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John Kellys sterling reputation as a Marine general with an appreciation for nuance led many Democrats to back his nomination as Homeland Security secretary in the hopes that he would rein in President Donald Trumps hardline immigration and security policies.

Instead, Kelly has moved to impose those policies with military rigor. He has pursued an aggressive deportation campaign; defended Trumps effort to ban visitors from several Muslim-majority countries; and hinted that he might separate migrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Kelly has joked with Trump about using violence against reporters and defended Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner amid allegations that he tried to set up a secret backchannel to the Russian government.

Today, its tough to find anyone on the left willing to defend Kelly. He has alienated potential allies on Capitol Hill, including Democrats who voted to confirm him, and is endangering his reputation as a nonpartisan figure in a presidential administration that has relatively few.

I think Secretary Kelly has drank the Kool-Aid, said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) who was among the Democrats who voted to confirm Kelly in January. Hes not the person who I thought I was voting for.

Kelly, a blunt-spoken Boston native, is the former commander of U.S. Southern Command. That gave him a close-up view of border security issues in the Southern Hemisphere, including problems with drug trafficking and illegal immigration. The Senate confirmed him 88-11.

One reason so many Democrats supported Kelly, 67, was because he indicated he would not target people enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a 2012 program put into effect by President Barack Obama to give work permits to young undocumented immigrants and protect them from deportation.

The program has not been canceled by the president, but there have been several reports of DACA recipients being detained or deported, undermining Kelly's standing among Democrats and pro-immigration activists.

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The secretary has repeatedly declared that his agency is targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds for removal from the United States. But he has moved away from an Obama administration policy that prioritized deporting those with serious criminal records and offered relief to lower-level offenders.

In the first three months of the Trump administration, arrests of non-criminal immigrants rose by 157 percent over the same period a year earlier, according to data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Last month, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who also voted to confirm Kelly, pounded him for deporting a Honduran mother and her five-year-old son. The mother, who had no criminal record, had fled gang violence and would be in danger if sent back to Honduras, Casey said.

Kelly said the mother and child had tried but failed to obtain permission to stay in the United States, and that under existing statutes, they were due for removal. He further added that most asylum seekers at the border simply parrot well-worn phrases to get a shot at staying in the United States, and that the woman had done just that.

Casey said this past week that he has been talking with Kelly to schedule a private meeting, so the senator can ask him about the administrations policy on how they decide to deport an immigrant and when they use discretion.

Look, weve had some arguments, the secretary and I, Casey said. I want to try to do whatever I can to work with him, but I think we probably have some basic differences.

Kelly declined to comment for this story.

Kellys defenders argue that he is taking stern stances now to prevent problems later. By hinting in March that he might separate undocumented parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, he may have dissuaded many would-be migrants from ever showing up at the boundary line. After floating the idea in early March, Kelly told lawmakers weeks later that, with some exceptions, he would not impose it.

Hes been given a mission and, like any military person, will accomplish the mission as long as its not illegal, said a retired military officer who served with Kelly. I would hardly call him cruel. I saw how he interacted with his kids -- stern, but no doubt he loved them.

Another retired military officer said Kelly, who lost a son to combat in Afghanistan, takes extremely seriously his duty to protect the United States, to the point where he may make some decisions that seem unfair. Kelly himself recently said that if more Americans knew the things he knew, theyd never leave the house.

Hes a very approachable guy, but hes got a job to do, the retired officer said. People have got to step back and see it through his eyes.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also defended Kelly, particularly his pledge to respond to oversight requests from anyone in Congress, even as the rest of the administration stonewalls Democrats.

He has said personally to me that if I hit a wall, call him, and he will try to fix it and get me the information that he has acknowledged that we need and deserve, McCaskill said.

The secretary has said if Democrats dont like his enforcement of immigration laws, they should change those laws or shut up. That bluntness has further infuriated Democrats, who note they have been trying for years to reform immigration laws but have been stymied by Republicans.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), one of Kellys fiercest critics on Capitol Hill, rattled off at least a half-dozen concerns she has with the secretary, mostly spanning his handling of immigration policy and transparency at the Department of Homeland Security.

The role, the mission of the agency is a very important one, which I support 1,000 percent, said Harris, who opposed Kellys confirmation. But when it comes to transparency and a clear guidance around what the [immigration] enforcement priorities will be at the agency, I have real questions and real concerns.

I would like to think he would be a moderating force because of his comments on DACA, said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who also voted against confirming Kelly. He has an understanding of why people want to come to this country, so I would think hopefully that would be part of his thinking.

Kelly has tried to split the difference on some of the more high-profile Trump promises. On the presidents call for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, for instance, Kelly has said the barrier is unlikely to run from sea to shining sea and that a security plan for the area could involve a mix of a wall, fences, drones and other technology.

