The President of our country has said that Canadians are “nasty people” who have been “taking advantage of the United States for a long time.” In 1999, proposing war with Canada was so preposterous that it was the farcical plot of the first South Park movie. Now it’s a Tuesday.
Whether or not the President has a grudge against hockey sticks and poutine is anyone’s guess. Perhaps when you fantasize you’re a fighter jet pilot, everything looks like a shooting target. Just in the past week, the administration has attempted to restrict mail-in voting, siphoned funding from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense, threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center, and suggested renaming New Mexico.
This short list doesn’t include the efforts already underway to stifle free speech, prosecute political opponents, terrorize immigrants, execute extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean, or wage war in Iran. And in case you missed it, the President has also set his sights on Santa Monica.
There was a federal hearing in our city last month to investigate the California Coastal Commission and potentially upend the federal law protecting our coastline. The accusation is that “environmental terrorism” is standing in the way of off-shore oil drilling and spaceport infrastructure. Yes, you read the last two words correctly. It’s the kind of brazen giveaway to Elon Musk’s SpaceX that even South Park would find too on the nose.
Amid the daily onslaught of criminality, corruption and cavalier cruelty, I’ve been questioning why I spend so much time writing about the errors of our City Council.
Is it useful to hold local leaders accountable for their actions when even their most outlandish actions can’t do a fraction of the damage emanating from the White House? And if the goal is to alert readers about threats to their safety and freedom, shouldn’t I be focused on the most dire ones?
Unlike our President, I believe our council members sought elected office to sincerely serve the public. Oh, they’re also there for ego gratification and political ambition. But I believe they have integrity, though I wouldn’t claim they always lead with it. Far too often, they parrot groupthink talking points and cave to political expediency. But it’s easy for me to say that.
I can take the high road and criticize them for rewarding union leaders and real estate developers with favorable policies, because I don’t have to plead for campaign donations in order to keep my job. And while some residents lambast the influence of these interest groups, others applaud it. That’s the messy reality of democracy.
However, I mentioned the Trump administration’s attack on the Coastal Commission and the desire to usurp its authority. What I didn’t mention is that six months prior, it was Santa Monica’s council members who were attempting to do the same thing by sponsoring legislation to override the Commission. It’s not the first time they’ve emulated the President’s tactics, though in this case he was emulating theirs.
They have purged commissioners appointed by former councils, and they have violated statutes. They’ve claimed good intentions and that may very well be the case, but it’s a slippery slope. The President has said the only limit on his power is his “own morality.” If we don’t agree with the “morality” he demonstrates, there’s very little we can do about it. But we have the ability to speak up when things are happening in our own backyard. More than that, we have the obligation.
A major problem in Washington is that the people with the power to push back aren’t doing so. Democracy requires checks and balances, and in a small city that’s a solemn responsibility for all of us.
Still, if we want decent people to go into politics, we need to treat those people with decency. We shouldn’t be accusing them of malicious motives every time we disagree with their actions. That’s how conspiracy theories are born, and we live at a time with far too many conspiracies.
It’s easier to believe someone is out to get us than to believe someone made a mistake, and part of the problem is people (and particularly politicians) don’t want to admit mistakes. People don’t want to admit to losing, whether it’s an argument or a Presidential race. So we have winners and we have victims. We don’t have a lot of looking in the mirror and taking responsibility for our actions. It’s easier to blame someone. And if we want a bogeyman, there’s always Canada.
Devan Sipher can be reached at Devan@smdp.com.