I was called a ‘moronic idiot’ for my column criticizing President Donald Trump | Opinion
“You Moronic Idiot.”
That is a line in an email I received recently. It came from a sender named Ronnie with a subject line of “Smelt this” and a poop emoji.
Smelt is the name of a fish I mentioned in a column.
Get it? Smell-t this?
Ronnie, really skillful at junior high humor, blasted me for the column on President Trump criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom for stopping water from flowing to Los Angeles so firefighters could put out those horrible wildfires.
I simply pointed out that a) Newsom did no such thing, b) LA had plenty of water, but not enough local storage for the critical firefighting that was way beyond what had been experienced before, and c) no one, not even Trump, can flip a switch and make water appear. That is not how it works.
Ronnie also seems to hate the delta smelt, a tiny fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that is threatened (on the federal species list) or endangered (on the state’s list) in part because of water diversions to central and Southern California.
Here is how he wrote me, verbatim (some readers may be offended by the language inferred):
“(Expletive) that useless smelt, no use to anyone. (makes great fertilizer added to the water for the crops they cannot grow Because the water is shut off”
He then directed a swear word at me that starts with F.
“You Moronic Idiot,” he wrote.
“Newscum is toast, put a fork in him, he’s Done. And so are lefty-loonies like yourself,
You Are All Fired, You’re Fired.”
If I could have a civil conversation with Ronnie, I would point out that we humans are not God — we did not make creation, including the little “useless” fish of the Delta. So we should not arrogantly decide whether it, as a species, should live or die.
Also, if criticizing the president makes me a “leftie-looney,” then so be it. That’s my job as an opinion writer — to hold those in power to account. For what it is worth, I also blasted President Biden when he pardoned his son Hunter. I still think that was a horrible decision.
Water for farmers
A more thoughtful response came from Robert Mead, who wrote:
“Mr. Weber: Looks like Trump succeeded in his misdirection on the California water issue. It has nothing to do with fish or fires or storage. Follow the money – it has everything to do with allocating water to farmers in the Central Valley; who as it happens to be are all Republicans.”
He was prophetic. Trump just signed an executive order to ostensibly help LA fire victims. But as Sacramento Bee staff writer Ari Plachta reports, the real winners will be farmers.
“Through a combination of measures, the Trump administration’s order called on the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the Central Valley Project with rules that his first administration implemented in 2020 which would revert to higher deliveries for agriculture.
“Those regulations were criticized at the time for coming at the expense of endangered species. Trump’s order could override rules signed into law in December, after years in the making, by Biden administration officials and endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.”
Environmentalists told Plachta that the result of Trump’s new order could be the ecological collapse of the Delta.
Trump misplays the facts
Another email came from a reader who saw through the president’s actions:
“Thank you for your article in the Bee about the nonsense being peddled by the usual suspect,” wrote Don Billings. “His practice of playing fast and loose with facts helps no one.
“What is needed is thoughtful action, based on observable facts. Your reporting on California water is just that. Thank you again.”
Amen. I join my McClatchy California opinion colleagues in striving to provide provocative perspectives meant to foster thinking and fuel discussion.
For future readers who respond, thank you. Keep your reactions coming. But let’s keep bathroom humor to a minimum.
