I’m sure Gary Horton, Lois Eisenberg and others of their liberal/socialist ilk are laughing their smug laughs and flashing their smiles at the results of the predestined recall election. I’m sure in his heart of hearts, even Larry Elder, a good guy and worthy candidate, knew it was a lost cause from the get go.
Democrats, in their usual slanderous reaction to anything conservative, portrayed the millions of recall supporters as ultra-right-wing, Donald-Trump-worshiping, racist xenophobes. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I know many people from the Santa Clarita Valley who voted yes on the recall, and none of us are that. The shared belief of all pro-recall voters was a sick-and-tired attitude about the current state of California and a longing for a return to the California of our youth.
Democrats have a supermajority in both state houses of the Legislature and an ultra-liberal governor to lead them. And, unfortunately, that will be the case into the foreseeable future.
How has that worked out for you? There are not enough Republicans in the state Legislature to throw up any roadblocks; Democrats have free reign. What has that bestowed upon us? The highest gas rates, sales tax, state income tax rates, home prices…the list is long.
What have you got for all of these exorbitant taxes?
A state where all national parks and forests are closed because of wildfires. Our state is blessed with natural beauty but it is being destroyed. A state where our children can’t afford to buy homes. A state where criminals are poster boys for the likes of George Gascón and his Democratic backers who cry out to defund the police. A state where big-city school districts, like the L.A. Unified School District, leave kids behind in a sea of bloated bureaucracy. A state where a majority of much-needed rest stops are continuously closed for mysterious reasons. A state where Democratic voters voted to build a Bullet Train to Nowhere, at $50 billion, which soon grew to $100 billion. Has anyone seen the Bullet Train or heard reports of its progress?
I have lived in Southern California for 75 years and it hasn’t always been like this. When I grew up in Burbank in the 1950s and ’60s, California was a wondrous place. There were no homeless and no graffiti. Crime often consisted of high school pranks. Young people could afford to buy homes. Gas was 25 cents a gallon during gas wars. I know, I know, I’m just some old guy longing for a past that doesn’t exist anymore and will never exist again. Ah, but it’s a past worth trying to rediscover. We’ll never see any of it with the current pack of buffoons leading our Golden State.
Two recent experiences have brought the hopeless state of our state home to me. While driving to the Burbank airport along Interstate 5, I saw entire homeless villages on both sides of the freeway in Sun Valley. The sound walls were covered with graffiti. This is both shameless and shameful. Imagine visitors from Ireland coming to visit me and this is the first thing they see. Welcome to California.
The second experience was even more shocking to me. My friend and I recently went to Pinks Hot Dogs on Melrose and LaBrea. A block west of Pinks was an elementary school with a homeless encampment right up against the fence surrounding the playground. Kids should not have to walk around this abomination on their way to and from school. This is certainly not the California where I was raised.
Yes, the recall failed in a failed state. I just hope that someone in Sacramento heard what the people who voted yes on the recall were really saying: Give us our state back and stop trying to destroy it!
Larry Moore
Valencia
