Democrats manage to take wrong side on crime issue (08-15-2025--Hour1)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. All righty, so, I'm not sure how Donald Trump is able to do it except simply benefiting from the TDS, the Trump derangement syndrome that has afflicted so many people in the Democrat Party in the media. But I repeat myself now, for some reason, they are defending crime. I'm as shocked as you. I did not see this one coming. Yeah, apparently now they are coming out as pro crime and thanks to the placing of federal authorities troops if you will, from the National Guard in Washington, d C. Yesterday we talked about the sub attack. It's a sandwich. It was a sandwich that was thrown at a federal agent and the guy who did the sub chucking was quickly apprehended. And slapped with a felony charge. A judge let him go on personal recognizance and suggested that the felony may be too high of a charge. But we'll see how that one turns out. But what's interesting is the political dynamics going on now around this issue, right and at the beginning of it, I was watching Mark Halpern and he does a podcast now called Next Up, and he was talking about this, and I think he's correct in that the Oh, hang on a second, No, it might have actually been Rich Lowry from National Review appearing on Megan Kelly's podcast. Anyway, it doesn't matter either Rich Lowry or Mark Alburn. Now I'm thinking this actually was Rich that the original approach by the mayor of Washington, d C. Seemed to be sort of a more politically savvy approach, which was initially it was, hey, you know what, you know, we are still trying to fight crime. The numbers have come down, you know, citing these stats. I'm going to get into that a little bit more today. But the the stats, you know, the crime numbers have come down, and but you know, look there's still work to be done, and so we welcome any support, any help, that we can get and so that's fine. And so that was a more sort of politically savvy, but more moderate approach rather than the god, get out of here fascist you know. So the National Guard started actually ramping up its presence yesterday. Okay, so the troops have been deployed now to the National Mall and to metro stations as President Trump's takeover of city crime fighting begins to take shape. This is according to a piece at The Hill dot com. I saw somebody posting onto the Twitter machine you can follow me there at Pete Callaner, and they have a picture of these two young women standing outside of Union station. They've got some luggage that they were obviously traveling, and they got off of the train and they're outside, I guess, you know, on their phones and they're i'll be charitable say they're not just checking TikTok and messages, but probably you know, maybe getting an uber, waiting for an uber or something. And as they're standing there, you see behind them rolling past in the video are a bunch of these, you know, large National Guard armored vehicles rolling past. And they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this scene. I'm like well, would you prefer like video of them, you know, being physically attacked or their phones swiped from their hands or something, because that's that's the point, is you got to make you got you show the strength and force, and that then leads to the criminals not going into those areas because they don't want to be confronted with that level of force, Right, that's the point. Overnight, the first signs of on the ground resistance to federal forces popped up in response to a checkpoint that halted traffic on one of the city's main streets. There was also a video, by the way I saw of a woman. She posted it onto the TikTok, the Chikom's agit prop platform that is infecting the minds of way too many Americans. But anyway, this is not about TikTok. But she posted a video talking about how it's her inner car driving through DC and she's celebrating. She's so happy. She's like, I'm able to drive through with my windows down. Think about that. She could not drive through Washington, d C. With her windows down before last night because she didn't want to get robbed or carjacked. The White House said more than sixteen hundred personnel were involved in operations across the city yesterday or sorry Wednesday, making forty five arrests, mostly of immigrants who lacked permanent legal status. While the Guard had a relatively small footprint earlier this week, by yesterday all of the roughly eight hundred Army and Air National Guard troops that Trump ordered to the streets had now mobilized for duty. That's according to the Pentagon. The Defense Department of Defense Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said that the Guard members will assist the DC Metro Police Department and federal law enforcement officers with quote community safety patrols, protecting monuments, federal facilities, and traffic control posts, as well as area beautification. Not really sure what that means, but National Guard Bureau spokesperson Major Micah Maxwell said the Guard members were part of two teams sent to the National Mall and nearby Metro stations for a continuous presence of twenty four hours, with plans to increase locations in the days ahead. So this is important to keep in mind. These people are on these guards, the guardsmen and the troops, and what they are on