We are accustomed to criticizing liberal and "progressive" politicians when they screw up, which they do regularly. But once in a while, even a blind squirrel finds a nut, and California Governor Gavin Newsom illustrated that idiom on Thursday when, leveraging a recent Supreme Court decision, he ordered a cleanup of the homeless encampments that are plaguing the Golden State.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will order California state officials on Thursday to begin dismantling thousands of homeless encampments, according to members of his administration, the nation’s most sweeping response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave governments greater authority to remove homeless people from their streets.

Homeless encampments have vexed California, where housing costs are among the nation’s highest, more than any other state. An estimated 180,000 people were homeless last year in California, and most of them were unsheltered. Unlike New York City, most jurisdictions in California do not guarantee a right to housing.

Gavin Newsom's record as California's Governor has been mixed, at best; he has never seen a tax increase he wasn't in favor of, he favors economy-wrecking "green" energy policies, and he seems to have his eye firmly fixed on national office, neglecting California in the process.

See Related: Gavin Newsom's Infuriating Fundraising Email

But this time, he gets it right. You can view Governor Newsom's complete order here. That order states in part:

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1) Agencies and departments subject to my authority shall adopt policies, generally consistent with California Department of  transportation’s Maintenance Policy Directive 1001-R1, to address encampments on state property, including through partnerships with other state and local agencies, and shall prioritize efforts to address encampments consistent with such policy.

"Addressing" these encampments, as you look through the entire order, may be interpreted to mean, "Enough is enough — we aren't going to allow you to camp on the streets and in public parks any longer."

This new policy is based on a Supreme Court decision, "City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson et al."

See Related: Supreme Court Rules Homeless Do Not Have a Right to Camp on Public Property

While it remains to be seen how rigorously this will be enforced, it's a good first step. The homeless encampments that have, as the New York Times piece linked above aptly puts it, vexed California for years have to be addressed. There are not only criminal issues arising from these camps, with everything from retail theft to trespassing to drug dealing, but there are also serious public health issues involved. These encampments are vectors of typhus, tuberculosis, and bubonic plague, as well as norovirus, the various forms of hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and parasites.

There may have been a Supreme Court decision enabling this, but it's long overdue, and it's hard to credit the idea that the grave public health concerns didn't make this a mandatory reaction well before this. But at least now, it's happening, which begs the question:

Where will they put all the people in these encampments? Ay, that's the rub. Governor Newsom's order doesn't seem to have much to say about where the displaced people will be moved to; California likely doesn't have enough shelter space to house a little over 181,000 homeless people. 

The cynical among us may well think that many of the displaced will head to Oregon, where Portland also has a sizable homeless encampment problem.

This is a start. It's good to see Gavin Newsom, for once, engaging in a policy that makes a certain amount of sense. It will be interesting to see how many other blue-state governors follow suit.