About Last Week…
A Few Thoughts
As I have very few Twitter/X/Notes/Threads followers – and will not go near Bluesky – it seems some weeks I have a few little thoughts that would be appropriate for those spaces but I don’t see the point…yet.
That’s a pointlessly long explanation for the format of this episode of About Last Week…
· The new administration’s border tsar (czar? I prefer Tsar) rather bluntly told local lefty pols that they could face federal charges if their “sanctuary city” policies actively interfere with the immigration and/or the soon to occur unigration process. Downside of that? That’s what they want. There are few cooler things to happen to a progressive politician than being arrested for standing up for the rights of the, um, people who cross non-existent borders on stolen land to merely gain an opportunity to re-dress the wrongs of America’s colonialist past and start a new life.
The headlines will be fantastic badges of honor, no matter that literally tens of thousands of the people they are fighting for are murderous gang members, terrorists, and cartels.
I can hear the exultant “Si, Su Puede!” chants (by the way, Si, Su Puede is Spanish for “yes you can” and was a rallying chant of the United Farm Workers union led by Cesar Chavez who was adamantly opposed to illegal immigration) as the politicians are hauled off to jail already.
· While every state has a similar problem, California’s inability to properly spend or track or even realize where it’s going the tens of billions of dollars it has doles out to anti- homelessness programs is in a category by itself. That goes for other projects, like high speed rail, as well.
Since these things always involve federal money, there is an easy Trumpy solution: nobody get another federal dime until they submit to and pass a forensic audit. Seems like that would have Elon and Vivek’s names all over it.
· Gavin Newsom – let’s be honest, the – ugh – current front runner for the Democratic nomination in 2028 – just a bought a $9 million home in Marin County (you think San Francisco is lefty and expensive, Marin puts it to shame.) It’s about 5,600 square-feet and sits on an acre – thought experiment: how much would a very very nice house that size on an acre cost where you live – and seems to be a great place to entertain/gather politicos to chat about his upcoming campaign/Western White House kind of thing.
The question is how exactly did he pay for it? Newsom has(ish) money – his friendship with the Getty family has led to the creation of many businesses (wineries, restaurants, etc.) which really do exist and he makes money from (he’s always been rather coy about exactly what “work” he did with his companies, but, oh well, it’s nice to have absurdly wealthy friends.)
Right now, he makes about $200,000 a year as governor. His wife’s family has money, but since his mother and father-in-law didn’t vote for him, that avenue seems closed off.
There is also the issue of his home in Sacramento. He didn’t like the governor’s mansion (an old downtown Victorian) so he got a different house, a $2.7 million dollar house that was bought by an LLC he was involved in (with the Gettys) that was somehow actually gifted to him by said LLC.
According to California elected official financial reporting laws, you have to report pretty much everything – Newsom didn’t have to do that in that case and is pretty much steadfastly refusing to discuss the finances of his new home.
But having a place like that is important for Newsom’s political future – he needs the guest houses and such to accommodate the stream of people he will get in the next three years; hey, here’s a thought – what if he declares for president ASAP and tries to write it off as a business expense because the moment he stops being a candidate/politician/whatever he becomes irrelevant, and that means no more free houses.
· Finally, an AG update. Within hours of Matt Gaetz getting the AG heave-ho, the Trump team tapped another nominee. It was irritating because they didn’t go with my pick (although Pam Biondi will be great) and they did it so quickly my “Trump’s Pony Hobbled” story was only valid for about 3 hours.
Grr.
So here’s is the update I put on top of the story in case you missed it:
Within about three hours of this posting yesterday, the Trump transition team announced that Pam Biondi, the former Attorney General of Florida, would be the new Attorney General nominee to replace Gaetz.
Bioni has a reputation as being a very solid Trump supporter and being “tough on crime.”
Gaetz himself called her an excellent choice.
Democrats and others not terribly pleased with the existence of Trump were ever so momentarily pleased they had derailed the pick of Gaetz but in the end only had about three hours to celebrate because Biondi will most likely be rather easily confirmed.
She appears dedicated to the reform of the Justice Department – as Gaetz was - but does not have the baggage Gaetz had.
Careful what you wish for.
Additionally, the speed of the announcement shows that the Trump team understands the importance of being bold and swift this time around by keeping the opposition on its back foot and not letting it fill any media time on its own.
This week’s epigram is, of course, not one, but a song. In honor of Trump’s non-consecutive wins, here’s Meatloaf’s “Two Outta Three Ain’t Bad:”
And the chorus is so apropos for 2024:
“I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you…”
Well, some folks do, but it’s still pretty prescient…
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