President Joe Biden’s Catch and Release network at the United States-Mexico border, responsible for sending millions of illegal aliens to cities across the country, is displacing American military families, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) says.
Black residents of Chicago’s Brighton Park are suing Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over the construction of his massive tent city for illegal border crossers — but not before state authorities shut construction down over a report that the site may be a toxic landfill.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plans to build a tent encampment for up to 1,400 illegal aliens has been under fire since it was first proposed, and residents quickly organized to oppose the plan to put hundreds of illegal immigrants right in the middle of their neighborhood without so much as a community meeting or a discussion with their alderman.
Twelfth District Ald. Julia Ramirez has disavowed Johnson’s construction effort.
Ramirez says she had no part at all in the planning and execution of the plans in Brighton Park.
The alderwoman’s letter to her constituents came only days after she was mobbed by furious residents when she visited the location of the proposed tent city on October 19.
Now, according to the X account of the 16th & 17th District Chicago Police Scanner, residents of Brighton Park are suing.
“Brighton Park residents are suing the city of Chicago for a temporary restraining order on the 38th and California migrant tent city,” the X account said:
At the hearing, it was revealed the city never issued construction permits for the tent city
The city is arguing that residents can’t hold the city accountable to follow its own zoning and building codes.
The Brandon Johnson administration is basically saying that the city doesn’t have to follow its own building codes and laws.
The city is also arguing that the soil is safe as long as you don’t eat it.
The mayor seems to understand how unpopular his tent city is. When the local Fox affiliate, WFLD-TV, sent a camera crew to film some of the construction work being done on the site, workers suddenly appeared to line the safety fencing in black material to keep the prying eyes of city residents and the media out of Johnson’s business.
The tent city is set to cost Chicago a whopping $29 million with a contract with Aegis Defense Services, under a branch being called GardaWorld Federal Services.
But even before the residents of Brighton Park launched their lawsuit, construction on Johnson’s much-derided tent city was put on hold by state officials after a newly released environmental report suggested that the land upon which the tent city is being erected is dripping in hazardous chemicals.
“The State has temporarily paused construction at the Brighton Park site pending IEPA’s (the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) review of the environmental report. IEPA has some outstanding questions they are hopeful they can work through today,” Gov. JB Pritzker’s spokeswoman, Jordan Abudayyeh, told the media on Monday, CBS Chicago reported.
Johnson’s office confirmed the hitch in his tent city plans.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a press conference at City Hall on Aug. 2, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“According to the report, soil with mercury levels was identified at one location and was removed and properly disposed offsite at a landfill, and with the limited soil removal and placement and maintenance of the barrier, the site is safe for temporary residential use,” the mayor’s office said. “Further base camp construction and remediation of an additional 1 ft. x 1 ft. x 1 ft. area of the 9.5-acre site will continue per the timeline set by the State of Illinois. There is no construction or remediation scheduled at this time. The City will share assessment of subsequent remediation as it becomes available.”
Johnson’s office knew of the toxic chemicals being found in the soil at the site but deemed the soil removal conducted to level the ground for the tent city to be sufficient to eliminate the threat and said as much in the report released late last week.
In its report, the city claimed, “With the limited soil removal and placement and maintenance of the barrier, the site is safe for temporary residential use.”
While Johnson was sure that the “limited” soil removal was enough to eliminate any toxicity, state officials were not as sanguine over the claims.
An attorney for the residents suing to stop the construction of the facility was incensed over the whole situation.
“The city has been dishonest, liars, untruthful, not transparent. The city is not an honest broker, but what I will do is keep them accountable, and if they do lie, and if they’re not transparent, then I will hold them in a court in contempt,” attorney Frank Avila said on Monday.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston.
Shakespeare would have had no use for President Joe Biden. If given the opportunity to dramatize his story, the Bard of Avon undoubtedly would have passed. His historical plays and tragedies were certainly partial to political leaders, and Biden has things in common with some of his most famous leading characters -- like Macbeth, he has political ambitions and a helpful spouse, and like King Lear, he has diminished abilities and problematic offspring -- but Shakespeare’s major characters were all deep and complex, prone to wander castle or moor emoting about an inner turmoil or bitter fate. Joe Biden has no such depth of character. When he wanders he’s just lost.
