Extremely Loud and Very Disruptive

The petition to recall California’s governor is disruptive at a time when the state is in peril.

Today, Donald Trump, outgoing US President, had a meltdown fueled by conspiracy theories and sheer narcissism, as he pressured the Georgia Secretary of State to find 11,000+ votes for him. Meanwhile, on January 6, a dozen US Senators plan to oppose the results of the election.

But that’s not what this post is about. However, I will return to this because it’s all related.

This past weekend, in a sleepy Bay Area suburb adjacent to mine, there was a petition-signing drive at Hobby Lobby to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom.

I was dumbfounded by this on multiple levels. I thought this whole thing had died down and was on the fringe; not at a local shopping plaza.

In a year of a pandemic we didn’t see coming, devastating economic impacts, raging and destructive wildfires and voter suppression efforts around the country during a national election, California stayed strong. And it stayed strong under the leadership of the current governor. Most recently, COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the state has gone relatively smoothly compared to other states.

Is the current governor perfect? Maybe not. But has he done anything to warrant a recall? Certainly not. The French Laundry lunch for his biggest donor (also attended by the head of the California Medical Association), may be worthy of an eye roll, but that’s about it.

In a nation of free and fair elections, California voters will have the opportunity to elect a new governor in 2022 if they believe they can do better than the current governor. But to try and recall a sitting governor for no particular reason other than political sharpshooting is disruptive in a time when our state is in peril. It is unpatriotic and a far cry from being a good citizen concerned about the community.

As is often the case with extremist efforts, there’s misfiring going on. Those frustrated about the economy and shelter-in-place regulations are missing the fact that it is in fact the Senate Republicans that sat on a bill to provide aid to workers and businesses alike. They are missing the fact that California had to go back to “shutting down” specific types of businesses because it was our own neighbors and community members who failed to comply with basic public health guidelines and we now see the virus rampant.

It’s likely that the petition-signing won’t go anywhere. But then again, this is what we thought of birtherism and other Alt Right conspiracies and ploys in recent years.

And so we come back to where this post started. Today, Donald Trump, outgoing US President, had a meltdown fueled by conspiracy theories and sheer narcissism, as he pressured the Georgia Secretary of State to find 11,000+ votes for him. Meanwhile, on January 6, a dozen US Senators plan to oppose the results of the election.

The lesson of the Trump years is that we cannot just turn the other way and hope the insanity will stop. Going forward, I plan to emulate President-Elect Joe Biden and remain respectful and positive. But I also believe that the more vocal we get, the more we can move our communities away from dangerous and unproductive activities, and perhaps even educate and influence some people while we are at it.