Devin Nunes' challengers are using his obstruction of Russian investigations against him in their campaigns.

Courtesy of USA Today:  

Rep. Devin Nunes' handling of the Russia investigation as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee has become a major campaign issue as he seeks a ninth term in Congress. 

Both the California Republican and his Democratic challenger, Fresno County Deputy District Attorney Andrew Janz, are using Nunes' high-profile role in the bitterly partisan Russia inquiry to appeal for campaign cash throughout the nation.

 Janz said he has raised more than $1 million in the first quarter of 2018 in part because donors were upset by the now famous "Nunes memo" — which accused the FBI and Department of Justice of abusing their surveillance power to target a Trump campaign aide with ties to Russia. 

Democrats have denounced the memo as a blatant attempt by President Trump and House Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin and possible obstruction of justice by the president. 

"Traditionally, the prosecution of crimes has been a non-partisan activity, so I'm really disappointed to see my opponent and the Trump White House attacking federal law enforcement agencies and officials," said Janz, who has worked with FBI agents as a prosecutor. "It really undermines our criminal justice system, which is a cornerstone of our democracy."

That's very smart. I see Nunes' obstructionism as his main weakness. 

And I am going to be watching this race very closely because Devin Nunes is at the top of my list of motherfuckers that gots to go.

Dammit! I did not even get a chance to make fun of her yet.

By my count, that’s 2 races.
https://t.co/Vy6nYW6QxV

— amber ruffin (@ambermruffin) March 30, 2018

Courtesy of CNN:

"Clueless" star and former Fox News commentator Stacey Dash is withdrawing her congressional bid, a representative for the actress confirmed to CNN Friday. 

"After much prayer, introspection and discussions with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy for California's 44th Congressional District," Dash said in an email statement to CNN. 

The news comes one month after the actress and outspoken Republican filed paperwork to run in California's 44th district, which is currently represented by Democrat Nanette Barragán. 

Her campaign slogan was "Dash to D.C."

Look. There is a lot going on right no, so I would appreciate it if these conservatives morons trying to run for office during what will likely be one of the largest progressive turnovers in American history, would stay in the race long enough for me to get around to mocking them BEFORE they come to their senses and run back to the safety of their Right Wing bubble.

I mean I am only one man here.

And there is SO MUCH to mock right now.

California teacher accidentally fires gun in classroom while teaching class on safety.

Courtesy of KSBW: 

A teacher who also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a Seaside High School classroom Tuesday, police said, and three students were injured. 

Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 11 a.m.

Alexander was pointing his gun at the ceiling when it fired. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground.

A news release from the Seaside Police Department said no one suffered "serious injuries." One 17-year-old boy suffered moderate injuries when fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged into his neck, the student's father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW. 

The teacher had just told the class that he wanted to make sure his gun wasn't loaded, when the gun fired, according to Gonzales. 

"It's the craziest thing. It could have been very bad," Gonzales said. 

The teacher was about to use the gun for a demonstration about how to disarm someone, according to Gonzales.

So to be clear a teacher, who is also a police officer, with extensive training in firearms, accidentally fires his weapon in a classroom full of children, injuring one. 

And yet the solution to gun violence in schools is supposed to be MORE armed teachers?

Got it.

There are a number of things about this story that deeply trouble me, but right at the top is the fact that this individual was teaching children that they should attempt to "disarm" a gun man.

I studied martial arts for decades, and the idea of going after a gun wielding assailant was NEVER encouraged.

As one instructor put it, "You are not going to be a help to anybody while bleeding out on the floor."

This teacher was teaching dangerous ideas while also introducing an instrument of death into his classroom.

He should be fired immediately. From BOTH of his jobs.

Another mass shooting, this one in a veteran's home in California.

Courtesy of SF Gate:  

A military veteran who had been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder burst into a veterans home in the North Bay town of Yountville on Friday with a rifle, killed three women connected with the treatment program and then killed himself, authorities and program officials said. 

Law enforcement officers found the bodies of the victims and the killer at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville shortly before 6 p.m., more than seven hours after the incident began, said Chris Childs, an assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol. 

Authorities had earlier said the gunman was holding staff members of the Pathway Home, a program on the Veterans Home campus that had been treating him for PTSD until he was asked to leave several days ago. 

