{"id":5332,"date":"2021-12-14T11:22:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T19:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=5332"},"modified":"2021-12-14T14:36:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T22:36:51","slug":"two-district-attorneys-tie-for-2021-baghdad-bob-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=5332","title":{"rendered":"Two District Attorneys Tie for 2021 “Baghdad Bob” Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the chief spokesperson for President Saddam Hussein government was Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who held almost daily press conferences denying that the allied forces had swiftly defeated the Iraqi Army and were taking Baghdad.\u00a0 At his last press conferences he is standing outside telling reporters that Baghdad was secure over the the sounds of nearby artillery and small arms fire, and as news footage shows tanks and soldiers sweeping into the city virtually unopposed.\u00a0 For this remarkable demonstration of chutzpah he became known worldwide as “Baghdad Bob.”\u00a0\u00a0 Last year we decided to give a Baghdad Bob award to a person whose denial of reality rivaled the example set by al-Sahhaf.\u00a0 The winner was MSNBC reporter Ali Velshi, who gave an on-air report during the May 28, 2020 George Floyd riot in Minneapolis.\u00a0 Before cameras, as a one of dozens of the city’s buildings set fire by rioters that night was blazing behind him, Velshi told viewers \u201cI want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly. But fires have been started.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ali Velshi<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

In the end over 100 buildings in Minneapolis were completely destroyed and 1,500 were damaged in the not generally unruly protest on the nights of May 27-29, 2020.<\/p>\n

The selection for 2021 was even more difficult.\u00a0 Days ago Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the Washington Times\u00a0 \u201cA lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently she does not read newspapers or watch television news.\u00a0 Almost everything the Congresswoman says qualifies as a denial of reality.\u00a0\u00a0 Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was also in the running with her announcement last weekend that the organized smash-and-grab robberies plaguing the city’s retailers is actually the fault of the retailers for not doing enough to prevent them.\u00a0 Kind of like telling a rape victim that she was responsible because she wore a short skirt.\u00a0 There are many more worthy candidates that should at least win a participation trophy.<\/p>\n

But this year there is a tie for the Baghdad Bob award between uber progressive District Attorney in Philadelphia Larry Krasner and his soulmate, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Los Angeles DA George Gasc\u00f3n<\/p><\/div>\n

Both Soros-bankrolled District Attorneys have implemented zero bail policies for what they characterize as “low level” offenders including every kind of thief, including car thieves, along with drunk drivers, most wife beaters and drug dealers.\u00a0\u00a0 Both DAs have also implemented woke charging and sentencing policies that allow almost all the criminals in their counties to avoid the full consequences of their crimes.\u00a0 This includes violent offenders.\u00a0 What could possibly go wrong?\u00a0 Both cities have become virtual shooting galleries over the past year.\u00a0 Last year Philadelphia hit a 30-year high with 499 homicides and 2,200 people shot.\u00a0 This year Philly has exceeded this by another 13% with 521 murders with most of December left to increase the tally.\u00a0 Robberies also increased this year by a whopping 27%.<\/p>\n

But most other reported crimes<\/em> are down so on Monday December 6, Krasner held a press conference to announce:\u00a0 “We don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence.\u00a0 There is not a big spike in crime….There is not a big spike in violent crime.\u00a0 Neither of these things is true.”<\/p>\n

As reported<\/a> by Fox News, Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who left office in 2016, responded: “District Attorney Krasner’s recent remarks about whether we are experiencing a crime crisis are some of the worst, most ignorant and most insulting comments I have every heard spoken by an elected official…..I have to wonder what kind of messed up world of white wokeness Krasner is living in to have so little regard for human lives lost, many of them Black and brown, while he advances his own national profile as a progressive district attorney…..How many more Black and brown people, and others, would have to be gunned down in our streets daily to meet your definition of a crisis.”\u00a0\u00a0 I could not have said it any better myself.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone on December 8, ABC News Los Angeles covered<\/a> Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s presser to celebrate his first year as District Attorney and tell the public “We’re trying really hard to use the science that is currently available, the data that is currently available, to do our work….And I’m not going to be intimidated by political rhetoric.”\u00a0 When asked if any of his policies contributed to the skyrocketing rise in homicides or the almost daily smash-and-grab robberies occurring across the county he said “absolutely not.”<\/p>\n

