Outside California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is known as a crazy liberal. But inside the state, he is often a moderating influence on the rest of his party.
Newsom just vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic state legislature that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland to open “safe injection sites,” where drug addicts could shoot up under the supervision of trained staff. Newsom had expressed openness to the idea, but, like Gov. Jerry Brown before him, he ultimately rejected it, warning about a “world of unintended consequences.” Funny, that may be the first time any California Democrat has ever worried about such a thing.
Anyway, among the supporters of the bill was state Sen. Scott Wiener, who has become the face of the most destructive left-wing policies the state has to offer. Wiener wants to turn California into a “sanctuary” and a “refuge” for parents who want to castrate chemically or physically mutilate their children in the name of transgender ideology. He also led the push to decrease the penalty for knowingly exposing people to HIV. He also once “joked” about offering “Drag Queen 101” in the K-12 curriculum and pushed to have 12-year-olds get COVID-19 vaccine doses without their parents’ permission.
This guy just gave me a bill idea:
Offering Drag Queen 101 as part of the K-12 curriculum. Attending Drag Queen Story Time will satisfy the requirement. https://t.co/Sogz2Ag8jV
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 7, 2022
Newsom is the face of California’s failing liberalism, and for a good reason. But as the face of the state, even he must pretend to care about his constituents occasionally. In addition to vetoing this bill, he has (lightly) pushed some cities to get harder on crime. He recently tried to extend the life of California’s last nuclear plant — the state’s only hope of coming anywhere close to meeting its climate goals.
But California’s damaging policies are driven by politicians like Wiener. From their safe liberal seats, they promote in the name of “equity” and “tolerance” all those policies that are making California cities into glorified dumps.
Each new governor of California will be more liberal than the last. Newsom’s replacement may be more receptive to this plan and others that politicians like Wiener support.
If you looked at the state’s failures and thought it couldn’t get worse, you would be mistaken. Californians can choose to turn it around, or they can choose to find out just how low the Golden State can go before it truly hits rock bottom.
