written 16 Aug 2021
published 22 Aug 2021
For decades, Republicans have been promoting the idea that government is always the problem, and private enterprise will save us all. To drive the point home, whenever Republicans have control, they govern for the benefit of corporations and the very wealthy, and refuse to help anyone else: defunding social systems and trying to privatize them.
Public health is one of the most critical functions of government, and poorly suited to private profit. The recent Covid pandemic has brought this reality front and center. To protect people from infectious disease, everyone needs to be treated, without regard to income, because being surrounded by sick people is not healthy for a robust economy. But it is impossible to make a profit from poor people. The US has such a dysfunctional health care system because it is provided mostly through the profit driven insurance model.
Trump denied the reality of Covid, and, in typical Republican fashion, refused to mobilize the national government for a response. We saw Republican governors suggesting that people should be willing to sacrifice their grandparents to keep the economy going. Now that the vaccine has become widespread, the Republican mantra has shifted: people should be willing to sacrifice their children to keep the economy going. While it is somewhat traditional for the elders to give way for the future, it is culturally suicidal to sacrifice the children. But that is what passes for Republican leadership these days.
Another fundamental role for government is protecting the commons. This includes maintaining quality of our air, food, and water, by regulating the excessive greed baked into the corporate structure. Republicans brand such regulation as "job killers": prioritizing exclusive profits over general quality of life. These days the most extreme issue of this nature is the growing climate emergency, a consequence of accumulated pollution from fossil fuel combustion, another reality that Republicans deny.
The most recent IPCC report stated the climate we grew up with is effectively gone forever. The extremes in weather of the last few years are the new normal, with increasing economic costs. But without concerted human effort, even these disasters will rapidly become the "good old days". We must radically reduce emissions to have a chance for a functional economy in the near term, and a habitable planet for our children in the long term. This will require inspired leadership at every level of government.
So of course, Republicans are trying to recall the governor of California. Ballots mailed out starting August 16th., and everyone should have received one by now. We Californians are fortunate to have this convenient voting option. Republicans are doing their best to eliminate it within the states they control.
A recall in California can be launched with just 12% of the voting population. The recall ballot has two parts: the first asks if Governor Newsom should be recalled, and the second is a vote for his replacement. If a simple majority votes to recall, the replacement is the person receiving the most votes in the second part. With 46 Republicans running, Newsom's replacement could take office with the support of less than 2% of the voters. Only 24% of voters in California are registered Republican, so this recall format is the only way they can create minority rule.
Newsom is not a perfect person, or even a particularly consistent politician. However, the Democratic party is more aligned with reality than anything the Republicans have supported for many decades. And now is a time when we need leaders who can at least look at the real problems, giving us a chance to actually solve them, which is why it is very important that everyone vote in this election.
I believe that most Californians are not insane, or deluded by the Cult of Trump, or the even more deranged QAnon psychosis. I believe that most Californian voters care about the health of their family, and the health of the world we inhabit. I believe that most voters have co-workers, friends, or family members who are of a different race or sexual preference. I believe that most Californians are good people. This Republican assault on our state governance can be easily squelched if we all vote NO on recall, and return our ballots. While rank and file Republicans may not be insane, their leadership currently is.
