Rep. Swalwell circles back on Steinle murder | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | DanvilleSanRamon.com |

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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Rep. Swalwell circles back on Steinle murder

Uploaded: Nov 17, 2015
Following up on our local Congressman Eric Swalwell.

You may recall that Swalwell, as loyal Democrat, followed suit and voted against Kate’s law that would have mandated five-year prison terms for illegal immigrants with criminal records who were caught again in the United States.

Pleasanton native Kate Steinle was killed while walking on a San Francisco pier with her father in July. An illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet and five deportations is being held to face murder charges.

Last week, Eric trumpeted that he had sent a letter to the Dept. of Homeland Security inquiring about the department has done to correct “deficiencies” that resulted in Steinle’s death.

His statement read, “Kate's murder made national headlines, but it is personal to me and our Tri-Valley community. I have known Kate's family for years and grew up with her brother. The Steinle family's strength in the face of such tragedy has been remarkable, and I share their commitment to making sure something positive comes from her senseless death," said Swalwell. "Now that there has been ample time for DHS to assess the situation, I am asking for an update on actions taken and planned to address any failures in our immigration system that could have contributed to Kate's murder. We owe it to Kate and her family to make sure this tragedy never happens again."

He went onto write that he understood why municipalities are hesitant to deport non-criminal, undocumented immigrants because it can "break apart families, and sows distrust in communities."

That sums up the typical Democrat position. The priority is on the families of the illegals instead of the American law. What is too often lost, particularly in so-called sanctuary cities that simply disobey federal law because they disagree with it, is American citizens and their safety. Kate died because the San Francisco sheriff decided the sanctuary city law over-rode federal law. Wrong—Kate’s death is proof.

I will look forward to hearing from our congressman about what Homeland Security has done to address the obvious deficiencies.

To respond to some questions raised in response to my Thursday blog:

The Bay Area Economic Institute is an arm of the Bay Area Council. The San Francisco-based council is one of the leading business organizations with the mission of influencing public policy to benefit the Bay Area economy. The Bay Area Economic Institute is an arm of the Bay Area Council. As with many regional bodies, there are times the council is right on and there are times it misses.

The toll bridge oversight committee includes Steve Heminger of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as well as the directors of CalTrans and the California Transportation Commission. CalTrans “managed” the project, while this oversight committee was presumably charged with protecting the taxpayer interests.

The blog post about “at gun point” accurately portrays my viewpoint. That said, there’s the undeniable link between housing and transportation---my challenge is the history of MTC and Heminger demonstrates that more power there—with virtually no accountability—is simply a bad idea. I am looking for a better one.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Hotslide, a resident of Oak Tree Acres,
on Nov 17, 2015 at 10:29 am

Right now some of the "sanctuary cities" are swallowing hard and are going to review their policies. I believe San Jose is one of those. To be sure this is not because they feel it is the right thing to do and just may protect some other citizens from similar fate. It is a damn tough decision because those felons that may get deported are democrat votes. As we know, illegals are a democratic foundation voting block, like the huge inner city welfare block. No, they are reconsidering their sanctuary city status because they are getting sued and will soon have to cough up millions because they don't want to follow the law. I guess some precious votes may be lost too.


Posted by Dave, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 17, 2015 at 12:03 pm

Tim -- I thought that journalists like you usually recognized the complexities in public policy issues, rather than seeing things solely in black and white terms. Apparently not.

And to Hotslide: Where did you get the crazy idea that undocumented immigrants (or as you so charitably call them, "illegals") are allowed to vote, let alone vote for Democratic candidates. Perhaps Fox News told you so?


Posted by Michael Austin, a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Nov 17, 2015 at 12:40 pm

Michael Austin is a registered user.

The deficiency Swawell fails to acknowledge is his NO vote against Kate's Law.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Nov 17, 2015 at 10:02 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

The silence from the Democrats on this issue and the recent facts coming out of France is deafening, no?

Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no...


Posted by Peter Kluget, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 19, 2015 at 8:55 am

Speak no...nonsense? What exactly is "the issue" as you see it? An addled individual finds a loaded gun and pulls the trigger while the gun is pointed at the ground. 80 feet away, after the bullet ricochets off the pavement, it tragically hits and kills an innocent victim. Web Link
Is "the issue" the fact that we are awash with guns, so stuff like this can happen?

