EL SEGUNDO HERALD September 28, 2017 Page 7
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
President’s Ignorance Has
Moved Past Laughable
By Cristian Vasquez
Personally I wouldn’t kneel during the
National Anthem, but I have no problem with
athletes that do as a form of silent protest.
What I do have a problem with is the false
equivalencies and flat-out lies that critics of
these athletes use to attack these actions,
including the President’s recent campaign
rally comments. It’s no surprise at this point
that this train wreck of a president would call
peaceful protestors “Sons of B…” while giving
Nazi sympathizers the benefit of the doubt
as some of them being “very fine people.”
However, it is disgusting how many of his
supporters have distorted the truth regarding
this peaceful protest in order to make villains
of people infinitely more decent than the tiki
torch-carrying cave-dwellers in Charlottesville.
For starters, the taking of a knee isn’t
because players feel oppressed. So to the
President and his supporters arguing that
these million-dollar athletes aren’t oppressed,
here’s a reality check: they aren’t claiming to
be victims. Colin Kaepernick never said he
took a knee because of how much injustice
he has suffered. He never claimed that social
injustice has kept him from succeeding or that
it has personally ruined his life. Kaepernick
took a knee for those who are mistreated
and who have to live with injustice day-in,
day-out. He knelt for the unarmed murder
victims and their families who have to live
knowing that the murderer who ruined their
lives goes unpunished. No matter how much
the President and his supporters deny it, there
are many people in America who suffer abuse
from authority figures and have no recourse
to fix the situation.
Second, accusing these athletes of being
unpatriotic is a lazy argument and is further
proof that Trump supporters can’t see beyond
the lies and hypocrisy their cave-dwelling president
spews. Let’s not forget that NFL players
were not required to be on the field during
the National Anthem until 2009. Furthermore,
these patriotic events prior to kick-off came
with a price tag paid for by the Department
of Defense and were in part a recruitment
strategy. Paid patriotism is more of a slap in
the face than a peaceful protest, but again it’s
45 we’re talking about and we all know his
hypocrisy has no limits.
For those who worship Trump, here’s a
challenge. Go back into the President’s Twitter
feed and look at how he praised the late
Muhammad Ali when the boxing legend died.
The President called Ali “a truly great champion
and a wonderful guy.” He praised one man
known for his social activism and defiance of
the status quo and now he berates another for
the same reason. And just to get ahead of it…
no, I am not saying that the great Muhammad
Ali and Colin Kaepernick are the same. Their
actions, however, are similar. So for the President
to call one a great guy and the other a Son
of a B is beyond hypocritical. Maybe he and
his followers don’t understand what being a
hypocrite entails. They don’t understand why
these players are taking a knee. Or maybe in
the end, it just does not matter to them because
the only thing the President really cares about
is vilifying anyone in order to rally his base. •
The President Demands Respect
from Pampered Athletes
By Duane Plank
So the President took direct Twitter and
verbal aim at the corpulent midget, NoKo nut
job Kim Jong-Un, at a groundbreaking speech
to the United Nations, dismissively labeling
him “Rocket Man.” Not the same Rocket Man
the great lefty crooner Elton John sang about
back in the day, but a more troublesome little
guy with unknown proclivities, with his stubby
finger on the trigger of the nuclear button--the
man-child with the codes that could someday
launch a very bad rocket tipped with nuclear
matter at the U.S. mainland.
President Trump fired his salvos at the NoKo
dweeb early in the week and then apparently
took a couple of days off from playing Twitter,
hopefully busily throwing himself into
getting something done with the repeal or
replace of Obamacare. Or maybe working on
the tax cut that he promised. Or rekindling
the negotiations and the “Art-of-the-Deal”
brilliance to finally get something done with
a Congress that his party supposedly, and I
say supposedly, controls?
Well, I headed up to the old Easter Sierra
fishing hole for a couple of days of alleged
reeling with brother Chris, who is a great
fisherman, and politically has probably not
purchased nor wasted any money on Hillary’s
money-grab book, What Happened.
