Category: Politics

The latest installment of the Hitchens/Said match is in The Atlantic: Where the Twain Should Have Met.

Via Roger L. Simon, who’s got some smart comments collected as well.

Matt Welch is on Arianna watch this week, and he’s busted her twice on 187 and immigration. If evidence of her hypocrisy keeps piling up, people might take her seriously as one of the lying liars who tells political lies.

OK, this Salon interview that’s supposed to make Arnie look like a fascist nutjob has won me over:

Salon person: What do you see as the most pressing problem in the inner city today?

Arnie: The parenting problem. A lot of minorities have such a problem with the single-parent situation. The parents are the single most important influence on a child, followed by education and the peer group. The number of single parents in the U.S. has quadrupled since the ’60s, and there has also been an increase in violence and school shootings. All that stuff has increased largely because of a lack of parenting, and many households only have one biological parent — so many of them are fatherless. It really creates a big problem.

Read more about Arnie on women, families, and stuff that’s supposed to appeal to the left in Robert Salladay’s summary in the Frisco paper:

In the movie “Total Recall,” Schwarzenegger puts a bullet through the head of his on-screen wife, who is trying to kill him as well, and says without remorse: “Consider that a divorce.”

The line was outrageous enough to be included in a 1996 documentary about domestic violence, “No Safe Place.” It was one of many controversial comments the macho, cigar-chomping actor has made, both on screen and off, about women.

The fact that the woman in Total Recall was trying to kill Arnie’s character isn’t important, of course, because it’s always wrong to hit a girl. I like this guy better the more I learn about him.

Huffington’s Manager Also Works as a Lobbyist

The campaign manager hired by gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington, who frequently blames “high-priced lobbyists” and “special-interest money” for California’s ills, is himself a lobbyist for major tobacco, gambling and waste hauling firms in his home state of Minnesota.

Arianna’s hypocrisy sets new records every day.

The latest Field Poll has Bustamante marginally ahead of Arnie, thanks to the True Believer support enjoyed by McClintock and Simon.

Cruz Bustamante (D)	25%
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)	22
Tom McClintock (R)	9
Bill Simon (D)	8
Peter Ueberroth (R)	5
Arianna Huffington (I)	4
Peter Miguel Camejo (G)	2
Larry Flynt (D)	1
Others	5*
None	5
Undecided	14

Unless Simon and McClintock drop out and endorse Arnie, Bustamante will be our next governor.

The West Wing’s speechwriter, Sam Seaborn is joining the Arnie campaign, in the person of actor Rob Lowe:

For three years, Lowe portrayed the idealistic White House aide Sam Seaborn in the hit series “The West Wing.” Lowe’s character was a California-born political operative who wrote speeches for the show’s Democratic President Jed Bartlet, and wound up running for Congress in Orange County. He dropped out of the show midway into last season after a contract dispute. In press reports, Lowe said the show had changed and “it just wasn’t for me.”

Most Democrats aren’t aware that The West Wing is fictional, so they’re naturally going to take this as an endorsement from the President (Bartlett). Lowe also appeals to the all important pervert vote, so two birds with one stoned guy.

The LA Times has a yummy liittle story on cult member Arianna Huffington’s tax returns, including some interesting charitable donations:

…They also include payments of $6,675 to the Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness and a related foundation.

The church, founded by John-Roger, describes itself as designed to “teach Soul Transcendence, which is becoming aware of yourself as a Soul and as one with God, not as a theory but as a living reality.”

“I’ve been involved with John-Roger and the church for many years now,” Huffington said. “He’s a good friend, and I’ve gotten a lot of value from the work he has done.”

Those of us who pay taxes in California are supporting Arianna’s guru through her tax breaks. Are we enlightened yet?

UPDATE: The main reason Arianna doesn’t pay income tax is that most of her income is child support, which is tax-exempt to the recipient. I don’t have the figures on her award, but it’s probably in the neighborhood of $20,000 per month.

Random Jottings links to a great piece on the exciting new Democrat who’s energizing the base:

“This is the one candidate in the field that has energized the core Democratic voter,” said Stuart Rothenberg of CNN. “He is a true outsider, who has the authentic ‘street cred’ and no-nonsense violent delusions that really appeal to the grassroots of the party.”

Follow the link, Luke.

In my overview of Cal politics, I mentioned that battles between trial lawyers and insurance companies are behind a lot of what goes on in California. To add a little detail, trial lawyers are a Democratic Party constituency, while insurance companies back Republicans. Given that context, it’s easy to understand why Warren Buffett has signed-on with the Arnie campaign. Buffett’s investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, is heavily invested in insurance companies:

Berkshire, which earns about half its profit from insurance companies including General Reinsurance Co., National Indemnity Co. and Geico Corp., has benefited from the highest premiums in almost a decade and few losses from natural catastrophes.

So don’t be too worried about Buffett’s desire to eat the rich; this move is simply a reach-out to the business base of the Republican Party.

A fellow named Dan Weintraub who writes a column for the Sacramento Bee and who has a blog named after Greg Lucas’ much-missed Sunday column in the Frisco Chronicle, California Insider, thinks Davis may resign:

Knowing Davis as I do, I never thought I would say this, but today, for the first time, I started to think that it is possible he might resign before the election.

Weintraub was last seen breaking the story of Arnie’s decision not to run, based on inside sources, so you can take this for what it’s worth. Davis is the most stubborn man in California politics, and he won’t resign until he’s convinced that his prospects are hopeless, not just for the recall but for a career in politics beyond the recall. I don’t expect a decision on this until after Labor Day, but at that point, anything can happen. No inside sources, just simple guesswork.