When California Elects a Right-Wing Unconstitutional Governor

By Larry Elder

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who faces no real opposition for reelection in November, is on a rampage.
       
The most recent unconstitutional legislation he signed includes an anti-First Amendment law requiring social media platforms "to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms," according to The Hill.
       
Newsom issued a statement: "California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country. Californians deserve to know how these platforms are impacting our public discourse."
       
Would this "hate and disinformation" pertain to Democrats like former Vice President Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams, former President Jimmy Carter and Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, all of whom have questioned the legitimacy of elections? Lost by  Democrats?
       
Newsom also signed anti-14th Amendment legislation that mandates publicly held companies headquartered in California include at least one member from "an underrepresented community," defined as "an individual who self-identifies as black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender."
       
Someday California may elect an equally unconstitutional conservative governor presiding over an unconstitutional conservative legislature. Consider the bills that such a governor could sign:
       
To address concerns about "weaponized" social media, Twitter accounts, Facebook and Instagram must be 50% conservative.
       
A 2006 study published in Econ Journal Watch found that liberal college professors outnumber conservative professors 12 to one, with liberal history professors outnumbering conservative professors 33.5 to 1. Another study found that virtually all the political donations made by California professors go to Democrats and left-wing groups. At UCLA, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Southern California, half of the professors' contributions in 2019-2020 went to five left-wing organizations: ActBlue, Biden for President, Biden Victory Fund, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And of the 2022 commencement speakers at the nation's top 100 universities, according to a study by the Young Americans for Freedom, only three were conservative.
       
So, how about a bill mandating that colleges hire liberal and conservative professors in an equal amount; a law mandating that professors split their donations evenly between left-wing political organizations and politicians and conservative political organizations and politicians; and that college commencement speakers be divided equally between liberals and conservatives? Also, 50% of public-school teachers, K-12, must be conservative.
       
A report from The Federalist found that Democratic White House press corps reporters outnumbered Republican reporters 12 to 1. The then-New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet admitted, "I think the Left, we don't -- I'm not 'we,' I'm a journalist -- but the Left as a rule does not want to hear thoughtful disagreement." And the Los Angeles Times last endorsed a Republican for president 50 years ago.
       
So, let's have a bill mandating that California newspapers hire an equal number of conservative reporters, require an equal number of conservative and liberal members of their editorial boards and alternate between endorsing a Republican and a Democrat for president.
       
Let's turn to Hollywood. Movies frequently feature conservatives and greedy capitalists as villains. So, we need a "good guy/bad guy law" that mandates Hollywood heroes and villains be equally divided between liberal and conservative, and equally divided between capitalist villains and Marxist/collectivist/socialist bad guys. Villains may be no more than 50% conservative. And, of course, hero characters in Hollywood movies must be 50% conservative/Republican.
       
These are but a few ideas that await the coming of California's right-wing governor and a conservative supermajority in the state legislature.
       
[Larry Elder is a best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an "Elderado," visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com].
COPYRIGHT 2022 LAURENCE A. ELDER
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM