Voters in Nassau County and nationally unanimously and mutually agree that illegal immigration and the inflation-wracked economy are the two issues that concern them most.

“Oh, really!”

Former President Donald Trump overwhelmingly leads President Joe Biden on the economy and immigration, which are two top issues to swing-state voters, according to the national Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll.

U. S. Congressman Aaron Bean (R-FL) experienced similar results during a January 30 telephone townhall meeting survey of constituents in his Congressional District 4 that includes all of Nassau County.

Following are survey questions and real-time responses of constituents on Congressman Bean’s Townhall call closely reflecting those responding to the national poll:

What is your most important issue of concern?

• The border (62%)
• The economy (16%)
• The deficit (8%)
• Other (14%)

The Senate is working on a border deal that Biden loves–would allow 5,000 illegals into the country per day before shutting the border down. Are you in favor of this plan?

• Not in favor (80%)

Secretary Mayorkas is in charge of the border. Should he be impeached?

• In favor (91%)

If the White House refuses to enforce the law, do you believe Texas has the right to defend their own border?

• Yes (95%)

Nationally voters in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania said they trust Trump over Biden on both key issues by double-digit margins according to a Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey. All of the swing states but Georgia saw increases in those who said immigration was the “single most important issue,” while the economy remains at the top of the list in each state.

According to the poll voters trusted Trump over Biden 51% to 33% on the economy, and 52% to 30% on immigration. Those on Congressman Bean’s townhall call echoed their sentiments

Do we hear any of that from the local media? No. Just the opposite. In fact, I  didn’t even see Congressman Bean’s townhall call mentioned in the local press, or did I miss it?

The News Leader’s opinion writer Mark Tomes boasts that “Bidenomics is working” while his counterpart, Chuck Oliva, writes (“Give me your tired, your poor,” January 26) that we should welcome the illegal aliens pouring across the southern border with open arms, charity, and gratitude.

Native New Yorker Oliva in his January 19 word jumble (“no room at the inn?) scribbles that “The U.S. economy needs at least some level of illegal immigration – especially in this time of low unemployment.” In his delirium he attacks Republicans for causing it and praises Democrats for attempting to bring it to a halt. This guy lives in an alternate universe. Is it any wonder that in his photo he stares down at his shoes unable to look readers in the eye?

Tomes, who disguises himself in a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses in his photo, tells us the opposite of what we face every time we buy groceries and gas, pay our utility bills, taxes, or anything else.

Where are the human interest stories about local retirees on fixed incomes and lower income workers being hammered by inflation? Their rents, property taxes, groceries, gasoline, utilities, school taxes , etc. are all going up, causing many to pack up and move out. Others are cutting back on groceries, clothing, etc. and look to over-extended charities and local social services for assistance.

I’ve been in line at the Amelia island Publix, Winn Dixie and Harris Teeter and watched as mother’s with kids put items back because they miscalculated and don’t have enough cash to pay for them.

Tomes incredulously tells us “Bidenomics is fostering a bustling economy.”  What he doesn’t say is that prices are still high. For example, under Biden’s inflationary economy eggs soared from the less than $1.90 I paid in 2019 to the $4.00 and more a dozen I paid last week. Tomes says, “inflation is slowing and going down.” Fine, but the price of eggs is still four bucks or more and going up, just not as fast as a year ago.

Where are the stories about those U.S. citizens killed by fentanyl smuggled across the border by the Mexican cartels? Where ae the stories about the young girls raped and trapped in sex slavery by cartel members and those pushed into forced labor? Where are the stories about the terrorist watch list criminals that crossed the border and their sleeper cells waiting for their orders to strike?

Walk around in any local grocery store and you’ll hear more chatter in languages other than English than you did three years ago. And they aren’t tourists. Have you ever been to the local hospital emergency room? Spanish appears to be a common language there.

I’ve had teachers and parents in Nassau County schools tell me stories about alien children hereabouts in classrooms that can’t speak English who need special attention that deprives local students of their teacher’s personal time and care. Where are those stories? Our tax dollars are paying for all the “English as a second language” teachers the schools need to cater to these new arrivals.

Where are the stories about the impact illegal aliens hereabouts are having on our school systems, healthcare facilities, social services, etc.? We haven’t read them because they have never been reported or written.

Instead we have the News Leader’s Chuck Oliva telling us that we have a moral obligation to these illegals comparing them to immigrants from Germany, Syria  Iraq and the immigration policies of Finland and other countries, situations and comparisons that aren’t equivalent or relevant at all. He defends the indefensible.

