Perspectives; Thoughts; Comments; Opinions; Discussions

Posts tagged ‘Gavin Newsom’

Today’s TWO Politically INCORRECT Cartoons by A.F. Branco


Branco Cartoon – Anti-Trump Authoritarian

A.F. Branco | on August 19, 2025 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/branco-cartoon-anti-trump-authoritarian/

Newsom The Authoritarian
A Political Caroon by A.F. Branco 2025

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flipboard

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Newsom calls Trump an authoritarian for trying to interfere with his own authoritarian policies.

BRANCO TOON STORE

Newsom Warns “Trump Will Be Running for a Third Term” — Says He Received ‘Trump 2028’ Hat in the Mail (VIDEO)

By Jim Hoft – The Gateway Pundit – Aug 14, 2025

California’s far-left Governor Gavin Newsom is back in front of the cameras and back in full meltdown mode.
On Thursday, the Democrat governor held a press conference in Downtown Los Angeles to hype the Democrats’ latest “redistricting effort,” but the event quickly devolved into an unhinged tirade aimed squarely at President Donald Trump.
Newsom accused Trump of plotting to “rig the system” and vowed to push forward with a Democrat power grab disguised as redistricting reform.
The governor even went so far as to claim his scheme would “end Trump’s presidency.”… READ MORE

Branco Cartoon – Attack the Peacemaker

A.F. Branco | on August 20, 2025 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/branco-cartoon-attack-of-the-peacemaker/

Dems attack Trumps Peace Efforts
A Political Cartoon by A.F. Branco 2025

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flipboard

A.F. Branco Cartoon – No matter what Trump does, the Democrats and the legacy media work overtime to put a negative spin on it.

BRANCO TOON STORE

WATCH: Karoline Leavitt SHREDS Leftist Media and “Clueless Pundits” for Dishonest Coverage of Trump’s Russia-Ukraine Negotiations, “Actively Rooting Against the President”

By Jordan Conradson – The Gatewaypundit – Aug 19, 2025

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a scathing rebuke of the media on Tuesday during a press briefing after President Trump brought the world to the verge of solving the years-long war between Russia and Ukraine.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, President Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European Leaders to negotiate a peace agreement after meeting with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday.
During the meeting, Trump revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a deal that would involve security guarantees for Ukraine, which Ukraine has made as one of its central demands to end the war… READ MORE

DONATE to A.F. Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also, Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country in various news outlets, including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, Elon Musk, and President Trump.

WATCH: Mel Gibson Exposes Gavin Newsom’s ‘Maui Plan’ – Californians Outraged


By: Daphne Moon | August 1, 2025

Read more at https://thepatriotchronicles.com/news-for-you/watch-mel-gibson-exposes-gavin-newsoms-maui-plan-californians-outraged/

The disastrous handling of California’s wildfire recovery has left countless residents homeless and furious, with Hollywood legend Mel Gibson now leading the charge against Governor Gavin Newsom’s incompetence. At a recent gathering of displaced Californians, Gibson didn’t hold back, accusing Newsom of pushing the same exploitative “Maui plan” that forced locals out of Lahaina after the fires. “Newsom wants to do the Maui plan—there aren’t any more locals living there anymore. They all had to leave town,” Gibson declared, echoing the growing suspicion that corrupt officials are using disasters to seize land and push their radical agendas.

The crowd’s response was electric, with chants of “Mel for governor!” erupting as Gibson called for federal oversight of the billions in relief funds Newsom is demanding. “Now Gavin has asked for 40 billion of federal dollars to do whatever he has in mind. Why would we trust him with that kind of funding?” Gibson rightly questioned. “Along with that federal money should come a federal investigation.” His words cut through the liberal media’s usual silence on Democrat failures, exposing how California’s leadership has abandoned its people while lining their own pockets.

Meanwhile, the rebuilding process drags on at a snail’s pace—a deliberate delay, many believe, to pressure desperate residents into selling their land. Gibson’s bold stance highlights what the mainstream media refuses to report: that under Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Californians are being betrayed. “Do you think the people of the Palisades or Altadena are going to be consulted about how their areas are reimagined by Newsom and Bass?” Gibson challenged, pointing to the top-down authoritarianism that has come to define Democrat rule.

While the left-wing press ignores this crisis, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called out California’s mismanagement, pledging to restore accountability if re-elected. Unlike the Biden administration, which funnels taxpayer money into Newsom’s failing schemes, Trump has vowed to ensure federal aid actually reaches victims—not corrupt politicians. “We need to see what’s happening with our money, with our federal dollars,” Gibson demanded, echoing the frustration of millions. “California deserves leadership that does more than acknowledge a problem. It deserves leaders who take real, meaningful steps towards addressing these threats to our community.”

WATCH

The contrast couldn’t be clearer: under Trump, America saw prosperity and security, while under Biden and Newsom, chaos and corruption reign. Gibson’s rallying cry—“It’s time for accountability. It’s time for leadership that doesn’t wait until it’s too late.”—resonates with every patriot tired of being lied to by the elite.

Illegals Costing Democrats the Midterms


By: Kevin Jackson | July 14, 2025

Read more at https://theblacksphere.net/2025/07/unmasking-democrats-great-lies-about-illegals/

Buckle up, folks, because we’re diving headfirst into a political circus so absurd it could double as a reality TV plot twist! Imagine a world where politicians spin tales so wild they’d make Pinocchio blush, only to have their own wallets—and voters—call their bluff. That’s the rollercoaster ride we’re on today as Democrats, long champions of open borders and free handouts, are suddenly forced to foot the bill for the very illegals they swore wouldn’t cost a dime. The hypocrisy? It’s as thick as a California fog and twice as insulting. Let’s peel back the curtain on this comedy of errors, where Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker are learning the hard way that fairy tales don’t pay the bills.

Act 1: The Golden State’s Budget Blunder

Picture this: California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, dubbed by some as the “worst governor in America” (a title he wears with a suspiciously smug grin), recently pulled a budgetary bait-and-switch that would make a magician jealous. In a move that screams “progressive panic,” he’s tweaking Medi-Cal to slap a $100 monthly premium on undocumented immigrants aged 19 and up starting in 2027. The catch? His office insists, with a straight face, that “no one will be kicked off their health care.” Sure, Gavin, and I’ve got a bridge in San Francisco to sell you!

And although Newsom’s office emphasized in materials it released that “no one will be kicked off their health care,” undocumented immigrants 19-years-old and older who are already on Medi-Cal’s rolls would have to pay a $100 monthly premium beginning in 2027.

All told, the changes will save the state about $5.4 billion by 2028, according to figures released by Newsom’s office.

The proposed reversal marks a significant retreat on an issue the governor has touted as being a linchpin in his goal of providing universal health care coverage in California. His success pushing through the initiative, which began in January 2024, helped solidify Newsom’s role as a progressive force in Democratic politics. The backtracking will be a political gift to conservatives, who for months have been criticizing the program as excessively expensive and out-of-touch with what Californians want in tough economic times.

This isn’t just a budget tweak; it’s a full-on retreat from the progressive podium Newsom’s been preaching from since 2024.

The $5.4 billion savings by 2028? That’s taxpayer money he’s clawing back because, surprise, Californians aren’t thrilled about funding universal healthcare for folks who strolled across the border. Conservatives are popping champagne, and rightly so—this is the kind of ammo they’ve been dreaming of. But let’s not kid ourselves: Newsom’s not suddenly seeing the light; he’s just feeling the heat from a state economy teetering on the edge. For more on California’s fiscal tightrope, check out this analysis from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Ninth Circuit Rules for Trump on National Guard Deployment


By: Jonathan Turley | June 20, 2025

Read more at https://jonathanturley.org/2025/06/20/ninth-circuit-rules-for-trump-on-national-guard-deployment/

California Gov. Gavin Newsom just lost a major ruling in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled that President Donald Trump is likely to prevail in his deployment of National Guard troops. Newsom and various Democratic politicians have insisted that Trump’s order is unlawful and that Newsom has to agree to any request for deployment. The Ninth Circuit ruled on Thursday that Newsom does not have such a veto over deployments.

The Ninth Circuit blocked the injunction of District Court Judge Charles Breyer who suggested in open court that Trump was acting like another “King George.” He then wrote an opinion that included many Democratic talking points — suggesting, for example, that Trump was creating disorder by calling out the National Guard to deal with disorder. Breyer further indicated that the violence in Los Angeles was relatively minor, despite potentially deadly attacks on law enforcement, arson, and looting.

Breyer gave the Administration little time to appeal his ruling, but it was enough for the Ninth Circuit.

Title 10 provides:

Whenever—

(1) the United States, or any of the Commonwealths or

possessions, is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a

foreign nation;

(2) there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the

authority of the Government of the United States; or

(3) the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States;

the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws. Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.

10 U.S.C. § 12406.

In his decision, Judge Breyer took the extreme position that Trump could not use subsection 3 if there was any possibility of executing federal laws absent the use of the National Guard troops:

[T]he statute does not allow for the federalizing of the National Guard when the President faces obstacles that cause him to underperform in executing the laws. Nor does the statute allow for the federalizing of the National Guard when the President faces some risk in executing the laws. . . . The statute requires that the President be “unable” to execute the laws of the United States. That did not happen here.

In its decision, the court rejected this premise and held that “Section 12406 does not have as a prerequisite that the President be completely precluded from executing the relevant laws of the United States in order to call members of the National Guard into federal service, nor does it suggest that activation is inappropriate so long as any continued execution of the laws is feasible.”

It concluded that “it is likely that the President lawfully exercised his statutory authority” in federalizing control of the guard. It also rejected Newsom’s claim of a veto on deployment.

Here is the opinion: 25-3727_order-for-pub

South Carolina’s Play to Nullify Tariffs In 1832 Failed Spectacularly. Newsom’s Will Too


By: Chuck DeVore | April 23, 2025

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2025/04/23/south-carolinas-play-to-nullify-tariffs-in-1832-failed-spectacularly-newsoms-will-too/

Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom is dusting off John C. Calhoun’s playbook from 1832, arguing his state can nullify federal law.

Author Chuck DeVore profile

Chuck DeVore

Visit on Twitter@ChuckDeVore

More Articles

Oh, the irony! California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the gel-haired darling of the left, has decided to play President Andrew Jackson’s foil in a modern-day Nullification Crisis. His lawsuit to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs — filed with all the fanfare of a Hollywood premiere — smacks of South Carolina’s 1832 tantrum over federal tariffs. Back then, the Palmetto State tried to nullify federal law, claiming it could pick and choose which national policies applied.

Newsom, it seems, fancies himself a latter-day John C. Calhoun, strutting onto the national stage with a States’ Powers swagger. The only problem? He’s reading from a script debunked by history, law, and common sense.

Let’s rewind to 1832. South Carolina, peeved over the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 — derisively called the “Tariff of Abominations” — declared them null and void within its borders. The state’s economy, tied to slave-driven cotton exports, chafed under duties that protected northern industry but raised costs for southern planters. Calhoun, then vice president, penned the intellectual case for nullification, arguing states could override federal laws they deemed unconstitutional. Andrew Jackson called this treasonous nonsense. He issued a Proclamation of Force, threatening troops, and Congress passed a compromise tariff to cool the feud. South Carolina backed down, but the episode laid bare a dangerous question: Can states defy federal authority rooted in the Constitution? Gavin Newsom, on a different day, would say that the Civil War answered that one with a resounding “no.”

Fast forward to 2025, and enter Newsom, California’s self-anointed guardian of the “resistance.” On April 16, Newsom announced a lawsuit to halt Trump’s tariffs, which slap a 10 percent baseline on imports and far steeper levies on goods from China. Trump justifies these under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law granting presidents broad authority in national emergencies.

Newsom, flanked by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, claims the tariffs are “unlawful” and will wreak “chaos” on California’s economy — think higher prices for almonds, wine, and Hollywood flicks as other nations hike their tariffs in response. Sound familiar? Like South Carolina, California is griping about federal policy hitting its economic interests. Like Calhoun, Newsom is betting on state power to thwart Washington. And like 1832, this is a clash over who gets to call the shots.

The parallels are uncanny, and the irony is thicker than a blanket of Sacramento Tule fog. Newsom, a Democrat who’s spent years preaching federal supremacy on everything from climate to immigration, now cloaks himself in the mantle of state sovereignty to dodge Trump’s trade agenda.

Let’s be clear: States don’t have rights; they have powers, delegated by the Constitution. Only people have rights, a truth the Founders etched into our framework. Newsom’s rhetoric, implying California can opt out of federal policy like some sovereign republic, misreads the Constitution as badly as Calhoun did. This is the same governor who has cheered federal overreach when it suits his progressive piety — think EPA mandates or Obamacare. Yet when Trump wields federal power to address trade deficits, Newsom cries foul, claiming California, the “world’s fifth-largest economy,” deserves special treatment. Newsom is dusting off Calhoun’s playbook, arguing his state can nullify federal law.

But let’s not kid ourselves. Newsom’s not just channeling South Carolina’s ghost. He’s auditioning for 2028. This lawsuit isn’t about protecting California’s farmers or tech bros; it’s about burnishing his anti-Trump credentials for a future presidential run. He’s been laying the groundwork for months, from begging foreign leaders to spare California from retaliatory tariffs to launching a tourism campaign to lure Canadians back to Napa Valley. Never mind that his own state is riddled with “rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability,” as a White House spokesperson pointed out. Newsom’s too busy playing global diplomat to fix the mess in his own backyard.

Here’s where the irony deepens. South Carolina’s nullification gambit failed because the Constitution vests Congress with the power to regulate commerce (Article I, Section 8). The Supreme Court has upheld this for centuries, from Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) to modern cases. Newsom’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues Trump’s use of IEEPA exceeds his authority. Good luck with that. Courts have historically given presidents wide latitude under emergency powers, and Trump’s trade war is hardly the first time IEEPA’s been invoked. Newsom’s legal Hail Mary is less about winning in court and more about rallying the coastal elites who cheer his every anti-Trump jab.

And let’s talk about the Logan Act, shall we? Newsom’s earlier stunt of cozying up to foreign governments to secure tariff exemptions for California skirts dangerously close to violating this 1799 law, which bars unauthorized citizens from meddling in U.S. foreign policy. If a conservative governor tried this, the media would scream “treason.” But Newsom gets a pass because, well, he’s the left’s poster boy. Imagine the headlines if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott negotiated trade deals with Mexico. The hypocrisy is staggering.

The Nullification Crisis of 1832 exposed the fragility of a Union in which states could cherry-pick federal laws. It took Jackson’s resolve and a compromise tariff to avert disaster. Today, Newsom’s tariff lawsuit risks reopening that wound, not because California will secede (don’t threaten us with a good time), but because it fuels a narrative of state defiance that undermines national unity. Trump’s tariffs may be bold, but they’re a federal prerogative, like it or not.

