Santa Barbara Current : Common Sense

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The End of Decency

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:30:09 GMT

We Have Become a Nation of Slobs

Angry fellow human beings are saying things I never would have thought would be uttered so openly in public.

They’re admitting they have no problem with murder.

Apparently, it can be justified.

They’re declaring it’s okay to execute someone or something they don’t agree with. They brazenly condone assassination if it advances their cause. President Trump was nearly killed, and many were unhappy the shooter missed. Charlie Kirk was slain and they said it was about time.

How did we get here?

The murder of a white high school track star took a bizarre turn. A young black man admitted he did the stabbing. Yet people on the streets, family included, marched carrying signs saying he was innocent.

How does a mind work to rationalize and justify the truth and twist it so radically into something entirely different from fact? We know if it were a black-on-black stabbing, which happens every day by the hundreds, no one speaks of it. Had it been white on white, it probably wouldn’t have made the news. There is so much wrong with this irrational reaction when race is used to change reality.

There was a time when you had respect for your fellow man with something as simple as your appearance.

It’s not just the faces tatted up, and annoying nose rings, and…

…You can wear pajamas on an airplane.

I was ten when my parents put me on a plane to Germany to visit my grandparents. They dressed me in a nice light blue suit, with a tie. Today it’s sweatpants, ragged jeans, tank tops and flip flops. Everyone has headphones and air pods and stares at those damn phones full time ignoring those around them. No one looks at their fellow travelers. They all scramble to fill the overheads. The rudeness on planes and the fights is something you would never have seen thirty years ago. Now it’s common place.

Why?

What is altering mankind’s sense of common courtesy?

For reasons beyond my understanding, Democrats and leftists have made it their mission to defend killers and defund law enforcement. The left doesn’t want ICE or anyone doing their jobs of looking for the reported 300,000 missing children who were trafficked into America during Biden’s era. Democrats are dead set on going against Trump, even if their irrational logic gets children killed.

Girls of all ages were sexually assaulted and probably still are. Who has their back?

The left has shouted for years all women should be believed if they claim they’ve been assaulted in some way by a man. It’s always been up to the man to defend himself. It’s crazy to a see a so-called “oyster farmer” in Maine whose history is well documented as a rabid antisemite, a woman abuser, and quite possibly actively participating online with the underage, receive some 80% of the votes to move him a step closer to becoming a U.S. Senator!

Candidate Platner has a laundry list of things Democrats proclaimed to be against and yet, for the sake of gaining power, they monkey around; see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. He’s practically a self-proclaimed Nazi, but that power grab trumps it all.

If you’re a Democrat, being a Nazi is okay.

Gangs of “teens” are raising hell across the country. Fighting, killing, destroying property. All around. Our worse offense in the day was to toilet paper houses.

What the heck is this Lord of Flies thing all about?

I realize it might be tough to blame the parents because for the most part many are coming from single mom homes. But that still doesn’t justify the outrageous behavior. We need to get a handle on this growing chaos.

Over the years, many laws in blue states and cities have become non-existent. Criminals are feeling pretty good in their skin these days knowing if they get arrested, they don’t have to post bail and, in many cases, will be back on the prowl the next day. What do they have to worry about? The guy who killed the young Ukrainian girl, stabbing her in the neck, had been arrested fourteen times and he was still enjoying his freedom before slaughtering an innocent girl.

None of this makes sense.

California’s election was a farce. In Los Angeles four hundred homeless were registered in a shelter that only holds one hundred beds. I was discussing all this with my granddaughter and told her what needs to be done is cancel the election, clean up the roster, outlaw ballot harvesting and hold it again.

Why does the media – and the Democrat Party – cover for all the treachery?

You can wander naked on public streets and use sidewalks as your bathroom. Never, ever, would I have thought that in the United States of America something like this could happen. Turning our cities into literal toilets and drug camps. It doesn’t happen in the UK, in Europe, Singapore, and you could bet if you dropped your trousers in Abu Dhabi, you would never be seen again.

