotiator, said: "It's necessary to form a progressive government as soon as possible, that gives stability to Spain and that fulfils the mandate of the people in last elections."

The controversial amnesty law will be put before parliament in the coming days and, assuming it passes, the next step will be for an investiture debate and a vote next week.  

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67398903   

San Francisco Is Suddenly Cleaned Up for Xi Jinping, and Even the NYT Has Questions

Nick Arama reporting for RedState 

How long was Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Speaker of the House? She was in power for quite a period. 

And how long have the Democrats controlled San Francisco? Probably longer than Pelosi has been in office. 

Yet, Pelosi and the Democrats have allowed the city to deteriorate into a hell hole. Heck, Democratic policies helped it get that way with things like free needles and not holding criminals accountable. As we reported, people who worked in the San Francisco federal building named after Pelosi were told to work from home because the situation around the building was so unsafe. 

But guess what? Suddenly, the homeless have been cleared out of the areas that you normally find them in and the downtown area where they are usually lying all over the street has been cleaned up. 

The city focused on seven intersections in the Tenderloin and South of Market, or SoMa, neighborhoods which is home to some of the more concentrated encampments where drug-addled people high on fentanyl and heroin can be seen passed out on the streets every day. 

“They started clearing the tents earlier this week and there is definitely a lot more police presence,” SoMa resident and community activist Ricci Lee Wynne told The Post. 

“They’ve cleared out the tents that were near the Moscone Center on Howard Street, which tells me the city had the capability to do this all along — instead they just do the bare minimum.

Guess what prompted this? The visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the APEC Summit. 

They even had fencing put up. I thought walls didn't work. 

They even did this within existing budgets, which shows they can do things -- if they want to. 

Even the New York Times took notice. 

Of course, they moved the homeless to other areas that were not affected by the Summit, so they weren't truly addressing the problem, just moving it around a bit. It shows they can do some things for appearance for Xi, but they don't care about cleaning it up or keeping things safe for the regular residents, normally. To the powers that be, regular residents aren't as important as a Communist dictator.

Tours American Monument

 The World War I Tours American Monument is located in the city of Tours, France 146 miles southwest of Paris. The monument commemorates the efforts of the 650,000 men who served during World War I in the Services of Supply (SOS) of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and whose work behind the battle lines made possible the achievements of the American Armies in the field. The city of Tours was its headquarters during the war.  

It is located just east of the southern end of Pont Wilson which crosses the Loire River in prolongation of the main street (Rue National) of Tours, and consists of a handsome fountain of white stone with a gold gilded statue of an American Indian holding an eagle. The surrounding area was developed into a small park by ABMC.

The fountain’s column between the lower and upper basins displays sculptures of the coats of arms of Bordeaux, Brest, Is-sur-Tille, Le Mans, Neufchâteau, Nevers, St. Nazaire, and Tours. Important installations of the SOS were located in those cities during the war.

Four sculptured figures appear on the column above the upper basin. They represent the four principal divisions of the SOS: Administration, Construction, Procurement, and Distribution. A bronze sculpture gleams from the top of the monument. Successful execution of those functions enabled the combatant forces to concentrate on defeating the enemy.

By the time of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, a total of 2,057,907 American troops had come to European soil. Among them were almost 645,000 soldiers and 24,000 civilians of the SOS. 

Here are examples of SOS accomplishments:

• Constructed almost 1,000 miles of standard-gauge railway tracks;

• Assembled more than 1,500 locomotives and 18,000 rail cars with parts shipped from the United States;

• Managed hospitals with a capacity of 192,844 beds.

General John J. Pershing, commander of the AEF, said this about the Services of Supply in his final report:

Magnificent efforts were exerted by the entire Services of Supply to meet the enormous demands made on it. Obstacles which seemed insurmountable were overcome daily in expediting the movements of replacements, ammunition and supplies to the front, and of sick and wounded to the rear.

