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Charlie Hoffman Blames Obama for Reagan Anti-Discrimination Law

One of my favorite Eureka neighbors, Charlie Hoffman, tweeted me the other day with another complaint about That Man in the White House:

Charlie Hoffman, tweet, 2016.11.23
Charlie Hoffman, tweet, 2016.11.23

Oh, that darned Obama! I stepped out of my bubble and went to read the Fox News article Charlie sent me:

The Denver Sheriff’s Department set out to hire scores of deputies last year to lessen the burden on its staff and cut millions in overtime.

It advertised for prospects, and included U.S. citizenship as a requirement.

By this past spring, it had hired 200 deputies.

The Justice Department did not congratulate the agency – instead, it slapped Colorado’s largest sheriff’s department with a $10,000 fine and a host of steps it must take to address what was described as discriminatory hiring [Elizabeth Llorente, “Denver Sheriff’s Department Fined $10K for Hiring Only US Citizens,” FoxNews.com, 2016.11.22].

Then I read the press release from the Department of Justice explaining its settlement with the Denver Sheriff’s Department:

The Justice Department reached a settlement today resolving claims that the Denver Sheriff Department discriminated against work-authorized immigrants in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  The Denver Sheriff Department is the largest sheriff department in the state of Colorado.

The Justice Department’s investigation found that from approximately Jan. 1, 2015, until approximately March 23, 2016, the Denver Sheriff Department discriminated based on citizenship status by requiring applicants for deputy sheriff positions to be U.S. citizens and publishing job postings with U.S. citizenship requirements, in violation of the INA.  The INA’s anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from limiting jobs to U.S. citizens except where the employer is required to do so by law, regulation, executive order or government contract.  The Denver Sheriff Department was not subject to one of the INA’s exceptions [U.S. Department of Justice, press release, 2016.11.21].

Then I read the settlement agreement to find the specific federal law the Denver Sheriff’s Department broke (unknowingly, the Denver Sheriff’s Department maintains):

Department of Justice and Denver Sheriff's Department, settlement agreement, 2016.11.21.
Department of Justice and Denver Sheriff’s Department, settlement agreement, 2016.11.21.

Then I looked up 8 USC § 1324b to find out when that darned President Obama signed that federal law.

Public Law 99-603—Nov. 6, 1986
Public Law 99-603—Nov. 6, 1986

8 USC 1324b, enacted November 1986. Barack Hussein Obama was working as a community organizer in Chicago, and the man signing bills into law was Ronald Wilson Reagan.

So the tweet Charlie sent me about the Denver Sheriff’s Department paying a fine for discriminating against non-citizen job applicants was really an example of Reagan’s America.

That darned Reagan and his darned love of immigrants!

32 Comments

  1. Lynn Ryan

    Fox News didn’t investigate? What? Quelle surprise!

  2. Loren

    Cory, why do you continually insist on bringing facts to a good story? ;-)

  3. 96Tears

    Paul Harvey: “And NOW you know the REST of the story!”

    Epic flop, Señor Hoffman.

  4. jerry

    In the days of old, back when Mr. Hoffman was still playing marbles with rabbit do do, there was a president that Republicans adored and still think of today (mostly now of being a closeted Democrat) called Ronald Reagan. http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Ronald_Reagan_Immigration.htm

    The hate that is now represented by his party would be incomprehensible to what his vision ad of Morning in America was all about. Now it is Mourning in America.

  5. Darin Larson

    Well you know conservatives and how they value the rule of law or the rule of some laws some of the time. I can’t wait for Trump to start his reign. He will know which laws to take seriously and which laws to ignore.

  6. Tim

    Wasn’t Mr Hoffman in the state legislature at one time? Nuff said about the people voters send there. As soon as I seen where Mr Hoffman’s info was coming from (Fox News), I knew how this would end up.

  7. Indeed he was, Tim, from 2009 through 2014. Charlie tried to return this year, but District 23 GOP primary voters instead picked Spencer Gosch and John Lake, whom I am sure will not fall so easily for Fox News propaganda.

  8. Rorschach

    Facts are stubborn things. People who want to blame President Obama are stubborn too, and resistant to facts.

  9. Donald Pay

    Great job of running this all down. When it comes to peddling propaganda, FOX news and other righty outlets can count on millions of ignorant and prejudiced primed oafs that, unthinking, eat it up and vomit it out. We laugh at the stupidity, but it’s that kind of ignorance that elected Trump.

