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Contributors
Patrick
Mallon -
Columnist
 The
Trojan Horses of Sacramento
Sacramento Dems and the status quo..
[Patrick Mallon] 12/9/04
They keep mercilessly coming, impervious to preventive measures,
thriving in a distinctly separate existence: Mixing within a
tolerant environment, but still restless, ready to do damage
on instruction.
Those darn computer intruders, destructive programs that masquerade
as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not
reproduce themselves but they can be just as injurious. One of
the most sinister types of Trojan horse is a program that claims
to do one thing, while instead doing another.
The characterization is from the Greek story of the Trojan War,
in which the Greeks present a gargantuan wooden horse to their
foes, the Trojans, purportedly as a sign of goodwill. We all
know the story, where the Greek soldiers tiptoe out of the horse's
vacant belly and unlock the city gates, permitting their cohorts
to capture Troy.
I'm using a metaphor here, but if some far-Left legislators,
and California Democrats in general, continue to conduct themselves
as traitors to the mainstream, we may have to dramatically alter
how we look at them: not as elected officials we disagree with,
but as revolutionary enemies within. Not only haven't they learned
a single lesson from the party-wide condemnation of the 2003
recall, but they clearly see the removal of Gray Davis as an
aberrant historical myth and urban legend.
How else to explain it? According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel (December 3, 2004):
"California
still suffers from the financial problems [of the Davis administration],
and it still suffers
from an inability
by the Democratic majority in the legislature to see beyond their
own interests.
"We expect for the next two years to see only roadblocks
to anything Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to achieve. Legislative
Democrats perceive that they can win big at the polls in 2006,
and we don't see any effort on their part to make the government
work in concert with the Republican governor."
Mr.
Leno and Mr. Cedillo and Mr. Nuñez
While California
borrows to keep up with exploding debt, businesses continue
their exodus
to avoid onerous taxation, and Gov. Schwarzenegger
attempts to reconcile with mulish hordes of liberal legislators
who snort at the priorities of state, two schemers stand
out for their distinctive passion for self-centered indulgence.
Assemblyman Mark Leno vows to legalize same-sex marriage, in
spite of the law. And Senator Gill Cedillo, come hell or high
water, pledges to bring his highly unpopular illegal immigrant
driver's license bill back from the dead in 2005.
Mr. Leno knows that the legal term for marriage in California
was established in 1977, when the legislature defined it as a
civil contract between a man and a woman. The definition was
fortified in 2000, when 61 percent of voters adopted Proposition
22, which restates the same basic rule.
Yet, instead
of respecting the will of the people, more than 20 Democrats
endorsed Leno's 2004 bill that
would legalize same-sex marriage. Though the measure failed
in committee, what
are the plans for 2005? More of the same, despite the fact that
we already have a law granting same-sex partners nearly all the
benefits of marriage.
Mr. Leno
had this to say after voters in 11 states issued an unqualified
rebuke to the concept of gay marriage: "We
did not see a backlash in those 11 states so much as revealed
in
vote form an existing prejudice which was used in an inflammatory
fashion for political gain."
Leno cut
a deal with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez in
2004, agreeing to curtail aggressive efforts to get Schwarzenegger
to meet with the Assembly's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
caucus. In exchange, Nuñez said he would add political
muscle to help pass gay marriage legislation in 2005 by becoming
a co-sponsor. Look for the fight to re-commence in January.
Senator Gil Cedillo, the man who may have pushed Gray Davis
out the door when he pressured the former governor to sign a
bill granting immigrant driver's licenses in 2003, has made a
promise to his dying wife that he would one day see the measure
signed into law.
The following
quote should make it clear where Cedillo stands in working
with the new administration and the
voters. "We
can be thoughtful and methodical like last year in meeting with
the governor 'the Michael Corleone style' or we can
do the Sonny Corleone style and go to the mattresses and make
it a big public fight for nine months," said a Cedillo spokesman
last week.
History buffs
may recall that Mr. Nuñez,
a former labor organizer, was a photogenic member at the signature
table when
Davis kissed away his career the day he approved Cedillo's doomed
license bill.
