California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) likes to troll Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), but at least DeSantis declares a state of emergency before a major storm, not more than a week later.
That’s what Newsom did on Wednesday when he declared a state of emergency for thirteen California counties, many of which had already suffered snowfalls that closed roads, trapped residents in their homes, and left thousands with little food or fuel.
You’d think Newsom might have learned about preparing for emergencies. He’s been governor for more than four years, and lieutenant governor for eight before that. California has wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and — yes — blizzards.
In 2020, the state’s wildfires were so bad that the smoke drifted to the East Coast. The carbon dioxide that entered the atmosphere wiped out sixteen years of California’s emission reductions — twice over.
But Newsom was caught flat-footed by the snowstorms that swept the state.
Visit the governor’s office online and you will see plenty of attacks on oil companies, but nothing about snow before Wednesday. Newsom wasted time tweeting about how Democrats are supposedly more fiscally responsible than Republicans — while his own state faces a deficit of up to $30 billion (after squandering the bounty of last year’s record surplus of $98 billion).
Newsom didn’t appear to spend much time, if any, making sure that California was ready for the blizzard.
He didn’t warn residents not to travel in the mountains — where an entire school was stranded on a field trip. He didn’t make sure additional snow plows and first responders were on standby to rescue drivers who become stuck in drifts. He didn’t deploy additional repair crews in to respond to potential power outages. He was completely AWOL.
Contrast that to Florida’s Gov. DeSantis. In September, as Hurricane Ian approached the state, he declared a state of emergency for all 67 of Florida’s counties. He told Floridians to “expect heavy rains, strong winds, flash flooding, storm surge, and even isolated tornadoes. He urged people in coastal areas to evacuate, and told the rest to make sure they had enough food, water, fuel, batteries, medicine, and other necessities for the storm.
That’s what a governor does when he is interested in governing. Newsom’s focus has always been posturing.
When he was mayor of San Francisco, Newsom presided over the nation’s first same-sex marriages. But he did little to prepare for the city’s future — and today it is defined by homelessness, crime, drugs, and economic collapse. Today, as governor, Newsom advertises abortions and gender-reassignment surgery. But he can’t keep the lights on.
Newsom busies himself with contrived culture wars. On Thursday, while many Californians were digging out of the snow, he used “Read Across America Day” to accuse conservative states of “whitewashing literature and banning books.”
While other states ban books, California is making historic investments to improve literacy. We’re putting in the work to ensure our children thrive. ???? #ReadAcrossAmericaDay pic.twitter.com/iKX3ViCULT
— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) March 3, 2023
He is referring to Florida’s new laws keeping sexuality and transgender ideology out of early elementary education and banning the radical ideology of Critical Race Theory from public school curricula.
Meanwhile, it is California that passed a law to jail people for using the wrong gender pronouns — a flagrant violation of the First Amendment that was struck down by a state court in 2021. Newsom also banned religious gatherings for months during the pandemic.
So much for freedom.
And when it comes to basic responsibilities like managing storms, Newsom is the picture of apathy and incompetence.
He should ask DeSantis for help.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