usually like a twelve hour rotation or something like that, And so just a heads up. If you're a lefty and you're in like a local market and somebody in camouflage walks in, you know, first off, you probably can't see them because they're camo. But if you do see them, probably not a great idea to try to publicly shame them with a TikTok video as they buy their twelve pack of you know, white claws, saying why are they buying alcohol at ten am? What's up with that? Like, yeah, they probably just got done with a twelve hour shift. You know, that's not the own that you think it is, Lefty Anyway, back to the Hill. Part of the National Guard's mission is to support law enforcement, which has also been expanding its presence across the district. Though they will not be armed and cannot make arrests, the troops are allowed to detain people temporarily in certain circumstances until federal agents arrive, much like the Guard members who were deployed to Los Angeles in June to help quell the protests over the immigration rates. Right, so similar mission. Now about that protest, A mix of federal officers set up a vehicle checkpoint on fourteenth Street Northwest Corridor in downtown DC Wednesday night, drawing some of the first public protests since the announcement from Trump on Monday. A group of protesters shout it out or held up signs with phrases such as go home, fascists, and get off our streets. Okay, so first off, they are home. The District of Columbia is all of our homes. That's our property, right, That's a district of the federal government. It is under federal control. So that is all Americans property. Number one. Number two when you say get off our streets again, not just your streets. You do not own that street alone. It's communal property, which is odd because I thought leftists were all about communal property. See. And the thing about communal property or public property is that whoever is in charge of that property, do you know, through elections and such, they get to make those types of decisions under the law. That's how that works. So if you don't like political decisions being made, then reduce the size of the government and then politics doesn't really factor so much into it. Right if this, because one thing we could do is just get rid of the District of Columbia altogether. And just recede instead of sised, but recede it back to Maryland, Virginia, give them you carve it up, give it back to those states and let them deal with it. That I mean, we could do that. The group also encouraged drivers to take other routes to avoid the officers. But the National Guard actually was not involved in that checkpoint at all, So your protest was wrong. Guys, Yeah, you're targeting the wrong people, but really, when as that ever stopped the left? You know? Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our pas asked while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven and mint Hill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week. Or two memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video dot Com. Pro crime Pete so I started the show by saying Donald Trump has managed to turn the Democrats into a pro crime. They've taken the pro crime position here because of him putting the troops into DC to combat crime. And so now Democrats are like, crime's not a problem. You're talking about Crime's not a problem. Meanwhile, like, I've got a list of like simply government workers who have been attacked and or killed just in the last few months. So yeah, it's a problem. And when when someone says, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna surge some personnel to the area in order to tamp down on the crime, and you say, no, we don't want your troops here to help us tamp down the crime, then yes, you are positioning yourself as the this is all fine position pro crime. Look, I don't make these rules. This is your This is your standard, lefties, your standard. I'm sorry if you don't like it being applied to you. But you know, when all these years people say, hey, you know what, maybe we need to reform social security, and your response is you want to kill old people? Or hey, you know we need to reform these entitlements like medicare, then you want to kill grandma Like okay, So if you're going to ascribe me motives for a different policy approach, then I too shall ascribe your motives. Again, I don't make the rules, but I do play by them. The text goes on to say, remember, if it weren't for disingenuousness, Republicans wouldn't have a leg to stand on in an argument. Thanks for confirming this. Dude, You are free, or lady, you are free to call in, and I'm happy to have the discussion with you. We can talk policy positions, we can talk about that kind of topic, or if you would prefer to just do the name calling, I'm perfectly willing and able to get down to that level with you as well. So you can call in. You know the number because you texted it, so you can call that number and I can have this debate with you. Happy to. In fact, I prefer taking those phone calls as yesterday's hour two and hour three should should be indicative, right, like you should understand like I actually enjoy those conversations more so, again, your choice if you would like to have the argument and find out whether or not this actually unaffiliated voter has a leg to stand on in this, I'm happy