Newsom’s grandstanding, like South Carolina’s, is a losing bet. The Constitution hasn’t changed, and neither has the lesson: States don’t get to nullify federal law, no matter how much their governors crave the spotlight.

So, here’s to Gavin Newsom, California’s would-be Calhoun, tilting at windmills while his state’s problems fester. The Nullification Crisis ended with South Carolina eating crow. Newsom might want to study that history before his lawsuit crashes and burns.


Chuck DeVore is chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a former California legislator, and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. He’s the author of “The Crisis of the House Never United—A Novel of Early America.”

Trump’s Wrath: How Illegal Immigration Became a National Emergency


By: Kevin Jackson | January 28, 2025

Read more at https://theblacksphere.net/2025/01/trumps-wrath-how-illegal-immigration-became-a-national-emergency/

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA)

New fires have broken out in the San Diego area of California, and these blazes feel symbolic of what’s happening to the Democratic Party.

We already witnessed the aftermath of fires in Los Angeles, which exposed the core nature of Leftism: incompetence. And what does incompetence cost? California homeowners are still on the hook for their mortgages, trapped in a cruel twist of irony—many of them uninsured due to, yes, the incompetence of California’s leaders.

Before outrage takes hold, consider this: they still own the land. Typically, the land is the most valuable part of a property, at least monetarily speaking. But no amount of land value can replace the memories those people lost in the flames. Who needs memories, though, when you can bask in the glow of virtue-signaling? And speaking of glowing embers of mismanagement, let’s turn to the issue of illegal immigration.

The landscape of illegal immigration has shifted dramatically, and the message from President Trump is unmistakable: America’s borders are no longer open for exploitation.

This shift carries lessons not only for those attempting to break U.S. immigration laws but also for the Leftists who have spent years undermining border security. Having cheated Trump out of his rightful second term, Democrats now face the consequences: a Trump unrestrained, with a clear mandate and the wind at his back.

Democrats pushed too far, allowing an invasion that has devastated communities across the country. Even stalwart Democrats like New York City Mayor Eric Adams have been forced to confront the consequences. Adams’ admission—that he was told to “be a good Democrat” and allow illegals to overrun New York—reveals the cynicism of the Left’s policies. His pushback nearly cost him his political career in what appeared to be a coordinated coup. Meanwhile, Trump stands ready to act decisively, knowing that the American people, fed up with the chaos, are now firmly behind him.

Trump’s Plan: Swift and Purposeful Action

When it comes to illegal immigration, Trump doesn’t make threats—he makes plans. His administration has already taken decisive steps to tackle the crisis head-on:

  • Military Deployment to the Border: Skeptics once mocked Trump for suggesting the military would be involved in border security. Now, 10,000 troops, including 500 Marines, are being deployed to reinforce the southern border. This is no symbolic gesture; it’s a national emergency, and Trump has declared it as such. As one official put it, “Don’t be surprised if you see Marines being dropped off by helicopters.”
  • Deportation on Demand: The policy is simple: “Deported Same Day.” The Biden administration spent billions facilitating illegal immigration. In stark contrast, Trump is redirecting those resources to expedite deportations. U.S. Transportation Command is preparing military aircraft to assist in migrant deportation flights, underscoring the seriousness of the effort.
  • Investigating Obstruction: The Trump Justice Department is launching investigations into state and local officials obstructing deportations and preparing to challenge sanctuary laws in court. For Trump, lawlessness—whether at the border or in sanctuary cities—is not an option. Any official standing in the way of lawful deportation orders will face scrutiny and accountability.
  • Rebranding Border Policy: Under Trump’s leadership, illegal entry has been rebranded. Those who attempt to cross the border illegally can expect to be sent home immediately. Trump Airlines, as the joke goes, is now offering one-way tickets back to reality.

Exposing Leftist Hypocrisy

One of the most startling revelations in Trump’s crackdown is the Biden administration’s use of taxpayer dollars to fly illegals into the country. This brazen misuse of resources has been exposed and halted. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security has fired its entire advisory committee, citing the need to refocus on protecting American interests.

Lessons for the Left

The humanitarian argument for open borders has worn thin. While some illegals genuinely seek to escape poverty and violence, the same issues plague America’s minority communities, particularly Black neighborhoods. As Trump understands, we don’t need to go to other countries looking for problems to solve when we have enough of our own.

The Left’s policies have disproportionately harmed the very people they claim to champion. Minority communities have borne the brunt of unchecked illegal immigration, facing increased competition for jobs, strained public services, and rising crime. The message is clear: America’s resources must first be directed to solving its own problems.

The Bigger Picture

Trump’s return to power represents more than just a change in immigration policy; it’s a reckoning. The Democrats’ attempt to undermine Trump has backfired spectacularly, leaving them exposed as architects of chaos. Trump’s decisive actions on immigration signal a return to order, accountability, and national sovereignty.

For those willing to break U.S. laws to enter the country, the lesson is simple: America will no longer tolerate lawlessness. For the Left, the lesson cuts deeper. By pushing their radical agenda to the breaking point, they’ve unleashed the Wrath of Trump—a leader determined to restore America’s greatness by any means necessary.

Parts I, 2 & 3: Inferno of Insanity in LA


By: Kevin Jackson | January 11, 2025

Read more at https://theblacksphere.net/2025/01/inferno-of-insanity-la/

The City of Angels is ablaze, and the irony couldn’t be more striking. LA burning to the ground has accomplished something rare: it’s turned the national spotlight on the absurdity of Leftist governance.

Let’s take stock of the players in this tragedy. At the top, we have a governor who could be the poster child for style over substance. Gavin Newsom is the guy you’d hire to play “concerned politician” in a Netflix series, not someone you’d trust to lead in an actual crisis. His brand? Smug photo-ops and buzzword-riddled speeches. Substance? Nonexistent.

And at the local level, it somehow gets worse. The leadership of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) reads like a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) experiment gone terribly wrong. The hiring and promotion process is more about checking identity boxes than finding people qualified to combat real-world disasters.

Then there’s the cause of the fires. Initially blamed on global climate change, the narrative quickly unraveled. Authorities discovered a literal flamethrower in the hands of a deranged individual—one who, I might add, seemed more like a walking caricature of Leftist dysfunction than the embodiment of any conservative boogeyman. Five cell phones? A United Nations calling card? If the Devil had a child, they’d look like this guy, complete with chaos as their middle name.

So yes, climate change has a face, and it’s a human being—though perhaps we should check which pronouns the arsonist prefers before proceeding further.

Democrats and the Politics of Chaos

Newsom wasted no time blaming climate change for the fires. Think about that for a moment: one of the most catastrophic fires in recent history was weaponized to perpetuate the climate change narrative. Yet the truth revealed that it was the work of one of Newsom’s own citizens, not some freak weather phenomenon.

It’s a pattern, isn’t it? Democrats thrive on chaos. If chaos doesn’t exist, they manufacture it. Where chaos already exists, they stoke the flames—sometimes literally. This isn’t hyperbole; it’s a playbook.

Meanwhile, conservatives—especially MAGA conservatives—are problem solvers. We work to uphold the Constitution’s promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Democrats, on the other hand, torch the framework, then sell you on the lie that their arsonist tendencies are somehow virtuous.

Another Conspiracy Confirmed

Once again, what started as a wild conspiracy theory has been confirmed: Democrats are responsible for the fires. Whether by arsonist proxy or through failed policies that allow such lunatics to thrive, the result is the same—destruction disguised as progress.

In a particularly sardonic twist, local authorities describe the culprit as a “savvy arsonist” familiar with wind patterns and fire science, targeting affluent areas. So much for the climate change fairy tale. Turns out, it’s plain old arson—strategic, methodical, and painfully human.

When your neighborhood HOA newsletter contains more actionable intelligence than your elected officials, maybe it’s time to admit we have a problem. And it’s not climate change. It’s leadership—or rather, the lack thereof.

To showcase the real insanity of Leftism, even acts of kindness must be investigated by the California Gestapo:

This California city wanted to make sure it got tax revenue and perhaps a license fee if this man had been selling hot dogs to beleaguered firefighters.

California politicians need to reset their priorities. Because they couldn’t be more out of touch.

Check out Part II of this article, where I discuss the players in this horrible saga.

Part II: Playing with Fire and How DEI Policies Let LA Burn

By: Kevin Jackson | January 11, 2025

https://theblacksphere.net/2025/01/part-ii-playing-with-fire-and-how-dei-policies-let-la-burn/

The United States is the land of plenty, yet when it comes to providing water—a basic necessity for life—we’re starting to look like a Third World country. It’s a surreal problem, given that one of our citizens has mastered feats like landing rockets back on Earth. So why can’t we solve water crises in places like California? The truth is as simple as it is damning incompetence and greed.

California, with all its wealth and technological prowess, could solve its water issues if it wanted to. Areas of the country regularly flood while others face severe droughts. The solution—moving excess water to areas in need—isn’t rocket science. The same man who lands spaceships back to earth manufactures earth boring equipment. One would think we could dig tunnels from areas of high rain to areas of low rain and manage the water supply chain. But instead of solving the problem, California prioritizes political posturing over practicality.


DEI and the LA Fires

In case you were aware of how bad DEI is, understand that a Chinese spy who infiltrated New York City’s government promoted it.

If our biggest enemy is promoting something, it stands to reason we should avoid it. But look at this statistic regarding probability of hiring 3 Lesbians in the LAFD:

The LA fire crisis exemplifies this deadly mix of incompetence and misplaced priorities. At its core, the issue isn’t just about water; it’s about the leadership managing these crises—or failing to manage them.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is a case study in progressive politics gone awry. The department’s leadership roster isn’t filled with the most qualified individuals but instead boasts a trio of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) appointees:

  • Kristina Crowley: First LGBTQ Fire Chief of the LAFD, earning a staggering $439,722 annually.
  • Kristine Larson: First Black lesbian Equity Bureau Chief, with a salary of $399,000.
  • Kristina Kepner: First Lesbian Assistant Chief, making $264,468 per year.

Together, these three cost taxpayers over $1 million annually. But what are they delivering for that money?


Leadership or Liability?

Let’s start with Assistant Chief Kristine Larson, who openly admits that some women may struggle to carry a man out of a fire. Her solution? Blame the victim. Larson’s words, paraphrased: “He shouldn’t have gotten himself into that position in the first place.” Imagine hearing that as your loved one’s life hangs in the balance.


The emphasis on DEI over competence has real consequences. Fires don’t care about your race, gender, or sexual orientation. When your house is engulfed in flames, the only thing that matters is whether the person coming to your rescue is capable. DEI does nothing to ensure that. Instead, it undermines meritocracy, placing political agendas above public safety.


Beyond the LAFD: A National Crisis

The problem isn’t confined to Los Angeles. This is a microcosm of what’s happening across the nation. DEI is infiltrating every sector—from the military to education to criminal justice. As meritocracy gives way to identity politics, the cost is measured in lives lost, homes destroyed, and dreams shattered.

The LA fires—massive, deadly, and avoidable—stand as a fiery indictment of this systemic failure. Water was available, but mismanagement and greed kept it from where it was needed most. DEI hires aren’t solving these problems; they’re exacerbating them.


Political Fires Burn Hotter

While LA burned, leftists on social media cheered the destruction of conservative actor James Woods’ home. They ignored the fact that their neighbors’ homes burned too. To them, the fire wasn’t a tragedy—it was a political statement. This kind of thinking exemplifies the broader issue: a society so divided by ideology that even disasters become partisan talking points.

We need leaders who are chosen for their ability to do the job, not their ability to check a diversity box. Until then, expect more fires, more failures, and more preventable tragedies.

Next, I will discuss the political leadership that allowed this clusterf*ck to occur.

Part III: California Leftists Leaders Fan the Flames of Incompetence

When Diversity Kills More Than It Saves

By: Kevin Jackson | January 12, 2025

https://theblacksphere.net/2025/01/part-iii-california-leftists-leaders-fan-the-flames-of-incompetence/

Los Angeles is in ashes—both literally and figuratively. A combination of failed leadership, radical ideologies, and gross mismanagement has left the city devastated. The staggering toll includes $60 billion in property damage, lives lost, and neighborhoods destroyed. What’s worse is that it didn’t have to happen.

The culprit remains DEI. And we have more Leftist women to add to the list of Lesbians who actually allowed this massive fire to occur. But before we get to them, let’s remove one boogeyman: the insurance companies.

Insurance Fallout and Fire Prevention Neglect

Leftists have tried to deflect blame of the fire to insurance companies. Democrats want people outraged by insurance companies dropping coverage. However, what they don’t want known is why the insurance companies dropped coverage.

The reason points back to government incompetence. Because the state of California has consistently failed to perform basic fire prevention activities, such as clearing brush and maintaining firebreaks. These are the very measures that keep fires from spiraling into uncontrollable infernos. And this is just for starters.

Intentional Malfeasance?

Governor Gavin Newsom slashed CalFire budgets while vetoing a bill that would have retained thousands of seasonal firefighters, leaving critical positions unfilled. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cut $17 million from the fire department budget last year and, according to a leaked document obtained by the Daily Mail, requested an additional $49 million in cuts. The very departments tasked with protecting Angelenos from disasters are being gutted by leftist leaders who claim to champion public welfare.

Water Shortages: Janisse Quinones and LADWP

At the center of the fire response debacle is Janisse Quinones, head of LA’s Department of Water and Power (LADWP). Appointed by Mayor Bass in May 2024, Quinones earns $750,000 annually, nearly double the salary of her male predecessor. Her appointment was a “diversity win” for Bass’s administration but has proven to be an operational disaster. Under her leadership, LA ran out of water for fighting fires, leaving firefighters unable to contain the blazes.


The failure to provide basic resources underscores a grim reality: DEI-driven appointments that prioritize symbolism over competence put lives at risk. The so-called “patriarchy” may not be in vogue, but it certainly kept the water flowing when it mattered.

Leftist Ideology Over Lives

Instead of accepting responsibility, leftists have deflected blame by invoking their favorite scapegoat: climate change. Fires that result from neglected firebreaks, underfunded departments, and bureaucratic incompetence are framed as acts of nature. But there’s no denying the truth: these disasters are man-made, created by those in power.

Even as Oregon fire crews offered aid, their engines were delayed in Sacramento for DOT inspections—bureaucracy over urgency. This red tape kept critical resources from reaching LA while fires raged unchecked, and is symbolic of how leftism works.

The Media’s Complicity

Media outlets, ever eager to shield Democrats, have rushed to obfuscate the facts. CNN’s Anderson Cooper absurdly suggested that the real issue wasn’t government failure but homeowners “hoarding water” to protect their properties. These homeowners, many of whom have been abandoned by insurers, were left to fend for themselves because government services failed.

