I refuse to use the term “oppression” lightly — especially in a nation as free as the United States. I was born in a country ruled by real oppression – where government control, censorship and corruption weren’t policies, they were a way of life. And I was raised with values that rejected victimhood — we believed in hard work, integrity, self-reliance, and no matter what life throws at us, we can rise above it and achieve our goals.

So when I look around California today, I don’t see progress. I see political suffocation. And no, it’s not coming from Moscow or Beijing — it’s coming straight out of Sacramento, delivered with a plastic smile by Gov. Gavin Newsom and his band of rubber-stamping Democrat loyalists.

Whenever I escape to a red state like Tennessee, I breathe easier. Parents hold authority again. Business owners aren’t strangled by taxes and antigrowth policies. Conservatives can speak freely without fear. That’s not California anymore.

While you are working, raising your kids, or trying to afford groceries in Newsom’s economy, Newsom has been quietly setting the stage to redraw California’s congressional maps — not in 2030 after the census, but right now, just in time for the 2026 elections. His excuse? “Well, Texas did it.”

Apparently, California now takes legislative inspiration from states it claims to despise. Go figure.

Under California law, since 2010, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission — a nonpartisan panel of 14 members (five Democrats, five Republicans, four independents) — controls map drawing. Voters........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal