Clovis conservative: Newsom has earned the right to be recalled from governor’s office
In 2018, Gavin Newsom was elected governor of California with almost 62% of the vote. Today, he is facing a recall. While he would like to couch it as a “Republican recall,” the signatures and sentiments of independents and Democrats stand in direct contradiction and make it just another in the long list of lies to us that has brought him to this point.
I contend the genesis for this recall was in 2016 when death penalty related Propositions 62 and 66 were on the ballot. During a meeting with The Modesto Bee Editorial Board on Sept. 15, 2016, then-Lt. Gov. Newsom stated, “I would be accountable to the will of the voters.” Two months later voters decided not only to keep the death penalty, but to speed up executions.
During his gubernatorial campaign, in front of another editorial board, he said, “It would be an affront for a governor to say, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do by fiat.’” And yet in March of 2019, mere months after his victory, he signed a moratorium on all executions, providing a final gut punch to the families of the victims.
It should have come as no surprise from the elitist politico who famously declared in 2008 “whether you like it or not!” in defense of his actions as mayor of San Francisco. If there was any honesty in politics, that would have been Newsom’s campaign slogan from then on.
In February of 2019, Newsom said the high-speed rail project “would cost too much and take too long.” He scaled it back to prioritize the already started Central Valley portion and emphasized oversight and transparency. Eight months later, another executive order would direct gas tax funds away from desperately needed highway repairs to the high-speed rail fiasco. Assemblyman Jim Patterson, a champion for common sense and ethical governance, called this “bait and switch.”
But it was the French Laundry scandal last year during the COVID pandemic that brought Newsom’s arrogance and elitism into sharp focus as he wormed his way through daily press conferences telling us the importance of shutting down businesses, eliminating indoor dining, not gathering with groups outside our immediate household, and wearing our masks as religiously as underwear. We heard him tell us all those things, and then we saw him dining indoors, with multiple households, without a mask. That was a picture worth a thousand words.
In addition to his dishonesty, Newsom has been a total failure when it comes to dealing with the state’s problems. We have the twin bureaucratic disasters of our EDD (mismanagement of unemployment benefits, fraud, and horrendous customer service) and the DMV. Add to that our rampant homeless crisis, forest mismanagement, and the water needs of our ag industry. The most tragic consequence of his governorship is the dismantling of California’s public safety system. Newsom is recklessly dumping thousands of dangerous criminals onto our streets to prey on our families in his quest to close down prisons.
Newsom is the quintessential example of an out-of-touch politician who believes he is above the will of the people. Through this recall, we have a chance to weigh in on his lies, gross incompetence, and complete lack of leadership. Of course, my vote will be to take us in the opposite direction, but I ask my Democrat friends, “If this was an employee of any other job, wouldn’t this performance warrant termination?”
Regardless of who they vote to replace him, I can only hope that honest Californians take a hard look and cast a vote that tells Newsom, in no uncertain terms, “You’re fired…whether you like it or not!”
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 11:55 AM.