Kerby Anderson

The English language is changing rapidly because progressives have been giving new definitions to words and phrases. Apparently, we can’t even define what a woman is, what a recession is, or what free speech entails. The latest redefinition is the word “freedom,” courtesy of California Governor Gavin Newsom.

As part of what may be a run-up to a presidential bid, the governor began an ad campaign in Florida boasting that California is America’s true “free state.” Most of us would think that a free state would be one with lower taxes and less government intrusion, but that is not what the governor suggests makes a “free state.”

Victor Davis Hanson grew up in California, went to college and graduate school in California, and lives there to this day. That is why he wrote about “Gavin Newson’s Weird Idea of Freedom.”

He reminds us that California has the most burdensome regulations and tax rates in the country. “California’s once-vaunted freeway system is near the bottom of all state comparisons. California’s Highway 99, which runs the length of the Central Valley, is one of the deadliest roads in America based on miles driven.”

Half of the nation’s homeless population are found in that state’s major cities. A third of all the nation’s welfare recipients can be found there. A fifth of the resident population lives below the poverty line. Test scores for the public schools in California are consistently in the bottom ten states.

San Francisco has the highest per capita property crime rate in the country. No wonder the district attorney in the city was recalled by the voters. The district attorney for Los Angeles will likely be recalled as well.

The governor may believe his state is a “free state” but hundreds of thousands of Californians have left the state for truly free states in the rest of the country.