It is the beginning of another month which means it is time again to review the latest political class insanity from the American political class. Each month it takes us multiple posts to cover the wasteful spending, incompetent government organizations and employees, government programs that usually make a problem worse than resolving it, inane and idiotic politician comments, etc.
To review past posts on this insanity and idiocy, just click on the first few posts in each month listed to the right of this page. After reviewing just a handful of these insanity posts we think you will agree that we are currently being served by the worst set of American politicians ever to hold office in our entire history.
1)Politicians and government bureaucrats have a long track record of telling white lies, little lies, and big lies. One of the deep philosophical question we have often posed is do politicians actually believe the lies they put forth or do they think we are too stupid to know they are lying.
One of the most atrocious, and ridiculously funny, lies just happened in California:
Most people know what a fish is, aquatic creatures that live in the ocean, seas, rivers, etc.
Pretty straightforward stuff, would not think anyone in government could screw up that description.
But in California, a state judge recently ruled that bees are a type of fish and thus, are protected under the state’s endangered species laws.
Specifically, as reported by the Daily Wire: “Although the term fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer to aquatic species, the term of art employed by the Legislature in the definition of fish in section 45 is not so limited,” Judge Ronald B. Robie wrote in the majority opinion in the case. Under the California Fish and Game Code, a “fish” is defined as “a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals.” The code also defines an “endangered species” as “a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant which is in serious danger of becoming extinct.” It defines “threatened species” in a similar way.”
So rather than just enact a small piece of legislation to identify bees as an endangered species, the state government and judicial system would rather call a bee a fish and be done with it. This type of chicanery certainly suggests a George Orwell/1984 type mentality where “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength” and in California, a bee is a fish.
We can joke about this idiocy but it is a slippery slope. If those in charge can change the definition of what anything is to suit their needs, then we as a freedom loving nation are at the whims and threats of a political class that actually believe that a bee is the same as a fish under the laws they put forth.
I believe Abe Lincoln once said: “If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have? Four, just because you call it a leg does not make it a leg.” Even if you call a bee a fish, it does not make it a fish…. unless you are in California.
2) We have often covered the reality that for the first time ever, the state of California is losing population, likely because of the sad quality of life that the state’s political class has created:
California residents and businesses have to pay some of the highest tax burdens in the whole country.
Gas prices are very high in the state.
The cost of electricity is probably the highest in the entire country.
The state’s public schools do a horrible job of educating their kids vs. the rest of the county.
Although some very rich people live in California, mostly in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, the state has one of the highest poverty rates in the country.
The big cities in the state have horrific and dangerous homeless problems.
The state government long term financial viability is a huge problem given its ever growing government debt and unfunded liabilities problems.
Crime is rampant and getting worse everyday, affecting every income level in the state.
As a result, many state residents and businesses have left the state to escape the conditions listed above. Most go to other states but apparently many leave the country altogether.
Which has created some unexpected problems overseas:
Many of the former California residents have fled to Portugal and apparently, the native Portuguese are not happy about it.
Native movements have sprung to protest the influx of Californians to the country.
For example: “You cannot deny that places like Lisbon have become much more appealing for young, creative people with money to spend. The effect on the economy and the way the buildings look — no longer empty — is astronomical,” Luis Mendes, a geographer at the University of Lisbon, told the Los Angeles Times. “But the average Portuguese person can no longer afford to live in the center of Lisbon. Rents have gone up five times over a few years. Even the basic things, such as buying groceries, take longer trips outside the city center than they used to.”
As a result, the national government in Portugal has suspended its so-called “Golden Visa” program in large cities which offered residency to any foreigner who purchased a home valued at over 500,000 Euros, an offer that was usually executed by Americans, mostly Californians.
This has driven up housing prices which has driven up eviction rates of native Portuguese.
Things have gotten so bad for the natives, that a recent local newspaper published an opinion that Californians should “go home” and leave the country because they are making it unlivable.
Interesting that the utter failure of the California political class is directly causing problems around the world, a truly global order of failure.
3) We have often discussed the tenet that a very, very basic function of government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens. No matter how well a government entity performs other duties, if it cannot protect its citizens then it is a failure.
And apparently that failure has been very big in the city of Seattle:
The city of Seattle has developed a well deserved reputation over the past few years of being a lawless, violent city to visit or live in.
Dramatic rises in violent crime and homelessness has made the city a very dangerous place.
So dangerous that Amazon has decided to protect its employees by closing one of its locations within the city limits and moving those employees to safer quarters.
The specific location in the city is at Third Avenue and Pine Street, a crime infested area, which led Amazon to issue the following statement: “Given recent incidents near 3rd and Pine, we’re providing employees currently at that location with alternative office space elsewhere. We are hopeful that conditions will improve and that we will be able to bring employees back to this location when it is safe to do so.”
The area’s crime and violence has gotten so bad that the city’s police force had to deploy a mobile police precinct in the area to cope with the situation.
Small businesses are also affected by the crime wave as described by Brandon Davis who runs a local small business: “Sometimes I don’t want to work late because I’m thinking maybe it’ll be me that gets shot. You come out here and it is a open drug market. I’d like the mayor to have less press conferences and I’d like him to actually tell the police to enforce the laws as written.”
The mayor’s response: “These continued acts of violence and street disorder are unacceptable and beyond tragic. My heart is filled with sorrow. … We are launching a comprehensive and collaborative approach to address this crisis.”
A lot of nice words but the damage has already been done. Big businesses leaving, and taking their positive economic impact with them, small business owners scared for their lives, and another major failure of a political class, the politicians in Seattle.
That will do it for today: failure to protect in Seattle, the failures of California's state politicians have global ramifications, and California goes Orwellian by insisting that a bee is a fish.
