Rep. Mike Garcia, facing tough reelection in California, compares Biden administration to Nazi regime
LOS ANGELES — Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican who faces one of the most competitive House races in the country, likened the Biden administration to the Nazi regime during an interview on a conservative podcast last week.
Referencing the recent FBI search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump, Garcia, R-Calif., accused the Biden administration and what he called the “Deep State” of “weaponizing federal agencies” for political purposes.
“This is literally tyranny of a majority right now that is acting more like a Third Reich than they are the United States. And this is very dangerous,” Garcia told Sara Carter, a right-leaning media personality, on her eponymous podcast.
References to Nazi Germany have emerged as a popular rhetorical flourish for Trump’s most stalwart backers. But unlike those safely ensconced in a deep red district, Garcia is locked in a hotly contested reelection battle for his northern Los Angeles County district that will hinge on his ability to win over independents and Democrats, not just the GOP base.
—Los Angeles Times
Florida school shooter was damaged even before birth, defense attorney says
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — His actions were indefensible. Inexcusable, his lawyer said Monday. But it’s time for a Broward jury to shift its focus, at least for a while, from the murders committed Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to the flawed, broken person who committed them — confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz.
In an 86-minute opening statement, Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill walked a tightrope, portraying Cruz as a victim from the womb, where his prenatal nutrition consisted of “Colt 45, Cisco wine, crack cocaine and cigarettes,” while making it clear that no one is trying to justify the 17 murders he committed on the Parkland campus.
“There is no defense to these crimes,” McNeill said. But the defendant’s story did not begin the day he shot up the school, she said. It began with poor decisions made by the woman who brought him into the world.
Brenda Woodard, the defendant’s biological mother, was a drug-addicted Fort Lauderdale prostitute whose lifestyle put her son at a disadvantage from the start, McNeill said. “She was drinking, she was drugging, she was smoking, and she was selling her body,” she said.
—South Florida Sun Sentinel
Sinkholes on NYC streets are a growing danger as climate change brings heavy rain that breaks sewers
NEW YORK — New Yorkers stand on ground that is crumbling beneath their feet — and Angelo Bastone has seen it for himself.
Bastone was cleaning the drain on the side of his house in the Bronx’s Morris Park neighborhood in July when he heard a “thump.” He rushed to his window and looked over to nearby Radcliff Avenue, where he saw a sinkhole had opened up so big that it swallowed a van.
“A lot of places in this area have a lot of big potholes, and they’re going to sink,” said Bastone, 56, who’s lived in the area his entire life.
The July 19 cave-in — which grew to 15 feet wide, 58 feet long and 20 feet deep — was one of thousands of sinkholes identified throughout the city this year, a growing problem city officials blame on aging sewer systems that crumble under increasingly heavy rainfall sparked by climate change.
The city’s Department of Environmental protection identified 3,921 sinkholes during the fiscal year that ended in June. That’s up from 2,839 in the year before, a 38% increase.
—New York Daily News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to receive National Constitution Center award for 'defense of liberty'
PHILADELPHIA — The National Constitution Center will award its 2022 Liberty Medal to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The award is given each year to people who have worked to protect freedom around the world. Zelenskyy will be honored “for his heroic defense of liberty in the face of Russian tyranny” during the war in Ukraine, the center announced Monday.
“President Zelenskyy has bravely led the Ukrainian people in their defense of freedom against Russian tyranny, and his courage has inspired people around the world to defend liberal democracy and the rule of law,” Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, said in a statement.
The medal comes with a $100,000 prize, which the center said Zelenskyy plans to give to the new Ukrainian Veteran Fund. The prize is the latest in a long line of accolades the Ukrainian president has received since becoming an international hero in February, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has also been bestowed with the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award and the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
