Red State Ramblings

At the risk of suffering the same fate as Lot’s wife, I snuck a glance over my shoulder at my old state governor’s Twitter account. If you are one of the millions like me who couldn’t get out of California fast enough, you’re not going to believe what he said.

“We’re about to celebrate Independence Day — but Freedom is under attack by Republican leaders in states like Florida. … It’s time to stand up. Don’t let them take your freedom.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom

No, this is not satire. I’m not quoting the Babylon Bee. And it didn’t stop there. He posted a video ad, which is now being aired on television in Florida, inviting residents to move to California for … what was it? Taxes, crime, wildfires, poverty? Oh right- for, um, “freedom.”

I know, I know. You don’t believe me. So here you go: (Check it out!) pic.twitter.com/cFI5UzgZzX

Let’s break down his ad and discover what atrocities are happening in a red state near you:

Banning books.

Newsom’s video references this article. It appears that 40% of math books used in Florida schools have been discovered to contain prohibited topics such as CRT and agenda-driven bias towards climate change. So, the Department of Education removed those books. Wow, how dare they demand that math books only contain math! We want politics and racism in our elementary schools’ math books! What an outrage!

Restricting speech.

Here’s the opinion piece mentioned for restricting speech in classrooms in Florida. Once again, it appears there are people in Florida who care about what children read in school. I mean, does it really matter what young, developing minds read at public-funded schools? It’s like they think parents should have the freedom to limit exposure of porn to their kids. Ridiculous. Kids need to know all about sex from a young age so they can be groomed for trafficking, right? (Yes, there are books that even illustrate kids performing sexual acts. Here’s a much more informative article.)

Making it harder to vote.

Let’s not forget about those Republican insurrectionists who want to upend democracy by making laws that secure elections! I mean, laws that make it harder to vote … illegally! We need it to be easy for cheaters to cheat – that’s freedom! Newsom wants us to remember U.S. Sen. Rick Scotts, who saw voter fraud coming in 2020 and actually tried to do something about it. He quotes this completely unbiased and factual piece that does not at all misinterpret the bill to equate absentee ballots with unsolicited mail-in ballots (or maybe it does, oops. Oh, and here’s the actual bill. It’s actually got some great ideas like having mail-ins submitted by voting day and not counting them early- it would have been awesome if it had passed! Imagine not waiting months for the presidential race in 2020 to be, um, “counted”!)

Criminalizing women and doctors.

Even before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Governor DeSantis had the nerve to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, as seen here. So not really all women and doctors, but certainly the women and doctors who murder the preborn and highly developed babies will be “criminalized”! But… but… what about the freedom to kill? (Check out Michelle’s inspirational post about living in a post Roe v. Wade world here)

Wow! Aren’t you glad Gavin Newsom opened our eyes and explained this to us? I mean, all this time I thought I had gained freedom by moving to Idaho! It couldn’t have been California that shut down churches, mandated masks and experimental vaccines, and closed small businesses (many never to reopen again because of the losses) in 2020. Didn’t this same governor tell all his peasants to shelter in place, meanwhile living it up mask-free indoors at the French Laundry restaurant? Maybe that was all just a dream?

If you find yourself questioning your sanity after listening to a politician, chances are high they are full of bologna. It’s the very definition of “gaslighting” that these super liberal elitists seem to be getting better at. You would think it’s so blatant, so bold and so obvious that no one would fall for it. Yet, the comments tell another story. And I know they aren’t all “bots” (some probably are), because I personally know people who believe this narrative. It’s a sad thing to think about, really.

But if you understand that true freedom is the liberty to live according to your conscience, don’t lose hope. You are not alone. Getting to live in community with people of the same values is incredibly uplifting. As I’ve mentioned before, Idaho is certainly not perfect, but I feel much safer and freer here than anywhere else I have lived! And boy did we celebrate that fact on the 4th of July!

Raising flags at the Boise Veteran’s Cemetery – we love honoring those who gave their lives for our freedom!

We enjoyed seeing the community all come out to celebrate, and large fireworks right outside our front door. God Bless America and God Bless Idaho!