The Beepocalypse Has Been Canceled

Welcome to Woke of the Weak‚ where I’ll update you about the most woke‚ progressive‚ insane‚ and crazy clips and stories that the left thinks is tolerable and well‚ point out why exactly they’re nuts. On Sunday‚ Christians around the world celebrated Easter by going to church‚ spending time in prayer and thanking Jesus for dying on the cross for our sins. Lefties on the other hand‚ our current administration included‚ honored transgender people instead. Easter happened to fall on the same day as Transgender Visibility Day this year‚ and President Joe Biden posted a nearly 650 word press release about it. He also shared multiple social media posts honoring transgender people this past Sunday. At the same time‚ his Easter press release was less than 100 words and he made it very clear that on Sunday‚ it was more important to celebrate delusion than Jesus.  Similarly‚ California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and his wife posted about trans people and their commitment to loving them and Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Rachel Levine (a tranny) explained how trans people should be proud of all their accomplishments.  I noted that some of those so-called “accomplishments” apparently include burning down churches‚ shooting up schools and teaching kids that mutilating their genitalia is good. Remember‚ delusion is “normal” for these people. Speaking of delusion‚ we saw two different bunnies celebrate Easter - one was a drag queen and another was covered in fake (I hope) blood and held a chainsaw. I prayed that their sins and delusions would be washed away and they’d repent‚ but not with the help of the reverend in the next clip who celebrated Transgender Visibility Day. Another example of blaspheming Jesus was done by two different drag queens who dressed up as him by wearing various costumes including a crown of thorns. Finally‚ we saw a transgender person place a crucifix in between a gay pride flag and a transgender flag while doing the sign of the cross.  Oh‚ and Biden called Easter bunnies “oyster bunnies.” All that crazy in just one weekend!

On Tuesday‚ MRCTV’s Tierin-Rose Mandelburg appeared on One America News Network’s In Focus with Alison Steinberg. And though it was April Fools Day‚ the content the girls talked about was nothing to laugh about‚ considering how it all showed the moral and mental decline of our nation. Steinberg asked Mandelburg about Joe Biden’s obvious prioritization of transgender people over Easter this past weekend‚ after the White House declared a "Transgender Day of Visibility" coinciding with the most significant holiday on the Christian calendar. They concluded that his goal was to virtue signal and convince Christians that they should deny and ignore one of the holiest of holy days in order to praise and promote transgenderism.  Needless to say‚ his second goal failed. All his attempts to erase the meaning of Easter just made Christians celebrate the day more intently and pray more intensely for these fallen souls. Speaking of the devil's accomplices‚ Mandelburg and Steinberg talked about a transgender woman who breastfed “her” grandchild after researchers at Duke University pumped the 50-year-old man with hormones so he could “lactate” and feed his grandkid.  It was very obvious that the mental delusions of the grandfather were prioritized over the child’s best interests. In happier news‚ pop singer Lizzo said that she may be quitting music. Though it’s unlikely she’ll actually follow through with it‚ the thought of seeing less of her naked butt shake online is exciting! Check out the clip!   Related: Damning Dichotomy: Happy Easter … I Mean Transgender Day of Visibility Follow us on Twitter/X: Things That Need To Be Said: Pride Has Turned Every Day Gay The Alphabet mafia have turned the whole calendar into a Pride celebration; even Easter isn't safe anymore. pic.twitter.com/qbWXeuL3bm — MRCTV (@mrctv) April 1‚ 2024

A prominent Soros-funded purveyor of Democratic propaganda has been a frequent guest at the Biden White House. Tara McGowan‚ the founder of the Soros-funded group ACRONYM‚ the parent company of Courier Newsroom made 17 trips to the White House‚ visitor logs showed. McGowan held 19 meetings with President Joe Biden‚ Vice President Kamala Harris in addition to White House staffers during these 17 trips. Notably‚ McGowan met with Biden’s senior adviser for digital strategy ahead of the 2024 election.  McGowan’s ACRONYM has received Soros' cash for both its open and its more subtle election interference efforts. Soros’ Democracy PAC fueled ACRONYM’s super PAC‚ PACRONYM‚ with $2‚750‚000 in the 2020 election. Soros’ Open Society Foundations gave $390‚000 to ACRONYM in 2019. Courier News‚ which ACRONYM claimed ownership of on a 2019 tax return‚ brings leftist messages to local communities.  According to Open Secrets‚ “Websites affiliated with Courier Newsroom that appear to be free-standing local news outlets are actually part of a coordinated effort with deep ties to Democratic political operatives.” Open Secrets has referred to Courier News as a “fake news” organization. McGowan‚ whose Twitter bio previously contained the phrase “weaponizing truth to get Trump TFO‚” put her (Soros’) money where her mouth is in the 2020 election‚ as Courier Newsroom pushed anti-Trump narratives at the local level‚ according to Open Secrets.  The prominent leftist propagandist also sat down with Patrick Stevenson‚ the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Digital Strategy Patrick Stevenson in November 2023.  The new head of the Open Society Foundations‚ Alex Soros‚ has also been a frequent guest at the White House‚ meeting with officials from the Biden White House 27 times during 22 visits‚ according to White House visitor logs.  Soros and McGowan both met with Associate Director for Domestic Personnel at the Presidential Personnel Office Nina Srivastava‚ Special Assistant to the President Jordan Finkelstein and former Advisor to the White House Chief of Staff Madeline Strasser.  Conservatives are under attack! Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477‚ CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192 and demand they report on Biden and his staffers meeting with a Soros-backed propagandist. 

