You think they were kidding? Consider this:
If you were a political strategist looking to make California a model of how America could change for the better, what would you do? First, the Republican party and the conservative movement that captured it essentially would have to be neutralized — completely discredited and marginalized to the sidelines of politics. California would have to get beyond dealing with crazy conservative ideologues who could not face up to the real world of facts and let go of outdated ideas already proven not to work. No bipartisan dealing with zealots, no trying to pry one brave soul from a ridiculous pledge of no new taxes. No, the whole party must be decisively beaten — so decisively that it would take at least a generation for the party to get back on its feet again. In California, that very mission was accomplished by the Democratic Party and the voting public. Now the state is totally run by Democrats. All statewide offices are controlled by Democrats, and both Houses of the Legislature have Democratic super-majorities.That's the vision they have. Do they get to impose it? Better decide now, while you still theoretically can. And you really ought to read the linked piece from Tom Leyden and Ruy Teixeira. They have a plan for your life and what you might want is irrelevant.
Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back, you say
Mellow out or you will pay
Mellow out or you will pay
4 comments:
In California, that very mission was accomplished by the Democratic Party and the voting public.
It wasn't the voters. It was the courts that routinely over ruled the actual voters on every populist/conservative referendum we fought hard to pass. It's really shameful. I was politically active throughout this time, and is why I quit being active. There was no longer any point in it.
Story short, CA had become a dictatorship if judges. There is no longer a real democracy here. our rulers aren't chosen, they are assigned.
This is why the middle class, what is left if it, is leaving in droves.
Yep, that's the dream. The oligarchs rule and they turn everyone else into a beggar.
Those who might tend to vote GOP stay home. They don't bother to vite anymore. The others have left for other states, like Texas or Arizona.
In 1990, the state was still competitive. The GOP actually controlled the Assembly briefly, from 94-96. By 98, we were a solid Democrat state. That's how fast it happened.
Much of it had to do with all these new voters the 86 amnesty turned into citizens, and the Democrats skill at creating ethnic identity politics were none existed before.
CA was the future, but I don't expect what is happening here to spread. CA was always a populist kind of progressive place, progressive meaning forward looking, not leftist.
Reforms and opportunities flourished here because we were not saddled by the old rolling class style politics of the east coast... the seeds of good ideas/reform were allowed take root and to flourish and spread to other regions.
That CA no longer exists. We are not the model we once we're.
Oh, it's not all bad, Gino. LA is going to start painting the streets white to combat global warming because all of the serious problems in California have been solved. Including, apparently, the need for all those white lines on the streets. No need to know where the bike lanes and parking spaces are or anything.
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