Opinion: With our legal pot and liberal politics, California is fine place to wait out the Trump era

A decade ago, California was derided as a deficit-crippled, failed state fatally torn apart by left-wing spending habits and conservative anti-tax impulses. We were ungovernable.

Now who’s the failed state?

On election night Tuesday, the Golden State lurched in a different direction than much of the country. We legalized recreational marijuana use, L.A. County OK’d a massive transit expansion, and Californians gave at least 2.5 million more votes to Hillary Clinton than President-elect Donald Trump.

Many readers congratulated the state; some called for secession. Here are a few of their letters.

Melanie Rothschild of Topanga praises Californians for resisting racism:

I love California.

It’s a place others love to bash. We’re shallow. A bunch of hippies. Worship celebrity. A vapid, fashion-obsessed wasteland. Turn the U.S. on its side and all the loose nuts roll this way.

This year, California used its collective wisdom to hand Clinton more electoral votes than any other state.

This bunch of shallow nuts showed that we did not fall prey to the newest fashion sweeping the country: racism. California, rich with immigrants, stood up decisively for the most traditional of American values: inclusiveness. Home to Hollywood, movie capital of the world, we did not confuse politics with entertainment.

Next time I’m in miserable traffic, I’ll remind myself who’s sitting in all those cars and enjoy knowing that I’m in good company.

Los Angeles resident S.R. Fischer thinks out loud about secession:

Maybe the future has been set for the breakup of the Disunited States. Based on self-determination, the entire West Coast is obviously politically opposite the rest of this insanely angry, and rightfully so, country.

Let us go our separate ways. The West Coast should be given the same opportunity Scotland was given: Do we stay, or should we leave the insanity that has engulfed the rest of this nation. It is obvious we think differently. We should go our separate ways. We have the right to self-determination if we truly do believe in democracy.

Richard Kopelle of Los Angeles suggests a name for the new nation:

The vast majority of the West Coast believe America has elected a sociopath as the next president. There should be a movement to secede.

Our economy is strong, and most of our population is sane. If we merge with the other states along the Pacific, we can call the new independent country Calorwa.

Shari O’Connell of Santa Monica may make use of Proposition 64:

I went to bed with a knot in my stomach on Tuesday and awoke with a larger one. But then I saw that Proposition 64 passed and marijuana will be legal in California.

Thank God I have another way, aside from alcohol, to anesthetize myself for the next four years (or at least until I can come to terms with what happened).

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