to have it out with you, or you can just text and you know, scream into the void. Todd says, Oh, hang on a second, No, let me go to Danny because this is related. Trump's non traditional approach has so many positive ripple effects TDS. Trump derangement syndrome has resulted in the left's insistence on an either or position on everything. You're either against Trump no matter what the issue, or you're for him in total. Case in point is the Washington crime issue. Most normal Americans, regardless of party, recognize this as insane and well will help greatly with their undoing Thank you, TDS. That's from Danny and Waxhaw. Yes, and that's exactly right. When you view everything through the prism of Donald Trump, you are going to see things in a warped way. And by the way, that's not just for people who are on the left and hate Trump. It's also people who are so far in Trump's camp that anything he does or says warps their vision. Right, if you're viewing everything through him as a person, right, then you're going to see things in a warped way. And I've been advising people on this for the last decade. Right, just look at the issue itself, right, what is the issue itself? And the the issue itself is crime has gotten out of control, and Donald Trump is sick of it. And this is one area where he has the power to actually try to make a difference. And who he's making a difference for predominantly working in, middle class people, because those are the people that are usually the most affected by crime. I've been talking about this since Trump made the announcement. We've been talking about it for years at the local level here in Charlotte, right, national examples as well. I've talked about the high trust society that we all enjoy, but like fish, we don't know, we're wet. And so when people think like, oh, we should just you know, have a more coddling approach to criminals and such. You fray that trust. And when a society loses that high trust, now it can no longer engage in the very commerce that is used to lift all the boats in a free market. Right. That's why you don't get business investment into areas with high crime. Business is flee. Residents flee no economic activity except for drug dealing and prostitution. Like that's not where people want to live. And when you, as a local government, when you sentence a population to live like that, I don't find that to be a morally superior position for you to take. And so Trump is going to give us an example now of whether his approach works, which I kind of think, by the way, just judging by history and the Rudy Giuliani, the New York miracle turning around that city, I think the broken windows theory has been proven. I think it does work to a large extent. Just think of it as community policing, just with different uniforms. If that makes you feel better. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina? Just a quick drive up the mountain and cabins of Ashville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Asheville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins of Aashville dot Com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Let's head over to the phone lines and chat with James. Welcome to the program. James, Hey, good morning, Thanks for taking my call. Sure, I really, I really like what I'm really with you with what you're saying today. And I think this is bigger than DC because if Trump is able to think about it and in a short order, if he improves things in DC and turns things around and has a sustainable plan to keep it going, look at the pressure it puts on all these other cities with high crime rates. And if Trump offers the same National Guard and federal agents to come in and clean up, you know. Pick a city. There's plenty to choose from. You know, the leaders in those cities are gonna look really stupid if they don't say yes, and maybe they'll set themselves up to get voted out. I really think Trump is thinking about beyond DC on this because it's really gonna put the spot on city leaders and other cities to do the same thing, or to at least accept the government help in turning their own cities around. And if they don't do it, they're really going to look bad. So, and part of this is that, like I don't know how much of the political calculation he is making on any given topic, he just I think has a has a sense, a very good sense of where people are on things. Remember Donald Trump is a lifelong Democrat, and these are issues that Democrats used to agree with Republicans on until about, I don't know, ten years ago, right, And so the crime problem most effects people in the lower income brackets and then the middle income brackets because they can't afford to have the private security and the gates around their compounds and stuff. And so I think he talks to people all the time, regular people all the time, and he listens to them as they talk to him, and I think he gets a sense of these issues that are affecting them. And I think this is why he says, like this is crazy, this is out of control crime. And being from New York from the time period he was in New York and working in New York, he saw how bad it can get and he saw what work to fix it and to clean it up. And it's just a common sense approach, which is you put more law enforcement on the ground and you prevent these people from feeling like they have