11 Comments

Another boring post ...

Tiktoc? Ban Why?

All the data that they gather from their app they can also buy from all US data firms.. They all sell data to anyone. That includes China. Gonna ban data sales? Us data sales to China probably paid for your election!! A comment for my congressman

Expand full comment

Kinda late but...

On Jan 6th, Donald Trump went to the Ellipse with a permit for a rally there. During the rally he asked the crowd to march to the capitol and have a rally there as well. He had no permit for that. How many police would have been assigned to such a huge rally and then a march to another rally at the Capitol? About 2,500, maybe 10,000. Would a permit even been issued as the capitol was in session at that time. I think not.. Such a huge police presence, that would have been there for a rally, a march , and another rally, would have stopped his followers from storming the capitol. He broke the law by exceeding his rally permit and when he did, everything that happened after that is on him. The law is clear, if you commit an illegal action, even such a small action as illegal parking, you blocked the view of cross traffic and got a family killed, all actions that cascade from that illegal action are on you. Once you start an illegal action, it is then you who are responsible for other actions that you started. An innocent person getting shot during a bank robbery is a good example. The security guards are not responsible for the civilians getting accidentally shot by them during the robbery, the robber is responsible for all such actions as he instigated the whole interaction by doing a robbery. The Maggots (MAGA-Idiots) not normal Republicans, are going to say the Dems had bad security at the capitol. Dems do not control security at the Capitol. If Trump had filed a permit for what he intended to do, rally, march to the Capitol, and then another rally at the Capitol, the security would have been 10X larger at least, and the Capitol would have been fine. PS, I did write this and not chat GPT. :-)

Expand full comment

Newsom is definitely running for president in 2028. As a Californian and a Democrat, I would definitely vote for him. There have been missteps during Covid, such as a group dinner at a very expensive restaurant, but he has wisely used his leadership to advance common sense (and progressive) policies. However he is to the left of Biden and has plenty of weaknesses (he’s very wealthy, he had an affair with a staffer’s wife, he was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, etc.) for the MAGAts to attack. So I’m not sure he could translate state success into electoral votes.

Expand full comment

Cat ladies love to be locked down, masked, and jabs by dictators. What common sense policies has he passed other than turning the cities into homeless slums, flooding the streets with drugs, and arresting paddleboarders during COVID?

Expand full comment

Your comment shows the kind of attacks Newsom will encounter. The issues you raise are too complex to refute but the misstatements need some attention.

First, the homeless crisis began when mentally ill people were turned out of state mental institutions without any support for the communities. This began under conservative icon and Governor Ronald Reagan. It reached crisis proportions in the 1980s under Republican Governor George Deukmejian, when federal cost cutters similarly closed hospitals. The drug issues have accompanied the homelessness crisis. Newsom may not have solved these problems but he’s trying and homelessness and rampant drug use not unique to California.

As to COVID policies, I am an enthusiastic supporter. Only a minority of Californians found Newsom’s policies wrong. As an elderly cat lady, I did not want to risk my health. I enthusiastically stayed home, wore a mask and got every last one of those shots. And I’m proud to say I have not gotten Covid!

I am a proud Californian.

Expand full comment

Democrats have had single party rule over California for many years and you're still blaming leaders from decades ago. Newsom promised he'd eliminate homelessness when he was Mayor of SF, now it's worse and statewide. "He's trying" translation: "he lied to you and you're gullible". The science shows that masks and jabs do not prevent spread. Lockdowns caused more harm than good, especially for children who suffered learning loss. Gavin sent his own kids to an open private school, while keeping public schools closed which hurts poor minority communities the most. Sweden and Florida opened schools after a few months and had no issues with COVID. You should be proud for destroying a state with your voting. Enjoy your cats!

Expand full comment

Thank you for answering my question!

My thought on the possibility of any of the states I listed "flipping" is that it all but impossible, given the voter suppression laws enacted by GOP legislatures in the South. If Texas ever did flip, though, that could/would be the proverbial game-changer, given the number of electoral college votes it has. But, again, I doubt very much that it will ever happen.

Expand full comment

How is showing ID voter suppression? Why have so many people moved away from NY and CA to FL and TX if blue states are so much better?

Expand full comment

I suspect that climate has a lot to do with the moves (from the north). Affordability is also a factor. Voter suppression is a lot more than just "showing ID" (though studies do demonstrate that poorer communities are less likely than wealthier communities to have the forms of ID that red states increasingly mandate). It involves eliminating (as some states are doing) drop boxes and/or limiting mail-in voting, despite no discernible evidence of fraud. Those things as well suppress vote.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-03-09/are-californians-really-packing-up-for-florida-as-desantis-claims

Expand full comment

Why are FL and TX more affordable than NY and CA? Could it have anything to do with taxes and the policies of the people running those states? You need an ID to buy alcohol, why don't you need an ID to vote?

Expand full comment

You responded to nothing that I wrote about the effect of these laws/bills. I guess that that's a response in and of itself.

As for your question about affordability, taxes are a part of it, but not all of it. Climate, as I wrote, is a big part of the reason why people move south. As for California, yes, the State is unquestionably a regulatory and expensive political mess, but it's also the fifth biggest economy on the planet. So, that's not necessarily a surprise. You also "get what you pay for". Higher taxes mean better school systems. Florida has lower taxes, but it also spend less on public education. As well, maintenance can be lower down there (or in Texas, or in any southern state). For example, it is much less expensive to maintain a highway in Florida than in New York, or Massachusetts, or Connecticut, etc., due to a much better climate. So, government there spends less because it can afford to spend less.

Expand full comment