California Scheming: A Medley

            Item I:

Knowingly exposing others to HIV without their knowledge will no longer be a felony in the great state of California starting in 2018, due to a bill recently passed by the state’s heavily Democratic legislature which has now been signed by California’s Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. That’s right, the penalty for potentially causing a fellow human being to endure major medical complications for the rest of his or her life- or even to suffer an early death- has been reduced to a misdemeanor. This also includes the act of giving blood without informing the blood bank of one’s infection, reports the Los Angeles Times.

            So, go ahead and have at it, Golden Staters.

But you’ve gotta ask yourselves one question: “Do I feel lucky?”

Well, do ya’?

In related news, California lawmakers are rumored to be considering a different bill that would downgrade assault and battery, statutory rape- and certain forms of homicide not involving firearms- from felonies to misdemeanors. This bill, if passed, would also make jaywalking, riding a bicycle without an approved helmet, and failure to use other people’s preferred gender pronouns into felonies punishable by stout fines and lengthy jail sentences.  

Item II:

Apparently, I wasn’t kidding about the afore-mentioned misuse of gender pronouns. California health care workers who “willfully and repeatedly” decline to use a senior transgender patient's “preferred name or pronouns” could face punishments ranging from a fine to jail time under a bill recently signed into law by Governor Brown. The bill is ostensibly aimed at “protecting” transgender and other LGBT individuals in hospitals, retirement homes and assisted living facilities, by ensuring their “needs” are met, including letting them decide which gender-specific bathroom they wish to use. 

"It shall be unlawful for a long-term care facility or facility staff to take any of the following actions wholly or partially on the basis of a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status," the bill reads. Among those unlawful actions are “willfully and repeatedly” failing to use a transgender person’s “preferred name or pronouns” after he or she is “clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns.”

Call me a skeptic, but I don’t believe there are vast numbers of elderly transgendered folks in retirement homes and assisted-living communities…even in California. I have spent my fair share of time in these facilities and never had any resident upbraid me for improper pronoun usage. “Dammit, sonny, I told you, it’s not ‘he’, it’s ‘zir’! Now take me to the gender-neutral, HIV-welcoming bathroom!” Never happened. If assisted-living facilities, by their very nature, were teeming with throngs of transgendered residents, it would necessitate a new and enhanced definition of “chaos.”

 Item III:

California became the first "sanctuary state" for undocumented/illegal immigrants recently, when Governor Brown (there he is again, on a roll!) signed Senate Bill 54 (SB54) into “law.” This “landmark” legislation grants enhanced protections to people who are in the United States without permission, including those who have already committed crimes. This seems wise. I mean, what could be the downside? The bill, which goes into effect on January 1, 2018, also limits cooperation between local police forces and federal authorities in their attempts to track down “undocumented immigrants.” I thought cooperation was a good thing, libs? Oh, I get it, not between entities that exist to protect citizens. (I bet the law forbids the feds from checking transgendered bathrooms in assisted-living facilities and retirement homes).

There are nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants currently living in California, the majority of whom are from Mexico and Central America, but others came from the Middle East, North Africa, and places unknown. This is obviously a clear and present danger to national security, but, to progressive California politicians and Governor “Moonbeam,” this consideration pales in comparison with the opportunity to expand their voting base.

 Combine these breathtakingly incomprehensible acts with staggering housing costs, and a high rate of taxation, and it’s no wonder more and more Californians want to leave the Land of the Bilked and Runny.

California politicians, you are systematically destroying your own state’s ability to succeed.

Do the rest of the country a favor. Secede.