Playing to the cameras

Rarely will a politician waste a good television moment, and California Governor Gavin Newsome sure took advantage of one last week.

California has been in the news quite often lately as Newsome, a Democrat, survived a recall attempt – by fair means or foul.

The news has been predominately bad for the state as organized shoplifting, or “smash and grab” has forced some businesses to close or take extraordinary steps to remain open.

Newsome finally joined others in recognizing “smash and grab” crimes as being part of organized criminal activity, albeit a bit late.

Some businesses that had been located in California have left and moved elsewhere, not just because of the crime but because of high taxes as well.

For those unaware, California has some of the highest tax rates to be found.

Political leaders in the state appear to have an “anything goes” liberal mentality and images of streets in California’s larger cities show people urinating and defecating on sidewalks, and recreational drug paraphernalia littering streets. To call the images disgusting is mild.

So what has happened to the area that became the mecca for the television and movie industry and home to Silicon Valley?

The answer is increasingly progressive and liberal political leadership.

IN California it has become increasingly difficult to prosecute criminal activity because of laws and politicians that worry more about criminals than law-abiding residents.

Consider that in 2020, California’s largest cities experienced a 30% increase in murder cases – that’s according to that state’s Capitol Weekly report.

The numbers for 2021 are not officially available yet but indicators suggest that among California’s largest cities the murder rate will jump again, and in double-digit numbers.

Other criminal activity continues to grow as well.

Just a couple of weeks ago a photo of railroad tracks in Los Angeles made the national news. Criminals had entered railroad cars and stolen whatever was inside, but discarded boxes and other debris, literally covering the railroad tracks and ground around them.

Playing for the cameras, Newsome helped pick up the garbage – at least long enough for the cameras to record him.

Newsome really grasped the problem telling reporters, “How do we make sure we don’t have to keep coming back? How do we secure this site? How do we do a better job in making sure that this doesn’t have to continue to happen?”

While saying the trash-covered railroad tracks looked like a “third world country,” his comments gave no indication of actually catching those who committed the crime and prosecuting them.

Criminal activity in California has gotten so bad, help has been requested from the U.S. Attorney General.

Why?

Because instead of addressing the crime issue, Newsome wants health care for illegal immigrants.

No wonder people in other states are fond of saying, “Don’t bring California here.”

LIKE so many other places, the problems in California will not be addressed until political leadership is changed. Those elected to office must be more concerned with fiscal responsibility, punishing criminals, more personal freedoms, and lowering taxes.

Unfortunately, there is a significant possibility of California’s problems spreading across the country – and for the same reason – politicians more interested in being on television than addressing problems.

That’s my opinion.

A columnist in community newspapers for over 30 years, Andy Kober can be reached at andykober@hotmail.com.

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