We need to stop the teens gone wild, set some boundaries and rules when traveling, put the phones down, and talk with strangers so we can become friends. Politicians are elected to represent all their constituents and to do so with integrity and honesty. We need to regain faith in our election process. Something that at one time set us apart from the rest of the world.

We must stop dancing around our ills, address them head on, allow law enforcement to do its job and make parents responsible for their kids.

Be human again.

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A 21st Century History 101 Class

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:30:34 GMT

“Okay students. Settle down. We have a lot to get through today.”

The college professor was an AI image on a 50-foot Tron. The classroom comprised images of the students attending on screens around the perfectly coifed brunette instructor dressed in a dark blue pant suit. An image of human perfection.

The “professor” continued, “Thank you all for signing up for this all-important recount of a time in America’s history where; to put it bluntly, the country had lost its mind for about ten years. Four years in particular.” The female image transitioned to a male and added, “I have been programmed to insert some bias and emotion in my class to further advance my points. What I’m about to communicate is well documented and many who lived during those dark days are still shaking their heads in disbelief even today.”

The male image paused and watched everyone lean in to listen.

“It was the year 2020. No one could have foreseen how so many diverse forces would collide simultaneously. It began with a global pandemic. I’m sure many of you are fully aware of COVID 19 and when it made its first appearance. It began in China and spread around the globe in a raging fury. The political argument to hide its true source suggested it came from a bat, a pangolin. Nearly all reputable health organizations refused to admit it leaked from a Chinese lab. A lab that the very person who had been given full power to decree American policy concerning the virus was also involved in was in pursuit of enhancing the effect of the virus to make it more dangerous.”

The AI was female again, walking back and forth in front of a simple oak desk, hands behind its back. Then stopped and stared straight ahead. Boring her deep blue eyes directly through her students. “Anyone who disputed the storyline was chastised, lost their jobs, cancelled, and black balled. Their lives threatened.”

“Anthony Fauci kept preaching it was the science and demanded everyone take an experimental vaccine and guaranteed it was perfectly safe. Many refused. Thousands subsequently did lose their jobs; including health care workers, military, first responders and those in multitudes of careers because it didn’t stop at the virus, it infected minds and removed all common sense.

A “New Weapon” Emerges

“Politicians, nearly all what they called ‘Democrats’ at the time, used the virus as a Machiavellian weapon. You were not allowed to worship in a church, and in many cases not even outside, but you could watch women disrobe in strip clubs. Small businesses had to close their doors with no means of financial support while large box stores remained open with hundreds of people walking around. Masks became mandatory everywhere and quickly became a political issue.

You were forced to maintain six feet of separation from each other no matter where you went.”

A number of gasps emanated from the students.

“Yes, according to Fauci’s science, staying six feet apart would protect you. I know, stupid, right? Schools were shut down, in some cases for nearly two years. Health clubs were shuttered but ‘Democrat’ politicians would sneak off on vacations or out to restaurants while everyone else became prisoners in their homes.”

The image morphed into two, a Hispanic male and black female both speaking in perfect unison.

America’s Cities In Flames

“If that wasn’t enough. A drug addict and small-time criminal was pulled over by police. When asked to step out of the car, the individual resisted arrest. That irresponsible action released a chain reaction of events that quite literally set the United States on fire. George Floyd was wrestled to the ground where he accidently died. The optics were not good and because President Barack Obama had reconstituted racism, a white police officer was charged with murder. Some in the black community along with anarchists, using the financial help of dark money, systematically burned down cities and murdered dozens. The chaos went on for months and became a license to attack anyone white. Even while eating in restaurants. A very biased media labeled the turmoil as “The summer of love.” The reverse racism was ignored.

“Democrat politicians made things worse by siding with the rioters and joined in taking a ‘knee’ for the cause. The unhinged infection spread into sports, television, and the media. And a new era labeled, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – DEI – cloaked the American landscape.

Pregnant Men, Children’s Testicles Removed, Parents in Jail

“Merit no longer held any value. The color of a person’s skin, gender, and sexual preference, became the new measurement.

“Children were having their genitals removed and you couldn’t inform the parents. Children were being mutilated. Parents were imprisoned because they merely wanted to retain their rightful authority over their children.”