  10. Thanks, Donald! There’s the problem: pandering to ignorance and prejudice takes just 140 characters. Debunking such easy propaganda takes a good blog post with hyperlinks.

    I also get the impression that extremists dedicated to their radical misportrayal of reality are more dedicated to clicking their propaganda into online-virality than we relatively moderate, fact-based citizens are to writing and spreading our own defenses of fact.

  11. Chuck-Z

    The frustrating thing for me is that all these people have the world’s information at their fingertips via the World Wide Web. What do they do with it? They put the digital blinders on and not only blindly believe sketchy stories, but then pass on the false information to others as if it were true.

    It’s not just Charlie. We’ve heard from Norstrop that Sharia law is invading our nation and we need to be afraid. We’ve seen the bizarre links and corners of the web that both Nelson and Hickey are ingesting and regurgitating, warping the fray even further.

    I must admit that I was sorely mistaken a decade or so ago in believing the internet would make us a more intelligent species. All that information at your fingertips? It is like Star Trek! Unfortunately, now I believe “smart” phones just make people dumber, and it appears to be happening at a rapid rate. What happened to seeking knowledge and truth?

  12. Doug Lund

    Cory. I appreciate the fact you took some time to expose the facts here.

  13. Chuck-Z, the comparison between Hoffman on the Denver story and Novstrup on his false belief that Sharia Law is running rampant in America is useful. Charlie and Al both use their authority in their circles to peddle these stories. Folks in their circles are unlikely to question or challenge them. Charlie at least maintains a circle wide enough to include me, and I just happen to be curious and crotchety enough to look this stuff up.

    Charlie has yet to respond to me on the short response I offered on Twitter. Al has yet to issue any public recantation or apology for his error. I suspect Al never will acknowledge the correction offered to his Sharia fantasy by me or other press outlets. He won’t risk legitimizing his opponents or any who might upset his worldview with facts. He has to keep his circle tight, so he has to keep them believing that he is an authority and that I and the rest of the media are not.

  14. mike from iowa

    Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie were just the beginning as President-elect Donald Trump dined with his family at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

    Their festive feast included six choices of main courses and eight different desserts — including “three-layer Trump chocolate cake.”

    Here’s what else was on the soon-to-be first family’s menu.
    Mar-a-Lago Chilled Seafood Display

    Large Florida Stone Crabs
    Oysters on the Half Shell
    Jumbo Shrimp
    Middle Neck Clams
    From the Garden

    Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad
    Farm-Fresh Deviled Eggs
    Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous Salad
    Ahi Tuna Martinis
    House Made Soup Selections

    Maine Lobster Bisque
    Local Vegetable Minestrone Soup
    Savory Sensations

    Oven-Roasted Turkey, Traditional Stuffing, Sweet Mashed Potatoes, House Made Gravy
    Herb-Marinated Beef Tenderloin, Steamed Vegetables, Whipped Potatoes, Warm Popovers, Horseradish Cream
    Chef-Carved Leg of Lamb, Grilled Pita and Tzatziki Sauce
    Pan-Seared Chilean Sea Bass, Curried Vegetables, Coconut Shellfish Broth
    Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs, Herb Roasted Potatoes, Natural Braising Jus
    Grilled Diver Scallops, Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille
    Sweet Sensations

    Three-Layer Trump Chocolate Cake
    Pumpkin Pie
    Toasted Coconut Cake
    Chocolate Eclairs
    Pecan Pie
    Warm Chocolate Brownie Pockets
    Creamy Key Lime Pie
    Hot Apple Crisp
    NBC News reported Wednesday that the family’s Florida Thanksgiving was guarded by a contingent of at least 150 Secret Service personnel. A Homeland Security official told NBC News that the cost to the taxpayer of that operation alone would reach $7 million.

    Those decadent damn Obama’s spent Thasnksgiving serving veterans a Thanksgiving dinner.

  15. mike from iowa

    Where’s the FREAKING OUTRAGE?

  16. grudznick

    Mr. Mike, I am somewhat outraged that for that price there appears to be only one kind of potato on the menu. I do not count orange potatoes of any kind because they are really a squash and you can’t put gravy on them without looking silly.

  17. John

    Who knew?! that Faux News was part of the fake news network?! Who knew?!
    Only the under-educated, idiots, or fact-checkers bother watching or reading their propaganda. Perhaps Herr Hoffman’s Goebbels would be proud, or professionally jealous.

