Once Called a Hoax, Vallejo Kidnapping Leads to Prison

At the Los Angeles Times, "Harvard-educated former attorney sentenced to 40 years in prison for bizarre Vallejo kidnapping":

Harvard-educated man sentenced to 40 years for bizarre Vallejo kidnapping police had called hoax https://t.co/cVmFeM9NYn @brittny_mejia

— Hailey Branson-Potts (@haileybranson) March 17, 2017

It had been nearly two years since Denise Huskins had been in the same room as the man who kidnapped her in the early morning darkness.

Standing at a podium in a Sacramento courthouse, she faced him. Then she turned her words against the man — a Harvard-educated former attorney — who had bound, drugged and raped her twice.

“Now we meet face to face, eye to eye,” Huskins told Matthew Muller. “I’m Denise Huskins, the woman behind the blindfold.”

Huskins’ family and friends grew teary eyed as she described her pain after Muller kidnapped her on March 23, 2015, and after the Vallejo Police Department, at one point, publicly portrayed the case as a hoax.

In an emotional scene, Huskins asked that Muller be sentenced to life in prison.

“I know, without doubt or hesitation, that as long as he walks free, there will be more victims,” she said.

At the sentencing, Muller’s defense attorney argued for a 30-year sentence, citing his client’s struggles with mental illness.

“I’m sick with shame,” Muller said, adding that he would accept whatever sentence was imposed.

His parents sat with their younger son and their family and friends, as they waited in silence for U.S. District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley to hand down his sentence:

Forty years in prison.

The kidnapping took place before dawn as Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, slept in the master bedroom of his home on Mare Island. The couple awoke to find a stranger standing in the room.

Using a stun gun and a water pistol made to look like a gun, Muller ordered the couple to lie still while he bound and blindfolded them and gave them a sleep-inducing liquid, prosecutors said. A recorded message played over headsets, threatening electric shock if the couple did not comply with his orders.

Muller placed Huskins in the trunk of Quinn’s 2000 Toyota Camry and moved her to the trunk of another car before driving her to his family’s South Lake Tahoe home...

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Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest

*BUMPED.*

I picked up a copy.

It's at my beside. Indeed, I've read the preface to the new edition. She's a energetic writer who's endlessly pleased by the publication of her book. It changed her life. She's got few regrets.

She became something of a public intellectual too.

At Amazon, Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West.

Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, Populism

Following-up, "Dutch Election Sows (Shows) Extreme Political Fragmentation."

At Amazon, Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser, Populism: A Very Short Introduction.

Dutch Election Sows (Shows) Extreme Political Fragmentation

From Cas Muddle, an excellent scholar, at NYT:

MY take on Dutch elections. Headline by @nytimes doesn't really summarize different points made in it. #TK17 🇳🇱 https://t.co/9ZmoHAC936

— Cas Mudde (@CasMudde) March 16, 2017

The parliamentary election in the Netherlands on Wednesday was predicted to be the next populist show of strength after the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s election. The Dutch would be the first of a number of European countries to succumb to the right-wing populists’ siren songs in 2017, with the French not far behind.

It didn’t work out that way.

Geert Wilders, who is all too often described as a bleach blond or referred to as “the Dutch Trump,” did not defeat the conservative prime minister, Mark Rutte. In fact, he didn’t come close.

With more than 95 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, or V.V.D., came first with 21.2 percent of the vote, compared to Mr. Wilders’s Party for Freedom, which took only 13.1 percent. Mr. Wilders barely improved on his margin in the 2012 election (where he took 10.1 percent) and failed to do as well as he did in 2010 (where he got 15.5 percent of the vote).

The real story in Dutch politics isn’t Mr. Wilders’s rise, it is the unprecedented fragmentation of the political system. Together, Mr. Rutte’s and Mr. Wilders’s parties look set to make up only 33 percent of the Parliament, with 11 more political parties constituting the rest. This splintering of Dutch politics is making effective governance of the country increasingly impossible.

While previous Parliaments have counted 14 or more factions, what has changed is the relative size of the parties. In 1986, the top three parties together won 85 percent of the vote. In 2003, it was down to 74 percent. Today it is just around 45 percent.

Because of its proportional representation system of voting, the Netherlands is an extreme case. But the trends are similar across Western Europe: The main center-right and center-left parties are shrinking, smaller parties are growing and unstable coalition politics are becoming the norm. There are many reasons for this — from secularization to deindustrialization to the emergence of new political issues, like the environment or immigration.

The consequences have been painfully visible across Europe for some time. It took Belgium 541 days to form a government after its 2010 election. Both Greece and Spain were in recent years forced to hold second elections after the first Parliaments failed to form coalitions. In the Netherlands, forming a government is not quite as difficult, but the next one will most likely be a coalition of four to six parties.

If the Party for Freedom is excluded — and almost all parties have pledged that they will refuse to serve in a coalition with Mr. Wilders — the government will probably consist of five or six medium-size parties that span almost the entire political spectrum. Given that the conservative V.V.D. and the Christian Democratic Appeal are ideologically closer to the Party for Freedom than they are to, for example, the Green Left party with which they will be governing, the government will be rightly perceived as an anti-Wilders coalition.