the run of the roost and like this is again like community policing is based on this same idea that you show people that the cops are out on the beat and they are walking around, and it then creates this sense of security and criminals are less likely to be active in an area where there's law enforcement. And Yet to your point, if you hate Trump so much that you're like, no, we don't want any help, well then you're saying that you're satisfied with this status quo and just give us more time and somehow or another will you know, will drive down the crime in some other way. Now, there's another component here, which is the judicial aspect, which is are these judges letting the criminals go? Like that's the other component here. That's a big one. And I think liberals have got to stop feeling guilty about locking up bad guys. They got to get over that because it just it has such horrible consequences for everyone else. Yeah, and no, no one wants to see an the human being locked up. But I mean, given the choice of living with them or locking them up, I'm taking the letter. Right and right. If they are destroying a high trust society, and not allowing the free movement of people and commerce. Then you are destroying your society by allowing them to victimize the law abiding population. Yeah, this is civilization one oh one type stuff. Yep, you're spot on. Thank you, Yeah, James, I appreciate the call, Buddy, good hear from you. I did get a text, did you from this? I almost started to read it before, but I'll read it now. Todd says, did you know that demand for paid crowds has gone up four hundred percent in the DC area since the since the FED control happened. It's not a grassroots protest. A company called Crowds on Demand was talking about it. I saw it on Fox News. Indeed, I have that story. It's in the stack of stuff right here, so I will do it right now. A crowd rental company has seen a massive uptick in inquiries regarding its services in DC. This is after Trump's move to federalize the police force. Quote right now, DC inquiries are up roughly four hundred percent compared to the same period in twenty twenty four. According to Crowds on Demand CEO Adam Swart, the company always sees a spike in requests during what he calls high stakes political moments. He says, quote A large share are focused on opposing Trump's policies in Washington and raising alarms about government overreach. We are weighing those offers carefully because while there's truth in saying DC's local government has been an abject failure in keeping citizens safe, there's also a real danger in putting too much power in federal hands. That balance of power matters, he said. The vast majority of people at political or advocacy events in Washington are paid. The vast majority are paid, he said, quote most people don't know this, but many protesters are literally on the payroll. And he goes on to note Capitol Hill staffers from both parties are often expected to show up at rallies and protests on their own time. So yes, most attendees are being paid or are there because it's part of their job. That doesn't mean they don't support the cause, but it does mean these crowds are not as organic as they may appear on TV. No, something I saw on television isn't correct, My goodness, what's next? Is the internet lying to me as well? So Trump has already said that he intends to extend the federal takeover of DC police, setting up a fight in Congress, which has to authorize any extension beyond thirty days. So in so, what like in another three and a half weeks or so, Congress is going to have to authorize this if it's going to continue. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schuma on Wednesday declared Democrats will not go along with that request, no bleeping way. Schumer said, we'll fight him tooth and nail. So good to hear Schumer dropping the F bomb in there, because that's how you prove to your base that you're you're down to fight. You know that you're that you're not going to just cave in. Look at me, I'm cussing, you know. Still, according to the Hill dot com, the vote could put vulnerable Democrats in an awkward spot on the cry issue, which has this is what they say has long been a bugaboo for the party, which is definitely one way to characterize that it's a bugaboo. Crime is a bugaboo for the party. Yeah, because they suck at it. They do. They're terrible on crime. Trump has also teased an expansion of his federal interventions into major US cities, and, as the Hill notes, particularly those governed by black Democrats, including Chicago, Oakland, New York City, and Baltimore. Ah. Yes, the proverbial race card now being played. All right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app, and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Got a message from Russ. It's a Pete tweet. Russ says, Pete, my DC resident sister in law will tell me that this takeover of her town is unnecessary and fascist. But she also carries a mini bat in her car when driving, and she carries knitting needles when she bikes, walks, or takes public transit, which is the perfect illustration another Pete tweet. Your analysis is right on point, and that is why Chuck Schumer ranting and gaslighting of the public that he feels safe as he walks around DC is way beyond the pail as he walks with his four armed guards. Give everybody armed