One of those killed was the program’s executive director, Christine Loeber, the Pathway Home said in a statement. Also killed were Dr. Jen Golick, a therapist with the program, and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Francisco, the statement said.

The killer's name was Albert Wong, a man suffering from PTSD after serving overseas and fighting in the unnecessary wars started by the Bush Administration.

There are hundreds of similar afflicted veterans in this country, and virtually all of them continue to have access to firearms.

After all if you listen to the conservatives that was one of the rights they were fighting for over there. Which of course makes no sense.

"I was over there in Iraq shooting the enemy so that I could return back here and shoot a couple of doctors as is my God given right as an American."

Well I guess we have no choice but to install some bullet proof glass, add some reinforced doors, and post a couple of cops at all of the veteran's homes in the country.

I mean what other solution could there possibly be, right?

California Democratic party declines to endorse Senator Dianne Feinstein in her reelection bid.

Courtesy of Politico: 

In a sharp rebuke to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democratic Party has declined to endorse the state’s own senior senator in her bid for reelection. 

Riven by conflict between progressive and more moderate forces at the state party’s annual convention here, delegates favored Feinstein’s progressive rival, state Senate leader Kevin de León, over Feinstein by a vote of 54 percent to 37 percent, according to results announced Sunday. 

Neither candidate reached the 60 percent threshold required to receive the party endorsement for 2018. But the snubbing of Feinstein led de León to claim a victory for his struggling campaign. 

“The outcome of today’s endorsement vote is an astounding rejection of politics as usual, and it boosts our campaign’s momentum as we all stand shoulder-to-shoulder against a complacent status quo,” de León said in a prepared statement. “California Democrats are hungry for new leadership that will fight for California values from the front lines, not equivocate on the sidelines.”

I'm a little concerned about this.

Dianne Feinstein has been in the Senate since 1992.

Yes she is part of the "establishment" but she is also a known quantity with a lot of support in her state.That means if she were to run for reelection, especially while riding the "blue wave," there is an almost certain victory.

If this Kevin de Leon guy, who may be an excellent candidate, wins the primary there is an increased possibility that something heretofore unknown in his background may be discovered and then he could be vulnerable in the general.

The saying "As California goes, so goes America" could bite us in the ass if we start seeing other safe seats suddenly challenged by more ideologically "pure" liberals who cannot win the general election.

Remember that is what has been happening with the conservatives, and they are losing seats right and left.

Look I want strong progressives in as many seats as possible, but I am also a pragmatist, and I know that if we start applying these purity tests to our sitting members of Congress and the Senate, we might purify ourselves right back to an overwhelming Republican majority in both houses.

The Girl Scouts are brilliant.

Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4pm! 🍃🍪 Have a friend that wants to #tagalong? Bring them with - shopping is more fun with friends anyways. 👭👬👫

A post shared by Urbn Leaf (@urbnleafca) on Feb 2, 2018 at 1:43pm PST

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

One enterprising Girl Scout saw that Girl Scout cookie season started around the same time as California legalized recreational marijuana and had an idea. 

She set up shop outside the Urbn Leaf marijuana dispensary in San Diego and sold her treats to customers who were about to have the munchies anyway, with the blessing of the store, KGTV-10 reported.

The store cleverly encouraged people to buy Girl Scout cookies from the girl after they bought GSC (a weed strain named after Girl Scout cookies) from the store. The scheme was a success, as the scout sold more than 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to Urbn Leaf customers who wanted something to snack on after they lit up later. 

Officially, the Girl Scouts are not huge fans of this practice, which has happened a few times since marijuana legalization has become more and more popular around the United States. The Colorado chapter forbids its scouts from selling outside of dispensaries, but the organization told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that the rules vary by region.

Yeah, "officially" they are not for the practice, but you know they loved getting all of that sweet, sweet, stoner money. 

Some day this young lady will be running a Fortune 500 company, you wait and see.

San Fransisco to expunge marijuana convictions going back as far as 1975.

Courtesy of the LA Times:  

San Francisco will retroactively apply California's new marijuana legalization laws to prior convictions, expunging or reducing misdemeanors and felonies dating to 1975, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday. 