But Kelly has surprised observers by standing up for Trump on some especially contentious issues, even when he doesnt necessarily have to.

He has repeatedly defended Trumps executive order banning visitors from Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, although multiple courts have halted the order over concerns that it illegally discriminates against Muslims due to their religion. Kelly alleged to senators Tuesday that the court rulings are hurting counter-terrorism efforts.

Kelly also has said he sees no issue with Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and White House adviser, trying to establish a secret way to communicate with the Russian government, despite ongoing federal probes into whether Trump aides colluded with the Kremlin in trying to influence the 2016 presidential election.

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He told senators during a hearing Tuesday that he assumes Kushner is a great American. But several Senate Democrats take issue with Kellys defense of the controversial White House adviser.

Im concerned that he seems to be treating it as typical established backchannel communications, said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who voted to confirm Kelly. I think some of the concerns many of us have is that Mr. Kushner seemed to desire great secrecy about this, even from the administration that was then in power.

And last month, during the U.S. Coast Guard Academys commencement ceremony, the Homeland Security secretary jokingly told Trump to use a ceremonial saber he was given on the press.

Activists say Kellys actions and statements suggest he is not familiar with the intricacies of U.S. immigration law, and that as a result he may be willing to go along with hardline interpretations of the law offered by other members of Trumps Cabinet, such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has long championed a crackdown on illegal and sometimes legal immigration. They also say that Kelly has more discretion than he likes to admit in how he enforces the law, such as prioritizing whom to deport.

He came in with a reputation of listening to all sides of an issue, but to date he has not reached out to the immigrant community in a significant way, said Kevin Appleby, a senior director with the Center for Migration Studies. He is increasingly surrounded by ideologues who limit his flexibility to solve problems.

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Democrats begin to turn on DHS chief - Politico

Virginias Democratic primary on Tuesday is shaping up to be the first real test of liberalism in the Trump era, with both candidates lurching for increasingly leftward policies to position themselves in contrast with President Donald Trump.

Lt. Gov Ralph Northam has used TV ads to call Trump a narcissistic maniac. Former Rep. Tom Perriello has proclaimed Trump is an authoritarian. Both candidates have taken decidedly liberal positions on abortion, guns, criminal justice and college tuition while using Trump bashing as a foundation of their campaigns. While Northam has the support of the Democratic establishment throughout Virginia and Perriello brings a potent Bernie Sanders endorsement to the Tuesday primary, the simmering question for the winner is how this race to the left in the Democratic primary which may appeal to Northern Virginia Democrats will play across the rest of the state in the general election.

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Virginia's gubernatorial elections often develop into contrasts with a new president, but there's a stark difference between now and how Republican candidate Bob McDonnell handled then-President Barack Obama in 2009. While critical of the Obama's economic record, the future governor also regularly praised Obama for supporting school choice, straddling the partisan divide.

The Democrats have felt no need to do the same with the less popular Trump, whose approval rating was at 36 percent in a recent Washington Post-George Mason University poll of Virginia.

Let's prove that Donald Trump's values are not Virginia values, Perriello says in one of his closing television ads. Northam has arguably gone further, using his TV campaign to call Trump a narcissistic maniac though Perriello answered Thursday with an ad of his own calling Trump "authoritarian," and invoking Virginia's motto: "Sic Semper Tyrannis," a shortened version of a Latin phrase meaning "Thus always I bring death to tyrants." Perriello has also lined up Khizr Khan, who became famous for his Democratic National Convention speech invoking his son, who died in the Iraq War, and slamming Trump, to campaign with him on Monday, the day before the primary.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, the only Democratic member of Virginias congressional delegation to remain neutral in the primary the others have all lined up behind Northam said its unclear if voters will respond to Perriellos vision of the governorship.

Can Tom ride the anti-Trump wave, which is very strong here in Northern Virginia? Connolly pondered in a recent phone interview. Can he make the case that the governors office should be a platform for the resistance?

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Invoking the resistance comes more naturally to Perriello than it does to Northam. It was former staffers of Perriellos who wrote the Indivisible guides, which have inspired dozens of local liberal-leaning groups that have poked and prodded their members of Congress on Trumps Russia scandals and the GOP health care repeal plan.

Northam, by his own admittance, is less of a firebrand and more unassuming than Perriello. But he has dived headlong into the anti-Trump-themed primary, too, when he unveiled the narcissistic maniac attack on Trump in his stump speech and later in TV ads.