The AI professor blended into a single Asian man. It stopped talking allowing the students to catch their breath and absorb what they had just been told.

“It didn’t stop there; it was propounded that men could have babies and that there existed a multitude of genders. We’ll go into those another time. No longer was it just male and female. In fact, men were allowed to compete against women in sports. Obliterating science that men by nature are physically stronger than women.”

The image blended back to the original brunette and displayed a very subtle, what might be considered a touch of emotion.

“Class, these are just some of the highlights that had occurred during a transitional period for America. Over the coming weeks of this course, I will go into more detail how some Americans were unable to function properly because of a vehement hatred for President Donald Trump. And the divide it created.

“Your assignment for next week is to research what impact the Biden administration had on the country when the southern American border became non-existent. Millions of people had been allowed to enter America, unimpeded. It cost taxpayers $150 billion a year to support all the illegal immigrants. A lot of money in those days. The subsequent attempt to send them back to their homes launched another abnormal period in American history.

“As an old saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

“See you all next week.”

The Tron went black. The faces around the screen appeared stunned.

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Crossing the Country From Solvang to Paducah

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 13:30:24 GMT

I had written in a previous column when, at eighteen, I had driven across the country in a VW bug with no heater in the middle of winter.

My wife and I recently completed a near full cross-country journey from Solvang to Paducah, Kentucky. This time in a full-size pickup with heater and AC. Camping in our RV trailer. You may ask why? I did too. My wife is an avid and excellent quilter and Paducah holds an annual massive quilt event.

I swore I would never drive a long trip like that again, but she wanted to give it a go. Nearly three weeks of road-tripping for a two-day visit seemed a lot. Am I complaining? Well kind of. It’s one thing when you’re 18, quite another when in your 70s.

And rather than fight the cold of winter this time, we had to dodge tornadoes. I’ll take my chances with an earthquake any day.

Always looking for the positive, I put together a montage of our encounters along the way. I call it “tidbits” because for the most part they were brief, but it opened windows to people across this great and vast land. And I’m only touching on a few of them.

KOA Comfort

When we pulled into our KOA campground in Albuquerque, we were exhausted. There was no place to eat within walking distance. I didn’t want to unhook the truck for our one-night stay. The campground suggested an Italian restaurant would deliver to our site. I called and the young man that answered was super kind and helpful. He said our meal would be delivered in sixty minutes. He arrived on the dot. He was very pleasant and cheerful. We talked for a bit, and I tipped him $25. You would have thought it was a thousand dollars. He kept thanking us and said it made his day.

Their food made our day, it was fantastic.

The 4-½ Pound Burger

Our next stop was in Amarillo, Texas. The campground shuttled us to their restaurant down the street. The Big Texan Steak House. Holy cow, and I mean cow. This place was the Disneyland of restaurants. The décor was right out of an old Western saloon but massive. And the steaks were enormous. If you could eat their 72-ounce steak in under one hour it was free. I took a photo of that thing.

It wasn’t normal.

Our waitress was a bit aloof, but I never let something like that go. I engaged her every time and asked where she was from. Before long she softened. She was from Las Vegas. Her parents moved to Texas, and she loved where she ended up.

I made a commitment to myself a few years ago to engage everyone I met. To leave a good impression, even if it was just a smile.

We departed as friends.

Thunderstorm Central

One of our first experiences with spring weather in the Midwest was at a campground outside Tulsa, Oklahoma. Upon checking in I was told to keep my ears open for security in case we had to get to the shelter. Shelter! She said they were expecting “some” weather. I sat outside before it got dark and things looked okay to me. Holy poop stain! It wasn’t an hour later the sky unleased rain like I’ve never seen. The wind blew so hard trees were laying sideways, and the trailer was rocking back and forth. Then the thunder and lightning arrived with a vengeance. I couldn’t sleep. I kept looking out the window waiting for security to make the call. There was enough rain that night alone to take care of California for five years. If California had a place to store it. Next morning, blue skies. Like nothing ever happened.

