The 2024 election reveals an uncomfortable truth: The Golden State is irreparably divided | Opinion
California’s irreparable divide
“Trump’s star rises as California shifts to political center. ‘Even progressives have limits’,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 10)
The outcome of the 2024 Election reveals an uncomfortable truth: The Golden State is irreparably divided.
California, like myriad states in our beleaguered Union, has a cultural fault line between virulently incongruous ideologies. Urban, coastal areas overwhelmingly supported Vice President Kamala Harris, whereas President-elect Donald Trump painted rural, inland California red. This societal rift will haunt the state for decades to come.
California’s disparate regions are mired in a loveless marriage. It is the political equivalent of the 1989 film “War of the Roses,” wherein two bitter spouses continue sharing their marital residence while undergoing brutal divorce proceedings. Spoiler alert: The movie does not have a happy ending.
Thankfully, there is a solution: Coastal and inland California should amicably divorce. While liberals maintain the coast, conservatives could establish a new state or merge with a neighboring state. People would still benefit from mutual commerce while discarding a failed political union.
Benjamin Holmes
La Mesa
History repeats itself
“We have now viewed first-hand how fascism rises to power in our own backyard | Opinion,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 10)
Hitler started his hatred for Jews shortly after WWI. The Nazi movement took many years of hatred and lies before WWII fully broke out. My mother’s aunts and uncles were sent to Auschwitz by Mussolini in 1944 from the island of Rhodes because they were Jews. My grandfather emigrated to America in 1920 due to fears of the rhetoric spread by fascism.
Education is key to remembering what happened and how a possible repeat of a hateful period is planned for our future, ultimately threatening our democracy.
Rochelle Kirchner
Oceanside
Folsom rejects sales tax
“Folsom’s rejection of a sales tax measure is a stunning rebuke of its leadership elite | Opinion,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 8)
Folsom Mayor Mike Kozlowski recently told The Bee that the city’s council “support, while unanimous for the measure, was not vocal.” That is simply not true. The measure did not have unanimous support. We did vote to approve the ballot statement which was procedural, but we never took a vote to endorse or not endorse the measure in any capacity.
It was up to the voters, and the voters made their voice heard. We, the city council, need to prioritize the budget based on needs versus wants while having more accountability as to where we are expending money.
Anna K Rohrbough
Member, Folsom City Council
Selfish drivers
“A doting grandfather was the second man to die at this dangerous Sacramento intersection,” (sacbee.com, Nov. 11)
This intersection is controlled by stop signs. What more can the city possibly do? The problem is that, collectively, we have become grossly selfish. This selfishness is especially evident on our roadways: People drive like idiots because they want to get where they want to go.
The city can waste more money planning and studying and considering and implementing traffic calming measures, but at the end of day, selfish drivers will heedlessly speed and innocent lives will be lost.
Greg Foster
Sacramento