The Tours Monument stands on Ave. André Malraux about 300 meters east of the southern end of Pont Wilson, the bridge across the Loire River. 

https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/tours-american-monument  

November 11th  ,we honor the "SAMMIES"  

1917 the French discover the Jazz at Tours   

https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/international/11-novembre-les-sammies-ces-soldats-americains-presents-a-tours-entre-1917-et-1919-1094778

An American soldier 1917 

Why Is North Korea Closing Its Embassies Around the World?

Ward Clark reporting for RedState 

North Korea, that Stalinist dictatorship ruled by a stunted little gargoyle with bad hair from a long line of stunted little gargoyles with bad hair, has long been something of an enigma. This is mostly because the only reliable information to come from that place is brought out by the few defectors who trickle out. But now, we have some solid information that North Korea is, for some reason, closing down embassies around the world. 

"We are conducting operations to withdraw and establish diplomatic missions in accordance with the changed global environment and national diplomatic policy," a spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry wrote earlier this month, according to translations from Yonhap News Agency.

Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has approved withdrawal from Nepal, Spain, Angola, Uganda and Hong Kong in recent months, leading to some confusion from diplomats.

South Korean experts have claimed the closures indicate a rapidly deteriorating financial situation for their northern counterparts.

It's hard to think of how North Korea's financial situation could possibly get any worse than it has been for a couple of decades; this is a nation that can't even feed its own people.

"The flurry of measures appears to show that it is no longer feasible for the North to maintain diplomatic missions as their efforts to obtain foreign currency have stumbled due to strengthened sanctions," the South Korean Unification Ministry said last month, according to translations from Yonhap.

North Korea, unable to sustainably feed its own population through domestic production or standard trade, relies on allies' — and sometimes even enemies' — contribution to curb starvation.

Diplomats who have defected from the country have claimed North Korean embassies are largely funded by illegal activity and illicit money-making projects.

A look at North Korea and South Korea is enlightening. Both countries are of similar size; they were unified as one nation as recently as the Second World War; they are culturally and ethnically, for all practical purposes, identical. But one - South Korea - is a free market, capitalist society, while the other - North Korea - is a communist dictatorship.

North Korea actually has more arable land, 19.5 percent of their area as opposed to South Korea's 15.3 percent, and North Korea is larger, 120,538 square kilometers to South Korea's 99,720. South Korea has 51.7 million citizens as of 2021; North Korea has less than half that at 25.8 million. But this is the real indicator: South Korea is a wealthy nation, having a per capita GDP of $42,000, compared to North Korea's $1,700.

To call North Korea a disaster is a gross understatement.

But the Norks do have nuclear weapons and, supposedly, delivery platforms. Their military is powerful enough that the Japanese are taking a hard look at countering it, and it's also important to note that North Korea is a client state of Communist China, meaning that the Middle Kingdom may, as they did in the Korean War, prop the Hermit Kingdom up with weapons and munitions, in spite of their own strange problems.

North Korea is also known to have supported Iran's proxy militias in the Middle East, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un recently traveled to Russia for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And yet, they are closing embassies, reportedly because they can't afford them.

Never has there been so clear an illustration of the differences between socialism and liberty. North Korea is a giant prison camp with starving people, ruled by a hereditary dictatorship, overseen by a ruthless secret police. South Korea is a vibrant, free nation, prosperous and vital. The comparison could not be more stark

Why Should Jewish New Yorkers Have to Shelter in Place?

posted by Jeff Charles at RedStateVIP 

The antisemites have been out in full force since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, which started the current bloody conflict in the Gaza Strip. As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue its efforts to eliminate the terrorist organization, protesters in the United States have been advocating on the terrorist organization’s behalf and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

In major cities across the country, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel protesters have taken to the streets, chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” an antisemitic slogan popular with Hamas and other anti-Jewish extremists.

In other instances, these groups have engaged in violence and taken down posters showing pictures of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. The situation has been especially pronounced in New York City:

Silber’s group tallied 23 antisemitic incidents in the greater New York area from Oct. 7 to 19. The total in that 12-day period is around double the rate compared to the same time last year, when the Community Security Initiative tallied 20 incidents throughout the entire month of October.