Our president would have been a perfect subject for a much different writer, Charles Dickens. In the 19th century, Dickens was the people’s choice. He gave his readers what they wanted – entertaining, simple stories which saw virtue rewarded -- usually with a financial windfall, matrimony, or both -- and evil punished. Dickens’ readers knew what they were getting, subtlety be damned. For example, in Nicholas Nickleby an abuser of children was named Wackford Squeers, and a money-grubbing lawyer was named Mr. Gride. Dickens' audience couldn’t get enough, and with serial payments, book royalties and speaking fees, they made him the world’s first literary superstar.
Critics were less enthusiastic. They viewed Dickens’ novels as little more than morality plays, with side helpings of pathos and humor. His characters, they said, were two-dimensional. His heroic figures, like Little Nell (The Old Curiosity Shop) and Oliver Twist were virtue itself, and his villains were not just deeply flawed but paragons of evil, like Uriah Heep (David Copperfield), and Madame Defarge (A Tale of Two Cities). Because Dickens' villains were among his most memorable characters, he no doubt would have cherished an opportunity to portray President Joe Biden, who would have presented the author with an array of vices from which to choose.
Avarice
He wouldn’t have had to look far to find avarice, one his favorite themes. Dickens gave us Ebenezer Scrooge, who personified that vice, but he could not fail to be impressed by the covetous reach of Joe Biden and his family. As vice president, Joe traveled to the Ukraine to thwart an investigation into his and son Hunter’s influence peddling, only to use one billion dollars of taxpayer money to bribe his way out of hot water, and then brag publicly about exactly what he had done. That’s chutzpah to rival any “Bah! Humbug!” A politician “of the people,” who never had a job outside of government and claimed he never owned “a single stock or bond,” he managed to pay $2.75 million in cash for a Delaware beach house. A clever 
writer might be able to connect Ordinary Joe’s extraordinary home financing to the fact that the purchase was only two weeks removed from his son's call to Russian business operatives demanding rapid payment of a $10 million “fee.” Dickens probably would have had great fun with the fact that Biden somehow wrangled $1.7 billion in public funds, calling it the Inflation Reduction Act, when its real purpose was to reward political donors and sneak in a Green New Deal, while adding massively to the public debt. Scrooge never did anything half as bad.
Delusion and Deception
Miss Havisham (Great Expectations) might have been in her own little world, but her fantasy life pales in comparison to Biden’s. An inveterate, if not accomplished, prevaricator, Biden deceives so often that few fact checkers still bother to chronicle his lies, most having concluded long ago that his endless misstatements are just “Joe being Joe.” No one knows if even he believes what he says, nor can he keep his stories straight. Biden claims to have grown up in a neighborhood that was either Jewish, Greek, or Puerto Rican, depending on his audience, and to have received the wisdom of his father on accepting gay people at a place that didn’t exist at the time. One of his favorite stories, long ago debunked, is about a chat he had with an Amtrak porter, who congratulated him on racking up 1.2 million miles on Air Force II. Unfortunately, records indicate that the porter died before Biden attained that frequent flier achievement. Recently, he told that story twice within one hour's time.
Some of Biden’s lies are harmless, just attempts to be one of the gang, like his claim to have once driven an 18-wheeler. Others are more serious, like his frequent claim to have marched for civil rights in the 1960s, and his oft-repeated lie that his first wife and one-year-old daughter died as the result of a drunken driver, when it was Mrs. Biden whose error caused the accident. The family of the other driver has repeatedly protested this untruth to no avail.
Incompetence
Incompetence was another favorite Dickensian theme. Wilkins Micawber, (Great Expectations) the persistent failure who nevertheless expected “something to turn up.” and the easily hoodwinked Samuel Pickwick (The Pickwick Papers) provided great entertainment, but as a colossal blunderer Joe Biden exceeds them all. His policies are uniformly catastrophic -- economy, border, crime, foreign affairs, national security -- and not only do they repeatedly fail, he and his spokespeople refuse to admit their blunders, much less correct them.
