Gavin Newsom said the most unsettling thing recently at a press conference that I’m sure he wishes he hadn’t. A question was put to him about what happens if a Republican makes it to runoff and he insinuated that he has a “break the glass” scenario where that won’t happen.
“Break the glass” is an analogy to breaking the glass to pull the fire alarm in an emergency. To those in the political world unwilling to yield to the desires of the electorate, having their party lose is an emergency, not an act of democracy.
Have you ever heard an elected official like him ever openly admit, he would thwart the will of the people who vote for members of his opposition party? Oh wait, yes, this is the same Gavin Newsom, who ramrodded Prop 50 to overturn the will of the people who voted to have an independent commission of citizens draw boundaries for congressional districts. And he did so by tying it to “Orange Man bad,” which of course 60 percent of California people are infected by Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Newsom should explain what he means by his cryptic message that he would “make sure that doesn’t happen.“
Where are the No Kings people? Or are they only concerned with Trump and dismissive when Der Slickmeister sounds like a fascist dictator they claim Trump to be? I doubt if you’ll see the old 1960s ex-hippie retiree liberals, on the street corner protesting the governor’s radical fascist talk.
The Democrats act like they are entitled to hold public office, even after if they’ve screwed the state royally in terms of the incredible debt that has been accumulated; because of their wasteful financial policies; the crumbling infrastructure and the fiasco of high speed rail. And we’re not even talking about the housing shortage in California and the over regulation that is sending businesses and jobs to other states like Idaho, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
The middle class is being squeezed out of a state they love and that is reason enough to not vote for a Democrat for any state office until they get the message: We cannot afford their style of governance.
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I’ve been hard on Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez – perhaps too hard at times.
Over the years I’ve been critical of his leadership style but I detail why. However, I bristle at some of the comments directed to Lopez on social media. There’s a difference in outlining why you disagree with someone’s policies, votes or views but it’s another thing to be downright uncivil toward the mayor or any official and get personal with name calling. Folks, let’s be civil in social media. Sometimes holding the tongue is a virtue.
For what it is worth, I must give Lopez credit – as I would any local official – for the willingness to serve in public office despite what his intentions may be. It’s hard being an elected official because all kinds of slings and arrows are aimed your way. The blame falls on you.
From 1990 to 1994 I served as an elected official in the city of Waterford and I can tell you I know what it’s like to face criticism. I had someone call me John the Baptist in the local newspaper because I wanted to start invocation before our council meetings. I remember one particular League of California Cities gathering in which the speaker talked about how it’s a thankless job serving on a City Council. But as Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
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How do you like the voter fraud that was going on in Los Angeles County? Years ago County Supervisor Jim DeMartini told me that that was going on at that time and people were pooping him but lowered behold we have an indictment for a woman who is buying votes signing up homeless people to vote and having the ballots sent to her house which is a federal crime. Makes you wonder how many other counties where this has taken place and then it also makes you wonder how many votes how many elections have they stolen from Republicans?
The top two system or jungle primary was certainly something. The Democrats wasted upon us as long ago, and they were just fine with Republicans being shut out of the general election, but now that it appears the state is turning a little bit more red and might possibly put a Republican candidate next to a Democrat candidate in the November election, of course they want to change the rules if that happens search should go to Sacramento with pitchforks and buckets of tar in their hand, but people are too apathetic and more content to watch TikTok and watch the latest episodes of the bachelor.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com