California this week declared its independence from the federal government’s feeble efforts to fight Covid-19 — and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and America’s budding 21st-century majority, embodied by California’s multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.
Speaking on MSNBC, Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would use the bulk purchasing power of California “as a nation-state” to acquire the hospital supplies that the federal government has failed to provide. If all goes according to plan, Newsom said, California might even “export some of those supplies to states in need.”
“Nation-state.” “Export.”
Would Gav really lead Cali out? The author of this piece is salivating at the prospect.
Newsom is accomplishing a few things here, with what can only be a deliberate lack of subtlety. First and foremost, he is trying to relieve the shortage of personal protective equipment — a crisis the White House has proved incapable of remedying. Details are a little fuzzy, but Newsom, according to news reports, has organized multiple suppliers to deliver roughly 200 million masks monthly.
Second, Newsom is kicking sand in the face of President Donald Trump after Newsom’s previous flattery — the coin of the White House realm — failed to produce results. If Trump can’t manage to deliver supplies, there’s no point in Newsom continuing the charade.
Third, and this may be the most enduring effect, Newsom is sending a powerful message to both political parties. So far, the Republican Party’s war on democratic values, institutions and laws has been a largely one-sided affair, with the GOP assaulting and the Democratic Party defending. The lethal ruling this week by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican bloc, which required Wisconsin residents to vote in person during a pandemic that shut down polling stations, is a preview of the fall campaign. The GOP intends to restrict vote-by-mail and other legitimate enfranchisement to suppress turnout amid fear, uncertainty and disease.
Influenced by the phrase "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," a previously-reviled American political thinker may get a second look.
John C. Calhoun, who used the theory of states’ rights to defend the institution of slavery, is not generally a philosophical lodestar for liberal Democrats such as Newsom. But if Republicans (or foreign friends) succeed in sabotaging democracy in November, Calhoun’s theory of nullification, which posited that states have the power to defy federal law, could be ripe for a comeback on the left coast. With the heirs of the Confederacy now reigning in Washington, turnabout might be very fair play.
Subtle, asshole. But would Cali really make the jump? Tough to say. There are conservative parts of that state that could and probably would cause Sacramento considerable trouble. If Cali does decide to leave, there's at least one stretch of North American land, a fair chunk of which constitutes most of northern California, that might jump at a chance to be number 50.
Go for it, Gav.
8 comments:
So, if California leaves, does this mean the rest of us can turn off the water? I am sure Colorado could make good use of it.
The first line of this Bloomberg report gives away its prejudice: The "federal government's feeble efforts to fight Covid-19." None of these people can point to what Trump should have done that he didn't, since they opposed his travel bans and complained about the task force from Day 1. Somehow, the federal government is supposed to have all the supplies needed at the tip of its fingers in all circumstances. Never mind that hospital systems assured HHS in 2018 that they were all well-prepared for a pandemic, yes, indeed. Never mind that Obamacare and its expansion of Medicaid has precipitated closures of hospitals all over the country.
And the power. They can run on windmills and sunbeams.
I suppose so, ur. And I guess Cali will get used to having less power since I don't know if Arizona will want to sell it to a foreign country. Cali will be able to grow its own food but it won't be able to sell much if any of it to the rest of the continent anymore. If Cali's leftists are serious, the State of Jefferson folks might figure it's now or never and there goes NoCal. If Gav wanted to dispute that or any other pro-Washington activity anywhere else in Cali, I suppose he'd be delighted to ask for the military assistance of the Chinese and I suppose Beijing would be only too happy to provide it, in which case Gav would oversee the killing of Americans helped by a hostile power, something Washington's not going to take lying down. If Gav wins that fight, Cali becomes a North American Chinese colony and Gav forever becomes a North American Vidkun Quisling. If he loses, Cali will be shared out among any American state that wants some and will essentially be wiped off the map.
Bring it, Cali! Bring it.
...and btw, Chris, it would be unicorn farts and sunbeams (or maybe moonbeams...)
Cali will be able to grow its own food
Without water from other states?
That's a thought. They're just coming off a major drought, aren't they?
Something for Gav to keep in mind.
They haven't been getting much water from the Colorado River for years. Arizona won court cases. They rely heavily on the Sierras, and waste a lot of that water trying to protect Delta smelt instead of people.
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