OPINION:
Most Democrats, at least elected ones, seem to be fundamentally unbright when it comes to anything involving President Trump. They never manage to pick the right option concerning either policy or optics.
This is especially true for the crowd in California, which has somehow inexplicably found itself advocating for anarchy, for the burning of police cars, for pelting police with concrete and for burning American flags while flying Mexican and other flags. (I think I saw an Argentine flag.) More fundamentally, despite their oaths of office, elected Democrats in California have managed to be in favor of those in the country illegally and to be opposed to those who enforce our nation’s laws. In short, they now favor social disorder rather than law and order.
All this comes after months of Democratic introspection and advice to one another to de-emphasize the crazier parts of their belief systems that most Americans find troubling, including the concept of open borders, and do their best to prevent the defund-the-police crowd and their cognates from gaining control of the agenda or even the conversation about the enforcement of laws.
Nevertheless, here we are. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing to prohibit the president of the United States from calling up the National Guard to preserve law and order in the nation’s second-largest city, which has been roiled by riots as a result of the federal government trying to enforce immigration laws. Looking at it in a certain light, it is apparent that the governor and his henchpeople are obstructing the application of justice.
Of course, the real motivation of Mr. Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has criticized Mr. Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to her city, is that they oppose the enforcement of any immigration laws. Simply witness their inaction in the face of the avalanche of humanity that fell on California and the U.S. during the previous administration.
Mr. Trump has rightly identified illegal immigration into the United States as an invasion. This column described it in the same manner in February: “President Biden presided over the largest land invasion in the history of the world. No one on the left said a word.” Indeed, they did not.
Mr. Newsom is wrong not only concerning illegal immigration. A week or so ago, he fought the oil industry and talked about — you guessed it — the impending doom of climate change. Unfortunately for him, the present doom is that California’s regulatory regime has become so onerous that two refiners have announced they will exit California entirely. That may increase gasoline prices in the Golden State to as much as $8 per gallon. Judging by his response, which so far has been nothing but words, Mr. Newsom doesn’t care.
It would be easy to pick a dozen more examples. Defective education systems. Income inequality. Crime. Excessive taxes. Inadequate housing. Commutes that are too long. A steady exodus of American citizens to other, better places.
In light of all that, picking a political fight that will help no one except Team Trump seems uniquely and impressively idiotic. The clever play, and the easy play, would have been for Mr. Newsom to thank the president for his help in controlling the situation in Los Angeles. Maybe even activate another 1,000 guardsmen on his own, just for good measure.
None of that would be complicated, and all of it would help the governor appear, well, normal.
The great German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. … Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental.”
Mr. Trump continues to have more than his share of political opponents. At the same time, he seems able to compel almost all his opponents to lose their ability to sustain coherent, rational thought. It’s a blessing.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor at The Washington Times.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.