The incidents range from subway graffiti saying “kill the Jews” in Manhattan to violence and harassment. The group has tallied at least nine instances of reported assault. The Community Security Initiative receives reports from individuals, checks into news reports of attacks with law enforcement, and learns about some incidents from the ADL.

In some of the other attacks, an Israeli student was hit with a stick at Columbia University, an assailant shoved an identifiably Jewish woman in Manhattan while shouting, “This pig has got to go,” and a man punched a woman in a Manhattan subway station, saying it was because she was Jewish. A banner at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue was vandalized with the words, “F—in k—s” and the 2nd Avenue Deli was defaced with a swastika. The targets include all manner of Jews and Israelis, Silber said.

In response to the rise in antisemitic incidents and the increasing prevalence of pro-Hamas protests in the city, some have called for Jewish New Yorkers to “shelter in place” to avoid becoming victims of hate crimes.

Hamas supporters raise flag over Columbus Square in NYC. The Jewish community is being told to shelter in place. pic.twitter.com/JCJuq8c5XP

— @amuse (@amuse) November 10, 2023

The notion that Jewish people should have to “shelter in place” because rabid antisemites want to wild out in the city is absurd for a variety of reasons. For starters, Jews should not be forced to hide in fear just because the authorities, whose role it is to protect our rights, aren’t able or willing to deal with people engaging in violence and threatening others simply for being Jewish. The very idea is at odds with the principles of a free society.

Radio talk show host J.R. Holmsted summed up my second point quite nicely in a thread on X, formerly Twitter, noting that these people would never tell black Americans to shelter in place if a Ku Klux Klan march was taking place and some of the members were getting rowdy.

Better not to antagonize ya know. Emotions are running high & the police are merely observing or hiding themselves. Just stay inside & let these people violently express themselves on your street. It’s 2023, get cozy, order in, & hope the delivery guy isn’t targeted!

— J.R. Holmsted (@JHolmsted) November 11, 2023

Of course, I have a deeper theory as to why this might be the case, but I’ll expand on that later. The bottom line is that the authorities in New York City would be far more amendable to rounding up and punishing the people threatening Jews if they were antisemites of the right-wing variety. But since they are not, politics must prevail over principles.

Lastly, there is also the fact that Jews should be able to stand up and confront their adversaries for themselves. The notion that cowering behind closed doors is the solution shows just how little these people think of Jewish people and other minorities. However, the impulse to shield oneself from the anti-Jewish mob is understandable, given that New York City makes it as difficult as possible for regular folks to arm themselves. Obtaining a firearm in the Empire State is no easy feat, meaning that Jewish New Yorkers are essentially helpless against the mob of antisemitic thugs threatening them.

The proper role of any governing authority should be to protect the rights of its citizens. Unfortunately, New York City and other local governments do not seem interested in fulfilling this duty when it comes to Jewish citizens. In this case, it is shifting the burden of safety onto the victims while also keeping them disarmed. It is the responsibility of the people to confront bigotry and violence head-on while safeguarding the rights of the people. Unfortunately, the government has made this nearly impossible in this case.

Jeff Charles is the host of "A Fresh Perspective" podcast. He is a contributor for RedState, Newsweek Opinion and also has a Substack called "Chasing Liberty."

Jeff is also a freelance writer and political contributor who has appeared on Fox News, The Hill's "Rising," Fox Soul, Newsmax, and the First TV Network.

He enjoys reading, binging TV shows, learning to play the banjo (badly), and all things nerdy. He also believes that any steak cooked above medium rare is burnt, and an abomination.

Subway ‘Vigilantes’ Aren’t The Problem, They’re A Symptom Of NYC’s Crime Catastrophe

If NYC truly cracked down on crime, a known aggressor like Roesch wouldn’t have robbed and Rote wouldn’t have shot.

