As Goes California, So Goes...

As Trump turns the US from a beacon of hope for the world to a cesspool of disappointment, European leaders are turning to individual American states and cities -- those run (and rescued) by Democrats. That's pretty amazing. Giving up on a US president, looking to members of the "opposition" (i.e., the one that hasn't gone completely fking nuts) party for partnerships and sanity:

... Nearly a year into the Trump presidency, countries around the world are scrambling to adapt ... Now some nations are finding that even if they are frustrated by President Trump’s Washington, they can still prosper from robust relations with the California Republic and a constellation of like-minded U.S. cities ...

... The trip followed the California governor’s June decision to sign a joint statement with the German government on climate cooperation... Next September, Brown plans to host a global climate summit in San Francisco intended to support the same Paris climate agreement that Trump plans to exit.

Top officials who met with Brown said they were delighted to encounter a friendly American voice.

“The engagement against climate change must be global,” said European Parliament President Antonio Tajani ... “In the United States, there are several governors working in the right direction, even if the Trump government decided to change the line. What they are trying to do in the government of Mr. Brown is very interesting.”...

Can this be a sliver of light? Maybe. Maybe it'll result in progress and jobs and economic growth that even our most blinkered citizens of our most Foxified states might eventually recognize. But if the comments I get to my newspaper columns are any indication of how Trumpists respond to evidence, there ain't no hammer heavy enough to knock sense.

[Image source]