Newsom Uses ‘State of the State’ to Attack Republicans; Ignores Budget Woes

of The New York Times Observed:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose liberal state has for months been panned by Republicans as a hellish place for homelessness, crime and high taxes, blasted “conservatives and delusional California-bashing” and defended the “California way of life” in his annual State of the State address on Tuesday.

Instead of attending a joint session of the Legislature, Newsom The speech was pre-recorded And he posted on social media, sending a message to not only Californians but a national audience. This came two days before former President Donald Trump and President Biden are scheduled to debate in Atlanta, where Newsom was expected to appear as a spirited surrogate in the so-called spin room.

In remarks hinting at arguments Biden may touch on Thursday, Newsom presented California’s distinctively Democratic policies as “an antidote to the toxic populism of the right.”

His sample speech:

This year, we face another extraordinary moment in history for California, our nation and the world. We face a choice between a society that embraces our values ​​and a world darkened by division and discrimination. The economic prosperity, health, safety and freedoms we enjoy are under attack. Forces threaten the very foundations of California’s success: our pluralism, our innovative spirit and our diversity.

There is only one state in America with a dream: the California Dream. A dream built on opportunity, on pushing boundaries, and on celebrating diversity rather than merely “tolerating” it. That dream has put us at the forefront of the world. Our values ​​and way of life are an antidote to the toxic populism of the right and the fear and anxiety felt by so many today. People from all over the world look to California to see what is possible, how we can live, progress, and thrive together despite every conceivable difference.

But California life is under attack. To conservatives and delusional critics of California, their success depends on our failure. They want to impeach the very things that made us successful as a strategy to propel America toward a darker future. They do it in the name of “freedom” and “rights.” They want to roll back social progress, social justice, racial justice, economic justice, clean air, clean water, and basic fairness. They want to detach America from the principles of liberty and the rule of law, and in the process, throw our economy, and in many ways society as we know it, into disarray.

But California does not give up. Our success story is precisely because of our universality, our extraordinary diversity, and our pluralism in action. For generations, we have stood for progress — defending women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, protecting the environment, and expanding civil rights. We see this hard-won progress not as something separate from freedom and rights, but as the realization of freedom and rights.

Governor Newsom spoke about conservative threats to “democracy” but did not mention his administration’s court action to block a referendum that would have given Californians greater democratic power to block tax increases.