On Stage in Branson

Our next stop was Branson, Missouri where we slowed down for a couple days. I equate Branson to kind of like a mellow Midwest Las Vegas without the casinos. We attended a couple shows. One was a country comedy variety show. During intermission the actors made themselves available at the front of the stage. I engaged in conversation, as I always do. You can be in Montana, Florida or Missouri, the country is bursting with amazing people. During the second act I was called on stage to be roasted. The lead man told the audience we had driven out from California, and I must have lost a bet or something. When asked where I came from the second comedian looked at me and said he knew the place. As we were leaving the theater the comedian called out my name. He was from southern California and knew Solvang well. He and his wife used to always visit. We had an enjoyable conversation and departed as new friends.

Pulling Into Paducah

At our destination, Paducah, Kentucky, there was a BBQ guy set up next to our camp site. First night I went over and sat on the bench with him. For the next three days we grew to know each other. He was a well-known local BBQ chef and was good! I ate three nights in a row; pulled pork, ribs, brisket. His wife would join him and along with my wife, as well as other campers, would sit with them for hours.

I’m going to miss Mark and Nora.

A Hundred Miles From Nowhere

The most fearful and yet most wonderful experience occurred on one of the most desolate roads I’ve ever driven in America; highway 57 from Dodge City, Kansas to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I’ll admit I was stressed out every day filled with “What ifs?” Well, the What if happened. Somewhere on Mars, the trailer had a blowout. As far as you could see there was absolutely nothing. No buildings, no trees, no shrubs. Just dry dirt. The tire iron from my truck didn’t fit the trailer lugs. I was stranded. The few cars that drove by just kept on going. Then a pickup truck swung back around. Two gruff looking men, dressed in well-worn dirty overalls approached us. I went on high alert.

“Do you need any help?” They asked.

“All I can get.”

After assessing my predicament, they said they’ll be right back. And true to their word, some twenty minutes later they returned with a hydraulic jack and impact wrench. Five minutes later the spare was on. I pulled out cash; they said no. Pass it along.

If I never believed in angels before, Ben and Charles, father and son cattle ranchers, were truly angels. If it had not been for them, we could still be there. I’ve never felt more blessed and that lucky in my life.

Ben and Charles affirmed my belief that America is a great land with great people.

Moral of the Story

Love your country. It’s wonderful place to be a part of and is filled with wonderful people. I have sympathy for the marchers and America haters who need to remind themselves of just how good they have it. How good we all have it.

There’s so much to be thankful for and a lot of good people to be thankful with.

•••

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All Californians are Morons. Me Included.

Thu, 21 May 2026 13:31:00 GMT

On my recent journey across the country, I can firmly report California is viewed as one big nut case.

These common-sense states have something you will also never see in California: Trump stores. Retail stores filled with everything Trump, sweatshirts, hats, bobble heads, flags and more. Tons of things patriotic. And the stores are busy.

I told the store owner we had just traveled from California and her face lit up. She said, “Wait right there. I have something for you.” She returned with a red baseball cap that read, “Make California Great Again.” She handed it to me and said it was a gift. It was the sixth one she gave away that day. I said my home state can use all the help it can get.

When I left, I paid $8.00 a gallon for diesel. Three states over, diesel was in the low $4’s. The people I spoke with were complaining about $4.00 a gallon and I told them we would love to be paying that. We’ve been paying that and much more for years.

I encountered people who had never visited the loony state. They said they weren’t even interested. Peel away all the crazy environmentalists, the whacky woke, the progressive nut case leftists and one-state party rule that have plunged California on life support and it’s a very pretty place.

Sweet Land of Liberty

After driving for days when all you can see is well, nothing. No mountains, no hills and in many cases no trees, California is blessed with the largest trees on the planet, the highest mountain in the low forty-eight and the lowest point in the land. From beautiful beaches to magnificent mountains covered in lakes and pine trees. And yet people are fleeing what the first settlers thought to be paradise. And it can be again.

We have a slim chance to try and right the ship as they say. Two Republicans are holding their own to become governor. The problem is they make sense and say things that a are logical and offering great plans to work toward healing the open sores of California.

Democrats can’t get a handle on that.

