At a gathering of California Democrats in Sacramento, hypocrisy was on the agenda | Opinion

Democrats hate being called hypocritical, but sometimes they really make it an easy lob.

The California Democratic Convention is being held this weekend in Sacra— Wait, is it held in Sacramento every time? Pols know there’s more to the state, right?

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that all the good parties are downtown this weekend if you’re looking for someone or something to do.

But can someone please tell me why the California Democratic Party — last bastion of common sense, the party that’s going to save us next November, from the state that leads the nation with its progressive ideals — is having people drop their reusable water bottles at the door?

Opinion

Someone posted that there were “thousands of plastic single-use cups everywhere” and Politico reporter Jeremy White tweeted a picture of a stack of bottles sitting with the abandoned lighters and a lone butter knife at security.

For shame.

It’s unclear whether this is a Dem rule or one imposed by the venue, but you’re telling me Dem leaders couldn’t get it waived if this was a venue rule?

Opting for an environmentally-friendly, reusable water bottle is a common practice now. Still, every day, people throw away 60 million plastic bottles in the U.S., and making those plastic bottles requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually. The same could fuel more than 1 million cars in a year. More than 80% of plastic is not recycled, and plastic water bottles can take 450 years to decompose.

How many plastic water bottles and cups will the convention go through this year alone?

Yes, they can be used as projectiles, but for goodness sake, a guy threw his shoes at George W. Bush and I’m pretty sure he survived the attempt. At a certain point, this convention is going to devolve into something resembling The Emperor Who Has No Clothes, Nor Any Heavy Or Possibly Flammable Items. Meanwhile, someone is apparently selling metal water bottles inside, so don’t pretend it’s about safety.

Besides, I’m not mocking safety, I’m mocking hypocrisy.

Heightened security this weekend is a genuine concern that should be taken seriously, and I’m sure it is by party leaders — on a macro level. But leadership means you’re still on the hook for the small decisions you delegated, even if just to the convention hall itself. These are people who govern this state, and presumably deal with far more complex problems on a daily basis, yet not one of them thought this might be a bad look for a gathering full of people who are among the world’s leading advocates for reversing climate change. (Or at least claim to be.)

The Republicans wouldn’t let water pistols into their convention, but they do allow guns. The Democrats won’t allow reusable water bottles, but they’re out there onstage raising awareness — and money — around climate change.

And still, people get paid millions of dollars a year to figure out why young voters think both parties are hypocritical?