By Samuel Strait, Reporter at Large – August 17, 2021 It would seem that the Follies being attached to Gavin Newsom in this series could almost be endless as our dictator in charge has not fared well over the past three and a half years as Governor of the State of California. Crime has not been any kinder to the governor's policy decisions. Even before Newsom became governor of the State, his time as San Francisco's Mayor was fraught with difficulties, Crime, with a capital "C" was one such. To be fair there is a lot more to Governor Newsom's difficulty with reining in crime in California. To a certain degree the prevailing attitude among some Californians is that "justice simply is not fair", and as a consequence the policies of it's leadership have complied with that sentiment. The bad news is that as California has emptied prisons, reduced felonies to misdemeanors, established "no Bail" release, a sanctuary State, limits for prosecution on thefts over $950, the level of crime has begun to rise. Newsom, in his infinite wisdom seems to be a one man cheer leader for all of the above. It has been said, that it is not all that bad, by some Newsom allies in the press and the statistics seem to show only a modest rise in crime during Newsom's administration. The problem arises for Newsom when activities that were formerly serious crimes such as organized shoplifting in major retail venues that go without attention, or simple shop lifting of less than $950 without in many cases even so much as arrest; car jacking, burglary, and violent crime that appear nowhere in the tally of criminal activity. It is as if Newsom has determined that if you ignore crime as much as possible it will go away. Despite a modest rise in reported crime, those on the ground are signaling that it is much greater than reported. Law enforcement points to Propositions 47 and 57 as one of the many problems that face policing. As a result arrests in many jurisdictions are down significantly. Less reported crime looks good on paper, but does little to stem the flood. Newsom is not entirely the problem, but has done little to make any meaningful changes to stem the tide. Closing prisons may look good at election times, but as offenders are released into the public in large numbers it should not be much of a surprise when they continue to commit crimes. It has not been very difficult to point to Newsom's failures as governor in nearly every arena of the systematic breakdown of life in the Golden State. If Newsom could have restricted his attention to something that might actually work, the Golden State might become Golden again. Instead, Newsom along with Silicon Valley Billionaires, Hollywood's elite and Union sympathizers have poured millions of dollars into attacking his own citizens over their desire for better leadership. It is not as if this was born over the last few months. Dissatisfaction with Newsom's reign began almost at the outset. It has only grown since as he stumbled from problem to problem, no solutions in sight. If Newsom is fortunate enough to retain his seat, the likelihood of things becoming worse is a given. Newsom's retention of his office would encourage him to more lock downs and restrictions of the Covid variety almost immediately. Policies that have dogged California for the time Newsom has been in office will not only remain in place, but are likely to burden Californians with more chaos. Governance is an art form Newsom has yet to learn, feathering his own nest he knows well.