The morons on the left will continue to vote for rinse and repeat out of hatred while we morons with common sense have always let them.

Can a Republican governor go head-to-head with liberal legislators who are determined to keep defecating in their backyard? We saw what happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was stripped of his manhood trying to go against the liberal machine. Eventually he became one of them and now identifies as a eunuch.

Maybe, just maybe, a guy like Steve Hilton or Sheriff Chad Bianco can make the dramatic changes that need to be done to end the insane gas taxes and the squandering of billions of dollars on the homeless industrial complex. Perhaps one of them can start up oil production and allow the state to become self-sufficient and powerful again.

In other words, Make California Great Again.

Of Thee I Sing

We have the resources, and we have good bones. Democrats have always claimed to be there for the little people. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Their policies are decimating the poor. I can afford to pay extra for gas. It’s another story for those who work at McDonald’s or myriad other lower paying jobs. Even a fireman friend who lives in Orcutt but works in Santa Barbara is now paying $80 to fill his truck every time to drive to work. It’s not a Trump problem; it’s a moronic California problem. All the taxes imposed on fuel have done squat. Our roads should be like glass, instead it’s a game of dodging potholes. Not all roads in the country are perfect but certainly much better overall and they’re not reaming the taxpayers an extra $2.00 a gallon to line someone’s pockets with false promises of saving the planet.

You would think California leading the country with the highest fuel costs would be an eye opener for the cultist climate-clouded left, but no. Trump used federal authority to allow offshore oil drilling again and surprise, surprise, the hippies are suing Sable to stop from helping Californians. Their mind-numbing obsession against dinosaur goo causes their brains to hemorrhage. They put their own lunacy ahead of the populace.

I apologized to people east of us before I answered them when asked where I was from (tongue in cheek). Some of the Californians who have fled the crazy poop coop were infected with wokeness and TDS and feel the need to contaminate their new communities. You would think their new neighbors would have none of it, and many places don’t, but then look at Texas. A state that had been blood red since forever has been infected with liberalitis and is swinging in the wrong direction.

Morons, and I mean that in the kindest way.

The thing is the entire country is filled with morons. Again, I’m not excluding myself.

Land Where Our Fathers Died

We’re celebrating 250 years by electing socialists and communists across this great land.

What the heck are we doing?

The men behind writing the Constitution – love them or hate them – were super smart and covered most of the bases. I don’t believe that back in 1776, Jefferson, Hancock, or old Ben Franklin thought there would be politicians determined to undermine everything they tried to protect, that the Constitution could be infected with political smallpox.

We morons better get our act together and stop the crazies from destroying what makes us the greatest country on the planet.

If the lunatics gain control of the House, and God forbid, the Senate, the wheels on this bus are going to go round and round in reverse.

The Twilight Zone Revisited

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:31:36 GMT

Suffering Through the Biden Regime

The Twilight Zone (those old enough to remember) had a famous opening to the show. Rod Serling, the host, would say in his deep mysterious tone, (there were variances of the opening) “You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imaginat…

Time Again To Pay Your “Fair” Share

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:31:36 GMT

I was trying to hold back my gag reflexes as I was writing checks to the government. Giving them my money in the form of taxes. Why am I even still paying them?

The story of Zorro helping the oppressed in early California, or Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor were both based upon the peasants, us, paying too much tax. Something famili…

King of the Jews

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:30:41 GMT

Long Live the King

I’m wondering when King Charles visits the Donald at the White House, will all the used signs be reconstituted and marchers gather yet again to protest “no kings?” Will the protestors march outside Christian places of worship on Easter as Christians celebrate the rising of the King of the Jews?

In some respects, we all live in our own b…

An Early Celebration of the Real Earth Day

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 13:31:39 GMT

Santa Barbara lays claim to being the birthplace of Earth Day. Just a heads up: every day is Earth Day. The “earth-savers” love nothing more than to put on a display and show how they care more than anyone else about the world upon which we all walk.

I think old SB has perhaps the largest concentration of wannabe environmentalists clustered in one place. Though there are certainly other coastal cities that would take exception. Santa Cruz could be one.

