The continued insanity of California
Published 05-06-21
California’s effort to try every harebrained progressive idea under the sun continued with news of the imminent release of 63,000 individuals from California prisons under the guise of making them safer.
I’d wager the safety of California’s residents who didn’t break the law didn’t enter the calculations of which violent felons should be released.
Just the “over crowded and unsafe” conditions of many of California’s prisons, as decided by California’s Supreme Court.
It’s definitely part of a political calculation that Governor Newsom is risking in the face of a qualifying recall effort statewide.
His White House aspirations are still there. As is his ego.
And California’s electoral votes are pretty firmly in the blue column... no matter the swings of its regional political scene.
The recall will be an interesting political exercise, as it plays out with the themes dominating the national political conversation.
Will Gavin further drift left with the activist base of his party? Will he try to thread the needle of the pro-business leftist after decimating California’s small businesses with his COVID response or will he play to the race conscious left and ever increasing identity politics?
How will that play in other regions of the country?
What I know is that more than politics, Newsom likes power and has been one track in seeking it since his days in the San Francisco DA’s office.
I would bet good money that Governor Newsom will start opening the floodgates of leftist goodies both as a warning to those who oppose him, and as a carrot for those activists he will need during the recall.
It’s what I would do in his shoes.
It;s not like the press, both nationally and in Sacramento, won’t carry his water, or favored narrative.
Newsom’s biggest problem is what Kamala Harris represents... the new guard of the national party and the Obama machine.
He represents the Pelosi wing of the Democrat Party. Old money and power that the new left doesn’t have much of a use for.
They still hold power, but their ability to wield that power is diminished every day and with every new Antifa call to action.
As I’ve said before... we live in interesting times.
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Books are an easy way into the public consciousness, and are the social currency for American political elite. And they’re profitable.
Books from politicians and politicos get purchased in lots by party apparatuses to be used as giveaways for donors… both parties are guilty of it. Add the proliferation of Super PACs and advocacy organizations now present in our political culture, all vying for donations and attention, it’s become less about substance and more about being part of the club.
Like much in our elite society, it’s a heck of a grift.
Solutions apparently aren’t to be found in the halls of Congress anymore or in lofty speeches to persuade both the public and those who serve to their better angels, instead you’ll have to wait for the release party and appearances on cable morning shows.
It’s maddening that these public servants spend much of their time in government finding ways to pad their incomes and further capitalize on their service.
The fact that it’s done while collecting a public salary isn’t even considered.
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I’ve written before about what crazy times we find ourselves in... a realignment of the political order, how we identify within it and what our parties represent, both historically and in the modern age.
Some days trying to figure out the landscape can give you whiplash.
Intra party political battles have been around as long as there have been political parties, but this is kind of different.
We’ve seen it play out in smaller instances on both the left and the right. Sometimes having the optics of a binary political system can be helpful.
Free speech, corporate involvement in civic life, immigration, foreign policy and military use in conflict resolution... all have seen a flip flop in positioning by the two major parties over my adult life.
The ACLU of my childhood - an organization of free speech absolutists by mission and design - resembles nothing of what it is today, encouraging censoring of speech and thought.
The right, after a long period of free market absolutism, is waking up to the dangers of corporations run amuck after a full throated defense of Citizens United and corporations are people too.
If it feels like everything is a whirlwind of chaos, it’s because it is.
In modern times, the Republican political establishment is comfortable in it’s position as foil and punching bag. It’s become beholden to the donor class, and unresponsive to its base.
It’s how you end up winning a presidential race, but fail at governing once you’ve won.
And the republicans will continue to fail as long as they pay lip service to a populace that is becoming less patient with every protest and daily outrage that never gets fixed.
A nation that elects a person President that had zero government experience isn’t really in a wait and see kind of mood, and it’s high time someone in charge noticed.