Earlier this year Gasc\u00f3n told reporters \u201cWhile a minority of victims want the maximum punishment imposed in their case, research shows these views are not shared by a majority of survivors of violent crime, as most survivors don\u2019t find healing by putting another person in a cage.\u201d He continued, \u201cAdditionally, studies show<\/em> that excessive sentencing practices have exacerbated recidivism leading to more victims of crime.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Two days later the leaders of California’s largest victims groups called out Gasc\u00f3n for misrepresenting their members with the head of Crime Victims United stating\u00a0 \u201cI find Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s remarks extremely disrespectful to victims. Almost all<\/em> victims want to see justice done, which means criminals receive the full sentence provided by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month later CJLF researchers released a working paper<\/a> reviewing all available studies of the effect of sentencing on recidivism.\u00a0 The researchers found only one unpublished study supporting Gascon’s claim and noted:\u00a0 \u201cThere is no strong basis in the published research for the claim that longer sentences increase recidivism relative to shorter ones. Most studies on the effect of sentence length suggest either no effect on recidivism or slight reductions in recidivism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCherry-picking a single unpublished paper for what \u2018studies show\u2019 when the body of published literature is contrary is a blatant misrepresentation,\u201d said CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger. \u201cThe state of our knowledge in this area is still limited, but what we do know tends to refute rather than support Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

According<\/a> to the Los Angeles Times 816 people have been murdered in Los Angeles County so far this year.\u00a0 Robberies and auto theft are also up in the county.\u00a0 As one of Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s own deputies noted “Releasing criminals, not charging crime does not work in Los Angeles.\u00a0 And it’s not making anybody any safer.”\u00a0 Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was more pointed about Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s policies:\u00a0 “It’s been an absolute disaster for the community…..It’s been a disaster for public safety.\u00a0 It’s been a disaster for law enforcement.”<\/p>\n

When it comes to lying to the public, these two District Attorneys have distinguished themselves and fully deserve the Baghdad Bob award this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the chief spokesperson for President Saddam Hussein government was Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who held almost daily press conferences denying that the allied forces had swiftly defeated the Iraqi Army and were taking Baghdad.\u00a0 At his last press conferences he is standing outside telling reporters that Baghdad was secure over the the sounds of nearby artillery and small arms fire, and as news footage shows tanks and soldiers sweeping into the city virtually unopposed.\u00a0 For this remarkable demonstration of chutzpah he became known worldwide as “Baghdad Bob.”\u00a0\u00a0 Last year we decided to give a Baghdad Bob award to a person whose denial of reality rivaled the example set by al-Sahhaf.\u00a0 The winner was MSNBC reporter Ali Velshi, who gave an on-air report during the May 28, 2020 George Floyd riot in Minneapolis.\u00a0 Before cameras, as a one of dozens of the city’s buildings set fire by rioters that night was blazing behind him, Velshi told viewers \u201cI want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly. But fires have been started.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo District Attorneys Tie for 2021 "Baghdad Bob" Award - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=5332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two District Attorneys Tie for 2021 "Baghdad Bob" Award - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the chief spokesperson for President Saddam Hussein government was Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who held almost daily press conferences denying that the allied forces had swiftly defeated the Iraqi Army and were taking Baghdad.\u00a0 At his last press conferences he is standing outside telling reporters that Baghdad was secure over the the sounds of nearby artillery and small arms fire, and as news footage shows tanks and soldiers sweeping into the city virtually unopposed.\u00a0 For this remarkable demonstration of chutzpah he became known worldwide as “Baghdad Bob.”\u00a0\u00a0 Last year we decided to give a Baghdad Bob award to a person whose denial of reality rivaled the example set by al-Sahhaf.\u00a0 The winner was MSNBC reporter Ali Velshi, who gave an on-air report during the May 28, 2020 George Floyd riot in Minneapolis.\u00a0 Before cameras, as a one of dozens of the city’s buildings set fire by rioters that night was blazing behind him, Velshi told viewers \u201cI want to be clear on how I characterize this. 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