As President Reagan famously said [pp]: “The most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

Gavin Newsom: Lies and Negligence

Governor Newsom, always quick to spin disasters into self-promotion, was caught lying about reaching out to President Biden for federal assistance. His office claimed he had made the call, but no such communication exists. This “style over substance” governance is nothing new for Newsom, whose veto of critical fire-prevention funding set the stage for these catastrophes.


Worse yet, his broader policies—gutting fire budgets while championing costly green energy initiatives—have made California more vulnerable to disasters. Newsom’s failures are not just negligence; they’re malpractice.

Karen Bass: A Radical Agenda

Karen Bass’s radical agenda has left LA vulnerable in more ways than one. From pushing “Down With the Patriarchy” rhetoric to dismantling functional systems in favor of ideological experiments, Bass has prioritized politics over public safety. The leaked document revealing her request for additional fire department budget cuts is a chilling reminder of her misplaced priorities.

DEI = DIE

The formula is clear: prioritizing diversity and ideology over competence and safety leads to disasters. The current crisis in Los Angeles is a case study in what happens when DEI policies replace proven systems. The people of LA are left with ashes, excuses, and a government that continues to fail them.

The Real Danger

As long as leftists hold power, they will continue to deflect responsibility and blame invisible boogeymen like “climate change.” But the truth is clear: radical progressivism is the real danger—not just to California, but to the nation.

California’s DEI-Obsessed Anarchotyrants Threw Money at Everything but Water and Firefighters


By: Chris Bray | January 10, 2025

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2025/01/10/californias-dei-obsessed-anarchotyrants-threw-money-at-everything-but-water-and-firefighters/

California Palisades fire
California has enormously expensive and intrusive government that can’t even provide firefighters or water when your neighborhood burns down.

Author Chris Bray profile

Chris Bray

More Articles

Astonishingly devastating fires are burning mostly unchecked in Los Angeles, destroying whole neighborhoods, and see if you can spot the problem in this Yahoo News update, I found in my inbox this week:

As of that report, thousands of acres of fire burning into (and then straight through) neighborhoods; 1,400 firefighters. In Pacific Palisades alone, where the biggest fire started first, we’re below one firefighter per two acres of fire. I’ve spent most of my life in California, and a quite common experience is to be in way-Northern California, for example, and watch a line of fire engines go racing past from San Diego and Newport Beach, 500 miles from home. We deal with big fires with prompt statewide mutual aid, a well-practiced system.

I live near the Eaton fire, which is burning in the hills above Pasadena, and I listened all Tuesday night for the cavalry to arrive. The cavalry, bizarrely, did not seem to arrive. And so, I watched houses burn, on the news, with reporters present but no firefighters.

This is becoming a widespread problem, so serious and obvious that even the Los Angeles Times has noticed, writing:

As wildfires raged across Los Angeles on Tuesday, crews battling the Palisades blaze faced an additional burden: Scores of fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out.

“The hydrants are down,” said one firefighter in internal radio communications.

“Water supply just dropped,” said another.

By 3 a.m. Wednesday, all water storage tanks in the Palisades area “went dry,” diminishing the flow of water from hydrants in higher elevations, said Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the city’s utility.

Where I live, in the western San Gabriel Valley, a large group of suburban fire departments has built an effective system of integrated and automatic mutual aid, the Verdugo system, run from a shared dispatch center in Glendale. I was listening to Verdugo dispatch Tuesday night, and the dispatchers gave up on dispatching. They broadcast calls in sets of 10 or 12, without assignments, so firefighters could hear what was happening, in case anyone could get to any of it: homes burning at the following addresses, brush burning at the following addresses, wires down at the following addresses…

The fire departments aren’t the problem, and the firefighters on the ground are very much not the problem. A cluster of headlines this morning at the highly alert news aggregator Rantingly begins to get at the underlying reality:

The mayor of Los Angeles, having cut fire department funding to pay for social justice programs, was on a city-funded outreach trip to Ghana as her city burned. How important.

As a matter of symbolism, the destruction of Pacific Palisades (and, as we saw Wednesday morning, big stretches of Malibu) is a gut punch. These are the most comfortable places in Los Angeles, and one of the discussions on social media this week is about which celebrities have evacuated or lost their homes. (“Oh my God, Tom Hanks!”) The places that are burning are the Democrat Party’s ATM machine. One wonders if they’ll notice the meaning of the fires. Meanwhile:

So yes, the ability of leftists to miss the point appears to be infinite. California has enormously expensive and intrusive government that can’t provide firefighters or water when your neighborhood burns down, which proves that Orange Man Bad.

I’m more than a mile from the edge of the nearest evacuation warning, so we’ll be fine. But that’s because of the accident of our location relative to the fire, not because anything here actually works.

This article was originally published on the author’s Substack, “Tell Me How This Ends.”


Chris Bray is a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army, and has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles. He is the author of “Court-Martial: How Military Justice Has Shaped America from the Revolution to 9/11 and Beyond,” published last year by W.W. Norton.

Newsom Signs Law Barring Huntington Beach Voters from Deciding Their Own Voter ID Laws


By: Brianna Lyman | October 01, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/10/01/newsom-signs-law-barring-huntington-beach-voters-from-deciding-their-own-voter-id-laws/

California Gov. Gavin Newsom
California’s Warden/Governor Gavin “I do what the hell I want” Newsome

Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., signed a law Sunday undermining the will of Huntington Beach voters who approved a measure requiring voter ID. The new state law bars cities from adopting such measures. In March, 53.4% of Huntington Beach residents approved a ballot measure that would require voters present identification in order to vote in municipal elections. The measure was slated to take effect in 2026 and also permitted the city to “provide more in-person voting locations” and “monitor ballot drop-boxes.” But Newsom signed into law Sunday legislation that was originally introduced in response to the Huntington Beach city council approving the measure prior to placing it on the ballot. The new law prohibits “a local government from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted, as specified.”

The state previously sued Huntington Beach in April to prevent the will of the voters (in the name of “democracy”). California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the city claiming, “the right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle.”

It is unclear whether the lawsuit will still be pursued. The Federalist has inquired with Bonta’s office for a status update.

Bonta had previously sent a letter to city officials in September 2023 claiming the measure “conflicts with state law” and falsely alleged voter ID measures “serve to suppress voter participation.” Bonta told city officials to withdraw the measure or else Bonta would take “action.”

Bonta’s suit alleged Huntington Beach’s voter ID provisions were “preempted and invalid” in matters in which “local law conflicts with state law reasonably tailored to the resolution of a statewide concern.”

The suit also argued the measure undermined the authority of the state legislature, “placing the onus on registered voters to establish their eligibility to vote, and groundlessly challenging the right to vote.”

Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said in response to the suit that the city would fight to “uphold and defend the will of the people,” according to Courthouse News.

Gates argued that state law (at the time the measure was adopted by the city), did not prohibit the city from adopting the ballot measure. Gates pointed to the introduction of the legislation after the proposal was approved by the city council arguing, as reported by Courthouse News, that “this proves that Bonta [is] wrong — if passing voter ID laws was illegal, why was a new bill necessary?”

For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.


Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2

Author Brianna Lyman profile

Brianna Lyman

Visit on Twitter@briannalyman2

More Articles

Can Democrats Just Dump Biden And Move On? It’s Not That Simple


BY: SEAN DAVIS | JUNE 28, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/06/28/can-democrats-just-dump-biden-and-move-on-its-not-that-simple/

Joe Biden in debate

Will Democrats replace Joe Biden as their presidential nominee?

It’s not that simple, logistically or politically, as long he’s still alive. States have pretty strict rules on last-second ballot changes, but Democrats have always found ways to get courts to rewrite laws for them at the last second. Just look at what they did for Frank Lautenberg and Robert Torricelli in New Jersey. It would be a heavy lift but not an impossible one.

The real problem for Democrats is political: Removing Biden as nominee requires them to deny and reject the election results of their voters in all 50 states after they spent four years accusing everyone else of being “election deniers.” They also will have a very hard time removing Biden as nominee but leaving him in as president. If he’s not mentally fit to be on the campaign trail or debate stage, how on Earth can he be fit enough to remain as president? The downsides of that strategy are immense, with little upside.

And that brings us to the real problem for Democrats: Kamala Harris. They know she’s political kryptonite because she’s both incredibly stupid and extremely unlikeable. Democrat voters can’t even stand her. So, if they manage to get rid of Biden both as nominee and as president, they end up stuck with her, which might even be worse than doing nothing. Do they really want to be in the position of preventing the first female president from running as an incumbent? And can they sideline her while promoting another white dude like Gavin Newsom when their entire party is built around identity politics?

So, the predicament for Democrats right now is they have to somehow find out how to get rid of Biden as the nominee, keep him as president, and prevent the black woman who is currently vice president from being the nominee. I don’t think it’s a needle they’ll be able to thread without resorting to violence and republic-destroying tactics.

Now, they could just reap what they’ve sown, accept the consequences of their choices, and accept losing an election for once — but I’m not holding my breath.


Sean Davis is CEO and co-founder of The Federalist. He previously worked as an economic policy adviser to Gov. Rick Perry, as CFO of Daily Caller, and as chief investigator for Sen. Tom Coburn. He was named by The Hill as one of the top congressional staffers under the age of 35 for his role in spearheading the enactment of the law that created USASpending.gov. Sean received a BBA in finance from Texas Tech University and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School. He can be reached via e-mail at sean@thefederalist.com.

Author Sean Davis profile

SEAN DAVIS

VISIT ON TWITTER@SEANMDAV

MORE ARTICLES

California’s Record of Felonies, Feces, And Failure Should Kill Newsom’s Political Career But It Won’t


BY: SHAWN FLEETWOOD | DECEMBER 01, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/12/01/californias-record-of-felonies-feces-and-failure-should-kill-newsoms-political-career-but-it-wont/

DeSantis and Newsom debating

Thursday night’s debate between Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom was a total crapshow for Newsom — literally.

When the Democrat darling wasn’t getting lambasted for violating his own Covid restrictions and allowing homelessness and human feces to plague California’s major cities, Newsom was justifying the presence of pornographic materials in school libraries and defending the surgical mutilation of minors, even without parents’ knowledge. Meanwhile, DeSantis stuck to the facts and tackled major culture war issues most Republicans are often too afraid to mention.

Things got so bad for Newsom that his wife reportedly stepped in to prevent the debate from continuing beyond the original 90-minute discussion agreed upon by the governors.

But Thursday’s back-and-forth wasn’t just a heated discussion between two high-profile politicians. It was a symbolic display of the stark spiritual divide encapsulating the country. While DeSantis represented positions of truth, logic, and common sense — like protecting kids from disfiguring transgender surgeries, for example — Newsom embodied the lies, deception, and propaganda of his fellow leftists.

Even when confronted with facts — some of which were displayed in front of him — Newsom simply lied or pivoted to launching ad hominem attacks against conservatives. Such is the way of the modern left.

In a sane world, DeSantis’ beatdown of Newsom and the Democrat Party’s extremist agenda would end the California governor’s prospects for higher office. But America doesn’t exist inside a sane world anymore, and the sad reality is that many of the leftists who watched Thursday’s debate probably came away believing Newsom’s falsehoods — or worse, knew he was lying but simply didn’t care.

If Newsom were to run for another statewide office in California today, there’s no reason to believe the vast majority of Democrats in the state wouldn’t vote for him. Even if it means having to pay higher taxes, subsidize illegal immigrants, and dodge human feces, used needles, criminals, and homeless encampments on the streets, Democrat voters will not abandon their dystopian belief that the state is almighty.

For the left, politics is religion. It’s what drives them, shapes their nonsensical worldview, and permits them to justify the most demonic policies imaginable, such as murdering innocent unborn babies and conducting irreversible surgeries on minors without parental knowledge. There is no belief in objective morality or truth on the left because Democrats’ view is that morality and truth are whatever they want them to be, facts and logic be damned.

Leftism is a heck of a drug, and no matter how much pain and suffering it causes, Democrats won’t stop taking it.


Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood

Author Shawn Fleetwood profile

SHAWN FLEETWOOD

VISIT ON TWITTER@SHAWNFLEETWOOD

MORE ARTICLES

Why GOP Voters Saw This Week’s Debate Differently Than DeSantis Superfans


BY: AARON DECORTE | DECEMBER 01, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/12/01/why-gop-voters-saw-this-weeks-debate-differently-than-desantis-superfans/

Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom in debate

Author Aaron DeCorte profile

AARON DECORTE

MORE ARTICLES

The biggest loser of Thursday night’s debate between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom was us, the voters. For far too long party officials have had a stranglehold on how candidates are vetted, presented, and nominated. If the “Red vs. Blue State” debate was successful, it could have been the jumping-off point for other networks, third-party candidates, or donors to sponsor and create better opportunities for voters to see candidates in more diverse settings and formats. Sadly, it was unsuccessful for everyone involved.

Kudos to Sean Hannity for making it happen and kudos to Newsom for showing up to a forum he knew would be tilted toward DeSantis. Despite his actual performance, Newsom is the only person in his party that would have agreed to debate in that environment in the first place. Could you even imagine Vice President Kamala Harris in place of Newsom last night? It might have ended her political career. The reality is we know the White House would have never, ever allowed her to appear.

It’s hard to be critical of Hannity’s handling of the debate chaos because, short of cutting their mics off, there wasn’t much he could do besides appeal to both men several times to stop behaving like toddlers. It is unbecoming of governors, let alone presidential candidates, to talk over one another, and keep repeating the same statistic or practiced line. Still, Hannity deserves credit for pulling it off despite the fact that Trump and those around him aren’t thrilled he gave DeSantis the prime-time opportunity. Hannity has spoken openly about his personal relationship with Trump and his family, but he gave DeSantis airtime and a unique venue anyway.

Wearing the Hat vs. the Jersey

If you watch sports or attend games in person, you know the difference between a fan who is wearing a hat and the one who is wearing a jersey. A hat doesn’t have your favorite player’s name on it, just the team. A jersey has a specific player’s number and (with few exceptions) their last name. Fight in the stands? Most likely between fans who have jerseys on, not hats. In primary season, political pundits, donors, and early supporters have jerseys on, but regular voters who are living their lives mostly have hats on, or are willing to switch jerseys when the primary dust settles. How you think this debate went for DeSantis largely depends on whether you are wearing a DeSantis jersey or a GOP hat.

If you are wearing the DeSantis jersey, you think he crushed Newsom and embarrassed him with several references to the French Laundry incident and Newsom’s kids going to in-person private school while the rest of his state’s children were at home. You thought it was a nice touch when he talked about San Francisco police officers approaching him and thanking him for his support of law enforcement because they don’t get that in California. You were giddy when he pulled out both his paper props from his suit jacket to shame Newsom over the graphic nature of a book and a print-out of a San Francisco human feces map. If you have a DeSantis jersey on, it was a good event, even if all he got was major screen time without Nikki Haley zinging bad one-liners at him all night.

