a running commentary by our trusted contributors...

3/31/03

[Streetsweeper]
Governor Lockyear: George Skelton in the Times peeks into the AG’s plan to become Governor. [He has $10 million stashed. He has lined up arguably California's premier political ad-maker, Bill Carrick. And "last week," he says, "I signed up Eli Broad in L.A. as a co-chair." That's Eli Broad, the billionaire philanthropist and political patron. "I want to be Pat Brown II," says the California native, asserting that politicians have failed to plan for the next generation, as Brown did.] | UnWeasel: Democratic Assembly member Lou Correa got his head handed to him by fellow Democrats for trying to do the right thing: support the troops. The Register reports that in caucus [“The resolution was eventually stripped of any mention of supporting the troops – and Correa stripped his name off, too.”] He’s also in trouble for favoring the old Republic of Vietnam flag. How can he call himself a progressive with outrageous behavior like that?

3/30/03

[Streetsweeper]
Uh, Where’s the Smoking Fajita? The Chronicle says that the SF DA is coming up a just a little short on evidence against police brass. [Because, as things stand, the D.A. knows he's still missing the smoking gun as he heads to court Friday to fight defense motions for dismissal.]

3/29/03

[Streetsweeper]
The Gall of SF: Mayor Willie Brown is asking the Federal government to pick up the cost of policing San Francisco’s out of control protestors. It’s his town. They’re his protestors. NION, United for Peace and Justice and all the rest are organizations based in his town. So what if a lot of the crowds come from Oakland or Berkeley? Send a bill over to Jerry Brown and Tom Bates. In the Chronicle [When Brown complained over the past week about the mounting costs, which have worsened an already bad budget deficit, anti-war activists urged him to ask Washington for a bailout. And that's what Brown has done.] | Never Mind: Republican mayor of San Diego, Dick Murphy says he doesn’t want to campaign for reelection. Maybe it’s all the pressure from a union dominated Democratic city council that has hobbled his effectiveness. Union Tribune

3/28/03

[Streetsweeper]
Senate of Weasels: No, the Senate didn’t have the Assembly’s kind of ugly catfight. Yes, they passed a resolution supporting the troops, but couldn’t bring themselves to support the President or the cause. Sacramento Bee | What Did You Expect? The LA Times is shocked, shocked that Castro would take the opportunity of a preoccupied Administration to crack down on dissenters. Gee, guess the Times dream of a workers paradise ain’t so dreamy after all. [After years of calling for liberalized relations with Cuba, this editorial page must now urge American policy makers to hit the brakes.] | It’s the Jews Fault: The rate of assaults on Jews in this country is on the rise. San Francisco’s rate doubled over a year. Now, we don’t think that all those peaceful activists in that lovely city could have something to do with it, do we? ["I attribute a lot of it to a climate that has been created in the Bay Area in which criticism of Israel has been allowed to devolve into blatant anti-Semitism," Bernstein said, noting that one of the incidents included in the report was a rally where war protesters carried a sign reading "Smash the Jewish State, Smash the Jewish Race."] SF Chronicle

3/27/03

[Streetsweeper]
SF PD Frameup? What is it with these people? San Francisco’s little people’s paradise suffering from Soviet-style political intrigues. [Jealous underlings eager to take down top San Francisco officers concocted testimony and framed commanders who were later indicted for allegedly conspiring to block the probe into a street fight, according to an extraordinary court filing by one of the defense attorneys.] SF Chronicle | Assembly of Weasels 2: In the Times George Skelton gets very testy with the inability of the Assembly to get behind the President. [It took an emotional speech by moderate, low-key Assemblyman John Dutra (D-Fremont), a veteran, to inspire Goldberg even to insert the troop-support language…"I wish this resolution was stronger," Dutra said, nearly in tears. "I wish we could all come together.... The only thing stopping us is we lack the political courage. And that's what's embarrassing."]

3/26/03

[Streetsweeper]
Assembly of Weasels: Of course, these things get awry when state legislatures decide they should have anything at all to say about foreign affairs one way or the other. The California Assembly has been torturing itself on showing support for the President and the troops. Well, of course, it’s not cool to support the president or the war. But it could be politically dangerous to ignore the troops. So finally, a week late the Eurocrats coughed up “The Assembly proclaims its fervent hope that hostilities in Iraq end as soon as possible and that America's servicemen and servicewomen return home quickly, safely and uninjured.” Conservatives were still rankled and demanded at least a “support our troops” clause. Life is grand here West of the Seine. | Mayor of Weasels: Jim Hahn was only to happy to sign the city council’s condemnation of President Bush and an Iraq intervention, but now that the battle is raging he backtracks on the petition he signed for sixth graders that called the war “unjust.” ["I regret that I did not read it word for word before I signed. I do not agree that this is an 'unjust' war. This is the time to support our troops and pray for their swift and safe return."] LA Times

