MO Governor Let's Drunk Driver out of Prison Because...Super Bowl, Florida Legislators Can't Use Google, Apparently, Michigan Restricts the Rights of Labor Workers (The Five for 03/05/24)
Plus, Denver may lay off Americans...to hire illegal immigrants.
Hey, welcome to The Five, a publication about the stories that matter…but don’t always make the front page.
Come along with me as I hit Republicans and Democrats equally hard today.
[one]
Up first…Republicans. Missouri Governor Jim Parsons commuted the sentence of the son a NFL coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs (gotta wonder if those back-to-back Super Bowl rings helped sway justice here).
Reid, who is the son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of driving while intoxicated in 2022. He was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2022. While Reid is being released from prison, he will be under house arrest until Oct. 31, 2025 and will have “strict conditions of probation.”
“Mr. Reid has completed his alcohol abuse treatment program and has served more prison time than most individuals convicted of similar offenses,” his commutation letter read, in part.
Prosecutors said that Reid was driving more than 80 miles per hour on Feb. 4, 2021 when he collided with two vehicles on the side of an exit ramp along an interstate near the Chiefs’ practice facility. Reid had a serum blood alcohol content of 0.113 about two hours after the crash, well above the Missouri legal limit.
The crash left six people, including two children, injured. One of the children, 5-year-old Ariel Young, was in a coma for 11 days and sustained a traumatic brain injury. Young’s mother said at the sentencing hearing that she is still dealing with issues from the crash, including balance trouble, dragging her right foot when she walks and needing thick glasses, among other things.
“He had every opportunity in life,” Young’s mother, Felicia Miller, said in 2022. “Instead of doing something with the opportunities that have been handed to him, Britt Reid hurt us. Ariel’s life is forever changed because of Britt Reid. Her life will be dealing with the damage that Britt Reid did.
“She will never play sports,” Miller added. “Sports, [which] his family has made a living off of. She’ll never do that. He took that from her. She will deal with the effects of his actions every day for the rest of her life.”
An attorney for Young’s family said Friday that he was in disbelief after the commutation news.
This is beyond disgusting. Missouri allows up to 15 years for DUI, and Reid only got three years for causing a lifelong injury to a kindergartner. Reid will be under “strict house arrest” until October 21, 2025. So…he gets the same punishment THE ENTIRE NATION got during COVID?
Horrific. There are no other words. I will be voting against Governor Parsons in the primary in April…without even knowing who’s running against him.
The Five does not endorse candidates as a rule…but anti-endorsements? Yes. Absolutely.
[two]
Don’t worry, Dem's are up next…but one more Republican to shred. A candidate in Ohio has dropped out of his Senate race after an abhorrent statement on a podcast.
J.R. Majewski said the following on the Trifecta podcast:
“Shout out to all the Democrats living in mom’s basement that like to talk s*** on the internet,” he said. “You know, no matter how hard you try, arguing on the internet, it’s like being in the Special Olympics. No matter how good you perform, you still have … you’re still f***ing retarded at the end of the day.”
Shortly thereafter, Majewski told Politico there was pressure from him to drop out of the race. YOU THINK?! After enduring a (much deserved) media firestorm, Majewski finally hung it up over the weekend.
Up next, let’s shred the some very stupid Democrats in Florida…
[three]
"It just seems like 18- to 20-year-olds are at a higher risk of homicide perpetuation than any other age group," Lopez added.
Representative Stevenson told Newsweek that "It is well established that there are increased risks of suicide and gun violence for youth under 21."
"I see no practical benefit or reason to lower the age to purchase a gun in Florida from 21 to 18, but I see risks. The risk of the injury and death of innocents—and the destruction of a young person's life. That risk is unacceptable to me," Stevenson told Newsweek.
The firearms purchase age of 21 was first introduced following the February 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which gunman Nikolas Cruz, age 19, killed 17 people and injured 17 others. It marked the deadliest high school mass shooting in U.S. history. Passage of the bill on Friday repeals a portion of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act that was passed following the shooting
A LOT to unpack here:
A). If there’s one phrase that should not factor into legislation, it’s “just seems like…”
B). There isn’t much variation in murder rates between the ages of 17 and 29 for offenders. By this logic, we should let 1-8 year olds buy as many guns as they want…they don’t murder anybody! (Study here).