guards and let him walk alone. And let's see, that's a tweet from dead Hey Dad. The Hill has this story that I've been reading from and now it goes to the race card, because of course there's going to be a racial component wherever the left or the media can find one or make one up. And that's what they're now doing is quoting the Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott telling CNN quote, I think it's very notable that each and every one of the cities called out by the President has a black mayor, and most of those cities are seeing historic lows in violent crime. The President could learn from us instead of throwing things at us like sandwiches. Okay, the black leadership in cities is a result of Democrat Party demographics. Okay, that's not racial targeting. Virtually all of the major American cities with crime problems are I mean, all of the major cities are run and controlled by Democrats and have been for decades, and because of the Democrat Party demographics and because of their politics, right, you have a lot of black representatives in those offices. The only one that is somehow suggesting that black leadership is responsible for high crime are people on the left. Okay, I don't care who's in charge. If you're a Democrat and Democrat controlled city, chances are you've got high crime. You drive up the crime rates and the numbers for all the rest of the state that is by and large rural, suburban, and Republican like. Those are facts, that's the data. So yeah, the problem is in the urban areas. It doesn't matter to me what the racial demographic makeup of the representation is. It doesn't matter. What matters is the crime. That's all. Do what you need to do to get the crime down and this goes away. This issue goes away for you, but it's not going away in DC I mentioned earlier. This is from John Hassen at National Review. He says the fears of crime are hardly unfounded in Washington, and then he gives the following list. March twenty twenty three, Philip Todd, a staffer for Senator Ran Paul, stabbed in broad daylight by Glenn Neil, a repeat offender who was hearing voices in his head. Neil was released from prison one day before he attacked Todd, who suffered a punctured lung and suspected brain bleed. A couple months later, June twenty twenty three, a staffer for Congressman Brad Finstead from Minnesota, Republican is attacked at gunpoint by two hooded suspects after the annual Congressional charity baseball game. October twenty twenty three, Representative Henry Quaar, Democrat from Texas, is carjacked at gunpoint outside his Navy Yard home. November twenty three, Naomi Biden's Secret Service detail opens fire at three people trying to break into a secret Service suv parked in front of her home in Georgetown. January twenty four, Congressman Eric Swalwell, Democrat, representative of Fangfeng tweets that he and his wife rehearse carjacking scenarios with their young kids to ensure that his kids are not abducted. February twenty four, carjacker shoots and kills Mike Gill, a former Trump official, killed him in broad daylight on K Street. September twenty four. A homeless man armed with a razor lunges at three female congressional staffers at midday on Capitol Hill. June twenty four. A staffer for Representative Mike Collins, Republican from Georgia, as well as an intern or sorry, she's also an intern. She's a staffer and an intern. Robbed at gunpoint in Navy Yard December twenty twenty four. Secret Service agents shoot at several carjackers outside the home of Biden. Energy Secretary Janet Yellen April twenty twenty five to illegal immigrants Steel Department of Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nomes purse while she dines at the Capitol Burger in downtown DC. This past May, a gunman murdered to Israeli embassy staffers. This past June, Eric Tarpinian Jachim, a college student and congressional intern, is gunned down at the Mount Vernon Square metro stop. And then just this month, a group of teenagers attacks Edward Korstein, a former DOGE staffer, in an attempted carjacking. That's just over the course of what two years. This is why people in the government at the federal level believe there is a crime problem. It's because they are being targeted too. See, crime does not really care. Criminals do not care. If you're going to allow criminals to run the streets with impunity, mugging people, carjacking people, murdering people, if you are going to incentivize that kind of behavior with little punishment and little investigation, then you're going to get more of it, and it's going to spread beyond the lower income neighborhoods where it's much easier for you to ignore this stuff because you're over here in the high class Navy yard part of town. You're in Georgetown. I have no crime in Georgetown. I don't know where they're talking about this crime problem. The lesson here, according to Hassen, is not that government workers' lives are more valuable than others, but he points out a lot of government work is critical and DC's crime rate threatens that work. In the example of Henry Quaar, he was serving on subcommittees for Defense and Homeland Security when carjackers stole his iPhone and iPad and like that has a lot of important information on it, so probably not a great idea to have a lot of rampant All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.