I agree with a great deal of his conservative politics, and I share his frustration with the Republican National Congressional Committee missing out on nine opportunities for unseating incumbent Democrats in swing districts. They also could have helped Paul Chabot keep CD-31 in Republican hands, but their Young Guns program, in my opinion, is too restrictive.
In a more recent piece, he commented that the California legislature has rolled out the welcome mat for illegal immigrants.
I had written the same a few months prior: Governor Brown's Unwelcome Welcome Mat.
After reading his piece, where he described the rollout of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, I wrote:
 |
| Jon Fleischman |
I agree with you fully that Governor Jerry Brown has already rolled out the red carpet for illegal immigration.
I see all the elements of subsidizing this lawless behavior, too.
My question:
What do you want to do about it? What can we do about it?
I think that we need to emphasize the public safety issues which are emerging because of this lack of border security and integrity.
I wrote this letter to the Daily Breeze in Torrance, CA, published today:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/20141127/officials-need-to-prove-asia-trip-increased-trade-letters
We need to start an initiative just like Oregon - let the voters (legal residents!) decide whether we want unsafe streets and strained public services.
Coincidentally enough, another of my Letters to the Editor was printed that same day, where I had criticized President Obama's childish unilateral action on immigration. If deep blue Oregon would reject driver's licenses for illegal immigrants, why not California?
Jon's response was not what I expected:
We may just need to move. Public opinion isn't with us here. Our state is too blue.
"Public opinion is not with us here." Yet isn't that the point of blogs like Breitbart California, Hot Air, and Orange County Register?
To me, the press is all about inciting not just discussion but action to change the corrupt manner of our leaders, to hold them accountable, and to inform the public:
"A newspaper is not just for reporting the news, it's to get people mad enough
to do something about it." -- Mark Twain
I then asked Fleischman:
You think that California is a lost cause at this point?
Do you feel that Breitbart CA has been unable to shift the narrative?
His response was less pessimistic:
Uphill. And changing the culture is a much bigger job than one website can accomplish. But we must press forward.
True: changing the culture takes time. Writing posts on a website is not enough, in itself.
But it is a start.
I shared with him my ideas for forming consensus among the different conservatives in the California Republican Party. How far this investment of time and writing will go is anyone's guess.
Writing has permitted me to contact different political activists and strategists in the state, along with learning from many people's mistakes.
Still, if party leaders in the Golden State refuse to learn the lessons that playing small is like not playing at all; staying non-committal on issues means no one will commit to vote for you; and refusing to unite otherwise distinct elements means choosing to lose, then the battle will go from uphill to free-fall, and moving away will be the last viable option.
Local successes in my assembly district (AD-66), as well as US Senate races in Colorado, Iowa, and throughout the South suggest that proper coordination of a strong, informative media, with engaged political activism, can be very effective.
It's time for the New Media not just to inform people, and get them connected, but to get readers mad enough to do something about the problems they see in this country, and convince them that they can do something about it!
No comments:
Post a Comment