COMMON SENSE: Week of October 27

GOOD WORK

I want to thank Congressmember Michael Grimm and CongressmemberRobert Turner — both Conservative-Republican Congressmen fromBrooklyn — for sponsoring and voting to pass the Protect Life Actwhich blocks any taxpayer funds appropriated for Obamacare beingused to pay for abortions.

The bill overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives,although it is certain to be bottled up in theDemocratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

Imagine being able to mention two Conservative-RepublicanCongressmembers from Brooklyn in the same sentence. I wonder howfar back you would need to go before you could find a similarsituation.

And that has state and national Democrats concerned. Something like20 percent of all Brooklyn and most of Southwest Brooklyn isrepresented by Grimm and Turner. Who would have thought it.

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If the NYPD is forced to end its Stop and Frisk policy, it’s aguarantee that our streets will be less safe. The policy — whichis well defined and often reviewed — has been judicially testedmore than once.

Law enforcement officials consider it a necessary element in theircrime-suppression activities. In fact, law enforcement agencies inthe region that presently are not authorized to do Stop and Friskstrongly argue that they too need the authority.

It can be very difficult to balance civil liberties against theneeds of public safety. Sadly, the world has progressively becomemore dangerous. Stop and Frisk gives law enforcement an importanttool in making arrests before a crime in committed. As long as itis well regulated and often reviewed, on balance I think this musttake precedence over the broader civil liberty concern.

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Speaking of civil liberties, the Occupy Wall Street protesters seemto be setting in for the long term. On the days that they are nottrying to close roadways or get into scuffles with the police, theyseem so harmless that soon they will be yesterday’s mediastory.

And then what will they do? They still have no message beyond theircomplaints. They have no leaders beyond those that are now tryingto co-opt them. And they are certain to have no success.

Of course, some of the more media savvy protesters in desperationmight try to provoke the police purposely in hopes of gainingattention. There must be zero tolerance for any who take civildisobedience to this level!

A week ago, on a Sunday, I passed by Zuccotti Park. It was around 1p.m. and I can say with certainty that the protesters were littlemore than the media, police and obviously amused bystanders.

This crowd would make a group of ‘60s anti-war protestorslaugh.

Jerry Kassar is the chairperson of the Kings CountyConservative Party. He is a longtime community activist who hasserved as an officer of member of many organizations. He works forthe state of New York.