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Newsom touts California as ‘true freedom state,’ takes veiled crack at DeSantis: ‘Small men in big offices’

January 8, 2023 | | Print Article

California Gov. Gavin Newsom triggered a whirlwind of intense mockery this weekend when he dared to claim that his left-wing “utopia” of a state is “the true freedom state.”

“California is the true freedom state. Protecting liberty from a rising tide of oppression taking root in statehouses. Weakness, masquerading as strength. Small men in big offices. Freedom is who we are – anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything here,” he obliviously tweeted.

Look:

Critics were left completely aghast. And justifiably so.

In 2021, the Cato Institute conducted a survey to determine the freest and least free states. Not surprisingly, California came in at the bottom, ranking as the 48th freest state in the country.

“California is one of the least free states in the country, largely because of its long-standing poor performance on economic freedom,” the libertarian think tank concluded.

Think high taxes, burdensome regulations, and, of course, freedom-destroying social policies.

“California is a classic left-wing state on social issues. Gun rights are among the weakest in the country and have been weakened consistently over time. It was one of the first states to adopt a smoking ban on private property, which was further tightened in 2016. Cigarette taxes were hiked substantially in 2017. It has adopted strict, anti-scientific vaping bans and bans on flavored e-cigarettes (locally and under 21 statewide),” the think tank notes.

But all this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Responding to Newsom’s Twitter posts, critics were eager to point to other examples of his tyrannical, draconian policies.

Recall, for example, that California boasted some of the strictest COVID lockdown policies in the entire country. What’s free about that?

(*Language warning)

The latter Twitter user was right: Newsom also forced a vaccine mandate and mask mandate down the throats of his constituents — including children.

“After implementing first-in-the-nation school masking and staff vaccination measures, California becomes the first state to announce plans to require student vaccinations – adding the COVID-19 vaccine to list of vaccinations required for school, such as the vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella,” his administration gleefully announced in October of 2021.

The rule made it so that all students who wanted to attend in-person classes had to be vaccinated. Never mind the lack of studies on how the experimental vaccine affects children.

The fact that Newsom genuinely believes his state is a model of freedom does make one wonder what the heck he means by “freedom.”

It seems, critics say, that his definition of “freedom” is entirely different from the actual definition of the word.

Indeed, in California, the only “freedoms” that seem to exist include the “freedom” to commit crime without punishment, the “freedom” to be homeless, the “freedom” to tax and lock down citizens, and the “freedom” to “mutilate children,” as one critic put it.

Indeed, California is now a “sanctuary state” for parents who want their children to undergo sex reassignment surgery.

As for the actual freedom to live unoppressed by government, that freedom certainly doesn’t appear to exist in California of all places, which may explain why so many people are fleeing the left-wing “utopia” for more conservative pastures.

“California’s population continues to dwindle. The state’s population declined by 114,000 people from about 39,143,000 in 2021 to 39,029,000 in 2022, new estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau show,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported late last month.

“California’s 0.3% population decrease is actually slightly smaller than the 0.9% fall the state experienced from 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, across the country, the population grew slightly — by about 0.4%,” the Chronicle added.

It’s almost as if the rest of the country is more … free!

Vivek Saxena
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