Going full lordling, almost as if he'd been raised at Gordon Getty's knee, which, as a matter of fact, he was, California's far-left Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to wave his hand to silence President Trump.

It started when Trump might have noticed that Newsom was running scared, facing the wrath of angry voters over the state's mismanaged forestry (which forbids the clearing of brush...so that wildfires can do it, it seems); its greenie mandates, which leave no cash for the power companies to upgrade their fire-igniting equipment; and its general mismanagement of California priorities and resources. The result of that whole ugly picture has led to the statewide fires that have destroyed homes and left millions without electricity, living the socialist Venezuela lifestyle, and not happy with Newsom about it.

Trump fired the first shot with a very sensible observation:

The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must “clean” his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2019

..Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states...But our teams are working well together in..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2019

....putting these massive, and many, fires out. Great firefighters! Also, open up the ridiculously closed water lanes coming down from the North. Don’t pour it out into the Pacific Ocean. Should be done immediately. California desperately needs water, and you can have it now! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2019

Newsom's reply?

You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation. https://t.co/PSt8N39Er5 — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 3, 2019

Excused from this conversation? Who the heck talks like that? It was pure Little Lord Fauntleroy, an icky response of rich-man affectation, in this case trying to silence the president because "shut up." It was a reminder in itself that Newsom is out of touch with the needs of ordinary people. It was doubly ridiculous because it wasn't a "conversation" until Newsom himself joined it.

What the reply served to tell Trump was that Newsom wasn't prepared to defend his bad policy positions, probably because he was still feeling the voter heat. Instead of defend himself, he told Trump to shut up. He apparently knew that anything of substance that he might say would be held against him by the state's angry voters. If he tried to blather on about global warming while his constituents' houses were burning, he'd be in a world of trouble.

It's actually quite likely that Trump wanted this piece of information from Newsom, some data about how he is doing politically, and tweeted his shots to get it. Prior to this, Newsom had been tweeting cordial gratitude toward Trump, which Trump should have been expected to bask in. He didn't. Instead, Trump decided to get some intelligence from Newsom on how he'd react to a presidential tweet on his miserable record, which Trump could then use to calculate Republican electoral chances in California. Newsom's "shut up" response told Trump all he needed to know, and as an added bonus, it also exposed Newsom as a lordling poof. What Trump knows now is that Newsom doesn't want to talk about the problems he created for his state, which amounts to an open invitation to Republicans to...talk about them.

From those of us here in Reagan country, that's helpful. Thanks, President Trump!

Image credit: J.D. Lasica via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.