So, Los Angeles made a video to tell people not to poop on city buses.

I had to actually say that out loud to let it sink in. One of the largest, wealthiest cities in America produced a poop PSA (public service announcement). Full production. Budget. Graphics. đź’©

Meanwhile, the rest of the city is . . . falling apart.

Entire neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley (Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City) have been hit by waves of burglaries. Homes broken into in patterns, sometimes multiple in the same night. Residents in Larchmont dealing with open prostitution in broad daylight that is so graphic the news had to blur it. Blur it?? In Los Angeles!

Metro? Unsafe. Bus drivers? Behind protective glass like they’re exhibits in a dystopian human zoo. And the city’s big response: poop emojis. That’s right. Taxpayer funds that could have gone towards safety, crime prevention, homeless services . . . but nope. Bowel etiquette comes first.

And then you remember the bigger picture. The governor, Gavin Newsom, has lately been campaigning for president more than he’s been running the state. He’s checked out. As California struggles and is billions in debt, Newsom is trying to sell the country, and the world, on a fantastic illusion that everyday Californians are not privy to. And now, despite the high crime, homelessness, unemployment, and astronomical gasoline prices, he’s going to get $19 million in state money. Yes, taxpayer money, to fund his presidential campaign in the guise of correcting “misinformation” about California – information that later often turns out to be true.

That’s right. While burglars hit upscale neighborhoods, while prostitution runs rampant in residential areas, while buses need poop emoji warnings, California is effectively funding the governor’s presidential campaign with taxpayer money. And he’s still smiling for the cameras like everything’s fine. He’s still pitching California as a model for the nation. Innovation! Leadership! Progress! Meanwhile, the reality is: a global city producing videos about poop because . . . what else can it do?

And let’s not forget, the Olympics are coming in 2028. The world will be watching. Tourists, athletes, billions of eyes. And what will they see? Bus drivers behind glass. Burglarized homes. Open prostitution. A city where even the most basic civic behavior has to be spelled out in a poop PSA, with the help of emojis.

It’s not just absurd. It’s grotesque. The juxtaposition is almost too much to process. But, that’s the Los Angeles/California experience in 2026: global ambitions meet local chaos, and sometimes, the poop emoji takes center stage.

And yet, this is the image LA leadership chose to export to the world. “Welcome to Los Angeles. Please don’t poop on the bus.”

(Update: The city pulled the video shortly after public backlash, though the fact that it was produced at all tells you everything.)