Nearly 5,000 felony marijuana convictions will be reviewed, recalled and resentenced, and more than 3,000 misdemeanors that were sentenced prior to Proposition 64's passage will be dismissed and sealed, Dist. Atty. George Gascón said. The move will clear people's records of crimes that can be barriers to employment and housing. 

San Francisco's move could be the beginning of a larger movement to address old pot convictions, though it's still far from clear how many other counties will follow the famously liberal city's lead. 

Proposition 64 legalizes, among other things, the possession and purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana and allows individuals to grow up to six plants for personal use. The measure also allows people convicted of marijuana possession crimes eliminated by Proposition 64 to petition the courts to have those convictions expunged from their records as long as the person does not pose a risk to public safety. 

They also can petition to have some crimes reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor, including possession of more than an ounce of marijuana by a person who is 18 or older.

You know what they say, where California goes the country is sure to follow.

But that certainly will not happen with Jeff Sessions leading the Justice Department.

I believe his response to marijuana use is some version of "shoot on sight." 

Devin Nunes' own hometown newspaper rips him a new one.

Courtesy of of Alternet:  

Fresno, CA’s daily newspaper the Fresno Bee on Friday ripped into House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) for “doing the dirty work” on behalf of Donald Trump’s White House. 

In a scathing editorial, the Fresno Bee charged Nunes with failing to represent his constituents in California by “waving around a secret memo attacking the FBI” instead of focusing on “health care, jobs” and Dreamers. 

“Instead, he’s doing dirty work for House Republican leaders trying to protect President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation,” the Fresno Bee wrote. 

The editorial noted the timing of Nunes’ secret memo, which coincided with reports special counsel Robert Mueller is honing in on possible obstruction of justice by the president, having interviewed former FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Session last week. 

“Nunes of Tulare is sheltered in a relatively safe Republican district, and may believe he will pay no political price for unfairly attacking law enforcement and protecting Trump,” the Fresno Bee wrote. “But his performance as chairman of the highly sensitive House Intelligence Committee has been nothing short of embarrassing.”

Nunes has a strong Democratic challenger for this next election in the form of a Fresno County Deputy District Attorney, so Nunes may have sacrificed his political career in a desperate attempt to defend the Kremlin's puppet in the White House.  

Kind of makes you wonder why, doesn't it?

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher's Democratic challenger is essentially calling him Russian agent.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

California Democratic House hopeful Harley Rouda is taking the accusations of Russia collusion to his potential opponent, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), in a new ad that frames the congressman as part of a joint effort with President Trump to side with Russia. 

The new digital spot, shared first with The Hill, criticizes Rohrabacher for his ties to Russia. The New York Times reported last year that the FBI warned Rohrabacher, considered one of the most Russia-friendly lawmakers in Congress, that Russian intelligence had been trying to turn him and had even given him a code name. 

"America, let’s show Trump and Rohrabacher it's time for a leader who represents us, not Russia," the ad's narrator says.

Man I love the hell out of this!

Rohrabacher has been Putin's puppet for years now, and it is high time that he is called out for it publicly. 

Rohrabacher claims that his constituents do not care about his Russian connections, but I think that with enough of these ads that will definitely change.

I also think this might be a winning strategy for a number of Democrats moving forward.

If their opponents do not have direct ties to Russia, then they can be called out for supporting the agenda of the Kremlin's agent in the White House.

Darrell "Benghazi" Issa sees the writing on the wall and will not seek reelection.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) will not seek another term in Congress, he announced Wednesday. 

“While my service to California’s 49th District will be coming to an end, I will continue advocating on behalf of the causes that are most important to me, advancing public policy where I believe I can make a true and lasting difference, and continuing the fight to make our incredible nation an even better place to call home,” he said in a statement. 

Here is Issa's full statement:   

Two decades ago, when I stepped away from the business I’d built to enter public service, I never could have imagined that a long-shot bid for U.S. Senate would lead to 18 years in the House of Representatives and endless opportunities to make a meaningful impact. 

From the first successful recall of a sitting Governor in California history, to establishing new and stronger standards for government accountability, to protecting the Internet from harmful regulation, and enacting the nation’s first open data standards, we attempted and achieved much in the service of our nation. 