Oh, no. To the demagogues, the "issue" is that the addled individual is from another country. Raw meat for the gullible followers of the right wing haters and shouters. In actuality, the nationality of the man who pulled the trigger had nothing to do with the tragedy. But that is meaningless to those who want to exploit the loss of the Steinle family to advance their own, hate-filled agenda. Web Link

Kate Steinle is dead, and that is a genuine tragedy. But the demagogues will drag her corpse through the mud to advance their agenda. And that's not just tragic, it's disgraceful.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Nov 19, 2015 at 9:57 am

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

Hi To...Peter,

Now that you've gotten your projections out of the way, let me answer your questions directly since you seem to be a little clouded.

"What exactly is "the issue" as you see it?"

That individuals like you don't see the immigration realities, especially when smacked in the face with overwhelming statistics. You went into a lot of detail to describe the supposed accidental nature of the killing (gun pointed at the ground; 80 feet away; ricochets...) but you forgot one tiny bit of information: that the policies of the Democrat (and some Republicans for that matter) party led to this senseless death with "Sanctuary Cities", and complete and utter lawlessness when it comes to immigration policy.
This guy was in in and out of jail repeatedly and yet, instead of being deported he was released back into OUR cities!

That is a fact "Peter". Have you ever heard the term, ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS? Look it up.

"Is "the issue" the fact that we are awash with guns, so stuff like this can happen?"

Ah! I was waiting for someone to blame the GUN! Let's take a look at a even more recent event in Paris, where over a 120 people were killed by terrorists using illegal firearms. That's right, those firearms are ILLEGAL in France yet, somehow, someone managed to acquire them.

But I guess we blame the firearms in that instance too? Is France blaming it on the guns?

"In actuality, the nationality of the man who pulled the trigger had nothing to do with the tragedy."

Who said it did? Who cares whether this nut was from Mexico, Canada, China, Syria or wherever they come from? This is about LAW and LAWLESSNESS, you complete waste of a brain!

Get your head wrapped around the fact that we are sick and tired of politicians and people like you who try and label us racist for wanting to enforce the law EQUALLY and fairly.

"But the demagogues will drag her corpse through the mud to advance their agenda. And that's not just tragic, it's disgraceful."

You can blame guns, national identity, heck, even right-wing demagogues all you want.

The fact of the matter is the lawless of the Democrats and (some Republicans), and "Sanctuary Cities" are the direct cause of her death.

Your passive, yet unspoken defense of all these entities is what truly is disgraceful.








Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore,
on Nov 20, 2015 at 9:49 am

The way I hear it from many Americans is the "GUNS KILL PEOPLE". THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A SANCTUARY CITY. GUNS KILL PEOPLE....THAT'S THE REAL TRUTH.


Posted by Peter Kluget, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 20, 2015 at 4:20 pm

Formerly Dan, I'm going to ignore most of your rant.

But I will address your convoluted (and not even logical) assertion that the nation being awash with guns isn't a problem, because people can obtain them illegally as well as legally. (?!?!)

In this case, the gun clearly was the problem. The guy was 90 feet away from Ms. Steinle. There's no indication that he wished her harm for any reason or made any attempt to personally accost her. But the twitch of a finger sent a bullet on its way, careening off the pavement and ricocheting into her heart.

Because that is what guns are designed to do - to project lethal force with the slightest effort, and with no need for reflection or reason. If the trigger is pulled, the bullet flies. The idea that having guns around doesn't make it more likely that someone will be on the receiving end of that force accidentally or through impulsive or reckless actions is just plain dumb. And relying on "well, we can blame the guy who pulled the trigger" doesn't bring Ms. Steinle back.

Three other drifters recently got ahold of another stolen gun and killed two people recently. But they were born here in America, so, no issue, right? Small children - even toddlers - have killed people with guns. Do you blame those deaths on sanctuary city policies as well?

Go ahead - deflect all you like. Exploit Ms. Steinle's death to advance your agenda. Yell insults, pound the table, froth at the mouth. But "lawlessness" wasn't the root cause of Ms. Steinle's death - it was a gun, lying around, waiting to be picked up by an impaired, irresponsible or careless person. That person didn't even need to intend to hurt anyone - and there's no reasonable basis to believe, as the novice DA was instructed to argue, that this drifter picked up a gun he'd never seen before and made a 90 foot "skip shot" that no expert could pull off with the intention of hitting a complete stranger.