When average Americans suffer through high inflation and a lower standard of living, according to both President Biden and White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, that’s “Bidenomics working.” Millions of illegals pouring across the border means that the “border is secure.” As commander in chief, Biden will be forever remembered for the Afghanistan debacle, when he impulsively ordered a chaotic evacuation, leaving billions of dollars of equipment in enemy hands and Afghani allies clinging desperately to fleeing U.S. aircraft. In Dickens, incompetence is often portrayed as humorous, but in President Biden it has been deadly. Portraying our president’s ineptness in a way that the public would find entertaining would call on all the author’s powers.
The Unmentionable
One aspect of our president would have provided Dickens with no inspiration whatsoever: his sexuality. Victorian readers had an appetite for spicy stories, but they didn’t get them from Dickens. In his books, sex was implied rather than described. None of his characters ever paraded naked in front of the staff, showered with their daughter, or got handsy with females, young or old, all of which Biden has done. In Oliver Twist, the blackguard Bill Sikes did manhandle poor Nancy, but the abuse was physical, not sexual.
There is no doubt that Dickens would have left our president’s sexuality alone. The author had his standards; Biden has no such encumbrances.
Low Expectations
The difference between a flawed character and an outright villain is a matter of degree, and with so many human failings from which to choose, Dickens undoubtedly would put our president in the latter category. That would trouble the author greatly.
As a moralist, Dickens concluded his stories rightly. Heroes were rewarded, and villains, if they did not repent, (as Ebenezer Scrooge did in A Christmas Story) inevitably received just punishment.
Biden shows no signs of repentance, and right before our eyes is preparing to escape the consequences of his actions. His vices may eventually bring him down, but not all the way. With Dr. Jill guiding him as he shuffles offstage, he is headed not just to an afternoon nap, but to an escape from retribution: an irrefutable plea of non compos mentis.
No matter what revelations and investigations might lie ahead, Joe Biden is almost certain to evade the consequences of his actions. When shown the evidence of his bumbling, incoherence, and confusion, what court would ever find him competent to stand trial?
In Dickens' rogues’ gallery, Joe Biden would stand alone. He alone is going to get away with his malfeasance, because Ordinary Joe is no ordinary villain.
Griff Hogan is a retired educator living in Charleston, South Carolina
ImagE: Public Domain
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PIG LAWYERS RUN THE SHOW!
Our Institutions Have Betrayed Our Trust
We are witnessing a recurring pattern of events – none of which make sense in a rational world.
Those we trust have told us to accept as truths that are now turning out to be lies. On the list are government investigative committees, our Department of Justice/FBI, the National Institute of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, weather scientists, and even teachers, to name a few.
But perhaps the greatest betrayal of trust comes from the news media. The journalists who bravely risked everything to investigate and report wrongdoing are no more.
Instead, the vast majority of the mainstream media support the lies in unison. And when there is even a hint of disagreement, they hysterically deny any opposing views.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy is a moment burned into the memories of everyone over 65 who knows the answer to the question, “Where were you when Kennedy was shot?”
The prestigious Warren Commission was set up when the “lone assassin” was killed as he was being transferred. All opposing views were universally dismissed as “conspiracy theories” for the next 60 years and records and evidence was sealed. Recently multiple new reports have emerged disputing the “single bullet theory,” which opens the horrifying possibility that there was an organized conspiracy to kill the president of the United States.
The modern-day question is “Where were you when you first heard of COVID-19?”
A series of strange deaths in a Washington State nursing home led to reports of a dangerous virus that kills 5-10% of its victims, leading to widespread panic and draconian lockdowns – ruining the U.S. economy. All attempts to link this to a purposeful action by communist China were dismissed as conspiracy theories.
Now we are learning that there is a secret China-linked bio lab in California, deaths from COVID were exaggerated, simple treatments that were vehemently opposed turn out to have been extremely effective and inexpensive, and the mRNA “vaccines,” which were rushed into service without adequate testing turn out to do more harm than good. And the person we trusted for our health and the health of our children, NIH “infectious disease expert” Dr. Anthony Fauci, was getting massive vaccine royalties from Big Pharma and entities from China and Russia.