Together, we put an end to abusive Congressional earmarks, strengthened the Violence Against Women Act, empowered better oversight of the executive branch, and cleared the course for better intellectual property protections to stop the piracy of American ingenuity. 

Throughout my service, I worked hard and never lost sight of the people our government is supposed to serve. Yet with the support of my family, I have decided that I will not seek re-election in California’s 49th District. 

I am forever grateful to the people of San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties for their support and affording me the honor of serving them all these years. Most humbling for me — and for anyone who represents this area — has been the special privilege of representing the Marines and Sailors of Camp Pendleton and their families. On countless occasions, and in every corner of the world I met them, I was inspired by their bravery and humbled by their sacrifice to keep us all safe from harm. 

Representing you has been the privilege of a lifetime. 

While my service to California’s 49th District will be coming to an end, I will continue advocating on behalf of the causes that are most important to me, advancing public policy where I believe I can make a true and lasting difference, and continuing the fight to make our incredible nation an even better place to call home.

Yeah that's all bullshit.

In actuality Issa engaged in mostly baseless partisan investigations for two decades, including the so-called "Fast and Furious" debacle, the investigation into the IRS supposedly rejecting non-profit status for conservative groups,  Benghazi (of course), Hillary Clinton's private server, and so on, while also leaking misinformation about these investigations to the press.

Issa once called President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times," yet accused the Democrats of going on a witch hunt when they wanted to investigate how the Bush Administration managed to "lose" 22 million emails.

Also realize that the only reason he is not running again is because he KNOWS he will be destroyed by his Democratic challenger.

So yeah, definitely fuck this guy.

And I hope he is soon joined by a bunch of these GOP parasites who spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money going after imaginary crimes,  just to smear their ideological adversaries.

California man arrested for planning a terrorist attack on Christmas Day.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

A California man was charged Friday with plotting to aid ISIS by traveling to Syria or staging an attack in San Francisco on Christmas Day, though court documents suggest he later got cold feet. 

Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, of Modesto was arrested earlier in the day and charged with providing support to a terrorist organization. Law enforcement officials say the FBI began investigating him in September, after a tipster reported that Jameson was making pro-jihadi comments in a Facebook posting. 

Court documents said when undercover FBI informants and employees began communicating with him in October, he praised ISIS and the deadly Oct. 31 truck attack on a New York City bicycle path.

Investigators said he told them he had the money it would take to go to Syria to join ISIS but later he began to talk about carrying out some kind of attack in the U.S., using skills he learned in the Marine Corps. 

The FBI said he eventually began talking about attacking Pier 39 in San Francisco, a popular tourist attraction, because he knew it to be a crowded area. Court documents said he told the undercover operatives that he had no escape plan because he was ready to die.

Does not appear that Trump's Muslim ban would have done a damn thing to keep Americans safe from an attack like this.

Not only is this dude white, but he received his training from America's military.

Certainly does not fit the profile that we are told identifies a terrorist these days.

Well good thing the FBI is still doing its job, despite constant criticism from the new commander-in-chief. 

California man's plan to launch himself 1,800 feet into the air to prove the earth is flat has been postponed. Wait, what's happening?

Courtesy of Fox News: 

Mike Hughes said the Bureau of Land Management wouldn't approve his plan to use public land for Saturday's planned experiment, so he'll have to move the project to private land next week, the Washington Post reported. 

The 61-year-old limo driver said he had received verval approval from the same federal agency just last year, pending an OK from the federal Aviation Commission, the paper reported. 

Hughes added that engine trouble in his motor home, which was converted into a ramp, also affected his original launch plans. 

“It’s still happening. We’re just moving it three miles down the road,” Hughes told the Post on Friday. “This is what happens any time you have to deal with any kind of government agency.” 

Hughes said the rocket will take flight next week, from private property near the Mojave Desert, along Route 66.

If all goes according to plan, Hughes said his stunt will be the first phase of the flat-Earth space program, sponsored by Research Flat Earth, a group that believes Earth is flat.

Climate change deniers,  anti-evolutionists, and these flat earth idiots probably feel that with Donald Trump in office this is their time.

After all clearly facts no longer matter, and denying reality seems to be a winning strategy.

 However after taking a look at the rocket in that picture up above I think the only thing this Mike Hughes is going to prove is that the human body can disintegrate on impact.