We have a lot of impaired people wandering around. This guy appears to have been one of them. If the object the guy found had been a knife, or a book, or a barbell no one would have gotten hurt. But it was a gun. And because it was a gun Kate Steinle is dead.

Yeah, guns are a problem. And a gun lying around where an addled drifter could stumble across it was the "root cause" of Kate Steinle's death.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Nov 20, 2015 at 7:28 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

Peter,

425 words (and who knows how many hours) to illiterate the same BS you wrote earlier.

I suppose now we just let him go because the REAL culprit is this little mechanical devil that just so happen to be in the area, at the same time, that Katie was there.

If that sounds like a stupid analysis of the situation, its because that is exactly the logical outcome of the claptrap you wrote.

Let me give you this and see if you can intellectually cope:

1. The gun is on the pavement, un-touched. Person is in the area of the gun. Is the person killed?

or

2. The gun is on the pavement. An illegal immigrant picks up the gun. Person in the area. Illegal immigrant fires the gun. Is the person killed?

or

3. No gun exists. Person is in the area. Is the person killed?

You being the bright guy that you allege would have to acknowledge that #1 and 3 are obviously equal in outcome. Only #2, where a illegal immigrant is introduced, is the only scenario where it is possible that the gun can be used to its full lethal potential. Therefore, it is logical that the gun can only do what a human makes it do. Ergo, you cannot blame the gun, only the human. Period.

Now...if you remove just one factor from #2, the illegal immigrant, then all 3 scenarios equal and the person lives. THAT is ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS and there is no debate.

You want to grab guns, I'm going to say what the libs have been saying for the last 7 years, "that ship has sailed!". Ain't gonna' happen, sorry. <---but I'm not.

So, care to talk about illegal immigration or will you insist on redirecting? Have a nice weekend To...I mean Peter.

Sincerely.





Posted by Michael Austin, a resident of Pleasanton Meadows,
on Nov 21, 2015 at 5:41 pm

Michael Austin is a registered user.

Okay, last post!
Is it dogma?
Or, an incontrovertible demeanor displaying profound behavior with bearing towards narcissistic vain.


Posted by Juror, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Nov 21, 2015 at 5:48 pm

A "twitch' of a finger ??? really??? We'll start with 7 times a felon. (sanctuary city and 5 deportations being an illegal do not need to be considered there is enough without either). Like any thief he opened a car door he did NOT have permission to open....the door was NOT STANDING OPEN. What was his intent.... friendly?? NOT!! Unwrapping a concealed gun that was not his, from a car that was not his...I believe that is THEFT !!! He had to PULL the trigger, don't insult any juror with 'twitch' nonsense. ricochets usually don't have enough power to 'kill'.
Desperate Peter, HE OPENED the door of a car that was not his. HE rummaged through and found the gun. HE then STOLE the gun. He twitched/pulled the trigger. period. All crimes.
Sanctuary city is now part of the conversation, and illustrates it is wrong for us taxpayers to subsidize cities that have chosen to secede from the laws of our land. They don't abide, we don't subsidize with our hard-earned dollars. I always say (like most parents) "my money?..my rules!!"
When you're paying your own way, you can make your own rules. Taxpayers will not and should not subsidize sheltering illegals. period. separate issue, but must end. Voting records will tell who arranged this theft of taxpayer dollars.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Nov 21, 2015 at 9:42 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

"Okay, last post"

Good.


Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of Alamo,
on Nov 23, 2015 at 11:32 am

Tim: please forgive this interruption.

Hey, Kluget -- it would almost be worth having a beer with Former Dan, just to make him stop this nonsense about you and yours truly being the same person. Almost.

That said, if you want to grab one at Pete's or elsewhere, the better to argue about high-speed rail, then email me.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled flamewar. And Dan? You're lookin' a little crispy.


Posted by Formerly Dan from BC, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Nov 23, 2015 at 7:41 pm

Formerly Dan from BC is a registered user.

Pet...I mean Tom,

:)


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