If you are wearing the GOP hat, maybe you didn’t see it the same way. You saw a presidential candidate that had some shades of Marco Rubio circa 2016 getting wrecked by Chris Christie. The repetitive talking points and stats in the face of a full-on frontal assault by Newsom is troublesome. You saw a guy who practiced all the stories he was going to tell last night (father-in-law, French Laundry, Newsom kids in person at private school) and still couldn’t tell them well.

You were thinking: if Trump told these exact same stories they would have landed with such force that Gavin’s White House dreams might have died on that stage last night. You also might be thinking that if Nikki Haley told those same stories she would have raised millions more dollars for her campaign. You saw a guy with a friendly moderator not be able to shift on the fly and bury Newsom when everything (data, history, and truth) was on his side. You also know that Donald Trump wouldn’t need to pull out crumpled paper to embarrass Newsom. He could have told those exact two stories without the props just as effectively.

A friend of mine who wears a GOP hat, not a jersey, texted me, “I don’t think he is good on his feet” during the debate, and he isn’t alone in that assessment. GOP hat-wearers are very perceptive and watched DeSantis Thursday night wondering if he has the stand-up skills to go to metaphorical war with whomever is occupying the other podium.

I am not sure last night moved the needle for DeSantis but how it’s perceived is very different by those wearing DeSantis jerseys versus those wearing GOP hats. It was a wasted opportunity for some much-needed change of the political process and for both participants.


Aaron DeCorte has worked in sales and marketing for more than 25 years. His wife is a 9-1-1 operator for their local police department.

Clean For Xi but Not for Thee: Democrats Hastily Clean Up San Francisco Ahead of Chinese Visit


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/11/13/clean-for-xi-but-not-for-thee-democrats-hastily-clean-up-san-francisco-ahead-of-chinese-visit/

San Francisco

California Democrats hastily cleaned up San Francisco last week ahead of the upcoming state visit between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. On Friday, The New York Times described the scene in the city as one of “teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.”

“On Market Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, maintenance workers resurfaced uneven sidewalks and installed plywood over empty tree wells,” the Times reported. “Nearby, a crew gave a long-derelict plaza a makeover by turning it into a skateboard park and outdoor cafe with pingpong tables, chess boards and scores of potted plants. Elsewhere, workers painted decorative crosswalks and new murals, wiped away graffiti, picked up piles of trash and removed scaffolding to show off a refurbished clock tower at the Ferry Building.”

Why the sudden clean up after years of decay? Xi will be arriving Wednesday. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, which began Saturday, will draw 21 world leaders from Pacific nations along with 30,000 people to the Golden City. Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted last week the quick cleanup effort was provoked by “fancy leaders” who are “coming to town.”

“That’s true,” Newsom said.

As government officials work to power wash transit stations and clear homeless encampments in major areas, residents openly wondered what took leaders so long to clean up one of California’s largest cities.

“What about the people who are here year-round?” Marc Savino asked a local Fox affiliate.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed pledged cleanup efforts will continue even after the conference closes.

“We will continue to do everything we can to maintain cleanliness in our streets,” Breed said at a press conference.

For years, deteriorating health and safety conditions in California’s fourth-largest city have made San Francisco an emblem of American decline. Rampant crime and homelessness have left residents exposed to safety hazards while the jewel city of the West Coast remains prohibitively expensive to live in. Instead of implementing aggressive efforts to clean up, as residents saw last week ahead of visits from foreign leaders, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors prioritized leftist activism. In March, San Francisco leadership moved forward with a plan to hand out slavery reparations for $5 million per person to people who never were slaves, paid for by residents who never owned slaves.

In August, The Wall Street Journal published a feature on San Francisco’s downward spiral, openly wondering in the headline, “Can San Francisco Save Itself From the Doom Loop?”

“Downtown San Francisco now trails nearly every other major urban center in economic health,” the paper reported. “Retailers like Nordstrom and Banana Republic have announced in the past few months that they are closing their downtown San Francisco stores. The owner of the city’s biggest mall, located downtown, is handing it back to the lender rather than continue to make debt payments.”


Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.

Author Tristan Justice profile

TRISTAN JUSTICE

VISIT ON TWITTER@JUSTICETRISTAN

MORE ARTICLES

Biden’s rumored stand-in, Gavin Newsom, sees record low approval ratings at home


By: JOSEPH MACKINNON | NOVEMBER 08, 2023

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/biden-s-rumored-stand-in-gavin-newsom-sees-record-low-approval-ratings-at-home-2666191310.html/

Pressure is mounting on Democrats to sideline President Joe Biden as a candidate and bring in new blood ahead of the 2024 election. After all, confidence in the octogenarian president’s ability to lead continues to plumb new lows. A New York Times/Siena Poll published Sunday revealed that 71% of respondents agreed he is too old; 54% of 2020 Biden voters similarly indicated he should pack it in, having likely taken note of his mobility troublesapparent difficulty completing sentences, and tendency to repeat himself.

The trouble for Democrats is that the individual widely regarded to be a viable stand-in for Biden is apparently also deeply unpopular. A new UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times revealed Tuesday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval dropped to an all-time low last month: 49% of the 6,342 California registered voters polled said they disapproved of Newsom’s performance as governor.

Newsom’s approval rating was 44%, down 11 points from February.

By way of comparison, the latest Economist/YouGov poll had Biden’s approval rating at 43% and his disapproval rating at 54%.

“He’s kind of taking on a new persona,” Mike DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley poll, told the Times. “He’s no longer just the governor of California. He’s a spokesperson for the national party and basically voters are being asked to react to that.”

Newsom has long been suspected of harboring ambitions of taking the White House in 2024 despite his public denial and rhetorical support for Biden. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) suggested this week that Newsom is running a shadow campaign, even if he doesn’t have the “guts” to admit as much. The 56-year-old Democrat has ostensibly been working to elevate his national profile in recent months. In addition to renting billboards in red states criticizing conservatives’ support for the unborn and the Second Amendment, he has been making noise about climate change and glad-handing with foreign dignitaries, including the dictatorial leader of the world’s greatest national polluter.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Newsom has seen a drop in popularity among every major voter category. Whereas 12% of Democrats disapproved of his performance in February, 25% of Democrats have now soured on him.

While Newsom may have chased away some support by flouting his own draconian pandemic restrictions during the pandemic, dining out at a fancy restaurant while masked Californians struggled to make do, Republican political consultant Rob Stutzman told the Times that concerns about the economy, crime, and homelessness are likely the major drivers of Newsom’s growing unpopularity.

Whereas FBI crime statistics for 2022 showed violent crime dropping nationwide, it spiked sharply in California, reported the Center Square. The violent crime rate per 100,000 jumped from 481.2 to 499.5 under Newsom’s watch, whereas it dropped from 387 to 380.7 nationwide.

According to Neighborhood Scout, the likelihood of becoming a victim of a property crime in Newsom’s California is 1 in 43 and the chances of falling victim to a violent crime are 1 in 227. In the cities, the outlook is far bleaker. The chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in Sacramento are 1 in 148; in Los Angeles, 1 in 135; in San Francisco, 1 in 186; and in Oakland, 1 in 80.

California streets are not only dangerous, but often crowded by homeless encampments. Despite spending $17.5 billion to combat homelessness between 2018 and 2022, the state’s homeless population grew, such that there are now over 170,000 homeless people on the streets, reported CNN.

As for economic concerns, the unemployment rate in California as of July was roughly 4.6%, leaving Newsom’s state ranked 49th in the country.

“I think the real wake-up call is how dramatically Democrat voters seem to be shifting underneath him,” Stutzman told the Times. “I’m not surprised his numbers are down. I’m surprised his numbers are down that far. He’s clearly upside down.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

JOSEPH MACKINNON

Joseph MacKinnon is a staff writer for Blaze News.@HeadlinesInGIFs →

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Liars in Wait

A.F. BRANCO | on November 2, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-liars-in-wait/

Many in the Democrat party think that Biden hasn’t the mental capacity or physical ability to make it through another election but are afraid to let their feelings known publicly. So some are running covert presidential campaigns to be ready for what they feel is the inevitable—people like Gavin Newsom, the governor of California. There are even rumors that Hillary Clinton may be eyeing that spot again, and there are also rumors that Michelle Obama could be entertaining the idea of running in 2024.

There are no limits to what the desperate Democrats will do to keep Trump from becoming president again, going as far as using lawfare and creating multiple frivolous indictments and legal maneuvering to keep him off the ballot. Knowing that Biden isn’t capable of winning the next election, many Democrats are looking at other possible candidates other than Kamala Harris, who most feel is a total train wreck.

So, you have Gavin Newsom, Hillary, and Michelle Obama, waiting around like buzzards for Biden to drop out.

Waiting In The Wings
Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country in various news outlets, including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Trump.

California’s Pro-Trans Child Custody Bill Is Pure Emotional Blackmail


BY: KYLEE GRISWOLD | SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/09/15/californias-pro-trans-child-custody-bill-is-pure-emotional-blackmail/

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Author Kylee Griswold profile

KYLEE GRISWOLD

VISIT ON TWITTER@KYLEEZEMPEL

MORE ARTICLES

There’s a bill sitting on Gavin Newsom’s desk right now that would not only render the First Amendment null and void but also strip parents of their most fundamental rights and responsibilities toward their children. It’s not a matter of if the far-left California governor will sign it, but when.

The bill, the Transgender, Gender-Diverse, and Intersex Youth Empowerment Act (AB 957) — which last week passed the Senate and then, on a party-line vote, the Assembly — dictates that courts must consider “gender affirmation” in child custody battles. The soon-to-be-law states that in seeking to determine the “health, safety, and welfare of the child,” courts must consider “a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression.”

While some Democrat apologists in the media pretend it’s absurd to think this means conservative parents would ever lose custody of their children by nature of holding conservative values — It doesn’t say judges *have* to side with the loving, accepting parents, you hateful rubes! — we know how this will go. It’s California, for crying out loud.

But we don’t have to extrapolate much. Other media have dropped the facade and told us exactly where this bill will lead. Here’s CNBC:

Under the proposed law, parents, who fail to acknowledge and support their child’s gender transition, could face potential consequences, including the loss of custody rights to another parent or even the state itself. The bill’s supporters argue that it is in the best interest of children, aiming to create a more inclusive and affirming environment for gender-diverse youth.

There’s the quiet part out loud: A mom or dad who opts not to indulge their child in mental illness, who uses the child’s given name, prohibits the use of puberty blockers, or discourages sterilizing hormones or surgery could lose the child not only to the other parent, which is egregious enough — but to the state.

As Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, has pointed out, this law would stomp on the Constitution’s guarantee to free speech and the free exercise of religion. It would “muzzle” parents and prevent them from rearing their children in accordance with their deeply held beliefs — beliefs, by the way, that have been regarded by both Christians and non-Christians as basic laws of nature and fundamentals of civil society until about five minutes ago. This is more than a legal dilemma for Constitutional scholars and gender-studies midwits to bat around in mahogany rooms and shoddy amici, however. If it feels more nefarious and personal — that’s because it is. We’ve seen it before.

It’s classic Democrat emotional blackmail. It’s the left waging psychological warfare on its ideological opponents with barely veiled threats. Oh, you want to see your own child? Well, that’s interesting because xir needs some hormones xe says you won’t provide. You don’t seem too concerned with xir’s health and safety.

This brand of emotional blackmail has already been tested and perfected with the suicide card. That is, the aforementioned gender-studies “experts,” medical professionals, journalists, and other Very Smart People™ have decided, based on little to no evidence, that transgender medical interventions are the only acceptable course of action for confused kids. In fact, anything short of full “affirmation” is deadly, they say.

With this conclusion in mind — and at the expense of mounting evidence showing pro-trans policies cause the most harm — they’ve devised “research” that Democrats then present as unassailable. The methodology of these biased studies is wildly problematic. Pro-trans ideologues habitually equate correlation with causation, fail to treat gender dysphoria as a mental illness and ignore underlying mental health issues such as depression, discount the potential role of wrong-sex hormones in unhealthy ideations, ignore hard facts about the ways puberty eventually resolves almost all dysphoria in minors, discounts rampant social factors, and turns a blind eye to the growing chorus of detransitioners who fell for leftist lies and are now filled with despair.

[READ: Telling Kids To Hate Their Biology Might Be What’s Actually Killing Them]

But never let bad science get in the way of an agenda. Would you rather have a live son or a dead daughter?, they manipulate. A lack of acceptance has driven trans suicide rates and self-harm through the roof.

A law this unconstitutional is bound to wind up in the courts. And I suppose we should be thankful there’s one remaining recourse. But if all conservatives have on their side is a waiting game until the courts eventually slap California lawmakers on the wrist, they have nothing. In fact, getting GOP-opposed laws tied up in the slow gears of the court system is exactly what Democrats are expecting. They’re counting on it. The more they can keep conservatives and jurists busy, the more radical laws and policies they can keep shoving out the door. We can’t stop them all. How many poor parents and children will be casualties in the meantime?

But don’t lose the human element in the legislative games. Rabid ideologues and iconoclasts who want to remake America and its children in their own image aren’t afraid to use the most vulnerable among us as pawns. Self-censorship will only be the start. It’s emotional blackmail, plain and simple. Do what we say, or else.


Kylee Griswold is the editorial director of The Federalist. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in Communication Arts/Speech and an A.S. in Criminal Justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media. Follow her on Twitter @kyleezempel.

California Lawmakers Vote To Remove Kids From Any Parents Who Don’t Support Severing Their Genitals


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/09/11/california-lawmakers-vote-to-remove-kids-from-any-parents-who-dont-support-severing-their-genitals/

California Capitol

The California legislature passed a bill Friday requiring parents to “affirm” a child’s newfound gender or risk loss of custody.

Assembly Bill 957 was initially proposed to require courts to consider whether parents were “affirming” a child’s identification as transgender in custody cases. The legislation was later amended in June to declare non-affirming parents liable for child abuse.

Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk bluntly recommended parents “flee” the state over the amendment.

“In the past when we’ve had these discussions and I’ve seen parental rights atrophy, I’ve encouraged people to keep fighting,” Wilk said in June. “I’ve changed my mind on that,” Wilk added. “If you love your children, you need to flee California. You need to flee.”

Wilk said he would leave the state himself at the end of his term.

Washington Free Beacon California Correspondent Susannah Luthi Taylor highlighted the law’s ambiguous language, opening the door to broad interpretation.