This week‚ the Biden administration took the first step toward what appears to be an inevitable break with Israel in Israel's war to extirpate the terrorist group Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Since Hamas' vicious terror assault on Israel on Oct. 7 -- an attack that killed at least 1‚200 Israelis and left 250 Israeli hostages in Hamas' hands -- Israel has taken extraordinary measures to protect civilian life in Gaza while destroying Hamas' military capacity. In the process‚ Israel has lost nearly 300 of its own soldiers‚ with thousands wounded. Despite total air superiority‚ Israel's care on the ground has meant a successful terrorist-to-civilian kill ratio unprecedented in the history of modern warfare. Nonetheless‚ the Biden administration has been champing at the bit to hamstring Israel in its efforts to defend itself. In the last two weeks‚ the Biden White House has activated Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to call for the ouster of the sitting Israeli government; deployed Vice President Kamala Harris to publicly warn Israel about the dangers of a military operation in the last Hamas stronghold‚ Rafah; and abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution separating calls for a ceasefire from calls for a hostage release. None of this makes sense if the United States wishes Israel to finish off Hamas. It all makes perfect sense if the Biden administration is seeking to placate its far-left wing‚ particularly the pro-Hamas voters in Dearborn‚ Michigan. Biden is currently losing Michigan handily to Republican nominee Donald Trump. If he loses Michigan‚ he almost certainly loses the election. And Biden believes that he cannot win if he does not outperform among the state's approximately 200‚000 Muslim American voters. By polling data‚ 49% of Muslim Americans believe Hamas' rationale for the Oct. 7 terror attack was valid; 21% of Muslim Americans approve of the Oct. 7 attacks themselves. But Biden isn't losing Michigan because he's losing Muslim American voters. Those voters will overwhelmingly vote for him‚ because the alternative is the most pro-Israel president in American history‚ Donald Trump. Not only that: Michigan is home to approximately 105‚000 Jewish voters‚ and millions of Christian voters‚ many of whom Biden is risking by undercutting Israel in its existential war. But Biden has been captured by his left flank. He has been told that he must pander to the most radical members of his coalition‚ getting them out to vote‚ rather than reaching out to political moderates and independents. That's idiocy. The real reason he's losing Michigan isn't his lack of popularity among blue-collar voters -- the same lack of popularity that explains his lagging poll numbers in states with lower Muslim populations like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Nevada. All of this foolish political manipulation is the result of a Democratic myth fostered by Barack Obama's successful 2012 campaign: the myth that Democrats can win simply by appealing to their minority coalition‚ along with hard-left white women in the suburbs. Obama was able to push that coalition to victory because he was a unique candidate; Democrats ever since have been attempting to mimic that strategy‚ to their electoral detriment. Here's the reality: Joe Biden will never be a favorite among leftist radicals. It was his supposed moderation that lifted him to victory in 2020. Abandoning that moderation likely means that he will find himself out of a job come January 2025.