We experienced in 2016 this campaign of Mr. Trumps that was run of fear, bigotry, hatred and a lot of misinformation, Northam said in an April interview. In politics, you tend to react whats going on around you. Theres been an awakening going on across Virginia, and I suspect across this country. I worry a lot about whats going on in Washington.

Northam, a pediatric neurologist, has defended the narcissistic maniac line as both politically effective and medically appropriate. When Meet The Press host Chuck Todd pressed him on its use last week, Northam didnt back down.

Theres a lot of overlap between psychiatry and neurology, and I would invite the viewers to look up the criteria for narcissism, he said, adding: I think theyll see some familiarity with what theyll see.

The results of the Republican primary have been in less doubt than the Democratic contest, but Trump has made waves in that race nonetheless.

Underdog candidate Corey Stewart, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors chairman, has argued that front-runner Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, is less than sincere in his backing of the under-fire Republican.

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, by his own admittance, is less of a firebrand and more unassuming than former Rep. Tom Perriello. But he has dived headlong into the anti-Trump-themed primary, too, when he unveiled the narcissistic maniac attack on President Donald Trump in his stump speech and later in TV ads. | AP Photo

Stewart (who was Trumps Virginia campaign chair for much of 2016 but was fired in October) stands next to a smiling Trump in his closing TV ad, while a narrator declares: Corey Stewart supports President Trump. Not Ed Gillespie. In a debate outside of Richmond this spring, Stewart attacked Gillespie for criticizing Trump after the release of the Access Hollywood tapes that showed Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women.

Ed was among the first Republicans in the country to kick him when he was down, Stewart said.

Gillespie responded by noting Trump himself apologized for the remarks. Coreys the only one who thinks theyre great comments, he said.

Invoking Trump has not given Stewart much traction; last months Washington Post poll found Gillespie with a 20 percentage point lead in the primary. And a plurality also thought Gillespie was the strongest Trump supporter in the race.

Yet Trumps brand of politics would seem an ill fit with what Gillespie has practiced as a political operative, 2014 Senate candidate and gubernatorial contender. Gillespie repeatedly pledges to be the governor of all Virginians, has released television ads in Spanish and Korean, and has mentioned his familys immigrant roots in web videos. In his 2014 Senate campaign, Gillespie made extensive outreach to Northern Virginia Muslim communities.

Still, Gillespie has largely avoided breaking with Trump. While GOP governors in blue states like Maryland, Vermont and Massachusetts have criticized his handling of the travel ban or his decision to pull out of the Paris agreement on reducing carbon emissions, Gillespie has resisted putting distance between himself and the president.

After an event in Northern Virginia on Wednesday, Gillespie was asked why his campaign ads didnt feature Trump the way his competitors did. His response was 45 seconds long, and he never said the presidents name, while every TV in the state features Northam and Perriello talking about Trump before the June 13 primary.

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Democrats bet on Trump in Virginia governor's race - Politico

New York Times

Can Democrats Save Themselves? New York Times To win the House in 2018 and buck President Trump's worst impulses, Democrats don't need more votes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They need them around Halcottsville, in the 19th Congressional District, where the party should be able to prevail but keeps ...

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Can Democrats Save Themselves? - New York Times

The citys public-housing stock is falling apart, and there are scant funds for repairs. So why are local politicians trying to block a plan to pump in new money?

Thats right: City Councilman Ben Kallos, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (Democrats, all) are trying to slow a plan to raise cash at the New York City Housing Authoritys Holmes Towers on the Upper East Side.

If they succeed, it could spell doom for the citys broader vision to save NYCHA housing.

Mayor de Blasio rolled out that broader plan in 2015, picking up on ex-Mayor Michael Bloombergs idea to generate NYCHA revenue by leasing the agencys underused land to private developers. The builders, in turn, would put up both market-rate and subsidized housing and fork over as much as $600 million over 10 years for NYCHA.

Last month, the city announced the first of these projects: a 340-unit building at the Holmes Towers on 92nd Street, just east of First Avenue. The developer, Hal Fetner, would sink an estimated $200 million into the deal, with $25 million going to the city up front.

Plus more goodies: Half the units would go to low- and middle-income tenants and half the new jobs to NYCHA residents. Plans also call for a new 14,500-square-foot playground and an 18,000-square-foot rec and community center.

But Kallos, Brewer and Maloney are fighting it as not good enough.

Maloney wants all new apartments to be subsidized, not just half. Kallos claims itll be too hard for NYCHA residents to afford even the subsidized units. Brewer says Manhattan should not be the cash cow for NYCHA.

Likewise, if Fetner has to subsidize every apartment, as Maloney suggests, hed lose on the deal. So why expect him to go through with it?

Remember, the main goal here is to raise cash for NYCHA repairs, not to relocate residents into fancy new digs with even greater subsidies than they get now.