“The California bill does not define ‘affirmation,’ leaving it unclear if a parent would be required to support a child’s desire to socially transition or receive medical sex-change treatments,” Taylor wrote. “Nor does the bill make distinctions based on a child’s age or mental health record.”

The legislation is now headed for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, who is expected to sign it.

California’s latest law on transgenderism follows a cascade of state interference in parental rights to challenge a child’s desire to attempt a changing his-or-her gender. In August, California Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Chino Valley Unified School District over new rules compelling teachers and administrators to notify parents of changes in pronoun use, sports participation, or bathroom assignments. A local judge in San Bernadino temporarily suspended the district’s new policy last week while litigation remains underway. The next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13.

“San Bernardino Superior Court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order rightfully upholds the state rights of our LGBTQ+ student community and protects kids from harm by immediately halting the board’s forced outing policy,” said the attorney general. “While this fight is far from over, today’s ruling takes a significant step towards ensuring the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming students.”

Last fall, Governor Newsom also signed a bill to “offer refuge” for out-of-state minors seeking trans medical interventions in the state without parental consent. In another assault on parental rights, the new law mandates that doctors hide children’s medical information related to “gender identity” from parents.

Contrary to Democrat claims of protecting children, multiple studies show easing access to adolescent medical interventions in pursuit of transgenderism increases the risk of suicide.

The national suicide hotline is 1-800-273-8255. More resources are here.


Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.

Author Tristan Justice profile

TRISTAN JUSTICE

VISIT ON TWITTER@JUSTICETRISTAN

MORE ARTICLES

California AG Wages Legal War To Hide Kids’ Transgender Pursuits From Parents


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | AUGUST 30, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/30/california-ag-wages-legal-war-to-hide-kids-transgender-pursuits-from-parents/

Rob Bonta

Author Tristan Justice profile

TRISTAN JUSTICE

VISIT ON TWITTER@JUSTICETRISTAN

MORE ARTICLES

The California attorney general is launching an all-out assault on parents and families with a new lawsuit asserting state control over schoolchildren.

On Monday, state Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to stop a new policy in a southern California school district that requires schools to notify parents whenever a child identifies as transgender and begins to pursue a so-called gender transition. The new guidelines adopted by the Chino Valley Unified School District in July would have required schools to tell parents if their child sought changes in pronoun use, sports participation, or bathroom assignments contrary to his or her sex. The state’s Democrat attorney general argues the district’s new disclosure rule violates students’ civil rights and risks “emotional, physical, and psychological harm.”

“Every student has the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes safety, privacy, and inclusivity — regardless of their gender identity,” Bonta said in a statement. “We’re in court challenging Chino Valley Unified’s forced outing policy for wrongfully and unconstitutionally discriminating against and violating the privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students. The forced outing policy wrongfully endangers the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of non-conforming students who lack an accepting environment in the classroom and at home.”

The attorney general’s press release went on to disparage concerned parents and school board members as passing the measure with “animosity, discrimination, and prejudice” toward trans-identified students, “as evidenced by statements made during the Board’s hearing.”

“In discussing the policy before its passage, board members made a number of statements describing students who are transgender or gender-nonconforming as suffering from a ‘mental illness,’ or ‘perversion,’” the press release said. “The Board President went so far as to state that transgender and gender nonbinary individuals needed ‘non-affirming’ parental actions so that they could ‘get better.’”

The data, however, supports claims made by the proposal’s proponents and vindicates the board president’s alleged recommendation that parents adopt a cautious “non-affirming” approach to their trans-identified kids.

A 2019 study found nearly 60 percent of trans-identified patients in a more than 10,000-patient survey were diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder. Meanwhile, access to transgender medical interventions has been shown to increase the risk of suicide. A report last summer from the conservative Heritage Foundation found that “easing access to cross-sex treatments without parental consent significantly increases suicide rates.” Another major long-term study out of Sweden showed that people who underwent transgender surgery were 19 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.

[RELATED: Science Is On The Side Of Those Resisting Transgender Ideology In Schools]

More and more detransitioners are now coming forward to share stories of how impulsive prepubescent medical treatment left them permanently “damaged.” In July, a 19-year-old detransitioner named Chloe Cole, who had a double mastectomy, testified on Capitol Hil about the “nightmare” she experienced as a victim of adolescent transgender ideology.

“It’s caused permanent changes to my body. My voice will forever be deeper, my jawline sharper, my nose longer,” she said. “My bone structure permanently masculinized. My Adam’s apple more prominent. My fertility unknown. I look in the mirror sometimes, and I feel like a monster.”

Yet the United States remains an outlier with its approach to trans minor medical treatment. Physicians have been found to “rubber-stamp” diagnoses of gender dysphoria to approve devastating procedures.

In June, England passed new restrictions on irreversible transgender medical interventions for pediatric patients. Other European nations are following suit as more research emerges on the dangers of premature interventions such as cross-sex hormones and surgeries.

“In the past few years, European health authorities conducted systematic reviews of evidence for the benefits and risks of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones,” the City Journal reported in February. “The findings from these reviews — that the certainty of benefits is very low — guided the hand of policymakers there to restrict access to hormones.”

In California, however, leaders are on a crusade to establish the state as a “haven” for gender-confused children. Last fall, Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to “offer refuge” for out-of-state minors seeking trans medical interventions in California without parental consent. The new law also mandates that doctors hide children’s medical information related to “gender identity” from their parents.

State animosity toward parents who oppose transgender ideology escalated this summer with legislation drafted in Sacramento that would charge parents with “child abuse” if they don’t “affirm” a child’s trans ideations.

Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk bluntly recommended that parents “flee” the state over Democrats’ transgender radicalism.

“In the past when we’ve had these discussions and I’ve seen parental rights atrophy, I’ve encouraged people to keep fighting,” Wilk said in June. “I’ve changed my mind on that,” Wilk added. “If you love your children, you need to flee California. You need to flee.”

Wilk declared he would leave the state himself when his legislative term expires.


Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.

California’s Income-Based Electric Bills Show It Cares More About Control Than Climate


BY: CHUCK DEVORE | APRIL 20, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/20/californias-income-based-electric-bills-show-it-cares-more-about-control-than-climate/

solar panels generate energy in California
The electrical pricing scheme may work as income redistribution social policy, but it fails the test of reducing energy consumption.

Author Chuck DeVore profile

CHUCK DEVORE

VISIT ON TWITTER@CHUCKDEVORE

MORE ARTICLES

What’s behind California’s shift to paying for electricity based on income? In a few words, it’s the consequence of California’s futile fight against climate change.

California’s quixotic pursuit to save the planet by reducing greenhouse emissions has had three broad and irrefutable consequences. It has made energy more expensive; costlier energy has accelerated the deindustrialization of the state; and, the best irony of all, the offshored manufacturing has increased greenhouse gas emissions by pushing production to dirty, coal-fired China, with goods then shipped back to California for consumption.

The latest twist in California’s arrogant tale of energy virtue signaling is playing out with a major restructuring in how Californians are charged for their electricity. For decades, consumers paid for electricity — as well as other utilities such as water and natural gas — with a tiered system that charged more for resources used above a baseline amount. For electricity, the baseline was determined by three things: the consumer’s use of electricity, the region, and the season.

This system meant consumers who used a lot of electricity would pay far more for each kilowatt hour of that additional electricity than they would for their baseline allocation.

This tended to hit lower-income consumers who ran their air conditioning too much, though the Golden State also has a separate program to reduce costs for low-income residents known as California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE).

But with California’s electric prices pushing from where they’ve traditionally been — about sixth-highest among the contiguous 48 states, behind New York and New England — to the second-highest in the nation after Hawaii last year, costs on the working poor were rising too much. To paraphrase a colorful politician, “The electric bill is too damn high.”

Thus, the California legislature last year passed Assembly Bill 205, which mandated an end to the tiered system of electric rates and instituted in its place a system where each would pay according to his ability to help those in need. (Of course, it sounds better in the original German, “Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen.”) The bill goes into effect no later than July 1, 2024, with the stated aim that “low-income ratepayers in each baseline territory would realize a lower average monthly bill without making any changes in usage.”

One unintended consequence of ditching the old baseline allocation scheme is all ratepayers, regardless of income, will now have far less incentive to conserve electricity, since each additional unit of electricity used will be priced the same, with overall prices reduced.

Higher Income Will Pay More

In preparation for the rollout of the new electric charges, California’s big, regulated utilities have proposed their new rate plans to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Depending on the provider, ratepayers would pay a fixed fee based on three household income tiers, plus charges for electricity use. Household income would be validated by a third party, likely the agency that collects the state income tax, the California Franchise Tax BoardThe three proposed household income tiers and their fixed rates are: $28,000 to $69,000 — $20 to $34 a month, depending on the provider; $69,000 to $180,000 — $51 to $73 a month; and more than $180,000 — $85 to $128 a month.

Median household income in California in the years 2017-2021 was $84,097, meaning that an average California family could, under the proposed rate structure, pay a flat fee of $876 per year for their electricity while charges for kilowatt hours used would decline by 33-42 percent depending on the provider. The net effect would be an increase of about $90 a year for the average household and up to $750 more annually for higher-income households. Ironically, households living in homes with rooftop solar would see some of the highest increases in electrical costs under the new rate structure. Lower-income households are expected to see savings of up to $300 per year.

Increasing Fees Rather Than Taxes

One big advantage to California policymakers of heavily regulating public utilities is the ability to use these energy and water corporations as de facto arms of the welfare state.

California’s Constitution requires a two-thirds majority to increase taxes, but a simple majority to increase fees. The CPUC’s total control over California’s utilities means state lawmakers can direct the CPUC to change its rate structures to take more from those earning more and give to those earning less — all without a penny flowing into or out of the state treasury — something that’s particularly attractive today in a state that went from an almost $100 billion surplus last year to an expected $30 billion deficit this year.

And in that, the CPUC commissioners, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, are willing accomplices in the class struggle for fair electricity bills and energy justice. Of the five commissioners, four are attorneys, with backgrounds in “environmental justice,” air quality, low-income assistance, and climate change — electricity generation, not so much. Though the CPUC’s mission is to ensure “that consumers have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates, protecting against fraud, and promoting the health of California’s economy,” it’s clear now that all that really matters is figuring out how to shield low-income voters from the costly consequences of California’s green energy crusade.

Moreover, while the electrical pricing scheme may work as income redistribution social policy, it fails the test of reducing energy consumption — laying bare the fact that California policymakers care more about control than they do the climate.


Chuck DeVore is chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, vice chairman of the Golden State Policy Council, a former California legislator, and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. He’s the author of “The Crisis of the House Never United—A Novel of Early America.”

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Highway from Hell

A.F. BRANCO | on April 6, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-highway-from-hell/

In spite of destroying California, Gavin Newsome has eyes on the white house.

Newsom Eyes the White House
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and Presiden

Joe Biden’s Green Energy Buddies Have Major Ties To Silicon Valley Bank


BY: LARRY BEHRENS | MARCH 21, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/21/joe-bidens-green-energy-buddies-have-major-ties-to-silicon-valley-bank/

President Joe Biden confers with Gov. Jared Polis before delivering remarks on Build Back Better,

The contrast couldn’t be clearer. A devastating train derailment and subsequent toxic fires rock a community in Ohio that President Trump carried by 29 points. Forty days later, President Joe Biden has yet to set foot in East Palestine despite numerous pleas from residents.

A few weeks after the train crash, news breaks about a well-connected bank few have ever heard of crumbling on a Friday afternoon. At a time of the day his supporters say he usually does nothing, Biden is in front of the television cameras telling the world that the U.S. government will bail out Silicon Valley Bank, which is located in a city Biden won by almost 50 points. Biden’s climate buddies and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wine companies are no doubt relieved.

For those keeping score: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is an emergency that requires Biden to get out of bed before 9 a.m., while the people of East Palestine continue to wait for answers.

Looking at those who work with or benefit from SVB, one begins to understand Biden’s urgency.  The White House may say climate is our worst existential crisis, but it looks like green dollars for leftists’ eco-friends required the quickest action.

It’s easy to wonder if President Biden’s actions are driven by the bank’s connection to climate companies. This article highlights a few, noting “Silicon Valley Bank served as a banker to dozens of climate and energy-tech companies, holding their cash on a day-to-day basis and issuing billions of dollars in loans in support of the type of large-scale, one-off projects that are essential to the sector.”

Read it again: Dozens of climate companies. Billions in loans. Holding their cash on a day-to-day basis. Now, it gets interesting.

Just earlier this month, SVB was one of the sponsors of “Winterfest” which billed itself as a global conference on energy transition. Another sponsor of the event was Galvanize Climate Solutions, tied to none other than billionaire Tom Steyer. Fun fact, this is the same company that also proudly had John Podesta as a “Strategic Advisor” before he took over managing the “green” money from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Steyer once played a key role on a Zoom fundraiser for Biden that raised $4 million dollars. That’s a lot of money for a single conference call. Many of the donors were from Silicon Valley and have deep pockets. That’s why it should be no surprise that when it came time to find someone to oversee $369 billion in taxpayer dollars for green investments, Biden would reach back into Steyer’s world.

Another company reported to have close ties to SVB is Lowercarbon Capital. It doesn’t take long on their website to find their managing partner is a strong Biden ally. They proudly tell you the partner is not only a longtime supporter of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but “was on their 2020 campaign’s National Finance Committee and is a member of Climate Leaders for Biden.”

Wait, there’s more. According to the reports, another major company with ties to SVB is Sunrun Solar. The company saw money from SVB going back to 2014 and arranged for a loan of more than half a billion dollars less than three months ago.

It doesn’t take much searching to learn Sunrun’s CEO joined President Biden at the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act and gave comments in support. In fact, when Biden waived tariffs on solar components last summer, Sunrun was listed as one of the top beneficiaries.

All this government cheese would be bland without a little wine. Take a moment to appreciate Newsom’s tone-deaf actions about SVB. Not long after Biden’s announcement, Newsom heaped praise on the move, and now we’re starting to see why.

Newsom is the owner of some wine companies, and you’ll be shocked to hear those companies are reportedly held by SVB. And if you can handle one more vomit-inducing dose of hypocrisy, an SVB bank president sits on the board of a charity run by Newsom’s wife.

Joe Biden’s Climate Cult: Membership has its privileges. It’s too bad the people of East Palestine couldn’t get in on the ground level.


Larry Behrens is the Communications Director for Power The Future and has appeared on Fox News, Newsmax and One America News. You can find him on Twitter at @larrybehrens or email at larry@powerthefuture.com.

Author Larry Behrens profile

LARRY BEHRENS

MORE ARTICLES

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Team Gruesome

A.F. BRANCO | on February 3, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-team-gruesome/

Governor Gavin Newsom has destroyed California and is looking to bring that to the other 50 States as president.

Gruesome Govnernor Newsom
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2023.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.