Democratic strategist James Carville was spinning his wheels on NewsNation Monday night as he tried to defend President Biden’s callus neglect of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller who was being laid to rest not far from his star-studded‚ elitist fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall. In trying to defend Biden from the rather tame criticism from host Chris Cuomo and correspondent at-large Geraldo Rivera‚ Carville proclaimed it would be “idiotic” for Biden to do anything in response to the officer’s death that evening. After literally laughing at Rivera’s criticism of Biden‚ Carville proclaimed it “idiotic” for Biden to think about modifying his plans for the fundraiser. His reasoning? He had money to collect and cops get shot all time: Well‚ I think I think it’s idiotic. And I'll tell you why. They have a fundraiser scheduled. They have Radio City Music Hall‚ they’re out there raising money‚ they got guest lists‚ they got everything‚ done. Unfortunately‚ it happens about 120 times a year‚ a police officer was shot. And you’re really saying they just should un-ring the entire bell? Okay. Interestingly‚ on Tuesday‚ NewsNation highlighted a 2024 press release from the National Fraternal Order of Police that put the number of officers shot in the line of duty in 2023 at more than triple Carville’s estimate. “Instead‚ 378 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023‚ the highest number the FOP has ever recorded‚” the press release said.     Carville was determined to paint critics as unreasonable; putting words in Cuomo and Rivera’s mouths by suggesting the only solution was to just call of the fundraiser entirely. Cuomo pushed back by noting how easy of a “layup” modifying his plans would have been‚ but Carville had a meltdown: CARVILLE: So‚ you really think that should just call the fundraiser off? Just called it off? It’s insane. Of course not. CUOMO: No‚ no‚ no‚ James. That was an easy one. It’s a layup. The answer is both. You stop by. You see the family. You give them some private moments. You get back in the car. You go to the fundraiser. That's the that's not a stretch. And I get it. I get why they didn’t do it. I get it James‚ I get it. CARVILLE: I profoundly disagree. I understand. CUOMO: I totally get it. CARVILLE: You’re a free speech guy. You want your guests and free speech. I think the entire thing about the fundraiser and a transgender thing is just borderline idiotic. Certain events – you have confluence events campaigns don’t control everything. Rivera’s “minimal effort” idea didn’t even involve Biden going to see the family‚ but just sharing his condolences at the fundraiser‚ which he didn’t care to do either. “It would have been so easy. James‚ you could have crafted it easily‚” he tried to stroke Carville’s ego. Carville bizarrely retreated to using the number of cops killed in the line of duty as some sort of morbid defense. “Again‚ unfortunately‚ it is not uncommon for peace officer to be killed in the line of duty. Okay?” he huffed. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: NewsNation’s Cuomo April 1‚ 2024 8:10:30 p.m. Eastern (…) CHRIS CUOMO: James. When you're done laughing. JAMES CARVILLE: Well‚ I think I think it’s idiotic. And I'll tell you why. They have a fundraiser scheduled. They have Radio City Music Hall‚ they’re out there raising money‚ they got guest lists‚ they got everything‚ done. Unfortunately‚ it happens about 120 times a year‚ a police officer was shot. And you’re really saying they just should un-ring the entire bell? Okay. And this whole thing about March 31st every year it's on March 31st. And I think there this whole outrage machine and this whole false equivalency machine that says we – [indiscernible noises]. By the way‚ when you get mocked Saturday Night Live‚ I don't know Geraldo‚ that a pretty culturally significant program to me. (…) 8:12:27 p.m. Eastern CUOMO: It is April Fool's Day‚ and I have to tell you I never thought— CARVILLE: So‚ you really think that should just call the fundraiser off? Just called it off? It’s insane. Of course not. CUOMO: No‚ no‚ no‚ James. That was an easy one. It’s a layup. The answer is both. You stop by. You see the family. You give them some private moments. You get back in the car. You go to the fundraiser. That's the that's not a stretch. And I get it. I get why they didn’t do it. I get it James‚ I get it. CARVILLE: I profoundly disagree. I understand. CUOMO: I totally get it. CARVILLE: You’re a free speech guy. You want your guests and free speech. I think the entire thing about the fundraiser and a transgender thing is just borderline idiotic. Certain events – you have confluence events campaigns