It Turns Out that California���s ���Resistance��� to Trump is Not Going All that Well
There has been a lot of news since the election about those American communities - including whole states - that have felt the need to ���resist��� Trump and his agenda. It���s probably fair to say that the most vocal anti-Trump community in the U.S. has been the entire state of California.
In fact, what makes the anti-Trump noise coming out of the Golden State so noteworthy is how much of it is made by elected officials there.
So how is the anti-Trump resistance movement actually going in California? As it turns out, not so well.
According to CALmatters, a nonprofit ���journalism venture��� based in Sacramento, despite all the supposed vigor with which the state is pursuing its effort to serve as an obstacle to the Trump administration, little in the way of real resistance is coming to pass there.
Here is what Laurel Rosenhall of CALmatters has to say about it:
���Yet with their opportunity to pass bills for the year coming to a close on Friday, California Democrats have a mixed record when it comes to turning their anti-Trump talk into action. A high-profile sanctuary bill meant to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation was significantly scaled back this week. A proposal to make it harder for the feds to build a wall on the California-Mexico border has stalled. An attempt to provide state-run health care for all Californians���intensely demanded by progressive activists���was put on hold. And approval of a bill meant to preserve tough environmental standards in California even if the federal government weakens protections nationwide looks iffy as it awaits action in the Assembly.���
So, what does this mean? That many Californians are closet Trump fans?
While that might be true, that���s not really what���s going on here. Instead, it appears what���s happening is that when the camera lights are turned off and the microphones depart, undeniable reality must take over.
For example, despite all the bluster from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) about becoming a ���sanctuary��� transit service, that idea disappeared into thin air after the BART board realized President Trump might indeed cut off the federal funding essential to BART���s operation.
Also, despite the heroically defiant tone with which California Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon introduced a bill to make California a ���sanctuary state,��� that legislation had its teeth pulled by Gov. Jerry Brown, who had no intention of signing a bill that was pro-illegal immigrant to a degree considered obscene by even many Democrats.
#Resist in California? Well, maybe a little. But that���s about it.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor at Large