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News Leader management

Local Media Delusional & In Denial: Do Alan NeSmith and Mark Major, the chairman and president respectively of Community Newspapers, Inc. (CNI), ever read the Fernandina Beach News Leader, one of the papers their company owns? Does Foy Malony, the local paper’s publisher even glance at it?

If they did they’d discover that it serves no real community purpose other than to print a string of poorly written, irresponsible, one-sided news stories and as an outlet for a handful of far-left loud local extremists.

A disclaimer on the paper’s masthead says the “views expressed by the columnists on its editorial pages “do not  necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper, its owners and employees.” But one has to question that declaration when the same shrill views and opinions are continually expressed, opposing letters to the editor ignored , op-eds rejected, and a constant string of biased news is spewed. Is it sloppy journalism and lousy editorial oversight or is it intentional?

The paper’s tone-deaf bungling Editor Tracy Dishman displays no editing skills as her reporting staffs’ articles reflect a lack of journalism training. Articles are rife with poor writing, factual inaccuracies, and bias. The paper appears to have no desire to keep a skeptical eye on elected or appointed city officials nor act as a watchdog, only as a lapdog.

It restrains its lone conservative voice, award-winning veteran journalist Steve Nicklas, and ignores city blunders and actions many influential citizens say violate state statutes such as “impact fee usage” that courts have twice declared illegal. The city continues to  steal taxpayers money using the same illegal tactics but now calls them “capacity fees.” The paper says nothing despite a mound of evidence indicating the city is stealing from tax payers by shaking down local businesses and misusing the money instead of keeping it in escrow as required by state law.

News Leader editorial staff meeting.

Dishman’s dual objectives appear to be to drive the paper’s readership even lower and scare off any remaining advertisers.

The “Opinion” pages have become a complete left-wing muddle as Dishman recruited two area  newcomers from New York and California, Mark Tomes, and Chuck Oliva, to crank out ideological screeds and Democrat party talking points.

The masthead states that the paper’s staff of “professionals is dedicated to the truth, integrity, quality and hard work.” They have a long way to go to achieve anything close to that ambitious but admirable goal. It’s obvious Dishman has no intention of ever realizing it and lacks the skills if she attempted it.

Based on its editorial content the paper has absolutely no understanding of the demographics in its distribution area, which is a majority Republican.

Until recently Nassau County has been saddled with a lazy left-wing local media so inept and dishonest that it has become a parody and one of the local Republican party’s best assets in its absurdity.

However, the media landscape  is changing. Viable alternatives are popping up. For example, the recently established online and print Yulee News is a bargain at $40 a year. Get yours at www.YuleeNews.com .The online https://www.citizensjournal.net/ is another site that offers uncensored factual content and it’s free. Both are worth reading and supporting with ad dollars as their readership is growing and both are recruiting talented reporters.

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Pajamadave, Linda Scott and Dave Scott dishing out the real stuff at the 11th Annual Chili Cook-Off.

Make Amelia Gassy Again: On Saturday, February 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., during the 14th annual downtown Fernandina Montessori School Chili Cook Off,  Pajamadave Voorhees and I will once again team up to compete against local restaurant behemoths staffed with chili amateurs that call soup with chicken, turkey, carrots, parsley, arugula and other such fufu ingredients “Chili”. Theirs is NOT Chili!

PJD and I are drawing a line in the sand with our chili spoon. Real chili is how PJD, and I brew our legitimate bowls of red, and that doesn’t include chopped celery, bell pepper or any other such disgusting ingredients. Ours is what authentic chili-heads label “CHILI”,  not some watered down fancy vegetable stew mess that would get a phony tin-horn chili-head banned for life from an amateur small town West Texas competition.

Vegetarian and other foul concoctions that can be eaten with a fork from a plate ain’t chili. Nope, ours is spoon-fed , brothy and “come-back-for-seconds” delicious real chili , filled with beans, real “Make Amelia Gassy Again (MAGA) Chili”

Our booth will be located directly in front of PJD’s Beer & Wine Garden at 12 South 2nd Street.  You can deposit your tokens to vote for us in our red and blue labeled containers as you stand in a lengthy line pleading desperately for seconds and begging in vain for our award-winning recipe.

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Part Of The Past Worth Replicating: If I could bring back a government program from the past it would be the military draft. My Army service introduced me to a world of much needed discipline. It gave me adventures across the U.S. and Europe that I may never have experienced at my young age. During my service I worked harder than I had ever worked, learned the value of being on time, neatness, teamwork, and met and lived with people from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures, many of whom remain friends to this day.

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Interesting But Useless Fact: According to researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the National Academy of Sciences, there are 20,000,000,000,000,000 (20 quadrillion) ants on Earth, about 2.5 million for every human on the planet.