don’t control everything. I don't even think anyone knew about the transgender proclamation. I worked in the mayor's office‚ they have proclamations every other day. Same thing in the White House. I mean‚ that's just not the way the world works. And the idea a sleet Biden is come kind of cultural liberal. CUOMO: James‚ it has to be the way the world works because it's happening right now. [Crosstalk] GERALDO RIVERA: Stephen Colbert – Here’s how you fix it with minimal effort and you make people feel better. Stephen Colbert opens the program‚ “New Yorkers are in mourning now we have lost one of finest. We obviously we didn't know this tragedy was going to happen when we scheduled is event. But President Biden‚ do want to say something about law and order‚ crime and punishment‚ the risk that police officers and their families endure?” It would have been so easy. James‚ you could have crafted it easily. CARVILLE: I – you know – Again‚ unfortunately‚ it is not uncommon for peace officer to be killed in the line of duty. Okay? That's just one of these – Actually‚ think it's a little bit down now‚ but I looked at the statistics and it doesn’t happened every day but – [Crosstalk] CUOMO: But James‚ it was an opportunity. CARVILLE: Okay. All right. Seriously‚ were outrage is missed – You know‚ I can tell Stephen Colbert how to do its job. [Stammering] CUOMO: James‚ you’re among friends. CARVILLE: I think the whole thing – CUOMO: You’re welcome to disagree. CARVILLE: I understand. CUOMO: I am happy that you are disagreeing. CARVILLE: But I am totally unpersuaded that there was anything wrong with this. That’s all. CUOMO: I understand. CARVILLE: We’ll agree to disagree. CUOMO: Perception is reality. (…)

Front Page Magazine says tech giant Google was censoring the outlet for reporting on Islamic terrorism. Daniel Greenfield‚ journalism fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center‚ revealed in the organization’s flagship publication how Google AdSense was unusually explanatory when rejecting the Center’s application for the ad program. The Big Tech company reportedly cited a Front Page article discussing a terrorist attack and the radical Islamic beliefs of the perpetrators as objectionable. Google’s rejection of the application‚ wrote Greenfield‚ “told us what we could do to make our way into the good graces of the company that dominates online search and advertising‚ controlling what much of the country and the world sees.”  Specifically‚ Greenfield continued‚ “[a]ll we had to do was stop talking about Islamic terrorism.”  Google first accused Front Page‚ and especially Horowitz‚ of generally writing and hosting “dangerous or derogatory content.” Google referenced the 2021 piece‚ “Remember The San Bernardino Fourteen” by author Lloyd Billingsley. The piece provided details about a devastating and deadly 2015 terror attack in California‚ but also argued that the terrorists’ radical Islamic beliefs were a key factor. The article also criticized Kamala Harris‚ then California attorney general‚ for claiming the attack was not to be blamed on Islam‚ joined by terrorist-linked organization CAIR. Greenfield rebuked Google for effectively defending radical Islamists: “Google would rather that you not remember the 14 victims or the Islamic terrorists who killed them.” Instead‚ wrote Greenfield‚ Google “has told us that we ‘must fix’ this and numberless other articles that it objects to. But what would it like us to ‘fix’ here? What else except the truth about Islamic terrorism[?]” “Billingsley’s article laid out the complicity of other family members of the Muslim terrorists in the attack‚ and the silence of Biden and Kamala about Islamic terrorism‚ and closed by urging‚ ‘remember the 14 innocents murdered by Islamic terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik on December 2‚ 2015‚ in San Bernardino‚ California‚ USA.‚’” Greenfield wrote. Apparently‚ such framing was verboten for Google.  Google not only accused the San Bernardino Fourteen piece of being “derogatory” and “dangerous” but also containing “unreliable and harmful claims.” But Greenfield pointed out Google and other tech companies have a sordid history of foolish censorship‚ such as when Martin Luther King Jr.’s  “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was allegedly and ludicrously suppressed for containing the “n word.”  Running cover for radical Islamists and others considered protected groups by leftists appears to be par for the course for Google. MRC Free Speech America caught Google covering for jihadis as well‚ including its Gemini AI originally downplaying evidence of Hamas-inflicted rape. In a previous Supreme Court case‚ Gonzalez v. Google‚ Google argued that it could not be held liable for its YouTube algorithms promoting content from jihadis because of Section 230 immunity‚ yet Google appears to be actively covering for jihadis. Conservatives are under attack. Contact Google at 650-253-0000 and demand it be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency‚ clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored‚ contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form‚ and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

