The wild west of San Diego politics

Lo and Behold!  Here I am opining on the farcical nature of California elections and Governor Newsom goes and makes the case for me. Two Fridays ago, Politico reported that Newsom was embarking on a “post-election ballot mobilization” in an effort to save Prop 1, his effort to address homelessness in California.  That maneuver entailed reaching out to Democratic voters …

There are several comments to my piece “Elections in California Are a Farce” that deserve a response: A common critique was that I am merely experiencing what progressive voters in some Red states experience, but in reverse, so stop my whining.  To this I disagree—at least in part—on several counts. For example, Texas is—in theory—still a competitive state.  In 2018, …

As another primary season wraps up, it is becoming ever more apparent that voting in California has become a form of playacting where we collectively pretend that The People participate in a legitimate system and thereby choose their rulers and get the laws they prefer. While it’s certainly true that The People, myself included, go through the motions of considering …

Below is an excerpt from “Fragments,” my book of essays available at J.S. Scifo on Substack | Substack.  This was written in February/March 2023. So what can save us from the obvious conclusion of my rantings, i.e., the near total collapse of a coherent, sane society.  People seek a plan.  A way forward.  Sadly, like Churchill, I have nothing to offer …

California has become world renowned for its epic failures.  And yet there are somehow never any repercussions, political or otherwise for these fiascos.  Or to quoteth myself in commenting on the same phenomenon within the broader context of American politics: “We are left with a state of affairs [in California] where no matter how burdensome and idiotic the regulation, no …

Below is an excerpt from “Fragments,” my book of essays available at J.S. Scifo on Substack | Substack.  This was written in January 2022. Well, the first celebration of the January 6 Insurrection has come and gone.  For as much as I love the holidays—the lights; the tinsel; the music; the sanctimonious political grandstanding; the histrionics; the vilification of one’s fellow …

Below is an excerpt from “Fragments,” my book of essays available at J.S. Scifo on Substack | Substack.  This was written in December 2022 and January-February 2023. These are dark times indeed.  From pot smoking to cross dressing, behaviors that would once have been considered aberrant have been normalized.  Perversity is so commonplace that the word has almost lost any …

Below is an excerpt from “Fragments,” my book of essays available at J.S. Scifo on Substack | Substack.  This was written in November 2022. For decades, political observers could rely on certain truisms, or maybe rules of thumb is the better term, to prognosticate likely political outcomes.  For example, that midterm elections favor Republicans because turnout is lower and Republicans …