Get Ready for Another Cynical, Useless, Gun-Control Push by Democrats


BY: DAVID HARSANYI | JANUARY 26, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/26/get-ready-for-another-cynical-useless-gun-control-push-by-democrats/

Gavin Newsom talking with train in the background
They don’t care about the effectiveness or constitutionality of gun laws. They just want something ‘done.’

Author David Harsanyi profile

DAVID HARSANYI

VISIT ON TWITTER@DAVIDHARSANYI

MORE ARTICLES

The first question any reasonable person asks after a horrible crime is, “What could have been done to stop it?” Yet after every mass shooting, gun controllers suggest unworkable, unconstitutional, completely ineffectual ideas that target people who will never commit a crime. 

After the twin mass shootings in California last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom (flanked by armed guards) told CBS News that it was long past time to institute more gun-control laws because the Second Amendment is “becoming a suicide pact.” What he didn’t mention was that California has no functioning Second Amendment. It has passed not only every law Senate Democrats are proposing in Washington, but a slew of others. Anti-gun group Giffords gives California an “A” rating, noting that the state has the “strongest gun safety laws in the nation and has been a trailblazer for gun safety reform for the past 30 years.”

California already has “universal” background checks. California has a 10-day waiting period limit for handgun purchases, a microstamping system, a personal safety test, the ability to sue gun manufacturers even if they haven’t broken any law, an age hike on the purchase of certain firearms including rifles from 18 to 21, “red flag” laws that allow police to confiscate guns without genuine due process, a ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds (and legislation held up in courts to confiscate those magazines), among many other restrictions. Short of letting cops smash down the doors of gun owners and take their weapons, California has a law for it. And all it’s done is leave people attending dance halls defenseless.

The day of the Monterey Park shooting, President Biden again called on Congress to pass a federal “assault weapons” ban. So-called assault weapons have been banned in California since 1989. Last year, the state passed another bill making them super-duper illegal: SB 1327. From 1989 until today, gun trends in California mirror those of the nation at large. Which is unsurprising. The Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, despite Biden constantly claiming otherwise, did nothing to alter gun violence trends. Homicide rates began to ebb nationally before the ban was instituted. When the ban expired in 2004, and the AR-15 became the most popular rifle in the country, gun violence continued to precipitously fall — by 2014, gun homicides were the same as they were in 1963 — until the appearance of Covid.

Now, America’s gun death rates have reached a 28-year high as of 2021 “after sharp increases in homicides of Black men and suicides among white men, an analysis of federal data showed,” according to The Wall Street Journal. There are likely numerous societal reasons for this change — since about 45 percent of American households had guns 10 years ago and the number is the same today — but Democrats are busy worrying about stopping gun owners from having barrel shrouds.

Not that it matters to Democrats, but the shooter at Monterey Park didn’t use an assault weapon. He used a Cobray M11 9mm semi-automatic gun — one of the most useless handguns in existence” — which some reporters referred to as an “assault pistol.” It’s a scary looking, if antiquated gun (out of production since 1990) that, in this iteration, fires one cartridge with a single trigger squeeze like almost every other gun owned by civilians — including AR-15s. The gun was already illegal in California. As is carrying any gun into a no-gun zone. As is murder.

After the killers of Monterey Park (72 years old) and Half Moon Bay (67) struck, Biden, naturally, called on Congress to pass legislation to raise the minimum purchase age for “assault weapons” to 21. Many mass shooters are young men, but the average age of mass shooters is 35. The number of ARs used in the commission of murder in the hands of a person under 21 is a fraction of 1 percent. Like all things Democrats are pushing these days, it’s another incremental way of eliminating gun ownership that has only a tenuous connection to the events that supposedly precipitated the action.

All mass shooters obtain guns illegally, or legally before having any criminal record (or because of a mistake by the police, as was the case in Charleston and elsewhere). Most incidents are perpetrated by young men who have exhibited serious anti-social behavior. In many, if not most, cases, the shooter is already on the cops’ radar because he has threatened others, as was the case from the Parkland shooter to the Highlands Park shooter to the Half Moon shooter and many, many others. In a study of mass shootings from 2008 to 2017, the Secret Service found that “100 percent of perpetrators showed concerning behaviors, and in 77 percent of shootings, at least one person — most often a peer — knew about their plan.” The best thing we can do is uphold laws that already exist.

None of this is to argue that simply because some people ignore laws, they are unnecessary or useless. It’s to argue that laws which

almost exclusively target innocent people from practicing a constitutional right, and do nothing to stop criminals, are unnecessary and useless. The central problem in this debate is that Democrats believe civilian gun ownership itself is a plague on the nation, so it doesn’t really matter to them what gun is being banned or what law is being passed, as long as something is being “done.” Only this past summer, Congress supposedly passed the most vital gun bill in history, yet Democrats are back to acting like nothing has been done.

The other side believes that being able to protect themselves, their families, their property, and their community from criminality — and, should it descend into tyranny, the government — is a societal good. They see gun bans as autocratic and unconstitutional, and, also, largely unfeasible. And they’re right.


David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist, a nationally syndicated columnist, a Happy Warrior columnist at National Review, and author of five books—the most recent, Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and radio talk shows across the country. Follow him on Twitter, @davidharsanyi.


Sorry, Gavin Newsom. Real Freedom Fighters Are Leading Conservative Southern States, Not California

BY: RICH CROMWELL

JANUARY 20, 2023

5 MIN READ

Greg Abbott
Conservative governors in the South such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Glenn Youngkin, and Ron DeSantis provide hope to freedom-loving Americans.

Author Rich Cromwell profile

RICH CROMWELL

VISIT ON TWITTER@RCROMWELL4

MORE ARTICLES

“Freedom is our essence, our brand name — the abiding idea that right here, anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything,” so said the stunt double for Gordon Gekko’s hair, Gavin Newsom, upon being sworn in for his second term as the governor of California. Never mind that California was the exemplar of draconian lockdown policies designed to stop Covid, nor that businesses are fleeing the state, nor that it’s using “1984” as a roadmap. If Gov. French Laundry says it’s true, as he’s taking shots at potential future presidential rivals in Florida and Texas, it must be true.

And maybe it is true on Earth-2. California was once the home of innovation and a bastion of America’s independent spirit. The expression “As goes California, so goes the nation” didn’t gain currency because it was incorrect. But as another expression says: That was then, this is now. For in the now, it’s southern states and governors who are leading the way on freedom, empowering citizens, rebuilding infrastructure, and returning to the lost ideal of just leaving people alone.

When it comes to policies that actually promote freedom, states like Florida, Texas, and, God willing, my own Arkansas are doing much more to promulgate the free expression of the American spirit than Beijing on the Bay. How do we know this? Well, while actions speak louder than words, the actions of the governors of those states show they’re not afraid to put their money where their mouths are. 

When Ron DeSantis was sworn in for his second term as governor, in a previously purple state in which he won reelection by almost 19 points, his inaugural speech proclaimed Florida as a bastion of freedom, but he has the stats to back it up. From fighting indoctrination masquerading as education to battling woke corporate excess to remembering that conservation is a conservative value, he has a record.

When Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was elected the first female governor of Arkansas by a margin of roughly 27 points, was sworn in, she immediately began issuing executive orders fighting racism masked as education while urging the legislature to enshrine the orders so that future governors could not rescind them. She repealed five executive orders left in place by her Republican predecessor, Asa Hutchinson, regarding Covid. And she instituted a promotion and hiring freeze for state workers and made it impossible for state government agencies to issue new regulations without her approval.

And when Greg Abbott, who dealt Robert Francis “Novice Air Drummer” O’Rourke his latest defeat, was sworn in for his third term as governor of Texas, the new technology and innovation hub of America, he sounded the alarms on indoctrination, public safety, and the crisis at America’s southern border as well as offering a positive vision for the future of Texas. He stressed the need to focus on infrastructure and ensuring that the state’s power grid is prepared not just for the next four years “but for the next 40 years.”

Texas’ population has grown to more than 30 million people while California’s population has declined. And it’s no wonder why; it must be reassuring to these ex-Californians that their new home is being proactive in preventing the rolling brownouts of their former state. They can also take solace in the fact that Abbott didn’t give into Covid hysteria and has helped foster a climate that has drawn more than a few businesses from the Golden State to the Lone Star State.

It’s not just Texas that’s growing, but also Florida. Being open for business during the disastrous response to Covid propelled the state to the leader of the pack for growth for the first time since 1957. (Arkansas is also growing, and being home to the world’s largest retailer — and non-governmental employer — helps, though that company may soon need to be reined in akin to how DeSantis reined in Disney.)

Factor in Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia in 2021, and it really seems like these southerners are onto something. Whereas conservatives in the past just wanted to be left alone, so do conservatives in the present day. However, with regulatory and Big Business busybodies unwilling to leave us alone, we need executives who will fight back. 

The future of the country isn’t found in an office, it’s found in our communities, the place closest to us that we also tend to ignore, but at this moment, we also need pugilists who are willing to stand up for normalcy and vibrancy. The freshly sworn-in trio in the South is offering us that. As California goes, so goes the nation is one possibility. But if we pay attention and keep electing leaders like these, the other possibility is that as goes the South, so goes the nation. 

Freedom is neither an essence nor a slogan, it’s a way of life that must be protected.


Richard Cromwell is a writer and senior contributor at The Federalist. He lives in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, three daughters, and two crazy dogs. Co-host of the podcast Coffee & Cochon, you can find him on Facebook and Twitter, though you should probably avoid using social media.

After Approving Mass Mail-In Balloting, California Loses 10 Million Ballots In November Midterms


BY: VICTORIA MARSHALL | JANUARY 18, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/18/after-approving-mass-mail-in-balloting-california-loses-10-million-ballots-in-november-midterms/

mail in ballot

The 2022 midterms were the first major elections to occur in California after the Golden State approved all-mail voting in September 2021. Under the new system, all registered voters in the state are automatically mailed a ballot for each election cycle (Californians can still opt to vote in person if they wish). But during California’s first foray into mass mail-in balloting for the 2022 midterms, 226,250 mail ballots were rejected and more than 10 million remain unaccounted for, according to a new report by the Public Interest Legal Foundation.

Per the report, the most common reason for rejection of mail ballots in the 2022 cycle was late arrival (48 percent of rejects). Under California law, mail ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day and arrive at the tabulation center within seven days. For the state’s 2022 general elections, more than 57,000 ballots arrived after Nov. 15 (the seven-day mark). Largely as a result of the switch to mail-in balloting, more than 57,000 Californians were disenfranchised. Such voter disenfranchisement is sure to continue as long as the state keeps its vote-by-mail system. 

“Mail ballots disenfranchise,” PILF President J. Christian Adams said in a statement. “There are many reasons mail ballots fail ultimately to count. No one casting a ballot at home can correct an error before it’s too late. California’s vote-by-mail demonstration should serve as a warning to state legislators elsewhere.”

Another concerning figure coming from California’s midterm election cycle is that 10 million ballots still remain unaccounted for, after processing all polling place votes and rejected ballots. The assumption by election officials is that the majority of these ballots were ignored or thrown out by recipients. But such an information gap increases the risk of fraud. As the report notes, “The public cannot know how many ballots were disregarded, delivered to wrong mailboxes, or even withheld from the proper recipient by someone at the same address.”

Unaccounted mail-in ballots are a serious liability for states with all-mail voting. According to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission, 28.3 million mail-in ballots are still missing from elections conducted between 2012 and 2018. While there is no way of knowing whether these missing mail-in ballots were used fraudulently, they still pose a risk to election integrity.

Take ballot harvesting — the practice of third-party organizers collecting ballots from voters and returning them to election offices — for example. States that approve all-mail voting greatly incentivize ballot harvesting, since Democrat doorknockers can coax potential voters to fill out their ballots and hand them over to their newfound Democrat friends on the spot, rather than having to convince voters to do the legwork themselves. Partisan activists may take advantage of such a lax system. And they already do.

All-mail voting also creates more opportunities for chaos, which in turn undermines voters’ confidence. Under a traditional system where voters cast ballots in person, poll workers must account for all election materials and have a log of the number of ballots cast. When problems occur, such as ballots disappearing, the issue is resolved quickly due to the data trail. Not so with all-mail elections.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, multiple states switched to mail-in balloting under the guise of protecting public health. These voting systems were put in place with hardly any safeguards or scrutiny of the risks posed by all-mail elections. Currently, there are eight states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington — that primarily conduct their elections by mail.


Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.

Author Victoria Marshall profile

VICTORIA MARSHALL

VISIT ON TWITTER@VEMRSHLL

MORE ARTICLES


Trans Activists Offer Gender-Confused Minors Cash And Uber Rides To Get Them Away From Home

BY: STEPHANIE LUNDQUIST-ARORA | OCTOBER 27, 2022

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-activists-offer-gender-confused-minors-cash-and-uber-rides-to-get-them-away-from-home-2658513337.html/

screenshot of Discord messages
‘We can pay for Ubers, Lyfts, and other passes if you need to leave immediately,’ wrote one Pride Liberation Project leader to adolescent members.

Author Stephanie Lundquist-Arora profile

STEPHANIE LUNDQUIST-ARORA

MORE ARTICLES

From coast to coast, transgender activists are working to push chemical castration and genital mutilation on minors at all costs. In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 107 into law, blocking officials from enforcing other states’ laws that hinder access to transgender medical procedures and drugs for minors.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Pride Liberation Project (PLP) is organizing resources to help confused minors whose parents are not supportive of their gender and/or sexual identity experimentation to run away from their homes to stay with a “queer-friendly” adult. The potential for predatory behavior with this initiative is alarming.

PLP leader, Aaryan Rawal, now a college student, does not seem to be concerned about the risks of sending confused children into strangers’ houses “within 1-2 days” of their separation from their families. He sent messages to PLP members, mostly high school and middle school students, that the organization could offer rides and money promptly.

As reported by Asra Nomani, on July 15, 2022, Rawal wrote on Discord, “We can pay for Ubers, Lyfts, and other passes if you need to leave immediately. … In the short term, we can provide a couple of hundred dollars … through Venmo or Zelle.” For the longer term, he offers more money. “We can also set up a dedicated ActBlue fundraising page for you and get allies to donate. In the past, this has led to thousands of dollars in donations. All of this money is yours.”

At best, PLP is helping children run away from home. But it seems there is a sinister drive behind this network. Children are among our society’s most vulnerable, and those confused and separated from their parents are ripe prey. It is suspicious that identity disagreements within families, notably during this era of the social contagion of gender dysphoria and confusion — particularly among middle schoolers, would ever justify removing children from their families and placing them with strangers. Would these same actors argue that we take away a 13-year-old conservative girl from her liberal parents who refuse to affirm her political identity and place her with a random identity-affirming adult male stranger?