The pols have other gripes: I dont think the NYCHA residents should be trapped in the shadows of the wealthy, huffs Kallos.

Now its hurtful to live near people better off than you?

They also complain about the loss of an existing playground, even though the new one and rec center will more than make up for it.

OK, pols love to pander to squeaky wheels and, especially in progressive New York, try to squeeze as much as possible from deep pockets. But this time theyre doing it at the expense of NYCHA tenants now stuck in those rotting apartments.

If they kill the Holmes project, what are the chances de Blasio can pull off more such deals to raise the cash needed to save NYCHA?

The pols should think about that when they go home to their own fancy digs.

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Democrats are trying to doom New York's public housing - New York Post

It was great entertainment, but for all the hype, the Senate Intelligence Committee hearings that featured former FBI Director James Comey failed to deliver a knockout punch.

You are not going to get another All the Presidents Men out of this story.

At least not yet. The facts are not there. Yes, Russia meddled in the presidential election, and yes, President Trump wanted Comey to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynns contacts with Russian officials.

But so far, there is no silver bullet that will bring the president down. As tempting as it is for the Democrats to push the idea that Trump could be guilty of obstruction of justice and push for impeachment, that could ultimately backfire on them it raises public expectations, but if it doesnt happen, it looks like you tried to do something and failed.

That wouldnt just hurt the party this time. If a real Trump scandal comes along, the Democrats will be haunted by a decision to spend their political capital and credibility on a scandal that came up short.

My advice would be to sit back, be polite and let special counsel Robert Muellers investigation take its course.

Let the questions hang out there in the publics mind, and leave the speculation to MSNBC.

The Senate Intelligence Committees hearings gave the whole world an opportunity to see our junior senator, Kamala Harris but not always to hear her.

On the first day of testimony, when she was sharply questioning Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Harris was basically told by committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., to shut up.

As Rosenstein bobbed and weaved and Harris tried to pin him down, Burr cut her off and demanded that she provide the witnesses the courtesy, which has not been extended, fully across, for questions to get answered.

Male dominance is still part of the Golden Club of 100 U.S. senators, as Sen. Elizabeth Nevertheless, She Persisted Warren can attest. After Burr disrespected Harris, Warren tweeted that silencing Californias junior senator for not being courteous enough is just unbelievable. Keep fighting, Kamala!

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, tweeted that Harris was getting facts onto the record. I was not interrupted by (Burr) when I asked tough questions. She was.

Earlier, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pleaded with Burr to rein Harris in. Too bad for him that she didnt return the favor during his incoherent questioning of Comey the next day.

Harris, however, was right on target Thursday when she brought up the private conversation between Trump and Comey on the status of the investigation into Flynn.

I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, Trump supposedly told Comey.

Harris likened the presidents statement to a robber holding a gun to somebody's head and saying, I hope you will give me your wallet.

The word hope was not the most operative word at the moment, Harris said.

It was hard to tell what Comey was more interested in during his Senate testimony, protecting the country or protecting his own career.

The former FBI director gave just enough to Democrats and Republicans for each side to form talking points Democrats could portray Trump as a lying egomaniac, while Republicans could maintain that the president didnt actually order Comey to do anything. But neither side could declare victory.

It was the same soft-shoe dance we saw Comey perform during his up-and-down pronouncements about Hillary Clintons emails during the 2016 campaign.

That hasnt stopped Trump and his operatives from trying to destroy him. The president first called him a showboat, then accused him of perjury. Trumps personal lawyer claimed Comey had leaked classified information.

John Kerry would recognize this Republican strategy call it swift-boating the showboat.

Movie time: Wonder Woman. A fabulous and fun movie on many levels. It has a star in Gal Gadot. It has a great plot and solid characters, and you wont go deaf from the special effects.

What was amazing for me was the number of parents who took their little daughters to the show. No doubt the girls will return to the theaters as teenagers for the sequel.

The Lovers: Somehow this comedy about a middle-aged couple in a dead-end marriage works.

Neither of the lead characters is particularly good-looking or sexy. Both are involved with someone else who is waiting for them to get a divorce. Then, right on the verge, they spark again. And so does the movie.

The Warriors are the best team in basketball. They may be too good.

Playoffs need to go seven games now and then. Games have to be interesting into the fourth quarter.

If the Warriors keep this up next year, and the year after that, what will be the point of watching?

Its tough being President Trumps mouthpiece. PR man Lee Houskeeper notes that overnight, Sarah Huckabee Sanders became Sarah Shuckabee.

Want to sound off? Email wbrown@sfchronicle.com

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Impeach Trump? Democrats need to take a deep breath - San Francisco Chronicle