Brian Flood at FoxNews.com reports on how Trump 2020 campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh discusses his scrapping with CNN and MSNBC hosts in his new book‚ Swing Hard in Case You Hit It. First came CNN host Brianna Keilar‚ who in June 2020 pressed Murtaugh on Trump's remark that they should slow down COVID testing to get fewer positive results. "I think it would be accurate to conclude that Keilar had decided that she didn’t like me before I ever appeared on her show." Murtaugh claimed Trump was joking‚ and he said Keilar responded that over 120‚000 Americans had died from COVID before asking‚ "I do not think that is funny. Do you think that is funny?" Murtaugh wrote that "Keilar decided that she would claim moral superiority and declare humor off limits‚ while dishonestly suggesting that the president and his campaign were laughing at the people who were dying of COVID-19." "The whole thing was a reminder that I needed to anticipate their partisanship more and treat them as though they were the political opposition‚ because they clearly were‚" Murtaugh concluded. Then there was CNN anchor Jim Sciutto‚ a former Obama administration official‚ a fact Murtaugh liked to remind CNN viewers about. "Every time I appeared on his show‚ he attacked aggressively from the very first word. He quite clearly viewed me as a political adversary and conducted interviews in what I felt was a condescending and accusatory manner." (Alex Christy captured it for NewsBusters.) "One day in August 2020‚ I appeared on his show‚ and he repeatedly asked me if President Trump accepted responsibility for all the American deaths attributable to COVID-19. This‚ obviously‚ was an unanswerable question in a political sense‚ which is exactly why he asked it‚" he recalled. "If I said that the president did accept responsibility‚ then I would have agreed with the false narrative that Trump was responsible for the effects of a virus that came from China. Additionally‚ I’d have handed CNN the very soundbite it was looking for‚" he wrote. "If I said he did not accept responsibility‚ it might sound callous and inconsistent‚ because we were simultaneously looking for credit for the president’s overall response to the pandemic‚ and so we would be wanting the good without taking the bad." Murtaugh explained that "any observer could see clearly that CNN’s goal was not to be a mere journalistic outlet covering current events‚ but that it wanted to be an active participant in the political campaign." In October of 2020‚ Murtaugh wrote‚ he was scheduled to do an interview with MSNBC’s Katy Tur‚ but they "demanded" he wear a mask during the live shot. "Mind you‚ it was a bright and sunny day‚ and I was standing outside‚ easily more than six feet away from any crew the network could have been concerned about. Tur herself was in a studio somewhere else. After it was confirmed that the mask was a condition of the live shot‚ I huddled over the phone with some of the campaign team back in Virginia to discuss whether I should proceed. As a group we decided that it was better to participate in the hit than to skip it‚ so I went through with it‚" he wrote. Murtaugh recounted that Tur cited the names of people who had recently died from COVID in order to criticize a tweet Trump had sent that said‚ "Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life." (She started with video of Amanda Kloots‚ whose husband died from the disease‚ calling Trump "beyond hurtful.") "That wasn’t journalism. It was the ghoulish exploitation of the deaths of real people so that Katy Tur could thrill the MSNBC audience by attacking someone from the Trump campaign. It was juvenile and a bad-faith effort to specifically blame one person—President Trump—for deaths caused by a global pandemic that began in China‚" Murtaugh wrote. Not every cable-news host was thoroughly hostile. Murtaugh said then-CNN host Chris Cuomo came across as sincere when he told the Trump spokesperson‚ "I respect your effort because that’s the game‚" after a fiery interview in which Murtaugh mocked the anchor’s infamous on-air COVID antics with his brother Andrew‚ then governor of New York. Nick Fondacaro wrote about one of those interactions.