I was somewhat out of touch, digitally and
politically, in the middle of last week when
I finally heard about Mr. Trump’s speech
made in Sweet Home Alabama. That’s where
he threw it out last Friday that NFL owners
should “fire” players who decide to take a knee,
or worse, during the playing of our patriotic
national anthem before the start-up of another
four-hour commercial fest that masquerades
as a sporting event. He used a term that apparently
riled up, maybe deservedly so, the
showboating, grandstanding players who are
incredibly lucky millionaires. Called them
“son-of-a-guns,” or a similar epithet.
The pampered players, most NFL employees,
Richie-rich owners and media elites went into
their typical tizzy, calling Trump—shockingly-
-a racist! First time that term racist has been
thrown out there by the liberals who were
triumphantly congratulating each other on that
election day on the first Tuesday in the early
gloaming of evening--swilling Chardonnay
and ridiculing those rednecks who had wasted
their vote earlier that day on the reality show
star from New York.
Whoops! Or maybe Whoppi/Something
changed in the darkness of that November
Tuesday, with tears being shed and the reality
that the political glass-ceiling was not going
to be shattered that evening. Too bad, so sad.
Trump, who even in my somewhat redtinged
view, spends a tad bit too much time
Tweeting, responded to a league whose ratings
and attendance are currently cratering
to epic levels that “if NFL fans refuse to go
to games until players stop disrespecting our
Flag and Country, you will see change take
place. Fire or suspend.”
A great bromide, Mr. Commander-in-Chief.
Now please get back to what your base elected
you to do and stop opining on the actions of
pampered athletes. •
Police Reports
Thursday, September 14
A vehicle theft occurred between 1900 hours
on 09/13/17 and 0700 hours on 09/14/17 in
the 400 block of Virginia Street. Taken was
a 2006 Chevrolet van.
A misdemeanor hit and run occurred at 0830
hours in the 500 block of North Sepulveda
Boulevard, vehicle versus vehicle.
An online identity theft report was taken
at 1046 hours from the 300 block of Virginia
Street. Unknown suspect (s) opened fraudulent
credit accounts using the victim’s personal
information.
One female adult was arrested at 2226 hours
from Aviation Boulevard and Isis Avenue for
misdemeanor DUI.
Friday, September 15
Impersonating another report was taken
at 1043 hours from the 800 block of East
Grand Avenue.
One male adult was arrested at 1342 hours
from the 800 block of South Douglas Street
for identity theft, possession of a fictions
check and one LASD misdemeanor warrant.
Traffic accident (no injuries) occurred at
1345 hours from the 2200 block of East
Mariposa Avenue, vehicle versus vehicle.
An identity theft report was taken at 1636
hours from the 300 block of West Imperial
Avenue.
Burglary (auto) report was taken at 1642
hours from the 1400 block of East Imperial
Avenue. Unknown suspect(s) gained entry
into the victim’s vehicle and stole her purse
and wallet.
Misdemeanor hit and run report was taken
at 2220 hours from Aviation Boulevard and El
Segundo Boulevard, vehicle versus street sign.
Saturday, September 16
One female adult was arrested at 0434
hours from Maple Avenue and Sepulveda
Boulevard for possession of a controlled
substance, possession of drug paraphernalia
and one SBSD misdemeanor warrant.
A found property report was taken at 1902
hours from the 400 block of California Street.
A suspicious package was left at the residence.
One male adult was arrested at 2255 hours
from Mariposa Avenue and Nash Street for
plain drunk in public.
Sunday, September 17
One male adult was arrested at 0351 hours
from Grand Avenue and Virginia Street for
one outstanding LASD misdemeanor warrant
and one felony want.
One male adult was arrested at 0814 hours
from West Oak Avenue and Virginia Street for
one outstanding ESPD misdemeanor warrant.
One male adult was arrested at 1608 hours
from the 700 block of South Sepulveda
Boulevard for possession of a controlled
substance and false identification to a peace
officer.
