LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard and I go back to his days at the Daily Pilot in 1996. He’s enjoyed a great journalistic career since those early days. We spoke for a half-hour last Wednesday, during the noon hour, a day before the Governor’s awkward press conference ordering the closing of Orange County’s beaches. We covered a broad area of issues and he uses some of my quotes at the conclusion of the LA Times piece, which is the Sunday edition’s lead article, top-of-the-fold.
Since the piece is getting published in several newspapers around the country, I just want to make one observation. The premise of the piece is that Orange Countians are definitely not lemmings. But, to infer that this is the case because of its conservative history is like watching a fish bite the hook.
Assuming that frustrated protesters are doing so for ideological reasons is too simple and shallow of an explanation and, consequently, would make it more interesting reading for the rest of the state and country. It seems like a natural ploy for the LA Times to exploit. But, it’s a formula, not scholarship.
What then, is the reason for protests at the State Capitol or in downtown LA? It infers that liberal business owners are blithely comfortable with watching their employees go on unemployment and not concerned that their cash reserves, including their retirement portfolios, are dissipating. That’s pure nonsense.
Everyone is concerned about the mismanagement of who is “essential” and who is not. Gov. Newsom has decimated California’s economy. It will take longer than the six years he may be in his $4 million Governor’s residence for it to recover.
Ideology? That may sell papers, if anyone still can afford to purchase them, as the Sunday LA Times is not cheap anymore.
The real answer is not that deep, either. The residents of Orange County have made the sacrifices and the numbers, compared to other counties, states (the OC has a population greater than 20 states), and nations, prove it.
To be kicked in the teeth by a Governor who should have instead forced LA County to open its beaches is the root cause of the frustration.
It’s the Governor . . . stupid. He incited the demonstrations.
This Governor should have started methodically and aggressively opening the economy weeks ago. This Governor wired $500 million to China for face masks that may never arrive (see MOORLACH UPDATE — Historical First Zoom Budget Hearing — April 17, 2020). I’ll stop there by observing that this Governor has given a whole new meaning to the term “crisis manager.”
The joys of journalism is that many reporters start with a premise and build their story around it. This piece seems to fall into Abraham Lincoln’s famous conclusion: “Son, you’ve got your facts absolutely right, but you’ve drawn a completely wrong conclusion.”