While Nuñez
has undoubtedly matured like all young men who grow up from
a radical past to positions
of influence, it's
important nonetheless to know where he's been.
According
to K. Lloyd Billingsley of the Pacific Research Institute ("The Radical Vanguard in the Los Angeles Labor Movement," August
2000), who wrote about, among other things, Nuñez and
his extreme political speeches and positions:
"We don't have economic power because we don't own the
means of production," Nuñez told a rally in January
1995, where he urged the crowd to "bring Washington to its
knees." A year earlier, in October of 1994, Nuñez
and his militant colleague Juan Jose Gutierrez of the group One
Stop Immigration, coordinated a rally of 70,000 immigrants against
Proposition 187. Protestors waved Mexican flags and displayed
an American flag with only 13 stars. They called Governor Pete
Wilson a pig, compared Prop. 187 to Hitler's laws against Jews
and told "Anglos" to go back to Europe.
Who do these legislators really work for?
What oath did they take when they captured elective office?
What are their real objectives?
Every California voter should know don't you think?
The Wild Cards: Talk Radio and the Internet
In all fairness,
the newspapers do a good job of starting a dialogue, but because
of political correctness, can't finish (too many
advertisers to worry about). Cedillo, Leno, and Nuñez
know this. While the public has seen in-depth investigative reports
from time to time, such as the periodic "five part" newspaper
series on drug dealing, teen pregnancy, or educational chaos,
the same will rarely happen on the topics of gay marriage and
illegal immigration.
That's why "we the people" need
to continue to question the status quo on both the radio and
Internet,
because Democrats
have proven they will:
- Make
every possible effort to raise taxes.
- Place
social engineering over academics in failing K-12 schools.
- Defy
the voters on illegal immigrant driver's licenses.
- Use ethnic
politics as an effective shield from accountability and
criticism.
- Conceal
nefarious tactics (see "quatro anos
mas" and
SB60).
- Never
admit a mistake.
These factors contribute to a stark reduction in quality of
life in this wonderful state, not an improvement, but that's
not much of an issue to a party willing to destroy one of its
own to get what they want.
Mr. Cedillo is one of the most influential and visible members
of the Latino Caucus, a powerful organization that constitutes
more than one-fifth of the state Legislature. His singular devotion
to a conflict-ridden cause on behalf of two million foreigners
is a serious paradox to the legal residents who pay his six-figure
salary. Meanwhile, Mr. Leno can count on a paycheck to support
his addiction to legislative efforts defined only by his sexual
orientation.
In September 2003, Davis had a Field Poll approval rating of
24 percent. The same poll revealed that the legislature was even
less popular at 18 percent.
Nonetheless, there is hope on several fronts: Bombastic Senate
Pro Tem John Burton has been termed out. Businesses can now breathe
a sigh of relief that they won't have to pay for universal health
care for employees and their dependents, a pet project Burton
advocated on his way out. And Burton never did get to see his
proposed Department of the Homeless become an executive office,
though he tried. Some say his proclivity for spouting the f-word
like a gangster will be missed.
"Mr.
Self Esteem," Senator John Vasconcellos is gone
as well. Considered such a flake in the 1980s that "Doonesbury" creator
Gary Trudeau modeled a character after him, Vasconcellos appeared
to endorse the reclamation of California by Mexico in 2003 when
he said during immigration testimony: "Since we stole it
from them, why do you say it's unfair to steal it back
from us?"
Despite the
amusing anecdotes and colorful personalities, these do not
appear to be trustworthy people who can be counted
on
to promote the best interests of all Californians.
I'm still trying to understand the true intentions of our Democratic
lawmakers up there in the statehouse, what with all their staff
assistants, legislative aides, free cars, expense accounts and
plum committee assignments.
So let's give credit to the lobbyists who write half the legislation,
and the voters who pass the other half. As for the ambitions
of our status quo Democrats, it's all Greek to me.CRO
Patrick
Mallon is a political journalist and author of California
Dictatorship: How Liberal Extremism Destroyed Gray Davis. [read
an excerpt]. Patrick
is a regular guest on talk radio programs throughout the
state and nationally. He can be contacted at patrick@patrickmallon.com
copyright
2004 Patrick Mallon
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