Rep. Chris Collins was in town today for a meeting at the VFW and we caught up with him afterward at the Pok-A-Dot. Collins often stops at the Dot for breakfast, but hadn't tried the Dot's famous beef-on-weck before today*.
We asked Collins for his thoughts on the tragic events of the past week and what Congress might be able to do about events like these.
He said these are complex issues that, unfortunately, too many people want to politicize or try to solve with simplistic suggestions.
"If you’re going to talk about tragedies, the shootings, the murders, what we need to do is come together as a nation, address the root cause of our problems and hope people can come together," Collins said. "That doesn’t mean it's solved overnight, but that’s the direction we go, with a conversation together, identifying root causes, finding the solutions."
Collins, who is supporting Donald Trump for president, doesn't think the present administration is up to the task.
"The biggest problem we have is we have is a president who isn’t interested in that (finding common ground)," Collins said. "He politicizes every tragedy. He tries to make political points out of every tragedy, and in doing so he’s divided our country like it’s never been divided before."
Collins hopes the next administration will do better.
“The next president, whoever that is, has to bring our nation together," Collins said.
As for root causes, there are many, Collins said, such as mental health, terrorism and racism.
"Unfortunately, the country is just not working together," Collins said. "We’re finger pointing. We’re pointing fingers where maybe they don’t belong and very simplistically and very shamefully, suggesting simplistic insulting solutions as if that’s the solution when it’s not. This is tough stuff, whether it’s mental health, whether there are racial issues or not in that police department or not or this individual situation or another. It’s not simplistic, broad-brush stuff. It’s hard work."
CORRECTION: An aide says I'm wrong about the beef-on-weck. All three of us, he said, had a beef-on-weck together on the day of the primary election in 2012 and they've been "hooked" ever since.
Photos: Local businessman Louis Andolora snaps a picture of Collins to add to his "Cyber Pok-A-Dot" page and then poses for a picture with the congressman.
"As for root causes, there
"As for root causes, there are many, Collins said, such as mental health, terrorism and racism."
He's correct. But, I doubt that HE even knows just how screwed up things are in this country.
Take, for instance, this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMziWwS5PZ0
It shows a Minnesota cop stopping a young man for the absolute unforgivable "crime" of deciding NOT to get something to eat at McDonalds. And, if THAT wasn't bad enough, the driver also invoked his right to remain silent. THAT'S 2 strikes against him. Listen closely to the cop's narrative. At the end, the cop tells his "backup officers" something to the effect that [he might be old, and not the smartest person, but he knows a set-up when he sees one].
Well, not really, officer. You fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
That video (above) was taken by the police officer's dashcam. It was obtained, by the driver of the vehicle which was pulled over, as it was a public rrecord.
The driver ALSO requested, and obtained, the videos from the responding "backup officers" dashcams. One of them raced through the city streets at 97mph, to get to the scene of "no crime". Those videos can be found on Youtube at The Drewks channel.
Mr. Collins probably has no idea how screwed up things are. I've watched hundreds (possibly thousands) of videos where people are harassed, detained, and sometimes arrested, for "the crime" of photographing/videotaping interesting buildings - from a public sidewalk. The same pictures that can be seen on Google Maps. And, you wonder why people are upset?
His (non) answer bears marked
His (non) answer bears marked similarity to a Sarah Palin word-salad.
" We’re pointing fingers [. .
" We’re pointing fingers [. . .] very shamefully, suggesting simplistic insulting solutions as if that’s the solution when it’s not. [. . .] whether it’s mental health, whether there are racial issues or not in that police department or not or this individual situation or another."
All this from the first congressman to endorse insult-master and race-baterTrump. Hypocrite. Please, let's retire this mediocrity in November.
From your lips to God's ears
From your lips to God's ears Scott. This dweeb has NO IDEA what's going on and is simply a product of his gerrymandered congressional district where republican lemmings simply vote the party line.
How else does a guy from the extreme western, primarily suburban portion of this "district" get elected to represent a district that is almost exclusively rural & agricultural?? Is it because of his deep knowledge and understanding of the issues of said district? I don't think so.
We have an opportunity to elect someone from the center of the district who has deep seeded roots here and who I think will be significantly more in tune with the needs of the than the current representative.
Also, the fact that he was one of the first to endorse the nitwit that is donald trump (and yes, his name is deliberately not capitalized) is alone enough for me to vote against him. No one who thinks critically can honestly believe that trump is even remotely qualified to be the leader of this country.
Congratulations to Chris
Congratulations to Chris Collins on mastering the art of talking while saying nothing! It truly is an accomplishment that can only be achieved in Congress or by involving one's self in the Donald Trump campaign.
Daniel, I do agree with you
Daniel, I do agree with you on his "nothing talk" ..... now he can call himself a "career politician" the opposite of the platform he ran on to get elected in the first place..