3/21/03

[Streetsweeper]
Why Can’t We Be More Like the French? With our troops in harm’s way – rushing headlong toward the liberation of Iraq and the disarmament of Saddam Hussein – the progressive ideologues in the Assembly can’t bring themselves to voice support the President and our troops. Quoted from the Bee Jackie Goldberg reminds us of her deep seated political animus for the President ["It's not about supporting the troops; it's about embarrassing people who hold a different viewpoint and trying to shut up dissent in America," said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles. "It's a very un-American thing to do." | Goldberg said she does not blindly buy the argument that everyone should rally behind the president once fighting breaks out. | "That's exactly what the Germans did around Hitler," Goldberg said. "And look how the world condemns them now for being quiet. ... Nobody wants our troops to be killed, but supporting them is getting them out of there."] It’s great to know that so progressive and that we have so much in common with the French. | House Weasels Honor Roll: Here are California’s true believers who voted against the House resolution "expressing the support and appreciation of the nation for the president and the members of the armed forces who are participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom." [Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Diane Watson and Maxine Waters]

3/20/03

[Streetsweeper]
It Feel’s Like ’68: George Skelton in the Times has a heartening observation about the California Democratic Convention [The sound inside the Democratic convention hall was an old and formerly common one. It was the pugnacious, defiant sound of jeering and booing. The sound of losers.] | Don’t Let the Door Hit You: Lord Gray’s chief legislative liaison just up and quit. The Bee thinks it was after a dustup on budget cuts. | Don’t Let the Door Hit You 2: The Bee reports that the state GOP is mad at former assembly member Mike Briggs who broke ranks and voted with Lord Gray on the ’01 budget and now has been discovered to be on the Democratic payroll “advising” Herb Wesson. Of course, we would never call this quid pro quo.

3/19/03

[Streetsweeper]
The Show Must Go On! The NY Post makes the case for the Oscar’s going on as scheduled: [“They worried for a while that their revered awards show might appear superficial and tacky in the midst of a war. As opposed to what? The great good-taste fest that it normally is? | Luckily for us they erred on the side of superficial and tacky. | The Oscars are supposed to be cheesy - why else would you bother watching it? | And when no one acts out, shows up with new implants the size of missile launchers, accepts an award in what looks like see-through underwear, makes a windbag political speech, gets involved in a tragic and career-destroying song and dance number, talks about having to go to the bathroom on the misguided notion that it's amusing, well, it's just not worth watching at all.”]

3/17/03

[Streetsweeper]
Democrats for Saddam: The state’s Democratic convention this past weekend ended in hysterical Save Saddam demonstrations. In the Times Carol Moseley Braun ["We are the patriots,'' she said of antiwar activists. "Invading Iraq may benefit the energy conglomerates and defense contractors, but for ordinary Americans, there are no benefits -- only costs.''] and Dennis Kucinich ["Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction,'' he shouted. "Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction ....We have weapons of mass destruction we must eliminate at home, Mr. President. Stop this war! Stop this war! Stop this war before it starts!''] whipped up the crowd. Some cooler heads, like strategist Gary South, were concerned by the fervor ["If the Democratic Party collectively leaves an impression on the public that our primary reason for being is opposing the war in Iraq, we're cooked,'' said South, who masterminded Gov. Gray Davis' two election campaigns. "We should not get so top-loaded on the issue of war that we forget there's a lot at stake on other issues too.”]. Ah, we are breathlessly on the verge of the Progressive Moment.

3/14/03

[Streetsweeper]
Progressive Party Split? The Dems are conventioning this weekend. Hmm. The Contra Costa Times says that the war will split the party. Hardly. You tow the Party line or you’re out. Simple. Besides, the progressives are all able to line up and say “this has been handled poorly” and they seem more reasonable – it’s the key national Dem talking point right now. We think that CalDems that vocally support the President are squashing their political careers with the Party. | Eating Their Own: The AG is suing a Hollywood fundraiser for fraud. Seems he didn’t pay the charities the swag. In the Bee we noticed that this fellow raised $1 million in Tinseltown cash for Hillary’s senate campaign. Now that’s fraud and malicious intent. | SF Street Crime Hits Kerry: Opps. The Chronicle reports that somebody swiped Kerry’s campaign manager’s laptop chock-full of campaign info. Surely, there couldn’t be anything, uh… untoward in that machine, eh? Chris Lehane, Kerry’s campaign manager and one of Lord Gray’s former handlers said, [“We hope everyone does their part as good citizens to combat crime.”] Like combating crime is a progressive priority or something. | Prager is a Monster: UCI professor Mark Levine is hurt, damaged and shaken to the core. Dennis Prager made an assumption that Levine was lying when he said that Palestinians have protested against Palestinian violence. Prager wanted evidence of it and Levine could offer none. So he went back to the office and searched and searched and searched and finally – there it was! 1996 residents of Palestine actually protested against violence! Voila! Vindication! OC Weekly

3/13/03

[Streetsweeper]
Saunders Side: The SFPD chief tells the Times his side of the bizarre goings on with the SF DA. ["These people are going to come down here and they're going to arrest me, the chief of police," he said he thought. "I don't know why or for what ....I said, 'Am I still in America?' "] Well, Chief, some would question whether San Francisco is America. When your DA is a rabid socialist and your mayor is a medium-cool socialist and everybody else in power ranges from progressive to Maoist… you could indeed wonder. | Try Conservatives for a Change: Even the Chronicle is weary of the Mayor, the DA and the whole administration. [ As this sorry episode shows, San Francisco desperately needs a regime change.] | With Friends Like This: The perennially progressive George Skelton says that the recall probably won’t work, but his description of Lord Gray in the Times [“Visionless. Opportunistic. Rude. Obsessive fund-raiser. He has no allies in the Capitol. The Gray Davis Sacramento knew before he ran for governor, now is becoming known around California.”] isn’t exactly a vote of confidence.