Recently, the same enviro gang re-emerged to exhibit their distaste for, guess who, Donald Trump, for reopening oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara and moving the stuff through the evil pipeline. I don’t know where they find their toys, but this group created a black tube depicting an oil pipeline inscribed with all the usual platitudes.

What I would like to know is how many filled up their cars to drive to the beach to protest? And, if they had electric cars, I’d like to know how using coal plants in Utah to charge those cars makes it okay. And before they left their houses, they charged their phones, turned off the lights and the coffee pot. After their procession through the sand, perhaps they converged on a restaurant that used natural gas to fire the stoves and ovens, electricity to keep the AC running so they could cool down from all the excitement.

Back home they flipped on the lights, turned on their own AC if they have it (t’s been hot; climate change, you know), and sat down to watch the local news, beaming with pride showing the public how much they care about the environment.

The truth is none of those marching could go a couple days without power. Wind wouldn’t do squat and solar is great during a sunny day, but it won’t put gas in the car or charge your EV enough to drive to another No Kings march.

It’s well known by now, but bears repeating. These self-absorbed environmentally concerned individuals close their eyes to the reality that all their luxuries are provided courtesy of filthy oil-filled tankers waddling across the oceans. The recovery processes in the country where the oil comes from is, let’s just say, not as Earth-friendly as it would be if it were drilled in, say, California. But then, the enviros couldn’t chest thump about what a clean and virtuous state California is.

Iran isn’t blowing up windmills. The world will come to a crawl if dinosaur sludge stops flowing. Meanwhile, California continues with its stupid-is-as-stupid-does nonsense suing the Trump administration yet again. California liberals are determined to remain morons just to keep things as expensive as possible.

While the rest of the country is panicking that fuel prices are getting up to $4 a gallon (some states were bragging about below $2), Californians wished for years it was down to four dollars.

I want to see the Earth Day crowd go to rallies on donkeys and pick up the polluting poop along the way. Even little Greta Thunberg has moved on from climate change to “Free Palestine” to Serbian corruption protests.

It’s whatever the flavor of the month is that gets under the skin of activists to keep finding paint and cardboard to whip up more signs.

For the moment the dust has settled a bit over ICE, but there remain strong embers ready to explode into flames as soon as the next round of exporting criminals’ fires back up.

All these people are on the wrong side of common sense.

The left continues digging their Birkenstocks in the sand demanding it’s their way or no way. The result? The poor must suffer on their behalf by way of sky-high fuel costs, exorbitant rents, and trying to create extremely costly energy sources from out of thin the air.

I’m not against new forms of energy to keep Mother Earth healthy. I just think there needs to be a level of honesty and a pause in the hypocrisy for all the “causes.” I ask myself, why don’t we see these silly displays in Nebraska, Missouri, or Arkansas?

The answer is simple; most people work for a living. Away from the coasts live the Americans who keep America’s heart beating strong. They don’t have time for silliness.

They’re the ones who put the steak or hamburger on your plate. Or if you’re a vegan, the corn and the grain used to make bread or granola bars. They provide the milk for your cereal.

Those are the real environmentalists. They nurture and take care of the land. Their lives and livelihoods depend on it. For them, Earth Day truly is every day. They’re not marching against the oil that keeps their tractors running, or the fertilizer required to make the plants grow. They don’t look for accolades or a “Thank You” for doing their part to protect the planet. Because it goes without saying. They’re just doing their job. They get up in the morning, put their head down and get to work.

I can only venture a guess when they settle down at night to catch a little news and see a bunch of people screaming about this or that they shake their heads. Probably grateful they don’t have to put up with such irresponsible behavior.

They’re exhausted and need rest to do it all over again the next day.

The self-appointed Earth watchers are all the same actors rotating roles in the same movie.

Time to change the script.

https://secure.anedot.com/bob-smith-for-congress/timeforchange

Different Worlds, Same Country

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:31:09 GMT

I recently flew to Bozeman, Montana to visit my grandson. It was 80 degrees when we left Solvang and 20 degrees up there. For a couple days winds reached over 90 mph. However, weather is not the only difference.

