Playing With The Numbers – The Hugh Hewitt Show

Numbers are not supposed to lie.  Lord Kelvin once said, “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarely, in your thoughts advanced to the stage of science.”  But then Lord Kelvin never met a modern day Democrat.

Yesterday’s show opened with the host and John Campbell discussing the California elections.  Early returns show Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt, both Republicans advancing to the run offs in the fall.  Campbell was optimistic, but the host was not citing how much counting remains.  I thought the host was a bit of a “Debbie Downer” until I checked on things this morning.  In the LA mayoral race only 62% of the vote is counted and in the gubernatorial race only 56% – those percentages have barely moved since yesterday morning meaning there is lots of room to maneuver.  The picture; however, gets much bleaker when you look at just how Democrats treat numbers and at how things operate in the formerly Golden State.

Consider this story – In Oregon the governor has been bragging about the uptick in high school graduation rates.  What she fails to note; however, is that since covid there are no graduation standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  Her numbers may be correct but they are meaningless,  Literacy rates have dropped, significantly.  It would seem that for a Democrat a number is simply an instrument of propaganda, not a measure of truth as Lord Kelvin tho0ught it to be.

But let’s assume for the moment that John Campbell is correct and Dems cannot fudge the voting numbers sufficiently to change the current projected outcome. The host asked Campbell that if elected could Pratt or Hilton truly change things.  Campbell responded that they could be impactful and perhaps arrest the decline, but that it is unlikely they could actually change the downward course of the state.  When I heard that I though Campbell was wearing his rosy-tinted shades for sure.  Over this past weekend, this story appeared:

Earlier this month, in a letter to his cabinet secretaries, Newsom advised state agencies to prepare for employees to work primarily in person come July 1. They’ve been working from home (or in heavy hybrid mode) for more than six years….

The California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) earlier this week fired off “exhaustion” letters to over 100 state agencies, claiming that forcing 90,000+ state workers to commute four days a week would contribute to the global warming crisis….

Baseline Environmental Consulting, which conducted the study, suggests that the looming return-to-office policy “runs counter to the state’s effort to reduce transportation-sector emissions,” outlined in California’s comprehensive roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality.

If that is how the state bureaucracy is treating dyed-in-the-wool Democrat (even if he is a windsock when it comes to issues) Gavin Newsom, soon to be former Emperor, er Governor, how do you think they would deal with a Republican in the Governor’s Office?  The irony of Newsom getting hoisted up on his own policy is rich and pleasant to watch.  But the story makes plain just how hostile and ugly the apparatus of government would be to anyone that wanted even a minor course correction in the leftward slant and resulting decline of the formerly Golden State.

Poor Lord Kelvin – he had no clue just how badly Democrats could mangle his precious numbers.  They can use prestidigitation to change them on a whim and they have turned their meaning into meaninglessness.  I do not know John Campbell well, but I know him well enough to know that when California crushes his optimism, he’ll be fine.  But California, well, I shall mourn California for the rest of my life.