Another white man with a history of domestic violence went on a shooting spree yesterday. Update!

 Courtesy of the LA Times:

A gunman's deadly rampage through rural Rancho Tehama on Tuesday was stopped when police rammed his vehicle and exchanged shots in a fierce gun battle, authorities said. 

"The suspect was actually shooting at the police vehicle, back at them, the officer rammed the vehicle, forced it off the road, an exchange of gunfire — resulting in the shooter's death," said Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston. 

The shooting ended what authorities described as a 45-minute attack through Rancho Tehama, a quiet reserve about 120 miles northwest of downtown Sacramento. 

The gunman at one point terrorized a local elementary school. Witnesses said he crashed through the school's gates with his truck and opened fire, spraying walls and classrooms with bullets. Teachers and other adults on campus frantically got the students under desks. 

Before the rampage was over, five people were dead, including the gunman, and at least 10 were wounded. 

It could have been much worse if local teachers had not been so quick to respond to the threat.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

No children were killed in the shooting spree that began at shortly before 8 a.m. PT in the community of Rancho Tehama Reserve, about 130 miles north of Sacramento, Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said.

The rampage could have been worse, Johnston said, had not the staff at the school heard gunshots around a quarter-mile away and initiated a lockdown.

"The shooter literally took his vehicle and rammed their fence and gate, entered the grounds on foot with a semiautomatic rifle," Johnston said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. 

"It appears that because he couldn't make access to any of the rooms — they were locked — that he gave it up and re-entered the vehicle and then went on his killing spree and took it to the streets of Rancho Tehama,” Johnston said. "So I really want to say that the quick action of those school officials, there is no doubt in my mind based on the video that I saw, saved countless lives and children."

I say it all the time, but it bears repeating, teachers are the true American heroes. And it should not take a terrible incident like this to remind us of that fact.

As it turns out this lunatic was known by police for being a very violent offender, and was about to go on trial for past crimes: 

The gunman who killed four in a sprawling rampage Tuesday before being fatally shot by police was about to go on trial for stabbing and robbing women in his Northern California community. 

Kevin Jansen Neal, 43, was charged with assault in January. Little is known about the incident, except that Neal was charged with assault for shooting at two female neighbors through a wooden fence while they were walking. Neal then "jumped the fence, confronted the women, stabbed one and took a cellphone from the other," Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen told Red Bluff Daily News. Authorities said one of the four individuals killed Tuesday was a female previously targeted by Neal in his neighborhood. 

Neal, 43, was arrested again in February for assault with a deadly weapon, battery, crimes against an elder or dependent adult and discharging his firearm with gross negligence, among other charges outlined in Red Bluff Police Department logs. Neal was scheduled to stand trial on January 11, 2018, for the assault against the neighborhood women, with trials beginning in December.

And yet he was still able to get his hands on an AR-15 Bushmaster rifle as well as several other firearms.

And why not? This is America ain't it?

Investigators later found the body of Neal's wife hidden under the floorboards in his house, which brings the death toll up to five. 

Update: Totally agree with this.

As we approach the five-year anniversary of the horrifying shooting at Sandy Hook, it’s heartbreaking that we’ve made so little progress in preventing these shootings. Elementary schools like the one in Rancho Tehama Reserve shouldn’t have to prepare for mass shootings.

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) November 16, 2017

Executive director of California health insurance firm says that Donald Trump has created a "shit storm" for 2018.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Peter Lee, Covered California's executive director, told Business Insider in an interview that the Trump administration has thrown a wrench into insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act that were on their way to stabilizing themselves in 2017. Lee even agreed with Trump's assessment that Obamacare is "gone" — but perhaps for a different reason than Trump intended. 

"So I think there is a truth to it — Obamacare is gone," Lee said. "The reality is what is going to come home to roost for this president and this Congress is a collapsed individual market that was working well." 

Lee said research from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Standard and Poor's pointed to increased insurer profitability and strong enrollment numbers. Now, that appears to be up in the air heading into the 2018 open-enrollment period. 

"If you look at all of this research, 2017 was going to be the big turnaround year and now 2018 is going to be a s---storm," Lee said. "It is going to be a nightmare for much of country with some islands of calm, relatively speaking."

California was one of Obamacare's biggest success stories.

