A slip of the tongue? Or is he that stupid?

We here at TPOL don’t really like The Donald. Trump has many, many faults. And like all POTUS, he is not truly an advocate of liberty, and presides over all kinds of really bad activities of the FedGov. Among which are actions in dealing with immigrants, especially border jumpers.

But it is kinda scary when we look at the major, or at least loudest and heard, opponents of The Donald.

One of those, of course, is the Governor of the People’s Republic of California. Gavin Newsom has many faults as well. And, we submit, his faults are much greater than those of The Donald.

Here is an amazing example. Read this quote from Mr. Newsom:

He [Donald Trump] is testing the boundaries by nationalizing the federal guard. Heck, his own great– Kristi Noem was just a year ago sitting there with newsmaker Sean Hannity saying it’s outrageous that Biden is considering nationalizing the guard in my great state. Kristi Noem, the same Kristi saying, what about state sovereignty and state rights? And where the hell is Hannity now? Where the hell is Kristi Noem? They’re out there just singing the siren songs of chaos, trying to sow chaos and putting our democracy at risk. This, these are acts of authoritarians. Period. Full stop.

Mediaite comments on this: Newsom was referring to a February 2024 interview Noem, now Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, did on Fox’s Hannity, in which she called then-President Joe Biden considering federalizing the National Guard a “direct attack on states’ rights.” Notably, Newsom and Hannity have had a friendly relationship in recent years, with Newsom debating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on his show.

My, oh, my. Where do we start?

First off (and Newsom knows better), it isn’t the “federal guard.” And it isn’t being “nationalized.” It is the California National Guard, or National Guard. And the correct term is “federalized.” That is when (usually but not necessarily with the State’s concurrence if not approval) the command over some or all of a State’s National Guard (its “organized militia”) is transferred from the State Adjutant General and the Governor to some branch of the US Department of Defense.

It is NOT the “federal guard,” though way back in 1903, the States basically (and voluntarily) sold their birthright (powers as sovereign nations) for a mess of beans (“free” federal money). Part of that Faustian bargain was agreeing that the FedGov could “nationalize” the State’s Guards for just about any reason. It could be said that way back then was when the National Guard was “federalized.” Just like highways and airports and welfare and everything else.

Yes, for good and bad (mostly bad), the States long, long ago gave up a big chunk of their sovereignty to the FedGov. Including the power (not the “right”) to have (organize, equip, pay for, command and control) their own independent military forces. In our opinion, that stinks. And having “State Guards” and unorganized militia does not reduce the odor.

We don’t know if that is really what Kristi Noem actually said this, or not. If she did, she was wrong. Kristi Noem was a far better governor than dear Gavin. But she was far from perfect. She makes lots of mistakes. Including now as DHS, starting with the fact that she should have been doing what the Secretary of Education is trying to do: eliminate the entire DHS organization.

As does Sean Hannity. He is too gung ho on many things that are statist and not supportive of liberty: either personal liberty or economic liberty. Or the power of States (within limits, we hasten to point out).

Next? From what we can see (with the excuse of all the fedgoons swarming LA right now rounding up charladies and handymen and gardeners (and, admittedly, a few rapists, thieves, child-abusers, and other scum), the chaos is not the fault of the FedGov. More and more it appears to be an organized effort to create chaos by a nasty coalition of Woke regressives and outright hardline Leninist and Maoist Communists and Tranzis. And not directly the “fault” of Newsom or that mayor. Anymore than they are to blame for the Pacific Palisades fire and hundreds of others in recent years.

However, it is clear that the Governor’s and Mayor’s role is that of instigators and enablers. To which we can add the entire Democratic membership (and a good many Republican members) of the California State Assembly and the US Congress. Is it not unreasonable to assume that they know their actions (over decades, not just recently) would cause chaos. And is it not reasonable, therefore to assume that this chaos was their goal?

Accepting (for the sake of argument only) that our “democracy” is at risk, who put it there? Again, is it not Newsom and his ilk that have put not just stable government, but our society and economy – especially that of California – in grave danger?

Let us conclude this off-the-cuff analysis by pointing out that once upon a time, professors taught (rightly) that there is a progressive decay in government. One shown time and again in history. Republics decay into democracy. And democracy decays into mob rule. Which in turn leads to the man on the white horse: a dictator who promotes and practices totalitarian tyranny. Of various flavors.

As we started out in this commentary, The Donald is not a good person. But these folks are worse. He seems to be, at least, trying to put off mob rule. Even though he is accused by them of being a tyrant and trying to be a “total tyrant.” (Is this projection on their part?)

Is that a bad thing for Trump to do? Maybe so, in part because the longer the current monster of governments exists, the longer it may be before we can regain at least some of our lost liberty. Again, a price we pay.

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