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ALPERN AT LARGE - Having lived through a few decades where the police and firefighters amongst us were respected, and critical thinking and a two-party system existed, it really is tough when so many of us no longer (know) which direction “UP” is anymore.
I mean…SOMEONE pulled the lever for Attorney General Gascón and ignoring the screaming pro-police advocates (like yours truly on CityWatch).
And I assure you that the “road diet” and the bicycle zealots (not activists, mind you, but wild-Rasputin-eyed zealots who think that cars are the work of the devil, and will destroy Planet Earth in the next 5-10 years) are more than happy to send us all to gridlock Hades just to prove a point.
Or maybe some folks want to taste that sweet, syrupy self-satisfying drink of “I’m great! I’m a civil rights and environmental hero!” that really doesn’t apply anymore in 2024 like it did 50-60 years ago.
Fast forward to today: the police are totally, totally AGAINST A.G. Gascón, and what’s left of the state’s GOP might even introduce a state proposition to undo the moronic State Proposition 47 that was coauthored by Gascón…
…the same Proposition 47, which when passed by the voters was a watershed moment in our state’s history, because throughout the state’s history we saw that when the police departments of our cities and counties screamed “NO!” then Californians would wake up and take heed.
In contrast, when Proposition 47 passed, the California electorate pretty much told the police to “piss off”.
Screw off.
Eff off. That sort of sentiment.
Of course, chaos ensued.
Whether it was and is because of modern-day hordes of store crashers, shoplifters, homeless encampments, and serial criminal offenders, our state has descended into a sort of “Mad Max” scenario of rampant crime and associated civilization swirling down the drain.
And aren’t you glad we voted OUT the Koch Brothers and their out-of-state money, but gladly embrace George Soros and his out-of-state money?
Because George Soros is much, much, MUCH better than the Koch Brothers.
Because left-wing billionaires are far nicer than right-wing billionaires, and have much, much, MUCH nicer agendas and would NEVER want to control us.
Because agenda-driven environmentalist nut jobs who promote electric vehicles at the expense of hybrids, and their enabling armies of science/physics dropouts who support their self-serving, ego-driven causes, are much, much, MUCH better for the economic survival of the middle class than those evil oil companies.
Because New Age “influencers” and uber-wealthy power-drunk folks who have endorsed Gaea/Mother Earth, Climate Change, modern-day Democratic Socialists, and “Spiritualism” as their new “God” or “Gods”…
…Are much, much, MUCH better than those awful Christians, grassroots leaders, and promoters of Reason and Critical Thinking.
So now we’re witnessing the police demand an end to Gascón’s reign of terror, and a City Council and Mayor who have the decency to follow and enforce the law…but the Police are proclaimed to be the Nazis, Fascists, Brown Shirts, and Bullies.
As well, we are now witnessing firefighters and other first-responders arguing against L.A. City Measure HLA because it’ll prevent them from accessing emergency situations…but THEY are proclaimed to be the Monsters who want destroy our environment and end the world as we know it.
Similarly, solar panels not being economically viable, and fraught with sustainability issues in the current setting we now promote and sell them?
Bah! Carbon-based energy is the work of Satan, and let’s not let Science and Economics get in the way.
Water pouring down from the sky and not having reservoirs to capture it and create new cities to the east of the coast that would allow inland and affordable housing and job centers?
Bah! Urban Infill, no matter how expensive it prevents affordable housing and quality of life, is always supposed to be` better than Suburban Sprawl.
More road diets promoted when it’s evident that commuters of all ages, all ethnicities, all residents regardless of immigration status, and all socioeconomic groups want to use their cars, or maybe Uber, or maybe buses, while cars and buses alike have their mobility destroyed with these road diets?
Bah! It’s the environment-climate-change-evil-oil-companies-Republicans-Right Wingers-and-other-related-talking-points that will still carry the day and dominate any discussion on these matters…
…Regardless of the miserable track record of those promoting Green theology and sucking the air out of the room for any who want to debate these topics like civil human beings.
The police, don’t cha’ know, are racist, and first-responders don’t care about our environment.
Today’s Left-lurching “woke” leaders, who probably would make JFK and Jimmy Carter look like right-wingers in comparison, are allowed and enabled to promote “open-mindedness”…
…so long as you stick with the opinions of those “woke” leaders who “own” the world of correct arguments…
…And don’t you dare defy those “open-minded thought leaders”!
Because “conservative” is just going plain backwards, don’t cha’ know, and the eras of when the middle class ran California, and affordable opportunities reigned supreme and ubiquitous throughout the Golden State, can’t ever be allowed to ever come back.
It’s election time, and therefore we’ll see if L.A. and California will continue to lose its collective mind with respect to electing D.A.’s who promote crime, promoting road diets that reduce mobility, or voting in homeless measures that make our homeless crisis worse.
Or maybe we’ll happily and joyfully discover that Angelenos and other Californians have NOT lost their collective mind.
Because otherwise we’ll inevitably and indefinitely live in a nightmare scenario of a dystopian chaos, courtesy of the Woke, unable to wake up, and who will never allow us to return to a new world of Reason and an associated Great Awakening.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