And now thanks to Donald Trump it may end up another smoking crater.

Which I imagine means that their proposed plan to move to a single payer health care system may now be their next go to solution.

If we know anything about California, it is as that they are often the ones who create a path for the rest of the country to follow.

Steven Bannon tells audience of California Republicans that "There has not been a more destructive presidency than George Bush's."

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

Steve Bannon has depicted former President George W Bush as bumbling and inept, faulting him for presiding over a “destructive” presidency during his time in the White House. 

The former White House adviser delivered a retort to a speech Bush gave in New York during the week in which the 43rd president denounced bigotry in Trump-era American politics and warned that the rise of “nativism”, isolationism and conspiracy theories have clouded the nation’s true identity. 

Bannon, speaking to a capacity crowd at a California Republican party convention on Friday night, said Bush had embarrassed himself, didn’t know what he was talking about, and had no idea whether “he is coming or going, just like it was when he was president”. 

“There has not been a more destructive presidency than George Bush’s,” Bannon added, as boos could be heard in the crowd at the mention of Bush’s name.

Well here's the thing.

I USED to be in total agreement with that last statement, but that was before Bannon's bromantic partner Donald Trump took office.

I mean as of yet Trump has not started an unnecessary war that killed hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people, that's true.

Nor has he crashed the economy. Yet.

But I have high hopes that he will soon do FAR more damage than George Bush managed to do even after eight years in office.

And by "high hopes" I mean I live in abject fear of what he might do next.

Besides let's be clear, Bannon is not attacking George Bush for what he did during his presidency.

He is attacking George Bush for daring to criticize his his former boss, and White House slumber party partner.

Co-founder of California secessionist movement issues statement welcoming Julian Asssange's support from his cozy home in Russia.

Courtesy of Business Insider:  

The cofounder of the California separatist group Yes California said in an interview Monday that the group welcomes "the vocal support" of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who recently began tweeting about the California independence campaign known as "Calexit." 

"Ultimately the Calexit vote and its preceding debate will be up to Californians to decide but we welcome the vocal support of Julian Assange, as we would for any individual with the courage to stand up against and defy the powers that be in order to affect positive change in this world," said Louis Marinelli, the cofounder. "That's what our campaign is all about." 

Marinelli, a 31-year-old activist, announced in a 1,600-word statement on Monday that he would return to California after spending just over a year in Russia's fourth-largest city, Yekaterinburg, with his wife Anastasia.

Let's see, cozy with the Russians, and being supported by Julian Assange, does this seem eerily familiar to anybody else?

I really thought this Calexit bullshit had died in its sleep after the Brexit fiasco blew up over in Britain. But apparently somebody is attempting to resuscitate it and get it back on its feet again.

Now ask yourself which political party would stand to benefit the most from California seceding from the United States?

And which country would love to sew the seeds of discontent in the most influential liberal state on the planet?

Keep in mind that though overall significantly more intelligent than their conservative counterparts, there are still some easily manipulated members on the liberal side as well.

This is clearly an attempt to cause friction among California voters, and to undermine the effectiveness that California wields as a political force in this country.

Only an idiot would support this.

Or a Russian operative of course.  

Sheriff Joe Arpaio returns, and he is still looking for Obama's birth certificate.

Courtesy of Mercury News:  

Fresh off a presidential pardon, America’s most infamous lawman is coming to California this week as part of an effort to re-enter the political arena. 

“Don’t think I’m going fishing,” Joe Arpaio, the 85-year-old former Maricopa County sheriff, said in an interview with the Bay Area News Group. “I am not going away.” 

Arpaio, whose hard-line immigration policies divided the country and led to his own criminal conviction, is speaking at a Republican fundraising dinner in Fresno on Friday, an appearance that has local police bracing for protests and some GOP officials staying far away. 

“Sheriff Joe” was thrust back into the national spotlight last month when he received a pardon from President Donald Trump. He was convicted of contempt of court earlier this year, with a judge finding that he had violated court orders to stop detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix. The pardon saved him from a possible sentence of six months in prison. 

In an interview on Tuesday afternoon, Arpaio, who lost re-election in November after 24 years in office, said the Fresno event was an example of his renewed “mission” to fight for conservative ideas around the country. That includes, he said, his continuing (and widely debunked) effort to prove that former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate is fake.