3/11/03

[Streetsweeper]
KuehlCare: In the Sacramento Bee, Daniel Weintraub warns progressive politicians (again) to be very careful before crafting BigGov solutions to healthcare. | SF DA: The Chronicle says that the charges against top brass are to be dropped today. | Which Vietnam? What flag should be officially flown in the émigré parts of Orange County? The Times reports tempers flare and the Governor gets an official letter. [Nguyen Tam Chien, Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, wrote to Gov. Gray Davis last month urging him to "take proper measures to stop the resolution" in Westminster because it "goes against international conventions and practices," and is "written in such a very improper language ... full of slanders and fabrications about Vietnam."] | Lawless AG? The Register says that AG Bill Lockyear is flouting the law in accessing the firearms database. So? Why does that matter? And what’s new about that anyway. The AG is not a Johnny-come-lately novice at flouting.

3/10/03

[Streetsweeper]
On Prager: Dan Smith of the Sacramento Bee gives ink to the Dennis Prager senate run. ["I think he would be formidable," said GOP consultant Arnold Steinberg, who said he has discussed a possible candidacy "at great length" with Prager.] | Uh, Maybe We Should Drop This Thing: The Times reports that the cop-hating SF DA – after doing his PR damage to the SFPD – says maybe there isn’t enough evidence for a prosecution. | Campus of the Mind: The Chronicle reports that $7.8 million in salaries are going to a staff for a political payback college that doesn’t exist yet. But so what, there are billions being paid for a state government that doesn’t exist either. | Recall Senator Sterling: Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee doesn’t think much of California’s newest make-believe politician.

3/8/03

[Streetsweeper]
LA City Council Gets Union Label: Mike Garcia, SEIU president in the Times ["What has been lacking since Jackie Goldberg left is someone we call a water carrier, who can draft creative legislation, who can move working families' issues forward," he said. Villaraigosa's election "really does create another center of power on the council that will move everybody toward progressive thinking and policies."] That should be comforting for LA. Everybody in the city will carry a union card and whatever business is left in town will pay the enormous price and pass it on to their customers… Then the city council will need price controls so that there is a “living cost” to go with the “living wage.”

3/7/03

[Streetsweeper]
Energy Crisis?: Lies, I tell you! Dan Walters calls Lord Gray and the AG liars for trying to paint the picture of a budget crisis created by the energy crisis. | OC Supervisors Support President: The members of the board decided to send a letter to Mr. Bush with a word of support. That’s the right way to do it – official statements like LA’s are out of line. LA Times | SFPD & DA, Opps… The Times and Chronicle report that the DA might be a little unethical hot water…Is the unraveling starting already? | Election and Century 21: Quoted in the Times, Tom McClintock has strong words about the last minute Century 21 elections donations. This is going to be a political football and the GOP will be the loser... again.

3/6/03

[Streetsweeper]
SFPD - What a mess: The DA is out of control, the imperial Mayor Willie is in a shouting contest and the senior cops act like they can just brush it off. Debra Saunders in the Chronicle has a terrific take on it under the title “No Adult Supervision.” | LA Election Good for Labor: It sounds as if Mayor Hahn is the big loser with Parks and Villaraigosa getting council seats. The Daily News reports that the biggest winner was Big Labor.

3/5/03

[Streetsweeper]
LE BOXER: PEOPLE WAKE UP! She’s gearing up. Here's a lovely sample from her rehearsal with John Balzar in today's Times. ["People have to wake up in this nation," Boxer says when we sit down to talk. "We cannot take for granted the gifts we have. And right now, these gifts are going back to the store, and the refunds are going into the pockets of the privileged." She pauses and gives herself an approving nod. "Hey, that's pretty good. I just came up with that."] Ah, this will be tiresome. LA Times

3/3/03

[Streetsweeper]
The Brave Little AG & Trial Lawyers: Bill Lockyear announces that he’s going where other Democrats fear to tred: trial lawyers. Of course, he’s not doing this on his own prompting. If talk radio hosts at KFI in LA hadn’t gone after these guys there wouldn’t be an indictment now. Sacramento Bee | Fear the Car Tax. Be Very Afraid. Political dread is descending over Lord Gray and the Controller. They desire tax money, but they know there's a political penalty for pulling the trigger. Gee, too bad the reeducation committee took "cut" out of the progressive playbook then they wouldn't have worry about increasing taxes. Sacramento Bee

Go to CRO Blog archive index