California under Gavin Newsom is like a dystopian Sims game where the player walked away mid-disaster and left the “chaos” setting on. The state’s treasury is a smoldering crater of debt, but hey there’s still enough budget for a couple of billion-dollar boondoggles, a new task force with a logo, and another press conference about “bold leadership” while potholes could swallow a Prius whole.
The streets? Less “Walk of Fame,” more “Walk of Shame” full of dodging landmines of fecal matter. Tourists expecting palm trees and movie magic instead get a live-action zombie film: fentanyl-nodding extras in every scene, open-air pharmacies selling everything except prescription pads, and a thriving sidewalk sanitation industry built entirely on hose water and despair. Meanwhile, San Francisco has perfected the artisanal sidewalk loaf, courtesy of an unregulated army of street squatters with no fear of arrest and a deep commitment to the farm-to-pavement movement.
And Newsom? He struts through this crumbling carnival of dysfunction with the confidence of a man who knows the national press will still call him “presidential” as long as his hair stays glossy. His speeches are part TED Talk, part hostage video, always laced with that Hollywood smugness that suggests your concerns about public safety are merely a branding problem. Under his watch, California has become a boutique apocalypse - expensive, photogenic, and utterly unlivable unless you’re rich enough to helicopter over the mess and masses.
It’s the golden state all right - just not gold you can spend. More like gold spray paint over rust that was never really metal; it was actually feces congealed and hardened by the weight of ineptitude.
Maine has very much adopted the California script. It will always have enough high value real estate and tourism to be appealing to extremely wealthy people, and our failing public schools will always be able to staff the bars, restaurants, ski resorts, marine industry, and similar services that wealthy people who vacation here need to enjoy their time.
Lewiston was always a pretty ho-hum college town, but it once had a good restaurant scene and supported a number of popular bars. It still has a couple of both, but most of the best are closed down. My old bouncing employer is still afloat thanks to competitive prices and low overhead, along with a nearly 80 year history of operation that’s pretty far from the dysfunction of downtown. Similarly, I rarely hear gunshots in my middle and working class neighborhood, but I only need to walk for about a mile before I’m surrounded by needle waste, prostitutes, and children cruising around with guns who have no reservations about popping off 20-30 rounds at 3pm, like they did the other week.
Portland has seen an even more dramatic decline in livability and it’s once incredible nightlife scene is severely diminished. It has always been a bit more expensive than other Maine towns, but it was still affordable to live there until recently. You can still go bar-hopping and get a great meal, but you might encounter someone waving a hatchet around or someone shooting drugs into their foot 10 feet away while you and your date are trying to enjoy a $100 lunch.
Things are only going to get worse in Lewiston, as our local DSA activists have succeeded in getting state and municipal taxpayer funding to open a low barrier homeless shelter, which will just attract more dysfunction.
It is a lot harder to measure the economic activity that never happens thanks to public policies that make places nearly unlivable.
There are a number of pretty damn funny Republican politicians, but that’s only because American Democrats give them so much material to work with. Senator Kennedy can be hilarious, especially with dry humor. Trump has had some real zingers in debates and press conferences, too.
The problem Democrats have is that their political narratives are largely based on fantasy notions and media narratives with little basis in reality that regular people simply cannot relate to.
The Babylon Bee is presently the best political humor on the web regarding US politics. They have had decades of material to work with now. The Onion used to hold that title back during the Bush administration, but making fun of Obama wasn’t allowed and they lost their edge when woke took over, because they weren’t allowed to make fun of woke, either.
Honestly, I dont think he’s joking.
He might actually be the most honest politician we have. Generally when he says something - he does it.
He promised to protect abortion rights and BOY did he!
Its legal to have a 3 day old baby put down, so long as the mother and doctor deem it necessary.
I wish I was joking.
Say what you will about his slimy lizard people tactics, he gets shit done.
No indoor dining allowed. Outdoor only. Masks on when you’re not eating.
Gets busted at a $1200/plate restaurant doing none of the above right after his aunt (Pelosi) said no haircuts for anyone but me.
I had a little bit of hope for california when we did the recall election. We lost in a landslide.
The left could have just put up ANY other liberal and I’d have had a shred of confidence in the people of this state… at least the Rule of Law still applies. But no. The pretty boy legally adopted at age 18 by Oil billionaires (the Gettys) is too perfect, despite him fucking his best friends wife while married and running for office.
This state is cooked, and the rest of the nation will look like it if we dont course correct HARD.
They’re paid to, though. Often through NGOs that are funded by tax dollars.
DOGE uncovered a lot of this.
They were being brought in by chartered busses from one event to the next, with posters and megaphones already in hand. They were paid protestors.
A lot of the BLM stuff was like this too. I watched part of the Candace Owens takedown on it, and it was staggering. Like 70% of the money donated to BLM was used for the alphabet theybies.
The last guy who Tweeted like that got elected President, so you can’t blame Newsom for trying.
I think I remember a time pre-Trump when a Governor wouldn’t really talk like that. Things are a little nastier now. But i guess you can’t blame Pres Trump for everyone’s bad behavior. Other politicians have copied his style it because it works with voters.