My first exposure to Montana was 55 years ago. I was eighteen. A friend and I bought a used VW bug for $400. It had no heater. We drove across the country to Washington, DC, in January! We didn’t pay attention to things like weather. We were kids. We encountered one of the worst ice storms in years.

We had to keep two tires off the edge of the highway so we could maintain some traction and wouldn’t slide off the road. Semi-trucks would fly by and splash slush on our tiny windshield. The miniature wiper blades barely kept it clean enough to see where we were going. We were wrapped in blankets nearly freezing to death. Our AM radio picked up nothing. We had no such thing as a cell phone or GPS.

We had a map.

We also had little money and no credit cards. We saw signs along the road where farmers and homeowners rented garages and sheds for $2.00 a night. That was luxury, sleeping with the mice. Even worse, we wanted to enjoy a beer (yes, we were only 18) after our harrowing day on the open road and discovered there were places that were called dry counties.

It was devastating.

To this day I’m still amazed we managed to pull it off and survive.

We spent six months in the District of Columbia where we studied to become dental technicians. We finally had enough of the foreign land of the east.

Right Back Where We Started From

So once again these two stupid surfer kids headed back to California taking the northern route this time. This put us square in the middle of a late massive blizzard in Montana. The landscape looked like huge piles of marshmallows. And of course, Murphy’s law arrived. The Bug hit a rut and the front axle broke. I can’t recall how we managed to get to a small town with one sketchy hotel, a church, a coffee shop and a bar. We had to wait four days for the roads to open back up and get the part to fix the VW. During our stay we went back and forth from the hotel room to the bar. We discovered Lone Star beer. I know, it’s a Texas beer, but at least it wasn’t a dry county.

Once back on the road we made a beeline for Washington state to visit my buddy’s old girlfriend who ended up shunning him. We said screw it and drove eighteen hours straight back to Santa Barbara.

One thing for certain, Montana is not California. Even though Bozeman is now being nicknamed Bozeafornia.

It was quite a treat in a Walmart to see a man open-carrying a handgun on his hip while checking out with his young daughter in the cart. No one gives it a second thought or bothers paying any attention to such a thing. And you won’t be pulling any crap on the guy either. And that’s as it should be. It isn’t the dads, the farmers, the honest folks who do the killing. And it isn’t a gun that comes to life to do the shooting. It’s crazy people who over the years liberals have felt sorry for and either don’t send to jail or let them out of prison to rape and kill again.

In Montana you can get a permanent plate for vehicles over 11 years old. No more registering again, ever. California not only charges a fortune for registration, but we keep paying more every year. Compounded further because we pay even more for our cars to get smog checked on top of it all.

Another money-making joke.

When we went shopping or out to dinner, I kept noting things were cheaper. No sales tax. There isn’t a tax a California Democrat hasn’t created to squeeze the people for more money. They keep coming up with taxes on top of taxes and yet they still don’t have enough and can’t balance a budget. Fraud numbers are running over $48 billion. and I bet its tons more. Expose these thieves, Nick Shirley.

Our state won’t do it.

Opening Up the Pipeline

You can bet the Democrats are loving the Iranian conflict because it gives Newsom and company cover to raise gas prices even higher. They’ll never take responsibility for their idiocy and ineptness. It will also increase the state’s tax coffers giving the Democrats even more money to piss away. Making life that much more difficult in a state with good weather but corrupt, incompetent politicians.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for the state. Trump flexed his presidential muscles and ordered offshore drilling and oil delivery to resume off the Santa Barbara coast. Of course, the enviros are having a conniption fit; the sky is falling. The downside is that it bails out Newsom where he can have it both ways. Get the much-needed oil production he knows the state requires while at the same time fight it and look like an oily hero to the hippies.

I almost feel sorry for Montana and other states getting overrun. I spoke with an older woman waitressing. She said she had to work again, earning entry level wages, because things had gotten so expensive. Others said the same thing.

Maybe it’s time for states like Montana to put up a border wall and keep out the riff raff. Neighboring Idaho has been a lost cause for years.

The Moral of the Story

California is a beautiful place. It’s the people who have been running it who screwed it up.

Something must change.