  18. John

    What’s your opinion, Mr. Hoffman?

    “I don’t know; Hannity’s not on until 7 pm.”

  19. Tim, I heard the same thing about us left-wingers not being as gullible on NPR on Wednesday: the guy who made up the story about an FBI agent who leaked Clinton e-mails being killed told NPR that “his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.” I suspect he’s running into the same phenomenon that keeps liberal counterparts to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh from really taking off: we liberals are better connected to reality and less reliant on malarkey. Thus, we don’t have to work as hard to maintain our worldviews. RIght-wingers who want to deny climate change, institutional racism, the net economic and moral benefits of immigration, and Donald Trump’s complete unfitness for office need a constant dose of Fox News blaring from their TVs, Limbaugh barking from their radios, and Breitbart oozing from their screens to insulate them from the steady stream of fact they’d get from honest sources. There are lunkheads on all sides, but in general, I contend it’s not liberals who live in La-La-Land.

  20. Jana

    Charlie Hoffman, you’re twitter and endorsement has been proven false, yet do not have the guts or moral compass to correct your error.

    That speaks volumes as to who you are and the level of trust that should be given to anything you say.

    Put your big boy pants on and clear the air.

    What? No? You actually think spreading disinformation is good for South Dakota and the people who respect and follow you?

    Your inaction is a great reflection on the dishonesty of the GOP and Republican legislature when it comes to your respect for the people of South Dakota.

    Charlie? We’re waiting…and watching.

  21. Chuck-Z

    I have parents who tun off Fox News long enough to catch Rush on the radio. Five days per week! The seventh day they head off to church and have all their Fox fears confirmed.

    I really don’t know what do do about it. We mostly just don’t talk at all, as there is no debating anymore. They truly believe that Fox News is the only media that you can trust, everything else is “liberal media” (lies). Science or facts mean nothing – they have no interest. Rush and Fox News have done serious damage in our family, and it sucks!

  22. grudznick

    You should get them involved in Conservatives with Common Sense. There they do not listen to that Rush fellow.

  23. Chuck-Z

    Maybe if Glenn Beck can become enlightened there is hope.

  24. leslie

    mfi, it looks as if we have real sophisticated palates in the first family. listening to trump’s daughter, she is obviously well schooled in the family business and will be a force (dark?) to be reckoned with.

    $7 mill on thanksgiving for security, huh. I’m sure we spent similar numbers while vacationing in Hawaii, and I suppose Trump is celebrating his victory.

    its going to be interesting because privacy may not be high on Trump’s agenda, but we are going to get to watch affluence at work at the top in the USA. It’ll be an education for us all. People like thune may desire the life style of the rich and famous.

  25. mike from iowa

    Grudz, you should be outraged your school didn’t teach you to read or count. I see whipped spuds and herb roasted spuds besides the orange ones.

  26. leslie

    chuckz-i saw the same thing in the comment chains the opposition generated to the BLACK ELK PEAK name change over the last two years. there is a big difference between the thought process and values of dems and republicans, generally. this election showed the complexity of the population of the nation.

  27. leslie

    Charlie- I salute you for coming here and communicating with cory and sharing with us.

    I have fox news people on the other side of my family, and this election is just going to allow them to dig their heels in further. wrong or not. beliefs are an odd thing. these discussions will never have a rational solution. rush, fox, ailes, breitbart and those so eager to attack main stream media have done such deep lasting damage to our population. a friend of mine for the last 50 years still speaks viciously of the betrayal he feels from years of walter cronkite, @CBS as the nightly news anchor. Vietnam.

    I guess its no surprise Jeff Sessions is still bitter about losing the Civil War.

    we humans are quite shallow in our intelligence, really.

  28. Jana

    Charlie! You are strangely silent. Hard to believe your buddies Lee, Troy, Fred and the gang have not come to your rescue.

    Although a quick trip to your twitter page shows that you have not corrected your blatant lie. Hmmm…seems to be a pattern with you and the boys. Spread the lie and then when it is shown to be a lie…let it go.

    Do you really think that little of your followers and their intellect to not correct a lie?

    Charlie, you were a legislator that people trusted. Now that this has proved to be a lie that you let rest, what else have you lied about?

    Mr. Hoffman, correct your lie now or have one of your buddies come in and try and save face…or we will know that what you say is more than wide open to disbelief.

    Charlie? The balls in your court.

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