WEDNESDAY 10/8/03

THE RECALL MAP

Here it is, the California recall election map!

BLAME IT ON REPUBLICANS?

Sure, that's exactly what many in the mainstream media will do.  They will talk about Republicans overturning an election.  They'll talk about Republicans thwarting the will of the voters. You just need to remember one thing.  California is a Democrat State.  They have, or had, a Democrat governor, they still have a Democrat Lt. Governor and legislature.  The two U.S. Senators are Democrats as is the majority of the congressional delegation.  So, it took Democrats to remove their Democratic governor.  Republicans didn't have the votes to pull it off. 

Look what Gray Davis had going for him.  He had just been elected by Democrat voters 11 months ago.  He had Bill Clinton campaigning for him.  He had Terry McAuliffe campaigning for him.  He had the Hollywood elite on his side ... all of this in a state completely dominated by Democrats and Democratic voters, and yet Gray Davis couldn't pull it off.  More than 54% of the voters said that they wanted him out, and out he goes.  So ... enough of this "Republicans overturning an election" nonsense. 

THE PROBLEM WITH VOTERS

You do know that this isn't the way I wanted this to turn out, though it is what I expected.  I truly wanted to see this great and much heralded liberal Democratic government of California carry on for a while longer.  I wanted to see more laws enacted like this fascist legislation that Gray Davis signed over the past weekend -- legislation that requires employers to provide health insurance for their employees and, in many cases, their employees families.  This law, combined with other fascist laws requiring pay for family leave, "living wage" laws and other regulations are chasing employers either out of California or out of business.  I wanted to see more of this.  I wanted more voters around the country to see what happens when you really put liberals in charge; when you hand the power to people who think that America is great because of government, not because of the incredible dynamic of individuals interacting freely with one another in a system based on economic liberty.

Having said all that ... we must note that celebrity worship thrives in California, as elsewhere.  Clearly the most qualified candidate to replace Gray Davis in California was Tom McClintock.  Voters who saw the need to get rid of the free-spending and regulatory hog Gray Davis somehow thought it would be a good idea to replace Davis with a movie star rather than someone with a sound political background and proven ability plus the good ideas that might cure California's ills.

Ludacris and Neal

JUST BUY THE TICKETS AND GO, DAMMIT

Are you people as tired as I am of that insipid couple trying to figure out whether they're going to vacation in Paris or the Caribbean?  Cute the first time.  Bearable the second.  Tiring after that.

WHO'S IN CHARGE OF WESLEY CLARK?

His campaign manager has stepped down.  Why?  Because he lost control of the campaign to two former Clinton political operatives.  This entire Wesley Clark bit has been orchestrated by Bill and Hillary Clinton from the beginning.  Wesley Clark is there for one reason, though there is reason to doubt that he fully understands his role.  He is there to make sure that Howard Dean does not capture the Democratic nomination with enough momentum to actually be elected President in2004.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Did I remember to link you to my weekly column from World Net Daily?  I don't believe I did!  So .. here you go.

Claudia Rosett has written a superb column titled "News for Parrots."  Do you remember that old Monty Python bit?  Rosett says that electoral politics are distracting Bush from the war on terror.

Guess what?  It seems that women supported Arnold with some pretty big numbers!

If you haven't had enough of California and Arnold yet, here are links to coverage for various news outlets.  The Washington Post, The Washington Times, USA Today, CNN, The Sacramento Bee, World Net Daily, Town Hall,

The fun part is over. Now Schwarzenegger faces a pretty fierce budget crisis in California.  Here's a good analysis.

For quite some time now the left has been trying to sell this absurd idea that the media has become dominated by the right wing.  This Gallup poll shows that Americans aren't quite buying it.

No .. I've never dropped the "F" bomb on the radio.  I have, however, argued to some colleagues that it would not violate FCC regulations to do so just so long as the word isn't used to describe a sex act.  For instance, "What the f___ were you thinking?" would pass FCC muster.  Well .. I've been vindicated.  The FCC has ruled that when Bono lobbed the "F" bomb during the Golden Globe Awards he didn't violate FCC decency standards ... because he used the word as an adjective.  I'm sure, though, that my listeners would prefer that I not take advantage of this situation.

Whatever happened to the "assumption of risk" doctrine in our law?  Walter Williams says that it's all but disappeared.  So .. .go ahead and do something completely stupid, and then go find some lawyer to put some heavy cash in your pocket when you're injured.  That's how things work in America now.

The closer we get to the Democratic primaries, the worse the news -- or at least our perception of the news -- about Iraq seems to get.  The Democrats and their friends in the media are focusing on the bad news .. and ignoring the real progress that is being made.

NEALZ LINKS FOR NUZE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
World Net Daily
NewsMax
Wall Street Journal opinions
Washington Times
Washington Post
Real Clear Politics
Media Research Center
The Drudge Report
The Associated Press
SF Gate