Sunday, December 24, 2023

How Dems Like Newsom Got Away With Destroying A Great State

 The Federalist

Gavin Newsom wasn’t the first leftist to destroy California, but he has undoubtedly been the most successful.

"California Gov. Gavin Newsome is straight out of central casting for a perfect liberal: JFK looks but without JFK’s pesky conservative beliefs.

"All perfect leftists have an accidental view of history, and Newsom has a Ph.D. in accidents. To be a perfect leftist you have to subscribe to the theory that things just… happen. The basic philosophy and matching campaign rhetoric is: All the bad things you see — from homelessness and crime to inflation and war — are accidental. They could have happened to anybody regardless of policies, so give Democrats more of your money, and don’t ask about outcomes.

"To satisfy the more critically thinking liberal voter, they pivot to: If there are reasons why bad things happen, it’s the fault of fill-in-the-blank conservative, and now we have to fix it with left-wing policies (read: spending money). The intent of a policy matters more than its outcome.

"I was raised in Southern California, spent over half my life there, and let me tell you, in the ’70s and ’80s, it was the best place on the planet to live. California was magical. Growing up there was amazing, and most adults who lived there in that era concur, regardless of political affiliation. It’s almost impossible to convince a SoCal kid who experienced everything that great state had to offer that there was a better place to be raised in America

"Out-of-state cousins wanted to come visit every holiday, and their parents loaded up cars and vacationed where we spent our lives daily. We rode our bikes well after dark without a care in the world, walked in Hollywood without fear, strolled the beaches in the wee hours of the morning, regularly rode up to bowling alleys, stores, and restaurants — and then just left our bikes without locking them up. Kids of the ’70s and ’80s were (little “g”) gods, and California was our kingdom.

"There was one exception to our Golden State utopia, and it came in the summer of 1984 when the Night Stalker paralyzed SoCal residents. It lasted a little more than a year, and when he was caught, we celebrated, not just because the killing spree was over but because we all could resume our lives without fear. The Night Stalker was named that because he struck only at night — but now, in broad daylight, California residents know they can be a victim at any time and in any neighborhood. 

"People outside California look at it now and wonder: How did it all go so wrong? How could the greatest place on the planet turn into the steaming pile of dung it is today? The “what” isn’t complicated. The state went from red to blue in the early ’90s. And while there is debate as to the reasons it flipped, when it did, the state declined rapidly with no end in sight." . . .


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