Monday, September 18
One male adult was arrested at 0233 hours
from 123rd Street and Aviation Boulevard for
driving with a suspended license and carrying
a loaded firearm in a public place.
One female adult was arrested at 0415
hours from the 2500 block of East El Segundo
Boulevard for one outstanding felony Alameda
Sheriff’s warrant.
One male adult was arrested at 0855 hours
from Pepper Street and Walnut Avenue
for burglary and two outstanding LAPD
misdemeanor warrants.
An attempted burglary report was taken
at 1147 hours from the 500 block of South
Douglas Street. Unknown suspect(s) damaged
the victim’s bay door in an attempt to enter
the location.
An identity theft report was taken at 1155
hours from the 400 block of Indiana Street.
An identity theft report was taken at 1454
hours from the 500 block of East Pine Avenue.
Safety from page 3
The dangers of striking a pedestrian or
being involved in a crash are higher in the
2-to-5 p.m. drive time, Zendrive reported.
Being on the road between 4 and 5 p.m.
carries the highest risk. Another pair of
sobering statistics: crashes are the leading
causing of death for U.S. teens and schools
in urban areas are most dangerous.
Cell phone use while driving increases the
chance of a crash by 20 times, according to the
survey. While driver behavior was responsible
for the low marks throughout the South Bay,
populated metro areas were routinely downgraded
in the survey results because of higher
traffic. The Zendrive project team awarded one
California school in rural Siskiyou County its
top-safety rating. Bessie Carmichael Schools
in San Francisco was named among the most
dangerous in America because of distraction
and disregard for school zone safety.
Not every school was included on Zendrive’s
report due to insufficient data, though the
company promises to update the school safety
snapshot as more data becomes available.
The South Bay schools and districts that
made the grade on Zendrive’s back-to-school
snapshot were:
El Segundo: D- for El Segundo High
School, Arena High School, El Segundo
Middle School and El Segundo Unified
School District offices. The bright spot: low
cell phone use around them.
Hawthorne: D for Lawndale High School,
with high cell phone use. D for Leuzinger
High School with moderate cell phone use.
D- for Centinela Valley High School with
moderate cell phone activity.
Inglewood: D- at Inglewood High School,
low cel -phone activity; D+ for Animo
Inglewood Charter High School, moderate
cell phones; C- with low cell phone activity
at ICEF Inglewood Middle and Elementary
Charters, and Inglewood Christian School.
D at Inglewood Continuation High School
with low cell phones. D for Hillcrest High
School, also minimal cell phone usage.
Manhattan Beach: D- for Mira Costa
High School, very high cell phone usage.
Torrance: D- for Torrance High School,
with some cell phone distraction. D- for
Torrance Elementary School and Torrance
Montessori School, both with moderate cell
phone activity near the campuses.
Wiseburn: D-, with moderate cell phone
use nearby.
Drivers continue to ignore California’s
hands-free cell phone law, and far too
many drivers are multitasking with their
smartphones while in traffic, the Zendrive
project team said. The distraction of looking
away from the road to tap a phone
screen becomes especially dangerous in
congested school drop-off zones, they say.
“Our recent study revealed 88 percent of drivers
use their phones while driving--definitely a
contributor to the one in three drivers showing
unsafe pickup or drop-off behavior in school
zones,” according to the report.
Zendrive works with companies and
transportation companies to improve safety
of its drivers and lower accident rates and
insurance costs. The Bay Area company
measures driver safety using phone apps
and has tracked 30 billion miles of driving.
Zendrive used anonymous driver data from
customers and shared by partners, including
GasBuddy, Life360, and HopSkipDrive, to
profile schools and districts nationwide.
Los Angeles County was 53rd in the state
ranking for driver safety around campuses
among 55 counties counted by Zendrive.
California and Florida received an F among
the 50 states, while Nevada and Arizona
made the bottom rankings with a D and
D- respectively. Oregon drivers were judged
best in the West, earning a B. •
See Police Reports, page 14