C. We have a serious issue with “adulthood” in the U.S. 18 to smoke…21 to buy some guns…18 to buy others…25 to rent a car…BUT, 18 to become a foster parent. So, you can foster kids, but if your car breaks down…I guess you’re just home. Because no one will rent you a car to move those fostered kids around. Die in war? 18…or, if your parents sign off..17.
Or, to put it another way, many states will hand you multiple kids in the care of the state three years before you can buy a 20 gauge to dove hunt with.
We need ONE age where a person is an adult. Full stop.
[four]
Michigan has decided that unions are so awesome they’re going to force workers to join.
The Nation reports:
For the first time in almost 60 years, a state has formally overturned a so-called “right to work” law, clearing the way for workers to organize new union locals, collectively bargain, and make their voices heard at election time.
This week, Michigan finalized the process of eliminating a decade-old “right to work” law, which began with the shift in control of the state legislature from anti-union Republicans to pro-union Democrats following the 2022 election. “This moment has been decades in the making,” declared Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber. “By standing up and taking their power back, at the ballot box and in the workplace, workers have made it clear Michigan is and always will be the beating heart of the modern American labor movement.”
In addition to formally scrapping the anti-labor law on Tuesday, Michigan also restored prevailing-wage protections for construction workers, expanded collective bargaining rights for public school employees, and restored organizing rights for graduate student research assistants at the state’s public colleges and universities. But even amid all of these wins for labor, it was the overturning of the “right to work” law that caught the attention of unions nationwide.
So, there’s a LOT going on here…let’s take it one piece at a time:
A). Labor unions. So…those unions are SOOOO good that you have to put a gun to the workers heads to get them to sign up, huh?
B). Stronger public school unions…so, if auto workers unions are negotiating AGAINST the “big three” (Ford, GM, Chrysler), then Michigan’s public school workers are in a better position to negotiate…against…the public. Goodie.
C). A grad assistant union? Are you serious? You’re getting a free advanced degree, and those job aren’t that hard. Comparing this to the plight of union auto workers, who sometimes do dangerous jobs for stagnate wages (shrinking wages, with inflation) is an insult to the men and women in Michigan who clock in and do actual work.
What’s next…undergrad students unionizing for better collective grades?
Despite my cynicism here, I’m (tepidly) pro union, as I’ve seen the amazing benefits for so many of my family and friends, particularly at John Deere and Caterpillar in Illinois.
But if unions are so great…why can’t people just opt in, without being forced by law?
[five]
One more very stupid Democrat before we wrap up this issue. Denver Mayor Mike Johnson is laying off city employees, and may give those same jobs to illegal immigrants.
As Denver faces a budget crisis due to 40,000 illegal immigrants arriving in the last year, the city is warning hourly workers that they may be furloughed, while also considering hiring illegal immigrants to work for the city, The Daily Wire has learned.
A spokeswoman for Denver mayor Mike Johnston told The Daily Wire that the budget crisis was caused by illegal immigrants being unable to work, causing them to be a drain on taxpayer dollars. The idea was to solve that by having them work directly for the city, she said. She said that a full-time salary funded by taxpayers was “not necessarily” more costly than social services.
She said the city has considered the plan but at the moment is not pursuing it because it is high-risk, since it is likely illegal.But U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) earlier this month encouraged local governments to disregard federal law, suggesting that cities should at a minimum begin issuing their own quasi-work permits to illegal immigrants that would allow the to work for various employers.
“If the federal government wants to come down and throw the book at us, we’ll deal with the legal costs,” Hickenlooper told Denver’s 9 News.
Well, as I often quote…
“Democracy is the belief that common people know what they want, and deserve to get it, good and hard.” -HL Menken.
Between this and putting wolves in amongst cattle ranches, Colorado is certainly becoming a state to watch…for comedians.
To make jokes about.
Because the same people who released the wolves into Colorado think they can keep them in an imaginary 60x60 mile border, according to Field & Stream.
CPW Public Information Officer Joey Livingston tells Field & Stream that the recent wolf movements are consistent with expectations outlined in the state’s reintroduction plan. “In previous re-introductions in other states we’ve seen wolves travel anywhere from 20 to 140 miles from reintroduction spots,” Livingston said. “Within our draft plan, we created boundaries 60 miles from the northern, western, and southern borders of Colorado. The goal is to reintroduce within that 60-mile buffer zone—to try to make sure that they stay in Colorado.”
Did anyone explain those rules to the wolves? Because it’s OK for people to come in and take American jobs in Denver, but not OK for Colorado wolves to go go Arizona or Utah?!
That’s a very special kind of stupid.
Until the next one,
-sth