RINGSIDE POLITICS – JULY 6, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) After answering a handful of questions on Afghanistan, President Joe Biden abruptly decided he was not going to answer any more on the subject during a press briefing Friday, saying there is a holiday coming up and he wanted to talk about “happy things.”

The US is in the process of pulling troops out of Afghanistan, where the US military has waged war for nearly two decades. Early Friday, news media reported the US military had left Bagram Air Base, which has been the largest US base in Afghanistan and an operations center in America’s longest war.

The withdrawal of US forces and the pending conclusion of a so-called “forever war” is a major endeavor, one which impacts not just the US but also its NATO allies and Afghan partners.

2) Several Texas sheriffs and the Federal Police Foundation sued President Joe Biden Thursday for what they say is his administration’s “unlawful and unconstitutional” policies related to removing criminal illegal immigrants from the country.

The counties and their sheriffs filing the lawsuit include Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson, Edwards County Sheriff J.W. Guthrie, McMullen County Sheriff Emmett Shelton, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West, Galveston County, and the Federal Police Foundation-ICE Officers Division. More counties are expected to join the lawsuit.

They filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, Galveston Division, represented by Kris Kobach, the former attorney general of Kansas, with Alliance for Free Citizens, Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith, and Chris Hajec with the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

3) If you’ve driven through Michigan over the last several months you’ve noticed gas prices have been increasing seemingly every week. Now, gas prices are some of the highest the state has seen all year.

According to AAA, gas is averaging $3.20 per gallon of unleaded in Michigan, 9 cents more than a week ago, 18 cents more than this time last month, and $1.03 more than this time last year.

Motorists are now paying an average of $48 for a full 15-gallon tank of gas; an increase of a staggering $9 from when prices were their highest last January, according to AAA.

4) Kris Kobach is representing four Texas sheriffs and a law enforcement group in a federal lawsuit against President Joe Biden and his administration over a policy discouraging the deportation of some immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Kobach is seeking the Republican nomination for Kansas attorney general in 2022 after failed bids for governor in 2018 and the U.S. Senate in 2020. He is a former Kansas secretary of state who built a national profile by advocating more restrictive immigration policies and advising former President Donald Trump.

He is listed as the general counsel for the Alliance for Free Citizens in a statement announcing the lawsuit’s filing Thursday, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports. Its website says the alliance is a nonprofit dedicated to “individual liberties, communities, families, and shared patriotic values.”

Today’s Guests:

1) BRANDON IRLBECK, CEO AND FOUNDER OF YORESPOT

2) Michelle Hirstius, Author and Commentator, Ringside Politics All-Star

3) Dr. James Stroud, Co-Founder and Managing Member; Stealth R&D LLC

4) Leilani Heno, New Orleans Mayoral Candidate