This will play right into Mr. Wilders’s hands. He has long argued that the Netherlands’ political parties are all the same. Being the leader of the largest opposition party against an internally divided, weak “anti-Wilders” coalition is undoubtedly his second most desired outcome of the elections — after, of course, winning an outright majority of the votes.

The only way to break this vicious circle is for the parties in government to come together to support a positive program, one that justifies their cooperation and their decision to exclude Mr. Wilders...

Why Trump is Wise to Refer to 'Radical Islamic Terrorism' (VIDEO)

Here's Robert Spencer:

Shop Today

Okay, I've got to hop in the shower and get ready for work.

I figured out what happened on my *bumped* posts last night: I had the wrong date, the 13th instead of the 14th, so the posts wouldn't bump up to the top of the blog. My bad. I was fatigued from work and I thought the posts were from yesterday and not the day before. In any case, at least Blogger's not all "hinky" after all.

Until tonight, Shop Deals at Amazon.

Here's one, Save on Dyson AM05 Hot + Cool Fan Heater (Certified Refurbished).

BONUS: Carol Anderson, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide.

How a Selfie of White Neighbors Jogging in Historically Black Leimert Park Reveals the Simmering Tensions on the Places We Call Home

This shouldn't be a thing, but then, leftists are the biggest racists.

At the Los Angeles Times.

More Hailey Clauson (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Hailey Clauson Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2017 (VIDEO)."

At Sports Illustrated:

Campuses Are Becoming Unsafe Spaces for Conservative Students

Seriously not kidding.

At Instapundit, "ANALYSIS: TRUE."

Marine Corps Nude Photo Scandal (VIDEO)

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's been on a hardcore feminist jihad anyway. These hearings just gave her a platform to spew her PC rage.

At Quartz, "Watch: Senator Gillibrand tears into the marines over why no one’s been held responsible for the nude photo scandal."

And CBS This Morning:

Professor Robert Kelly Viral Children Interruption Video

Well, he's a lucky man. What a beautiful family!

ADDED: At Althouse, "'My real life punched through the fake cover I had created on television'."

Professor Robert Kelly speaks to us again - now we can officially meet his wife & children 😉 https://t.co/SmwRdyPOd7 #BBCDad pic.twitter.com/smCE8iW431

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 14, 2017

Fear and Loathing at MSNBC

Following-up from last night, "President Trump Paid $38 Million in Taxes on More Than $150 Million in Income in 2005 (VIDEO)."

At the Other McCain:

FEAR AND LOATHING AT MSNBC! https://t.co/GxSx1DHubW pic.twitter.com/XWWdGXomav

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) March 15, 2017

Thank you Rachel Maddow, for debunking the myth that Trump hasn't paid any taxes in 18 years. pic.twitter.com/wRWNbQZzu1

— Elizabeth® (@MissLizzyNJ) March 15, 2017

Dutch Elections Today

Following-up from last night, "Immigration Fatigue Defines Dutch Elections."

And after the Dutch elections on March 15, 2017

I Will Make The Netherlands Great Again!#MakeTheNetherlandsGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/rZXo1QpOy0

— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) November 6, 2016

.@BlazingCatFur Dutch Vote Watched Across Europe With a Finger in the Wind. https://t.co/X4huwf0rhg

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) March 15, 2017

In less than 24 hours, Dutch voters head to the polls. Here's where the race stands now https://t.co/J2kNtCMYVj pic.twitter.com/asKQa62gzS

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) March 14, 2017

Viacheslav Morozov, Russia's Postcolonial Identity

Here's a work of political science that might be of interest, especially considering all the leftist fake news about Russia.

At Amazon, Viacheslav Morozov, Russia's Postcolonial Identity: A Subaltern Empire in a Eurocentric World.

President Trump Paid $38 Million in Taxes on More Than $150 Million in Income in 2005 (VIDEO)

I saw a couple of tweets on this, but now here comes Legal Insurrection with the story. See, "Rachel Maddow’s career committed suicide live on national TV tonight."

And at Bloomberg, "Trump Paid $38 Million Tax on $150 Million Income, Return Shows."

That's huge tax hit. Huge.

It's an effective tax rate of 24 percent. Sheesh. Didn't Mitt Romney get his effective rate down to 14 percent in 2011? I think President Trump needs a new accountant, lol.

And Rachel Maddow needs to get her head screwed on correctly. This is no bombshell. Trump's paying his fair share in federal taxes. Shoot, he's being over-taxed. Maybe that's why he didn't want to release his returns? He's getting hammered by the IRS.

In any case, Maddow's still as butch as ever. I never --- absolutely never --- watch her show. It's been years, literally.



Also, at the Daily Beast, via Memeorandum, "Report: Trump's 2005 Taxes Revealed."

One More Time, ICYMI: Robert J. Utley, The Indian Frontier

I tried to bump this post, but Blogger is acting all hinky, so I'm reposting it as a new entry.

