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A good day for our man Gavin
Some days, I hate Gavin Newsom. Some days I love him.
A few months ago, I announced to a friend that if Gavin Newsom is the nominated candidate for President in 2028, I would quit the party. This was around the time that Newsom was hosting his MAGA-curious podcast and making anti-trans statements.
But other days, I have felt like if the Democrats don’t nominate Newsom, I’ll walk.
I was loving Newsom beginning August 14. That was a good day for our man Gavin.
Newsom held a firecracker of a press conference Thursday, announcing the launch of a statewide effort to fight back against Trump’s attempts to rig Texas’ elections..
Trump and his cronies are nakedly and without pretense planning to gerrymander Texas, redrawing district lines to generate five additional Congressional seats for the Republican Party.
Newsom and his allies said, effectively, fine then. You gerrymander Texas, we’ll gerrymander California for the Democrats.
Perhaps equally important was the plain language Newsom used:
“California will not sit idle as Trump and his Republican lapdogs shred our country’s democracy before our very eyes,” he said. “In just six months, Trump’s unchecked power has cost Americans billions and taken an ax to the greatest democracy we’ve ever known. This moment calls for urgency and action – that is what we are putting before voters this November, a chance to fight back against his anti-American ways.”
Unlike Trump’s naked power grab, the Election Rigging Response Act will be decided by California voters in November. And it will be a temporary change, through 2030, with redistricting returning to the state Citizens Redistricting Commission. And it keeps California’s current Congressional maps if Texas and other states also keep their original maps.
“The damage the Trump administration is causing to our country is clear: masked agents terrorizing communities, tax dollars wasted on military stunts, allies alienated, and loyalists hired to replace public servants,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “This administration is out of control—and the Election Rigging Response Act is how California defends our democracy and fights back.”
And there were a roster of other patriotic Democrats joining Newsom, including San Diego’s Lorena Gonzaez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO; and La Mesa’s State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.
Under the redistricting proposal, the 48th Congressional District, straddling Riverside and San Diego Counties and held by Rep. Darrell Issa, would move from “safe Republican” to a “lean Democratic” seat.
Newsom trolled Trump on social media:
DONALD IS FINISHED — HE IS NO LONGER “HOT.” FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME — GAVIN C. NEWSOM — HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS “STEP.” MANY ARE SAYING HE CAN’T EVEN DO THE “BIG STAIRS” ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE — USES THE LITTLE BABY STAIRS NOW. SAD! TOMORROW HE’S GOT HIS “MEETING” WITH PUTIN IN “RUSSIA.” NOBODY CARES. ALL THE TELEVISION CAMERAS ARE ON ME, AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR. EVEN LOW-RATINGS LAURA INGRAM (EDITS THE TAPES!) CAN’T STOP TALKING ABOUT MY BEAUTIFUL MAPS. YOU’RE WELCOME FOR LIBERATION DAY, AMERICA! DONNIE J MISSED “THE DEADLINE” (WHOOPS!) AND NOW I RUN THE SHOW. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GCN
The specifics of Newsom’s proposal are important, but it’s also important what it represents: Democratic willingness to fight for America.
Newsom’s fighting spirit is a refreshing change for a party that has seemingly spent the last decade or more as the party that “would bring a pencil to the knife fight,” as Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said.
During Newsom’s press conference, Trump demonstrated what’s at stake.. Trump sent more than a dozen Border Patrol agents, masked and armed, to stand outside the press venue. It was a show of force meant to intimidate California and force us to bend the knee.
The show of courage by Newsom, Democratic leaders and allies was great. It was a refreshing moment in a time when — as one person said on social media — “its just nothing but bad news these days. even the good news is just ‘federal judge temporarily pauses bad news’”.
But it’s not enough. Newsom is still the man who loaned his platform to MAGA extremists and spoke out against trans people. The Democratic Party needs to decide firmly and definitively whether it represents all the American people — including trans people — or attempt to pander to Republican supporters who will never support us.
I wrote this for the newsletter of the La Mesa-Foothills Democratic Club, where I am a board member at large.
Mitchellaneous Vol. CXVI: Six things I saw on the Internet
PICKLE SISTERS a vaudeville group from the 1920s. Or maybe not
70s and 80s webbed lawn chairs. These were terribly uncomfortable.
I have watched this deranged 33-second video a dozen times. via
Sopranosaurs = Sopranos dialogue + Dinosaurs
gaggle of older ladies at brunch when their friend shows up wearing something daring via
Video