The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis ended the lockdown as tens of thousands of “protesters” simultaneously ran into the streets looted billions in merchandise from local retailers and destroyed their own inner cities.
We were told by our trusted Federal Bureau of Investigation – an organization revered in American culture as the protector of law and order - that Floyd was an innocent man killed by police simply because he was black.
Here’s how it’s described on Wikipedia… “George Perry Floyd Jr. was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill…”
Derek Chauvin and three other officers were sent to prison.
The news media at the time excused the ensuing riots and thefts as justified and peaceful, despite their own video footage.
But a courageous independent Minneapolis reporter now calls the entire narrative into question - using information mostly available at the time of the incident. Floyd was not an innocent victim targeted because of his race by white cops, but a known criminal with a history of resisting arrest, drug use, and poor health.
Perhaps the most promoted “crisis” of our times is “global warming.” 97% of scientists agree, so it must be true. But facts are stubborn things, and scientists are now coming forward revealing they have been pressured to only do studies that confirm the theory. Our trusted scientists, who supposedly rely on peer review and verifiable experiments, have promoted a theory that has led to a war on fossil fuels that has ruined the our economy.
“Where were you when the 2020 election count was halted simultaneously in six swing states?”
Our public officials and the entire news media have spent countless hours explaining the 2020 election was the “most secure in history” and any attempts to dispute it are not only conspiracy theories, but sedition, as evidenced by the “insurrection” of January 6, where “right-wing radicals” stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to “overthrow the government.”
Hundreds of “protesters” have been rounded up and thrown in jail under the most egregious conditions and forced into plea deals and professing guilt, while those who steadfastly maintained their innocence have been sentenced to many years in prison. Calls to release the tens of thousands of hours of video footage of the event have been consistently thwarted – until now.
Fearless investigative reporter Lara Logan has released three reports, here, and here, exposing the involvement of Ray Epps, a mysterious rabble-rouser who insists he has no ties to the FBI but has never been prosecuted for inciting a riot.
Newly released footage show the story line of a violent insurrection is bogus. Police fired on the crowd with no warning, the protesters were peaceful and even smiling with police.
Teaching our children how to be productive members of our society has been considered to be one of the noblest of professions. But civics, logic and basic economics have been replaced with woke political ideology and sexual deviancy. Our most revered colleges have now been exposed as vile, anti-Semitic cesspools of hatred. Our children have no understanding of the Constitution or our rights as citizens.
And now a former president and candidate for 2024 has been saddled with scores of “trumped-up” charges designed to besmirch his character and ruin him politically and financially. Blue states are trying to force President Trump off their ballots, with no success – so far. These are tactics we thought only occurred in communist dictatorships or banana republics.
The creepy man who was declared president has been shown to be the most corrupt president in history, and is probably influenced by Ukraine, China and/or Iran. However, the Democrats and RINOs cover for him and his son is offered sweetheart legal deals. The only hope to get to the bottom of the greatest scandal in American history is for the few remaining conservatives in the House of Representatives to follow through with their impeachment investigations – quickly. Every moment they wait is another stab in the heart of our country, its safety, and its prosperity.
Unless we are able to replace our greedy and compromised elected officials by fighting back against our corrupt electoral process (and here), we will forever be slaves, subject to the lies and intimidation of those currently in charge and forced to live with the rampant crime and ruined economy of a nation in decline with undefended borders.
It all comes down to restoring honest and fair elections, starting with exposing state voting rolls that are currently flooded with inaccurate data rendering results invalid. Local and state Board of Election officials who sign off on election certifications are guilty of serious federal and state crimes if they fail to follow laws scrupulously. Brave citizens in over 25 states have come forward to investigate and expose the blatant disregard for basic election procedures. We must support their efforts and demand our state legislators take back control of election procedures from governors, judges and bureaucrats.
Freedom is a terrible thing to waste.
Image: Steve Connerton, via Pexels // CC0 public domain
