How many times have we seen this particular scenario? A group of whackos does something silly or egregious and folks on the opposite political team make it appear as if these few people represent the majority of the group. This is what occurred after the news broke about some individuals who vandalized an LGBTQ+ flag that belonged to an elementary school in Los Angeles.

An investigation is reportedly underway after an LGBTQ+ flag placed in a plant pot outside a classroom at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood was set on fire and destroyed. The incident is being treated as a possible hate crime by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The school has been the center of controversy due to objections from a small group of parents regarding an upcoming Pride Day assembly, where children are scheduled to be taught about LGBTQ+ identities during a book reading. The parents who oppose the event have expressed their concerns on social media, distributed flyers, and plan to be present at the assembly to hand out more flyers and encourage parents to keep their children at home.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his hair gel tweeted about the incident, waxing alarmist over a supposed “full-throated purge effort” by the far-right that is reminiscent of past oppression. He condemned the burning of flags and banning of books, stating that this pattern of hate and intolerance is occurring nationwide. In a tweet, Newsom bloviated:

Let’s take a moment to talk about this.

There is a full-throated purge effort going on here by the far-right that we have not seen for decades.

They are on a boycott binge and cancel crusade, trying to eliminate the existence of minority communities.

Burning Flags. Banning Books. We have seen this before.

And it’s happening everywhere, all across the country.

Woke has become just another a dog whistle.

We must continue to call out hate when we see it, as they keep trying to normalize it. If we go silent, this will only get worse. We cannot become numb to this.

Let's take a moment to talk about this.

There is a full-throated purge effort going on here by the far-right that we have not seen for decades.

They are on a boycott binge and cancel crusade, trying to eliminate the existence of minority communities.

Burning Flags. Banning…

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 31, 2023

Yes, folks, according to Newsom and his hair gel, we are apparently in the midst of a bloody purge that rivals anything we’ve seen in decades. Forget about slavery. Forget about nationwide lynchings. Forget about the Holocaust. Never mind the Holodomor. Burning flags and boycotting companies is the ultimate evil people face today.

Newsom’s assertion that acts of vandalism like this are happening “everywhere, all across the country” is about as real as Santa Claus. Yes, there are people who engage in this type of ridiculous and hateful behavior against members of the LGBTQ+ community, just as there are some on the left who carry out violence against pro-life organizations. The vast majority of Americans would condemn both – as they should. But the notion that the whole group should be painted with the actions of a few individuals is absurd on its face.

As this debate continues to progress, there will be nutjobs who will engage in this type of behavior. It seems Newsom wishes to exploit these occurrences to distract from the real debate about sexually-inappropriate material being presented to children. However, since it is nearly impossible to defend such a thing, folks like Newsom have to deceive and distract as much as they can, so we shouldn’t expect even a modicum of honesty from these people.