“They’re coming after you next,” says Gov. Gavin Newsom
“There are things that go bump in the night, and we are the ones who bump back.” – from Hellboy (2004)
What Democrats lack is leaders with enough moxy to battle Republican extremists who dominate the media battle space by trolling the left and tossing red meat to the right. If Democrats expect to hold back the conservative neofascist putsch, they had best do more than promise that if elected they will “fight for you.” They’ll have to audition.
A pair of Democratic governors are doing just that.
Even before the Independence Day mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) had bought a 30-second ad in Florida criticizing that state’s aspiring autocrat, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the man who would be Trump 2.0. Newsom also took a swing at Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R).
Republicans in Florida are banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech, and criminalizing women and doctors, Newsom tells viewers. We’re not having that in California, says Newsom. Hell no. He reminds Floridians that (Democratic) California stands for American values Florida is attacking. He cast DeSantis as an enemy of liberty. It’s about time some Democrat with a national platform did. And Newsom did it in Florida.
Newsom already pushed back against moves in other states not only to criminalize women’s reproductive freedom, but to punish them for seeking to exercise it in states where abortion remains legal in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe. In June, Newsom signed legislation providing additional funds to support services for women who travel to California to exercise their rights:
“The measure comes as lawmakers in Missouri advance a proposal to allow private citizens to sue Missouri residents who have an abortion out of state, as well as their providers and anyone who assists them in seeking an abortion,” Newsom’s office explained in a news release.
“This is not just about women. This is not just about choice. This is not just about reproductive freedom. They’re coming after you next,” Newsom said during the signing ceremony.
“California will not hand over patients who come here to receive care and will not extradite doctors who provide care to out-of-state patients here,” Newsom’s office declared in a tweet again on Tuesday.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) responded to the Highland Park shooting by declaring that if people are angry about being robbed of any sense of security and joy by gun violence, “I’m here to tell you, be angry.”
“It does not have to be this way,” he said. “And yet, we as a nation continue to allow this to happen.” We celebrate the Fourth of July once a year. But mass shootings are now a weekly American tradition.
Pushing back against the right-wing evasion that “today is not the day” to address gun proliferation, Pritzker insisted. “I’m telling you there is no better day and no better time than right here and right now.”
Prtizker attacked the notion that our 18th century founders intended Americans to go about with assault weapons, and that somehow the Second Amendment trumps Americans’ right to live.
For confirmation that Pritzker’s message hit a right-wing soft spot, I give you Bill O’Reilly’s freakout.
When you’ve cut the other boxer over the eye. Work the eye.
You sure that isn’t James Woods *playing* Bill O’Reilly?
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