This is illegal and absurd. Saying so is common sense, not bigotry, as members of groups like PLP and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Pride suggest on social media. These groups are manipulating the political landscape to obliterate parental rights and push transgenderism on children — even in elementary schools.

On its website, PLP boasts that it has advocated for the books “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” to remain in public school libraries. Its members have promoted compelled speech (via mandatory pronouns). Multiple PLP members spoke at a July 2022 Fairfax County School Board meeting in favor of proposed changes to the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum that include lessons on transgender transitioning as early as fourth grade and co-ed FLE instruction to make students who identify as transgender feel more comfortable.

Arguably not by coincidence, the students who spoke at the board meeting all carried the same message: “Queer” students feel frightened and depressed. The PLP speakers repeatedly cited 50 percent as the community’s depression rate and suggested that changes to the FLE curriculum would help them feel supported. Their messages were so consistent, in fact, it would not be surprising if someone else wrote them.

On Sept. 25, 2022, Rawal sent PLP members detailed talking points and provided media training for the student walkout that occurred later that month. The walkout was meant to object to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to preserve parental rights and roll back Ralph Northam’s heavily politicized “Model Transgender Policies.” Rawal encouraged students to say that these efforts would “hurt Queer students,” “erase [their] existence,” and cause depression and potentially suicide.

In Q&A forums with PLP walk-out participants, Rawal further told a student who was not permitted to hang flyers in the school to proceed. “My honest response is do it anyway. Admin won’t penalize over flyers distributed manually…” Rawal also offered reimbursements of up to $25 for walkout expenses. When he realized he needed megaphones for the walkout and nearby stores were sold out of them, he wrote “f—, let me dm rigby.” Notably, Robert Rigby, a retired teacher and co-chair of FCPS Pride appears to be helping to organize and support PLP initiatives as well.

Adults organizing groups such as PLP are providing resources to help children run away from home. These minors, who are not permitted by law to drink alcohol or smoke tobacco, could potentially travel to California — now a so-called “gender-affirming” sanctuary state — to obtain permanent and irreversible surgical procedures, and/or medication, without their parents’ consent.

These transgender ideology pushers are not simply accepting, they are aggressive in encouraging medical experimentation among children and keeping parents in the dark. Permanently scarring children behind a parent’s back is a particular kind of evil we will, hopefully, look back on in disbelief.


Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a mother, author, and member of the Independent Women’s Network.

Tucker Carlson UNLOADS on Gavin Newsom over new law barring doctors from ‘disagreeing with Gavin Newsom’


BLAZETV STAFF | October 21, 2022

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-rubin-report/tucker-carlson-gavin-newsom/

On “The Rubin Report,” Blaze TV host Dave Rubin shared a clip of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson tearing into Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s insane new COVID “misinformation” law that essentially makes it illegal for doctors to disagree with the government and Big Pharma.

Under California Assembly Bill 2098, physicians and surgeons can be charged with “unprofessional conduct” for “disseminate[ing] misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.”

“Governor Gavin Newsom just signed a bill that will punish doctors for the crime of disagreeing with Gavin Newsom,” Tucker said.

“Remember, it’s just between you and your doctor, right? But now, Gavin Newsom — who’s not a doctor, he’s a moron — is somehow telling your doctor what to think? Yeah. Under this new law, doctors can no longer spread ‘false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, … its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.’ In other words, you’re not allowed to criticize Pfizer. It’s now a crime in California,” he added. “Shareholders of Pfizer, anyone? Probably.”

Don’t miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now.

“This is really extraordinary stuff, and this is a massive, massive escalation on the assault on free speech, which is just endlessly happening to us virtually every day,” Dave commented.

Watch the video clip below to catch more of the conversation. Can’t watch? Download the podcast here.

Newsom Signs Bill To Let California Strip Gender-Confused Teens From Parents — Even When They Live In Other States


BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/30/newsom-signs-bill-to-let-california-strip-gender-confused-teens-from-parents-even-when-they-live-in-other-states/

Gavin Newsom

California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Thursday night to strip rights away from parents who protest their children’s blind pursuit of destructive surgeries sold to confused minors as “gender affirmation.”

Under Senate Bill 107 introduced by San Francisco-area State Sen. Scott Wiener, California will now become a “refuge” for trans-identifying minors who seek irreversible medical treatment for gender dysphoria. The legislation was supposedly aimed at blocking red states from enforcing laws barring extreme treatments for underage victims, and instead invited those minors to seek surgeries in California.

“In California we believe in equality and acceptance. We believe that no one should be prosecuted or persecuted for getting the care they need — including gender-affirming care,” Newsom said upon signing the bill into law. “Parents know what’s best for their kids, and they should be able to make decisions around the health of their children without fear. We must take a stand for parental choice.”

Except the bill undermines parental choice by empowering the state to strip custody from those who refuse to support their children’s demand for “gender-affirming care,”euphemism used to describe something that is neither gender-affirming nor caring. Such procedures could range from puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to surgeries leaving a child’s genitals permanently altered. The bill extends California’s reach beyond its borders, enabling minors in other states to pursue treatment on the West Coast away from parental oversight.

Jay Richards, a policy expert at the Heritage Foundation, and Emilie Kao, a vice president and senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, broke down the components of the law in Newsweek.

“California courts will have the power to strip custody from parents, wherever they live, who doubt the wisdom of these experimental and irreversible procedures — if their child so much as steps foot in California,” the pair explained. “It would also allow California doctors to treat minors still in other states. With the advent of telehealth, a child could get a prescription for hormones from a California doctor while at home in Arkansas or in Florida.”

Both states have instituted protections to restrict cross-sex hormones from ending up in the hands of gender-confused minors.

Under California’s new law, parents might not even know whether their children are pursuing these dangerous drugs and procedures. Senate Bill 107 mandates that doctors hide children’s medical information from parents if related to “gender identity,” even if requested by subpoena.

Last week, a coalition of organizations representing parents both in and out of state condemned the law’s reach with a letter to the governor.

“[Senate Bill] 107 makes California akin to the Pied Piper, enticing minor children nationwide to leave their families and run away in pursuit of harmful drugs and sterilizing surgeries, all of which cause irreversible harm to the minds, bodies, and family relationships of America’s precious children,” they wrote. “Children experiencing gender confusion need the love, support, and guidance of their parents. They do not need to be taken from their parents and rushed down a pathway which leads to a lifetime of medicalization and sterilization.”

This summer, researchers at the Heritage Foundation found that “easing access to cross-sex treatments without parental consent significantly increases suicide rates.” The findings contradict a key argument among proponents of aggressive “gender affirmation” who claim minors denied permanently life-altering procedures are more likely to kill themselves.

“There is a 14% increase in suicide rates among young people by 2020 in states that have a provision allowing minors to access care without parental consent relative to states that do not,” explained Heritage Senior Research Fellow Jay Greene. “Easier access to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones by minors actually exacerbated suicide rates.”


Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.

Author Tristan Justice profile

TRISTAN JUSTICE

VISIT ON TWITTER@JUSTICETRISTAN

MORE ARTICLES

Today’s HILLARIOUS Politically INCORRECT cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Mean Green Machine

A.F. BRANCO | on September 28, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-mean-green-machine-2/

California’s Gov Newsom says no fossil fuel vehicles by 2035. What will that look like?

California Bike Reimagined
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including “Fox News”, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Vulture Politics

A.F. BRANCO | on August 4, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-vulture-politics/

Potential Candidates wait like vultures to take Biden’s place as leader of the free world.

Potential Candidates Ater Biden
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022

DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including “Fox News”, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.

Vaccine Tyranny: UCLA Doctor Escorted Off Property for Refusing Vax, Then He Reveals His Plan


Posted By C. Douglas Golden  October 11, 2021 at 9:23am

Read more at https://www.westernjournal.com/vaccine-tyranny-ucla-doctor-escorted-off-property-refusing-vax-reveals-plan/

The logic of vaccine mandates eludes me, particularly in the health care sphere.

The country is, at present, gearing up for what should be (God willing) the last major winter wave of COVID-19. It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment for the frontline medical professionals — the ones who braved SARS-CoV-2 in its early stages, the ones Americans applauded from apartment balconies in those grim, confusing early days.

The administration and some politicians — usually Democrats — are convinced that zero-tolerance vaccine mandates are one of the critical components when it comes to blunting the force of that wave. Plenty don’t agree. Some COVID survivors — and researchers — maintain that natural immunity provides more protection than the vaccine does. Some have moral objections to the vaccine. Some don’t trust the speed with which it was developed. Some believe the mandates to be an infringement on bodily autonomy.

Does the reasoning behind vaccine mandates hold water? Does it matter? The point is that forcing the recalcitrant is a difficult task for the COVID hawks on the left, particularly given their dire predictions about ICU usage this winter and a labor shortage that doesn’t seem to be abating. The solution, therefore, is to force health care professionals to take the vaccine or consider themselves out of a job as we approach the all-hands-on-deck moment.

You may perhaps begin to see the problem here. Granted, the intent was to force unvaccinated health care professionals to swallow their objections and take one for the team. Instead, the practical effect is that the team is getting winnowed down — as proven by the case of Dr. Christopher Rake.

According to The Sacramento Bee, Rake is an anesthesiologist at UCLA Health hospital system in Los Angeles who has become a vocal social media critic of COVID vaccines. UCLA Health executives decided they had had enough of that and had him escorted out of his workplace Oct. 4 — but not without Rake livestreaming the whole affair.

“They are escorting me out of the building,” Rake said in the video, posted to Twitter on Tuesday by Beverly Hills Courier staff writer Samuel Braslow. The doctor asked for the title of the men escorting him out, although he didn’t get it.

“This is what happens when you stand up for freedom and when you show up to work, willing to work, despite being unvaccinated, and this is the price you have to pay sometimes,” Rake said, turning the camera on himself.

Then he sketched out his plan: He’s going to keep fighting the mandatory vaccination regime, no matter what it costs him.

“But what they don’t realize is that I’m willing to go lose everything,” he said. “Job, paycheck, freedom, even my life for this cause.”

“Be well. United we stand, divided we fall,” Rake concluded.

The UCLA Health System requires workers to have a COVID-19 vaccination or “an exemption in accordance with University of California policy and a state public health order issued on Aug. 5, which only exempts workers on the basis of religious beliefs or medical reasons,” according to the Bee.

“Those out of compliance are subject to progressive discipline, including restricting access to work sites and being placed on leave,” a UCLA representative told McClatchy Newspapers, the Bee’s parent company.

Rake’s profile was still listed on UCLA Health’s website as of Monday morning Eastern Time, indicating he hadn’t been terminated. However, there’s been ample time for “progressive discipline,” given he began speaking out against vaccines publicly as early as August.

While he was once a frontline hero for his work with COVID, Rake said at an anti-vaccination rally in Santa Monica Aug. 29, “this year I’m a zero.”

“They want to force a vaccination or medication or treatment into my body that I don’t want. So they’re telling me, ‘Take the jab or we take your job,’” Rake said.

“And I’m here to say no. That’s not OK.”

He also urged those who are vaccinated to consider the implications of vaccine mandates and said he wanted them with the cause “because they deserve medical freedom.”

“Many of them are going to wake up when the government says, ‘hey, by the way, you need a third booster shot,’” Rake said. “And you know, they say, ‘I felt pretty bad after that second one, can I just pass?’ No. You are now out of alignment with what the government wants and cannot go to your child’s baseball game, you can’t go to the movie theater, you can’t go to the grocery store. They’re going to take everything away.”

UCLA Health responded with a tweet saying, “These comments do not represent the views of UCLA Health. Unvaccinated people are more likely to contract COVID-19 & we encourage employees to be vaccinated. We adhere to the state public health order requiring health care workers to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing.”

I’m not a medical expert, but I don’t agree with Dr. Rake’s position — and it’s a moot point anyway, given the fact I’m fully vaccinated and I’m unaware of any way to pull the Pfizer solution out of my arm at this point. However, I agree with Dr. Rake’s ability to state his position — and to live by it. If UCLA Health was testing him, there was no reason to escort him off of their property. He plays no role in administering or championing vaccines. He plays a vital role in the operation of the emergency room. This shouldn’t be difficult.

And yet, it is. Because of vaccine mandates in health care, hospitals have lacked the requisite nurses needed to deliver babies. Outside the medical field, law enforcement officers are leaving their jobs. Experienced members of the military are considering leaving the service.

We once celebrated our frontline medical workers for keeping us alive. Now we have to hope there are enough of them left as we’re told COVID cases are “overwhelming hospitals” — all because of what the vaccine mandate hath wrought.

C. Douglas Golden, Contributor

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.

@CillianZeal

Facebook

CA Recall Voter Says She and Other Republicans Showed Up at Polling Place, Were Told They Already Voted


Reported By Cameron Arcand | September 13, 2021

Read more at https://www.westernjournal.com/ca-recall-voter-says-republicans-showed-polling-place-told-already-voted/

Bureaucratic ignorance fuels the public’s institutional distrust, particularly when it comes to elections. Polls are open in California for voters to determine whether to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and residents are eagerly casting their ballots.

But some voters are worried that their votes will not be counted — including two women who went to vote in Woodland Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles. Estelle Bender, who lives in nearby West Hills, told KTLA-TV that she and others at the polling place were informed that they had already voted even though that had not.

Asked how shocked she was, the 88-year-old responded, “Very. I went to El Camino High School to vote, got there at 10:30, gave her this and she scanned it and said, ‘You voted.’ And I said, ‘No I haven’t.’ And she said, ‘This has been happening all morning.’

“The man next to me was arguing the same thing. So as I left, I did the provisional ballot.”

Bender said she “saw two women walking toward me as I left and I said, ‘Don’t be surprised if they tell you how they voted.’ And she said, ‘They’ve already done that.’”

She said she was “really angry” and suspicious that this issue was targeting Republicans.

“I asked the couple, the young women that I talked to and I said, ‘Are you by any chance Republicans?’ She said, ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Well so am I.’”

Another voter, Monica Almada, told KNBC-TV that she had the same issue when she tried to cast her ballot at the Disabled American Veterans 73 Vote Center in Woodland Hills.

“My confidence is not the same as it used to be about the voting system,” she told the outlet.

There is no empirical evidence to support that this technical error is targeted toward Republicans, but this incident certainly is raising alarm bells. In response to the KTLA report, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder released a statement.

“The voters who experienced this issue were offered and provided a provisional ballot- the failsafe option to ensure no one is turned away from voting,” it said.

If people are running into issues at their polling places, they should discuss it with the staffers there and then get in touch with their county’s registrar office.

It’s clear that situations like the one in Woodland Hills will only create more distrust in the American electoral process and could result in voters deciding to stay home. But these incidents should not deter anyone from casting their ballots in the California recall election.

