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Even a Stopped Clock…
You might want to sit down for this… Jerry Brown made a good decision. Actually, he made two.
The governor’s first good decision was vetoing a bill that would have enforced Obama’s Title IX guidance about campus sexual assault. This was the garbage rule that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos scuttled because it denied the accused their due process rights. Brown explained his veto in a statement:
Since this law was enacted, however, thoughtful legal minds have increasingly questioned whether federal and state actions to prevent and redress sexual harassment and assault—well-intentioned as they are—have also unintentionally resulted in some colleges’ failure to uphold due process for accused students. Depriving any student of higher education opportunities should not be done lightly, or out of fear of losing state or federal funding.
For some reason, the far left isn’t raking Gov. Brown over the coals as they did Secretary DeVos. I blame the patriarchy.
Brown also vetoed another silly bill his legislature burped up. It would have forced presidential candidates to make their tax returns public in order to be included on California’s ballot. The Gov wasn’t having it:
“While I recognize the political attractiveness – even the merits – of getting President Trump’s tax returns, I worry about the political perils of individual states seeking to regulate presidential elections in this manner,” Brown wrote in a veto message. “First, it may not be constitutional. Second, it sets a ‘slippery slope’ precedent. Today we require tax returns, but what would be next? Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards? And will these requirements vary depending on which political party is in power?”
For the first time in my life, and perhaps the last, I have to say … well done, Jerry Brown.
Published in Politics
Thanks this made me laugh.
I think that part of the reason the left is leaving Gov. Brown alone is that he is protecting their ideas. These things make great talking points and issues to campaign on. The last thing some on the left would want are these ideas addressed in Court. They could well lose, and thus lose their ability to attack Republicans.
Surprising as it is encouraging. Maybe a little wisdom came to Moonbeam with age.
Well I’m happy to hear he’s got at least 5% common sense.
Gov. Brown might call this the Yin and Yang of political hypocrisy. Nice catch Jon. Maybe our culture is inching its way back to its roots. The times are a changin’ doesn’t always mean they are blowing left.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day — but only for a second.
Every once in a blue moon he surprises. Well, maybe not that often.
In Massachusetts, politics has often led to some strange bedfellows.
For candidates to be placed on a ballot, the candidates have to first secure a certain number of signatures on a petition that is later submitted to the election commission. There are deadlines involved and thus pressure on the campaign staffs. Complicating the situation, the rules of where campaign workers can approach people are long and many. There are so few places that meet all the criteria that these important signatures are often gathered in cold wet public parking lots. It’s not fun work.
At one point, our state election commission passed a collection of new rules that would result in thousands of signatures being invalidated. Some of the rules–and I mean “some” because there were quite a few new rules related solely to the actual penned signatures–pertained to whether the signatures were all contained within the little boxes on the forms. One stray descender from the letter y and a signature would be disqualified.
In one of those rare moments when idiocy can be seen from all directions, the Republicans and Democrats worked together and approached the election commission to get these new rules thrown out. They succeeded.
Jerry Brown made such good points that I’m sure his arguments will prevail throughout the country. I love it when common sense wins the day.
Jon,
I think Governor Moonbeam has a way to go before I’d compliment him. The recent wildfires in the Northern California is a case in point. Every so often the combination of very dry conditions and high winds make wildfires a very distinct possibility for California. Some of the new firefighting capabilities caught my eye. In particular, some large helicopters were converted to hold large water tanks with big siphon hoses coming out the bottom. Their engines had been protected so they could operate in high heat. The big choppers can go over any body of water fill the tank and then rush back to the fire and precision drop the water to support the guys on the ground. Obviously, they can do this all day long. Of course, they can be used to evac people too.
Instead of Moonbeam wasting megabillions on a bullet train he should buy a small fleet of the choppers for the State of California and have them on standby. It wouldn’t hurt.
Regards,
Jim
I was Jerry Brown’s driver for a couple days during the 1980 presidential campaign when he toured New Hampshire and Massachusetts. We all have our dark little secrets. (Part of the appeal was his interest in space colonization).
He was and I assume still is very intelligent, engaging and curious. He asked me if I would teach him calculus the next time he was on the east coast. I got him a book but the lessons never happened.
Anyway, I won’t attempt to defend him overall. He is obviously a liberal. But he knows what a market is and he is able to assess things – sometimes – outside the bubble of his party. So I am not surprised when he shows sensible judgement. Look at his past and you will find incidents like this one from time to time throughout his history.
Nothing more than a minor tactical retreat. He’s merely protecting progressivism from a couple of untenable (in the real world) proposals—responsibly guiding the state on its path toward a more “attainable” progressive utopia.
Brown is undoubtedly a Leftist — and maybe even a far Leftist — but he isn’t an insane Leftist. So the descent into anarchy for those of us living in California is not quite as fast as it would be with another governor.
The sad thing is that by current California Democrat standards Brown is probably considered a conservative Democrat.
He’s not interested in colonization. He’s just looking for a ride home.
Ha! Perfect.
What is really frightening to me is that these nonsense Bills made it all the way through the processes of the California Legislature and got on Brown’s desk to be signed.
What a nuthouse that Capitol must be. I don’t understand why anyone to the right of left-center would ever want to live in California.
Because it’s a beautiful state with a lot of great people. They’re just not the ones you hear about. Of course, I live in a conservative bubble. I get what you mean though. When traveling, if I’m asked where I’m from, I hesitate a little before saying California.
Heh, yeah, I get it. I live in Central Texas, and when people ask me if I live in Austin, I am very quick to tell them no.
There are a lot of beautiful states with lots of great people. You don’t have to live under Communist rule in them, too!
As I say every time I visit the state, “California might be going to hell in a handbasket, but it’s a hell of a handbasket.”