My father used to say that there are some people "too mean to die."

Whenever I think of Arpaio that quote comes to mind.

It's like at 85 years old it is only pure hate that keeps him ticking.

He is a vile POS so it is no surprise that Donald Trump went out of his way to rescue him from a prison sentence.

California Governor Jerry Brown compares Trump supporters to "troglodytes" as both "dwell in deep dark caves."

Courtesy of Politico:  

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday called President Donald Trump’s approach to climate change and North Korea “stupid and dangerous and silly,” sharpening his criticism of the president and comparing his supporters to cave dwellers. 

“They’re both kind of very similar,” Brown said at a climate change event in New York. “You should check out the derivation of ‘Trump-ite’ and ‘troglodyte,’ because they both refer to people who dwell in deep, dark caves.”

“President Trump is the null hypothesis, which he’s proven,” Brown said. “Everything he’s doing is … stupid and dangerous and silly. I mean, come on, really, calling the North Korean dictator ‘Rocket Man'? … He is accelerating the reversal through his own absurdity.”

While acknowledging he was making “lemonade out of a lemon,” Brown predicted Trump will “fail very soon” in the face of economic and other international forces. 

“These other powers are going to gang up on Mr. Trump, and he’s going to find out, ‘You’re fired,’” Brown said.

I'm really hoping that Governor Brown is correct with that last assessment. 

In my opinion Jerry Brown is essentially the anti-Trump in that he believes in the power of government, sees public service as an important responsibility, and makes decisions for the benefit of his constituents and not himself. 

I have been a fan of Jerry Brown since back in the days when he was dating Linda Ronstadt. 

Brown took what was essentially a smoking corpse of a state, and turned it around almost completely after Arnold Schwarzenegger spent two terms trying to terminate it.

If Jerry Brown were not already 79 years of age I would seriously consider him as the perfect presidential candidate for the Democratic party in 2020.

However there may be another option as California's Lt. Governor, Gavin Newsom, is only 49 years old and is just as forward thinking and progressive as his boss.

Newsom has run a business, been mayor of San Fransisco, is a promoter of public schools, and was an early advocate for same sex marriage.

I know it's early, but I think it's time to start thinking of strong Democratic candidates, and Newsom clicks all the right boxes.

You may not always agree with California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, but you have to admit she's a bad ass.

Maxine Waters is a total boss. I'm going to work "reclaiming my time" into every convo I have now. pic.twitter.com/nv3RjPyw9j

— Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) July 29, 2017

"Reclaiming my time" should be the clarion call for the Resistance.

We will work hard to reclaim the time that the Trump administration stole from us for moving this country forward.

Study finds that single payer health care system could save Californians 37.5 billion annually.

Courtesy of Mercury News:  

As the California Senate considers voting this week on a proposal to replace private health insurance with a statewide health plan that covers everyone, the bill’s main backers on Wednesday heralded a new study that says the plan could save Californians $37.5 billion annually in health care spending — even after adding the state’s nearly 3 million uninsured. 

The favorable findings by economists at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, comes a week after a Senate committee released eye-popping estimates that threatened to dampen enthusiasm for the bill. The committee’s analysis projected that the statewide plan would cost $400 billion annually, half of which would likely need to come from workers and businesses through a 15 percent payroll tax.

If the state adopts a single-payer plan, “Californians will get more and will definitely pay less,” Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, the co-author of Senate Bill 562, said at a news conference Wednesday.

If California passes this bill, and it is even half as successful as predicted, the argument against a nation wide single payer system will become even harder to make.

(I wrote this post yesterday, but since then the vote has taken place and the bill has passed.)

Bill Maher once said "As goes California, so goes the rest of the country."

And that is typically correct, though it does take some portions of the country decades to catch up.

In other news it appears that the GOP health care plan has virtually NO support.

Courtesy of CNN Money:

Americans are not too enamored with the House GOP bill to repeal Obamacare. 

Only 8% think the Senate should pass the legislation as is, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

About half of respondents think the upper chamber should make either "major" or "minor" changes to it, while 29% say the Senate should not pass the bill.

Can you say "dead in the water?"

Let's face it Americans have seen the future and it is government run single payer health care for all.