Cameron Arcand, Contributor

Cameron Arcand is a political commentator based in Orange County, California. His “Young Not Stupid” column launched at The Western Journal in January 2021, making Cameron one of the youngest columnists for a national news outlet in the United States. He has appeared on One America News, and has been a Young America’s Foundation member since 2019.@cameron_arcand

Today’s Politically INCORRECT Cartoon by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Royal Sham

Many hypocritical blue state Governors are all about rules for thee but not for me, policies.

Blue State Hypocrite GovernorsPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco Cartoon ©2021.
Donations/Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 –  $5.00 –  $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 –  it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!

A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into the cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including “Fox News”, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and “The Washington Post.” He has been recognized by such personalities as Dinesh D’Souza, James Woods, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and shared by President Donald Trump.

Politicians Aren’t Canceling Their Celebrations And Gatherings, And Neither Am I


Reported by Dana Loesch NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Politicians Aren’t Canceling Their Celebrations And Gatherings, And Neither Am I

My parents and in-laws haven’t seen their grandkids in nearly a year. Because we live states apart, the most time we spend together is during the holidays and a week in the summer. Due to the lockdown this year, the grandparents have only been able to see our kids during video calls.

It could be worse; some dear friends of ours buried a parent during the lockdown with no guests or funeral, and the grandchildren had to stay away. Family bonds do more than just unite people with the same origin or name, however. Those bonds hold us up and together during times of struggle and grief.

These painful life events can shape our perspectives for the remainder of our time on Earth. I learned a lot about dealing with grief when I attended family funerals growing up. When my grandmother passed away years ago, my cousins and I stood solemnly together as we watched our aunts and uncles say their final graveside goodbyes.

When our uncles walked my grandpa to her casket, we witnessed this quiet, strong man cry for the first time in our lives. I would not have been able to watch it without the rest of my family there. He didn’t just cry; his sobs shook his thin, 6’3” frame and threw him off balance. He leaned on the casket to help support his weight, and we gave him a moment before swarming him for comfort.

The sight was a shock that swept us into a new reality: We, the grandkids, wouldn’t be “the grandkids” in our family’s hierarchy much longer. Each generation took one step up that imaginary staircase with the death of our grandparents. Our kids assumed the step below us where we once stood. The presence of family makes that meeting with mortality easier to process.

I had just given birth to my second child when my grandfather passed away, living long enough to learn that his second great-grandson was on this Earth, miles away from him, but healthy. I didn’t get to attend his funeral because it was too soon after childbirth, the day I brought my baby home.

That night, I rocked my son to sleep in the solitude and darkness of his nursery and cried until there was nothing left in my soul to expend. That heavy sort of grief is meant to be borne by more than one. It took a long while to get past that.

Lockdowns Have Caused Immense Harm

That’s the closest experience I have to compare when I read about grief during lockdowns. This is why my heart truly breaks over stories from others who were forced by lockdowns and restrictions to endure this with their loved ones.

The emotional dam of a non-political, grief-stricken friend burst forth on Facebook after she read about politicians defending protest gatherings while she and her sister had to bury their father alone, just themselves, on a cold, clear March day earlier this year. The pain seems endless, and the lockdowns have predictably caused immense unintended consequences:

  • Depression rates for every age demographic have tripled.
  • Domestic abuse has increased globally.
  • Child abuse cases have increased.
  • Foster kids are in jeopardy.
  • Sixty percent of small businesses that closed during the last lockdown will not reopen, and others barely hanging on are giving up.
  • Even though schools aren’t superspreaders and medical professionals have been telling districts to reopen, many haven’t. New York City just closed its schools again.
  • Remote learning isn’t working, and our kids are falling behind — badly.
  • A new nickname has developed for an entire generation of kids: Generation COVID. And no, the kids are not alright.
  • People are turning to drugs and alcohol to cope.
  • Fatal drug overdoses have skyrocketed.
  • Deaths from non-coronavirus health issues have climbed since the start of the last lockdown as people don’t seek medical care for treatable illnesses. The lockdown could kill more than the virus.

‘Experts’ Have Given Us Every Reason Not to Trust Them

This is all to control the spread of a virus that science can’t yet predict. So-called experts told us “15 days to flatten the curve,” but many months later, they say we’re “in an elongated wave.” They still have no idea about immunity. Another study came out showing masks don’t actually reduce coronavirus infection rates. Dr. Anthony Fauci told us in the beginning not to wear masks:

Later, Fauci admitted he lied when he told people masks weren’t essential. Politicians and “experts” shouldn’t be surprised when their actions like these make reasonable people lose faith in their leadership and unwilling to follow their rules.

Many of us comforted ourselves through the dark, lonely spring and desolate summer with visions of family gatherings over the holidays. Now we’re told to skip those too or just have a “virtual Thanksgiving.” If you can’t do that, limit guests, make everyone wear masks, stay away from each other, and have everyone bring their own food — unless your name rhymes with Schmavin Twosome, that is:

California Medical Association officials were among the guests seated next to Gov. Gavin Newsom at a top California political operative’s opulent birthday dinner at the French Laundry restaurant this month.

CEO Dustin Corcoran and top CMA lobbyist Janus Norman both joined the dinner at the French Laundry, an elite Napa fine dining restaurant, to celebrate the 50th birthday of lobbyist and longtime Newsom adviser Jason Kinney, a representative of the powerful interest group confirmed Wednesday morning.

The rest of us would get fined for doing this.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker dodged a reporter’s question about his family’s Thanksgiving plans — they traveled to their second home in Florida — and it made the rounds on social media. Pritzker had to return to do damage control: “I was taken aback by yesterday’s question about my family’s holiday plans, in part because my wife and I were in the process of making the very hard decision that we may need to celebrate Thanksgiving apart from one another for the first time ever, and it was weighing heavily on my mind.”

He was “taken aback” that reporters, during a press conference about COVID-19 Thanksgiving plans, asked him if he was going to follow his own lockdown orders — especially knowing that Pritzker’s wife violated the last lockdown by fleeing to their multimillion-dollar equestrian estate in Florida?

We would be fined for this, but these Democratic governors are exempt from coronavirus and lockdown concerns, apparently. It’s not just governors, however. Don’t forget House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the shuttered salon.

Before her was Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her lockdown salon trip. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser locked down residents while she attended Biden rallies. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to wear a mask and self-quarantine.

California lawmakers lived it up in Maui during lockdown on the excuse of a “conference” (We all have to Zoom, why can’t they?). New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio went to the gym while you were locked down at home. The Daily Caller compiled a list of hypocritical lawmakers violating lockdown, and you can find an additional great thread here.

Americans Are Sick of the Double Standard

We have all sacrificed, some more than others, and we are tired of the double standard. We are sick of bureaucrats leading us around, treating us like children instead of the employers whose tax dollars form their paychecks.

Americans are weary of speculation presented as science. We are tired of being told that our businesses are nonessential, that worker lives are nonessential, and that our kids and their wellbeing are nonessential. We are sick of hearing that any deviation from the mandates passed down to us by politicians who refuse to follow the rules means sentencing our neighbors to death.

I rejected that outright:

wrote about this accusation in April, noting that the intent of our elitist overlords is murky. Who are they to decide which workers are essential? By the politicians’ own rhetoric, those “essential” workers are actually “expendable,” since they are most susceptible to the same virus the electeds use to scare the rest of us into our homes.

For those maligning business owners as murderous monsters because they simply want to pay their bills consider this — certain businesses were declared essential: Food delivery is essential but cancer treatment isn’t. So you’re fine with risking the lives of delivery drivers to avoid picking up your pizza yourself? Is it acceptable to risk the lives of restaurant staff because you don’t want to make your own food? Is it acceptable to risk the lives and health stability of cancer patients as well as the livelihood of medical staff being furloughed around the country to demonstrate a devotion to saving lives? If you want to discuss murkiness of intent, this is it. By declaring that some people are essential, haven’t you already decided that some lives are expendable?

This is an awful virus. Unlike a military battle, this is a foe that will never be vanquished. We can vaccinate against it and build up our immunities, but just as with chickenpox, polio, and other illnesses before this virus, there is no cure, only prevention and acclimation. Overreaction is a lesser enemy, and moderation is an ally. There is a difference between reasonable concern and “Chicken Little” hysteria.

The hysteria is exhausting. We are tired of being told that contracting the virus means instant death when it emphatically does not — it has a 99.98 percent survivability rate. We are tired of being told that because some can’t venture out, no one should. Nothing in life is perfectly safe, including freedom. But freedom is a lot safer than the statist systems so many leftists champion.

It’s Time to Declare Our Freedom

As a daughter who doesn’t have much of her family left, whose kids are growing up faster than she can even capture with her phone camera, I am not going to miss out on life. I am not going to let my parents age out of this world while lying to my own heart that it’s OK if I missed an entire year or more with them. I am not going to tell my children that it’s alright if they don’t see their family anymore because we have to hide in our homes.

More than anything else, I am sick of being told I don’t have the right of risk when risk is part of freedom. I will not be lectured by people who say that eating in a restaurant with health protocols is riskier than shutting down the largest economy in the world. I won’t be bullied by bureaucrats who say it’s risker to reopen schools than to force an entire generation into lockdown for nearly a year, stunting them in every way but loneliness. I will not be shamed by lawmakers who don’t follow their own rules. I won’t be preached at by pundits too purposefully obtuse to see nuance over their partisanship.

I am going to host my parents for Thanksgiving, and I hope to host my in-laws for Christmas. I will continue living as a free and responsible American with liberties for which my family has taken bullets and mine shards, until the day comes that our government wants to stage a modernized version of 1776 by trying to end that perfectly wonderful freedom.

As Teddy Roosevelt said, “For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know.” Freedom is beautiful and scary. It’s up to each of us to maintain it.

Dana Loesch is a nationally syndicated talk radio host of “The Dana Show” with Radio America and a best-selling author.

Gavin Newsom’s Office Warns Diners To Wear Masks ‘In Between Bites’


Reported By Jack Davis | Published October 6, 2020 at 10:36am

URL of the originating web site: https://www.westernjournal.com/gavin-newsoms-office-warns-diners-wear-masks-bites/

“Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend?” Newsom’s office tweeted Friday. “Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy.”

The image that accompanied the text included the words: “Minimize the number of times you take your mask off.”

The tweet had critics aplenty.

“Did you get all that? Spot the contradiction?” Nick Kangadis wrote for the Media Research Center.

“In one sentence, Newsom’s office want[s] you to be masked ‘in between bites’ of your food should you go out to dinner with your family. Then in the graphic, just two sentences later, they tell people to ‘Minimize the number of times you take your mask off,’” he wrote.

“Now, I’m no mathematician, but wouldn’t you be taking off your mask a ton if you had to put it back on ‘in between bites?’

“Of course these edicts don’t make sense, but then again, it is California. Just saying.”

The concept was fodder for Twitter to chew on:

READ THE REST OF THE REPORT HERE https://www.westernjournal.com/gavin-newsoms-office-warns-diners-wear-masks-bites/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

California Threatens John MacArthur’s Church with Hefty Fines for Defying Lockdown


Reported by PENNY STARR | 

URL of the originating web site: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/05/california-church-threatened-with-hefty-fines-for-opening-doors-amid-lockdown/

Pastor John MacArthur speaks at the Shepherds’ Conference in California, March 6, 2020. | Facebook/Shepherds’ Conference

“The state has absolutely no power to impose the restrictions it is demanding,” Jenna Ellis, one of the attorneys representing the church, said in a report on The Federalist website. “This is not about health and safety, it is about targeting churches.”

In mid-July Newsom ordered churches in 30 counties, including Los Angeles County, to stop holding indoor services, but MacAuthor refused to comply, as Breitbart News reported, saying that Jesus Christ, not the state government, is the head of the church:

When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ as sovereign over His Kingdom, which is the church. His rule is mediated to local churches through those pastors and elders who teach His Word (Matthew 16:18–192 Timothy 3:16–4:2).

Therefore, in response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services.

“Now, the city of Los Angeles is punishing the church for its decision to continue gathering. In addition to fines and threats of arrest, Mayor Eric Garcetti has shown himself willing to use other tactics to keep residents from breaking shutdown orders,” The Federalist reported. “Back in April, he warned that he’d given the Department of Water and Power permission to shut off utilities for nonessential businesses that were operating in defiance of restrictions.”

The Federalist said that in addition to Ellis, who also is a private legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, Charles LiMandri of the Thomas More Society is also providing legal representation for Grace Community Church.

“It is unconstitutional for Governor Newsom and the State of California to discriminate against churches by treating them less favorably than other organizations and activities that are not protected by the First Amendment,” LiMandri said.

Follow Penny Starr on Twitter

DOJ to Gavin Newsom: Start Reopening Churches in California


Reported by JOEL B. POLLAK | 

URL of the originating web site: https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/05/20/doj-to-gavin-newsom-start-reopening-churches/

Attorney General William Barr appears before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee to make his Justice Department budget request, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday that his reopening plan discriminates against religion and must be modified to allow for religious services to reopen. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband pointed out that Newsom’s plan allows a variety of businesses to reopen in “Stage 2,” but does not allow churches and other houses of worship to reopen until “Stage 3,” for no apparent reason.

Citing Attorney General William Barr’s April memorandum warning state and local governments to respect First Amendment rights of religious freedom — “[T]he Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis,” Barr wrote — Dreiband argued that while California could determine the pace of its reopening, it could not infringe on religion:

Of course we recognize the duty that you have to protect the health and safety of Californians in the face of a pandemic that is unprecedented in our lifetimes.

Laws that do not treat religious activities equally with comparable nonreligious activities are subject to heightened scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. … Religious gatherings may not be singled out for unequal treatment compared to other nonreligious gatherings that have the same effect on the government’s public health interest, absent the most compelling reasons.

California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the [essential workforce] list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden, regardless of whether remote worship is practical or not.

Places of worship are not permitted to hold religious worship services until Stage 3. However, in Stage 2, schools, restaurants, factories, offices, shopping malls, swap meets, and others are permitted to operate with social distancing.

Whatever level of restrictions you adopt, these civil rights protections mandate equal treatment of persons and activities of a secular and religious nature.

Dreiband told Breitbart News Sunday recently that the DOJ had achieved results by writing to local governments to inform them that they were infringing on religious liberty, and they had backed down from draconian restrictions.

The Los Angeles Times notes that while several California churches have already challenged the state’s stay-at-home orders, none has yet been successful. Dreiband acknowledged these decisions, but argued in his letter that the decisions do not address discrimination in the reopening plan.

Politico noted that Gov. Newsom has tried to mollify religious communities: “I want to just express my deep admiration to the faith community and the need and desire to know when their congregants can once again start coming back to the pews, coming back together,” he said Monday.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Tag Cloud