From earlier today:

*****

I just finished Utley's chapter on the final campaigns of the frontier wars, which concludes with the surrender of Geronimo in 1886.

It's a great book. Marvelously balanced.

At Amazon, Robert J. Utley, The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890.

One More Time: Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest

I tried to bump this post, but Blogger is acting all hinky, so I'm reposting it as a new entry.

From earlier today:

****

I've got this one on order.

At Amazon, Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest.

The book is referenced by Vine Deloria, Jr., in Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.

Marine Le Pen Informs Young Woman Reporter: 'Madame, the French people have no confidence in the media. Are you aware of that...?'

Via Paul Joseph Watson, on Twitter:

Marine Le Pen Smacks Down Reporter: ‘No One Trusts the Media’ - https://t.co/MCAzme6GWx pic.twitter.com/robZyew2XM

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) March 14, 2017

Welcome to Spring Break, Miami-Style

Heh.

At London's Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE - 'We've been drinking vodka and smoking joints. It's really cool': A haze of weed, booze on the beach, twerking and sex in the open – welcome to Spring Break, Miami-style."

Immigration Fatigue Defines Dutch Elections

This is a great piece!

From Andrew Michta, at the American Interest:

A predictor for Europe: Immigration Fatigue Defines Dutch Elections @aminterest @RealClearWorld @Marshall_Center https://t.co/a5PdOqX0z1

— Andrew A. Michta (@andrewmichta) March 14, 2017

No matter the outcome, tomorrow’s parliamentary elections in the Netherlands will widen the divisions between European elites and publics.

As the Netherlands enters the final stretch in its 2017 election campaign, all eyes have turned to watch the political churning in this small but potentially significant EU member state. The intense interest by the international media is warranted; the Dutch election is the first of the “decisive three of 2017” (followed by elections in France and Germany) that many analysts believe will be leading indicators of the evolution of European politics in coming years. This has made the Dutch balloting in effect the first major European referendum on the past three decades’ immigration policy not only for Holland but also for the largest European countries.

Across Europe there has been a lot of polling, theorizing, opining, and (quite frankly) reading of tea leaves about the outcome of this vote. Paradoxically, the actual numbers of this election matter less than the political undercurrents it has brought to the surface. Geert Wilders’s anti-establishment, anti-immigration Party of Freedom (PVV) may still be positioned to deliver a stunning upset, though newer polling suggests a much tighter race. Still, the recent collapse of popular support for the social-democratic Labor Party (PvdA), a coalition partner of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2012, has made any firm predictions about the outcome a mug’s game. Regardless of whether Geert Wilders’s PVV overtakes or comes a few seats short of current Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD, election day will permanently alter Dutch politics—and the politics of Europe.

The consensus seems to be that, even if Wilders delivers an upset, it is unlikely that his party will be able to enter into a coalition government, and so it will most likely become an opposition party in Parliament. Still, even if the PVV is not able to enter into a coalition, much less form a government, its gains will shrink the center of Dutch politics, making the building of a workable coalition much more difficult. Most importantly, the Dutch election is likely to herald a broader European trend of the center losing more and more ground to extreme left and right political parties. As in the United Kingdom and the United States, the perception that elite policies have failed has spread throughout Dutch society. Wilders’s anti-immigrant message has resonated especially in the aftermath of the 2015-16 wave of migration from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); the Netherlands has been a prime destination for migrants on account of its generous immigration and welfare policies.

Will the past three decades of multiculturalism and institutionalism continue to define the Continent’s future? This is precisely the question at issue in Europe today. The idea that Europe can in fact become a tapestry of comingling ethnicities and cultures has in only the past couple of years met with hardening resistance, not just in smaller countries like the Netherlands and Sweden but also, and perhaps more importantly, in the largest EU countries, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. The gathering anti-immigrant rebellion in Europe has fueled a resurgent nationalism that cannot simply be dismissed as “populism” or “Islamophobia”—the default position of most media commentary. The predominantly Muslim wave of the current migration—including, for instance, the nearly one million MENA migrants that are estimated to have entered Germany in 2015–16—has contributed to the largest mass migration in Europe since the end of the Second World War (and furthermore, for the first time ever, members of the migrant wave predominantly hail from outside of Europe). At the same time, because of low levels of acculturation among these immigrants, citizenship in Europe is not generally seen as the primary identity marker. Public perceptions and differentiation in Europe increasingly focus on ethnic origin and religion. Hence, unlike in the United States, it matters less and less whether the Muslim population is first, second, or even third generation. One in five people living in the Netherlands is an immigrant or a child of immigrants. This is especially important in larger Dutch cities; for instance, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, close to half of the population has a first- or second-generation immigrant background. For young people, the numbers are even higher, approaching two-thirds of school age children in those two cities. The high concentration of immigrant populations in Europe’s large cities is a pattern repeated across the Continent, from Paris and Copenhagen through Stockholm and Frankfurt to London and Brussels. The progressive balkanization of neighborhoods in these large cities of Western Europe is polarizing politics and raising tensions between the indigenous European population and immigrants and their descendants...

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