Jordan Boyd reporting for The Federalist

Is a man who uses his firearm to foil a crime a hero or a villain? According to New York City, people like John Rote, who saved a woman in a subway station by firing a warning shot to deter a robber demanding her purse, are vigilantes who deserve to be punished with potentially years in prison.

Matthew Roesch, a 49-year-old homeless man with a criminal record, demanded a woman pay him $1 for letting her through an emergency turnstile for free. When she refused, he threatened to snatch her purse.

John Rote, who appears to have lived in New York City for nearly two decades, saw the crime and didn’t hesitate to intervene on behalf of the woman.

“Get away from her!” Rote reportedly yelled before pulling his silver pistol — which he obtained legally 13 years ago, according to his attorney — out of his backpack and firing a shot near Roesch’s feet. After reportedly firing a second shot, Rote holstered his gun in his bag and exited the station after confirming that Roesch was deterred from bothering the woman. No injuries were reported.

The New York Police Department arrested and charged Rote on Tuesday night with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment, and menacing. Prosecutors told the New York Post Rote faces three and a half years in prison if convicted.

Roesch also faced arrest and one charge of attempted robbery. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of seven years.

Righteous Or Reckless?

During a press conference about the incident, New York City Transit President Richard Davey claimed Rote was “weird” for calmly neutralizing the threat.

“Thank goodness nobody was hurt here but what occurred was outrageous, reckless, and unacceptable,” Davey concluded.

Any firearms instructor will tell you that Rote’s decision to fire his weapon in a busy subway was not advised. But what Davey completely missed in his press conference-turned-plea for gun control is the reason Rote fired the gun in the first place.

Why did a man with no apparent connection to the 40-year-old woman who was harassed feel the need to intervene in a routine mugging? Maybe because he’s seen one too many news stories about some of the thousands of robberies in Gotham turning into full-fledged assaults or even murder.

People like an unsuspecting bodega worker, a guy pumping his gas, a deli employee, and a soft-on-crime activist have all died in 2023 as the result of NYC stickups or street confrontations that went south.

NYPD Inspector Steven Hill admitted that alleged harasser Roesch was “a constant problem” and “swiper” who often camped out at the subway’s emergency gate to hold the gate open and then demand tips from people taking advantage of the open entryway. Hill’s department even arrested Roesch in September on a theft of service charge before releasing him back to the streets.

If police were doing their jobs, a known aggressor like Roesch wouldn’t be at subway stations repeatedly demanding city-dwellers hand over their money and Rote wouldn’t feel the need to take matters into his own hands.

When Cops Are Away, Criminals Play, and Citizens Who Step in Pay

NYC is governed by soft-on-crime politicians and ruled by regulations that let criminals back onto the streets instead of keeping them behind bars. The blue city’s willingness to scale back punishment for the people terrorizing NYC’s streets and subway stations leaves crimefighting to citizens like Rote and Daniel Penny, who was charged with second-degree manslaughter and negligent homicide after restraining a homeless black man with 42 prior arrests from harming subway passengers.

As cities like NYC continue to decline, defense shootings will only become more common. Unfortunately for law-abiding gun owners who seek to protect their lives, property, and community from rampant crime, those shootings will only fuel Democrats’ gun control wishes.

Already, NYC officials like Davey are using Rote’s trigger-pulling as an example of why “we need to get a handle on the gun issue in the city.” They claim the rise in “vigilantism” is the problem instead of a symptom of a much deeper issue.

Americans have a constitutional right bear to arms and the Supreme Court has ruled New York can’t make it harder for people to pack heat for self-defense, but that won’t stop far-left officials from punishing the people who use their weapons to fend off bad guys.

It’s clear now more than ever that citizens of NYC now face a difficult choice. They can choose to be damned to living in a hellhole of drugs, thievery, and murder ushered in by corrupt, soft-on crime overlords, or they can choose to be damned to possible jail time if they do something to stop the crime creep.

The campaign to turn one man’s apparently heroic act of protecting a woman from a thief into a villainous offense proves that in cities run by Democrats who neglect crime, the law-abiding citizens always lose.