The California Mafia
“They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you, sooner or later, ’cause they own this fucking place. It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long.”
—George Carlin, 2005
The ruination of California fascinates me.
The slide from a booming economy into today’s run for the borders by the middle class reminds me of what happened to West Virginia in the 1980s, when I moved here. The steel mills in the north shut down. The coal mines faced labor trouble and federal regulations. Union Carbide folded in the aftermath of Bhopal. The 1980s were in the middle of 84 years of Democrat dominance in the Legislature. The state led the nation in population loss in the 1980s, both by volume and percent of population.
California in the 1980s was a dream world of low unemployment and a population explosion. While the nation’s population grew by 10% in that decade, California grew by 26% as it added 6 million residents.
West Virginia lost a seat in the House. California gained 7. The illegal alien share of its population remained under 2 million of its 29 million residents in 1990.
Flash forward to the 2020s. California now leads the nation in unemployment and outmigration. The Okies are heading back to Oklahoma. Jed Clampett’s kinfolk are telling him move away from here.
For the record, there are no pup tents on Rodeo Drive—yet.
Well, it is easy to see what happened. Democrats took over the legislature and did their darnedest to de-industrialize the state and kill societal norms. Democrats invited vagrants with billions to spend on the homeless and did the same for invaders from other countries. Of course, the money spent goes into dodgy NGO’s that are controlled by the friends and family of Democrat politicians. The corruption is widespread because no one dares call Democrats out.
Taxpayers spent $14.6 billion on the California High-Speed Rail project over the past 20 years. Zero miles of tracks have been laid. It is Boston’s Big Dig boondoggle but without actually doing any work.
Chicago Democrats get the reputation for corruption by stealing millions. California Democrats pocket billions. Even Somalis are impressed by the theft and taking notes.
The Winter Olympics got Lawyer Laura Powell thinking about the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. She tweeted:
Fun fact!
California taxpayers invested heavily in developing Squaw Valley as the host site for the 1960 Winter Olympics. After the Games ended, Governor Pat Brown (Governor Jerry Brown’s father) awarded operating rights on the resort facilities to William Newsom Sr. (Gavin Newsom’s grandfather) and his business partner, John Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi’s father-in-law). The business was very profitable for the Newsom family over the years, and Gavin Newsom himself operated a business at the former Olympic facility.
As George Carlin said—it’s a big club, and you ain’t in it!
I am sitting in front of my bay window watching the snow fall and melt on the streets of Poca, West Virginia. Surely, this cannot be true. Too easy.
I ran it by Grok, which said:
Yes, the post is true. Its core factual claims are well-documented in multiple independent sources, including journalistic outlets like CalMatters, the Orange County Register, the New Yorker, and historical records from the era. Here’s a breakdown of the key claims and the evidence:
California taxpayers funded heavy development of Squaw Valley (now Olympic Valley) for the 1960 Winter Olympics: This is standard history—the state invested significantly in infrastructure for the Games, which were held there.
After the Games, Governor Pat Brown (Jerry Brown’s father, in office 1959–1967) awarded a concession/operating rights to William Newsom Sr. (Gavin Newsom’s grandfather) and his business partner John Pelosi (Nancy Pelosi’s father-in-law): This is repeatedly confirmed. Pat Brown’s administration granted the concession to operate the state-owned resort facilities to William Newsom (Gavin’s grandfather) and John Pelosi shortly after the Olympics. Contemporary newspaper reports (e.g., Oakland Tribune, 1961) even covered inquiries into the “Squaw Valley Pact.” The deal was controversial at the time due to the families’ long-standing ties to Pat Brown (William Newsom Sr. had helped him win earlier elections).
The arrangement was profitable for the Newsom family over the years: The concession allowed operation of the profitable resort. It created tension (Newsom wanted more development like a convention center, but state parks officials resisted), leading to a reported rift. Pat Brown lost his 1966 re-election bid partly amid related scrutiny, and the Reagan administration later bought out the Newsom concession in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Gavin Newsom himself operated a business at the former Olympic facility: Accurate. Gavin co-founded the PlumpJack Group (with investor and family friend Gordon Getty). PlumpJack opened the PlumpJack Inn (and café/sport shop) in Olympic Valley/Squaw Valley in the mid-1990s, built on the site with deep family history there. His sister Hilary Newsom has publicly noted the longstanding family connection to the area.
Powell posted part of an article about Squaw Valley.
Carlin was right. It is a big club. The money the Pelosi Family received helped Nancy launch her political career and become House speaker because she used her wealth and fund-raising abilities to line up Democrat congressmen to vote for her.
Now she wants Gavin to be president. He claims he is dyslexic, but if he were, he would say he’s cixelsyd.
Another Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley the name was changed so as not to offend Indians. The resort’s owner renamed it Palisades Tahoe in 2021. Two years later, the Fresno County Commission changed the area’s name to Yokuts Valley.
Newsom may run for president but he is now too busy fleecing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. If the drug cartels were smart, they would use the event to launder money.
Maybe they are. They’re part of the Mexican club.
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UPDATE FROM FRIDAY’S NEWSLETTER: British Prime Dictator Keir Starmer wants to give the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, which is along Africa’s east coast. The islands are 1,300 miles from shore. It only matters to Americans because Diego Garcia houses a U.S. military base. Starmer won’t give America permission to use the island in a possible attack on Iran.
Enter Chagossian First Minister Misley Mandarin, who said, “For too long, decisions about Diego Garcia were made in distant capitals, without our voice, without our consent. That era is over.
“Diego Garcia is not just a military base. It is a pillar of stability in the Indian Ocean. It protects trade routes, deters aggression, and helps preserve global security. These are dangerous times and so I must be absolutely clear:
“If the United States decides that action is needed to defend international order, then as the elected Government of these islands, we give our permission for the use of Diego Garcia in defense of peace, secured through strength.”
Keir wanted Diego Garcia’s independence. Here it is.
Check and mate, mate.
Starmer is now free to arrest citizens who complain on Twitter about being molested and raped by local officials and Muslims.
I’m hoping he’s going to be their candidate.
With the likability of Hilary, the brains of AOC and the morals of Epstein - bring it on.
If they’re going to operate like a political mafia, they should expect to be treated like one. When billions vanish into boondoggles, contracts land in family circles, and public office becomes a generational asset pipeline, that’s not governance — that’s a racket. The problem isn’t ideology; it’s insulation. One-party dominance breeds impunity. Impunity breeds extraction. If taxpayers are funding endless rail fantasies and insider concessions while fleeing the state in record numbers, accountability isn’t optional — it’s overdue. Prosecutors investigate cartels. Auditors investigate fraud rings. Voters dismantle machines. If it walks like a mafia and governs like a syndicate, sunlight and subpoenas are the cure.