There’s an online game I find myself playing way too much of‚ and I hate it. I would love to never play this game again‚ but its existence is a consequence of the deep structure of social media‚ so if I’m going to argue about things on the internet‚ then playing it is unavoidable. I call this game‚ “Where Is the Discourse?” It goes something like this: Alice opens with a few examples of an argument (or point of view‚ or sentiment‚ or whatever) that she doesn’t think much of and would like to refute. Bob counters that nobody who matters is making that argument and that Alice’s examples are cherry-picked (or “nutpicked” to use the old “blogosphere” term from the mid-2000s). Alice responds to Bob by highlighting the credentials of the people behind a few of her examples. Maybe they have large social media followings or notable institutional affiliations. Or maybe the person is a total rando‚ but the tweet or screen-cap or Forbes article with the person's byline on it has tons of shares. Bob then works his way through Alice’s response by picking apart‚ in detail‚ the qualifications and standing of each of the people she has put forth. (Optional step): Alice rebuts Bob with a defense of each individual’s standing as a qualified participant in the Discourse‚ and both parties drift further into the weeds of credentials‚ metrics‚ and bona fides. By the time they get to move #4 in this game‚ the debate has shifted entirely from a fight over the merits of the argument Alice sought to refute to a squabble over whether or not this specific list of individuals is representative of any larger group‚ movement‚ or way of thinking. In other words‚ Alice and Bob are now fighting over the location of the Discourse. Where is it? Who is and is not a participant in it? Which bylines‚ institutional affiliations‚ follower counts‚ or engagement metrics qualify an individual as a bona fide participant in the Discourse? Back in the bad old days of media monopolies‚ everyone knew where the Discourse was. If you had a local monopoly on one or more scarce channels of distribution — a slice of the electromagnetic spectrum‚ newsstand‚ library shelf space‚ or print facilities plus a fleet of delivery vehicles — then you were definitionally a site of the Discourse and could gatekeep who participated and who did not. But now that everyone with smartphone access has the ability to publish text‚ images‚ sound‚ and video instantly for the entire planet to see‚ our society has collectively lost track of the location of the Discourse in the space of about a decade and a half. No new discursive Schelling point has emerged to replace the now-dead radio‚ TV‚ and print monopolies. We are adrift. Perhaps the most corrosive effect of “Where Is the Discourse?” on our collective intellectual life is the way it reduces even the loftiest issues down to petty fights over credentials. I’m reminded of the adage‚ “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” The discourse game‚ then‚ is a powerful mechanism for turning every discussion of ideas into a discussion of people‚ thereby shrinking the mind of each player by two sizes.

New York business owners are fed up with state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) after he refused last week to back Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul's plan to strengthen penalties for violent shoplifters‚ the New York Post reported.In an effort to curb rampant theft‚ Hochul's budget proposal called for increased sentences for shoplifters who assault retail workers. Heastie rejected the plan‚ claiming that it would not be effective at preventing retail theft‚ Blaze News previously reported. "All the other times that we've raised penalties on different classes of people‚ that hasn't stopped assaults. We still need to get to the root issues of what's going on. We'd be open to talking about the organized crime rings that people have‚ but I just don't believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime‚" Heastie stated last week. "You can stop anybody in the street and ask them what is the penalty for assaulting anybody‚ and they probably won't be able to give you an answer.""I don't want to make it sound like we're not concerned about stemming what's happened to retail workers‚" he continued. "We care very deeply about that. We just have other ideas of how to get there."Heastie's refusal to implement tougher jail sentences for violent shoplifters ignited outrage among New York City business owners battling the retail theft crisis.Nelson Eusebio‚ who heads the National Supermarket Association and Coalition to Save our Supermarkets‚ told the Post‚ "How do you deter crime except by penalty?""Our workers are on the front line dealing with shoplifters and criminals‚" Eusebio added. "It's open season on retail workers in the city."A CVS retail worker explained to the news outlet that the thieves were "not taking one or two" items but "taking the whole shelf.""Nobody wants to deal with it‚" the employee stated‚ noting that even "low-price products" are being locked up."Now the items get locked up‚ and the people don't‚" the worker added.Kenneth Giddon‚ co-owner of Rothman's New York in Union Square‚ told the Post on Monday that a violent flash mob targeted his clothing store twice over a three-week period in December 2021. He called Heastie's stance on increased penalties "ridiculous.""I'd be glad to talk to him so he can learn what it's like firsthand dealing with these problems and getting the same people who come back over and over and over again to rob us‚" Giddon told the news outlet. "He's completely out of touch.""We've had employees punched during shoplifting instances‚" he added. "Retail jobs are important for the economy‚ but why should people work in a dangerous situation and not be protected?""Common sense says that stiffer penalties deter crime‚" Giddon continued. "People believe now that they can shoplift and not be punished for it‚ and that is really‚ really bad for our society. So what's the next crime that you're not going to be punished for?"New York retailers lost approximately $4.4 billion in 2022 due to rampant shoplifting and organized retail theft rings. Former Governor David Paterson (D) told WABC that he was "kind of surprised" Heastie did not support Hochul's plan to boost criminal sentencing."These are people who are not high wage earners. Most of them are not unionized. … When people come in to rob the stores … that there should be any leniency for this type of thing‚ I really don't understand that‚" Paterson said. "People like myself who have always been advocates for a fair trial for people — not let the deck get stacked against them as it used to be in the past — are having to recognize that there's going to have to be a greater sense of punishment than there is right now."Heastie did not respond to the Post's request for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!