RINGSIDE POLITICS – FEBRUARY 12, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) So much for the mayor’s order requiring masks at Super Bowl parties. Videos went viral on social media, showing throngs of mostly maskless fans and packed sports bars as the clock inside Raymond James Stadium ticked down on a hometown Super Bowl win for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“It is a little frustrating because we have worked so hard,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during an early Monday morning news conference with the Super Bowl Host Committee. “At this point in dealing with COVID-19, there is a level of frustration when you see that.”

Some 200,000 masks were handed out ahead of the game, and “a majority” of people and businesses followed the rules, she said.

2) Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned Thursday that migrants should not expect easy entry to the U.S. following President Biden’s executive orders on immigration, urging them not to be deceived by traffickers.

3) Joe Biden on Wednesday said U.S. schools are facing a “national emergency” as they struggle to reopen safely amid the coronavirus pandemic, pinning the blame squarely on President Donald Trump.

“Let me be clear: if President Trump and his administration had done their jobs, America’s schools would be open,” Biden said in a speech from Wilmington, Delaware. “Instead, America’s families are paying the price for his failures.”

“President Trump may not think this is a national emergency but I do,” Biden added. “Protecting our students, our educators, and our communities. Getting our schools open safely and effectively – this is a national emergency,” he said.

4) Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Donald Trump’s defense team, alarmed Democrats and many legal scholars with his argument in the first day of questions and answers in the Senate impeachment trial that presidents cannot be removed from office for an action they believe could help get them reelected.

Dershowitz said Thursday that his answer is being “willfully distorted.”

In response to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about whether it mattered if Trump engaged in a “quid pro quo,” Dershowitz said motive was what mattered and if an act was in the public interest, it was not impeachable. And he said it was reasonable for a public official to equate what is in their own political interest with the public good.

“Every public official that I know believes that his election is in the public interest,” he said. “And if a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.”

Today’s Guests:

1) Sam Sorbo, Actress, Author, Educator – joins the show in the first hour to talk about the socio-political zeitgeist and the mob mentality of Hollywood.

2) Chris Holton, Vice President of Outreach, Center for Security Policy – calls to discuss the latest in the Biden administration.

3) Donna Carol Voss, Ringside All-Star – joins the show to talk about the hot topics of the week and opine with callers