--- ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2024/027h.jpg) [ LOS ANGELES ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=312) # Can We Do Squat About Squatters, and Bring Order to Law and Order, Without the GOP? April 01 2024 Written by Ken Alpern. [](https://www.addtoany.com/share) ALPERN AT LARGE - As divided and crazy as those right-wing Republicans all-too-often are, they seem to have a purpose. Take for example, when those who think the rules are so awful that the rule-breakers and squatters and cop killers deserve a lot more pity than most of us reckon they deserve. So the Left (and they’ve been grown and harvested for the better part of a century now, haven’t they?) believes that the cost of housing is so bad that squatters deserve love more than the homeowners whose homes they’ve stolen, and that criminals deserve love more than the law-abiding, and that the police are the REAL bad guys. While I certainly don’t want some mayhem-ridden Mad Max-like vigilante-driven dystopia, I’m surprised we’ve not seen more of it. But there’s some hope—even ultra-left-wing San Francisco started showing a bit of love to their police, and more demands of its criminal citizenry to follow the laws or face consequences. But in the Sunshine State (that’s Florida, you ninnies, not California!) something was just done in a bipartisan fashion…anti-squatters laws! Ooooh, that mean Florida Governor DeSantis! The NERVE of him to eliminate [squatters’ rights in Florida](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/desantis-eliminates-squatters-rightsflorida-gives-power-cops-remove-offenders)! Demanding that homeowners be allowed access into their own homes is just so, so, so…mean! And yet Florida is a state where (as with Texas), the population is growing, and both Californians and New Yorkers by the millions have moved to—or are at least considering a move to—because of la-la-land craziness that supports grab-and-smash destruction of businesses, no bail, and no prison time for those who deserve it. Oh, and that Florida anti-squatting bill? Bipartisan, and favored by groups like the Squatter Hunters [reported by the Times, Fox News](https://voz.us/everything-you-need-to-know-about-squatter-squad-the-group-that-takes-on-the-task-of-evicting-squatters-in-california/?lang=en), and just about everywhere along the political spectrum. And why is it that so many of us, Democratic or Republican or Independent, root for the Squatter Squad and others demanding that house thieves be treated as such, and brazen squatters “kicking out” their proper owners? Newsweek also notes how Californians are taking the squatting crisis[ into their own hands](https://www.newsweek.com/california-squatter-crisis-landlord-property-tenants-1883256). Pro-squatting creep and a-hole extraordinaire Leonel Moreno, an illegal alien [TikTok influencer from Venezuela](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXtK-ZONnz4) may be on the run from authorities, but he’s not the only one here illegally grabbing what’s not rightfully theirs. Lots of ‘em, native-born to boot, pushing the squatting. Of course, the suggestion that those running this state—the Democratic left-of-left-of-left wing theocracy helped bring us to this lunacy by renters’ rights legislation gone berserk, is not allowed—and is considered just so…so…mean! And partisan! Partisan, I tells ya’, partisan! PARTISAN!!! Because partisan is only possible when Republicans decry Democrats, while vice versa could not possibly be partisan—Democrats decrying Republicans is never “wrong”. It’s just calling truth to power. Except when the power is entirely Democratic, as we see in California and New York. Ditto for Chicago and Seattle and Portland—Democrats own the lawlessness there, but somehow get away with blaming “those MAGA people” wherever or whoever, they are. Not long ago, it was politically tenable for a Democratic mayor, governor, or president to be a “law and order liberal”. But not since President Clinton. Fast forward to today: we now are “blessed” with President Joe Biden, who just had a bigshot, bigtime, and big money political fanfare with all sorts of famous Hollywood types and musicians to fund President Biden’s re-election campaign… …while a mere 40 miles away, former President Trump (yeah, THAT guy) spent time with New York Mayor Eric Adams (in fairness, a Democrat) to attend a wake (no raising money, just raising memories) of police officer Jonathan Diller slain by a disgusting piece of filth with at least 21 prior arrests. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who New Yorkers mistakenly chose over Lee Zelden—and with a resultant explosion of pro-criminal legislation and a no surprising explosion of crime as a result—tried to show she cared (while helping to create the lawlessness) by attending the wake… …until as in a [viral video](https://www.newsweek.com/kathy-hochul-video-jonathan-diller-nypd-wake-1885248) she was booted out by the police who wanted nothing to do with her. So…a Do we LIKE the stores with items of basic living all closed off and locked up because storeowners are terrified of having their merchandise stolen? Do we LIKE decreased access to supermarkets, and limited hours of operations for restaurants? Do we LIKE precious funds going to “migrants” who by the millions have taken over cities and institutions meant for veterans, American-born homeless, and native-born Americans born into poverty? Way to go, Joe! Hip, hip, hurrah, Kamala! For those who give a damn about history and the Enlightenment, there was a very smart man, very outside-of-the-box in his thinking, and perhaps considered “woke” during his era, named Adam Smith, and he once said: “Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.” Our now-woke newly “enlightened” thinkers (and the politicians among them) now believe that mercy to the innocent (and law abiding) is cruelty to the guilty (and lawbreaking). Adam Smith helped create the paradigms of a freedom-loving, self-starting, and thriving United States of America. In contrast, what are those cities, states, and nations run by the Left-of-Left (and, specifically, those such as the modern-day leadership of the Democratic Party in this nation) offering current and future generations? Many of you reading this are allergic to the word Republican, and probably consider them all the same—they look the same, talk the same, and act the same—in the way too many Americans viewed black and brown Americans. But those who do are just bigots, foolish bigots all. Those who define Democrats or Republicans as being “all alike” are all just bigots. But what should we DO to confront a Democratic Party leadership thwarting the needs of their own constituents, and Americans of all stripes and ethnicities by promoting the lawless over the lawful? Can the Democratic Party leadership replace itself, reinvent itself, and reform itself? Or do we need to follow the example of Florida and Texas and return a reinvigorated Republican Party to say “we told you so” and bring back the laws—and enforcement of those laws—required for basic civilization to properly exist? *(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)* [ ![save up to 4000 on used evs](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/LADWP/dwp%20ev%20ad2.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad") [ ![Donna Tryfman](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/ADS%20FOR%202026/Donna-Tryfman-Ad-Final-Complete-Border-White-Margin.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1") [ ![LA DWP #2 (Pay Your Bill Help)](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/LADWP/dwp%20level%20pay%205-7-25.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Pay Your Bill Help)") [ ![David DeJute Campaign](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/ADS%20FOR%202026/DejuteAd.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign") [ ![Pay Water Bill Help](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/LADWP/dwp%20-%20cares-ad.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)") [ ![Anna Reitano Vertical R. 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