Opinion: We, dear Californians, will determine control of the House

Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. Bad news, SoCal rain lovers: The storm-blocking Ridiculously Resilient Ridge is back. Let’s take a look back at the week in Opinion.

Here’s something you don’t read much: California has political power — a lot. Here’s why.

Democrats hoping to gain control of the U.S. House next fall are targeting congressional districts represented by Republicans but where Hillary Clinton won a majority of voters in 2016. Since, ahem, Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots, these districts are not in short supply nationally — and as Harold Meyerson points out in a Times op-ed article, nearly one-third of those districts are in California.

Meyerson raises an interesting possibility: Whichever party controls the House of Representatives after the 2018 midterm election may be determined by Californians, who voted by a 2-1 margin for Clinton last year. And how California votes depends on turnout, something that does not bode well for Republicans:

Maybe this will get Trump voters to the polls: A San Francisco jury has acquitted Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an immigrant in the U.S. illegally, of murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Kathryn Steinle, and already the president and his press secretary are needlessly politicizing this tragedy more than it already has been. The Times’ Jon Healey reminds the president of an important fact: The defendant’s immigration status has no bearing on whether he murdered Steinle, something the jury decided the facts did not support. L.A. Times

Trump’s anti-Muslim tweet was inappropriate and dangerous, even by his standards. The Times Editorial Board explains why: “By retweeting these videos, Trump has put the enormous power of his bully pulpit in service of [anti-Muslim extremists’] cause — sadly, just one of many times he has blithely uttered or repeated things far beneath the dignity of the presidency.” L.A. Times

Hey, Meghan Markle went to school in Los Angeles, and the British press is busy interviewing her teachers at Immaculate Heart High School and Middle School in Los Feliz. Says a drama instructor about her former pupil and the future duchess: “She was particularly delightful as the secretary in the play ‘Annie.’ She had her own solo number. I remember her being very excited and nervous about her song.” (Full disclosure: My wife taught for years at Immaculate Heart.) Telegraph

Sorry, Stanford, you’re stuck with Father Serra. Movements are afoot at the elite California university to strike Junipero Serra’s name off buildings, landmarks and streets on campus. These leftist attempts at erasing any mention of a man once lauded as a protector of Native Americans ignore important facts, writes Charlotte Allen: “Serra is inextricably intertwined with the history of Stanford University, and the history of California itself. He cannot be easily purged. Indeed, Serra could be said to have invented the Golden State.” (Full disclosure again: I went to UC Berkeley, which is of course morally superior to Stanford and does not have to confront the Serra dilemma.) L.A. Times

And finally, phew: “Nuclear holocaust is the least likely outcome of North Korea’s latest leap forward in offensive capabilities,” writes David Rothkopf in an op-ed article. But that doesn’t mean the rogue nation’s latest demonstration of its apparent ability to strike the United States by testing another missile won’t have damaging consequences for our country, he says: “It is shocking to realize that we are looking not to Washington but other actors in the drama — including the North Koreans and China — to be the source of reason in this crisis.” L.A. Times

Reach me: paul.thornton@latimes.com