Loose cannons

Don't drink from the Republican trough

2009-05-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to imagine politicians telling lies. It’s a dirty job but somebody had to do it seems to be the message coming from Washington, D.C. these days when the topic of waterboarding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison surfaces.

Having nothing but bitterness to cling to following the trouncing President Barack Obama gave Republicans in November, the GOP is now trying to blame torture on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The party of elephants has called for an investigation into claims that Pelosi had been briefed by the CIA about the tortures, as Obama is stepping up pressure to close the prison.

As if out of a cheap dime novel, former Vice President Dick “Shoots his friends” Cheney made a sinister appearance on TV demanding that the prison remain open and touting the benefits of torture outweigh the detriments.

Now that’s a charity that could possibly fix the economic mess Republicans created, isn’t it? It’s difficult to see what useful information any of the torturees would divulge, though. As Judge Judy tells miscreants on her TV court show, “I can tell you’re lying because your lips are moving.”

-Peace

Karl Rove deserves a cell

2009-03-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

'Rove'ing conspiracy against Don Siegelman

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman ran into another brick wall on Friday, March 6 when a three-member panel of the federal appeals court upheld most of the bribery and conspiracy convictions that were clearly manipulated by George W. Bush’s former political adviser Karl “Bush’s Brain” Rove.

Siegelman dedicated nearly three decades to public service, becoming the only elected politician to serve in the swing state’s four highest offices. So popular was Siegelman, the Democrat, in the Republican state, Rove and company pushed the trial during the governor’s 2006 re-election bid.

For those unfamiliar to Rove, he’s one of the guys who helped manufacture “proof” that Saddam Hussein was seeking “yellowcake” uranium, which helped sell the U.S. Congress on the invasion of Iraq. He’s the Dark Lord lurking behind the “hanging chads” shenanigans in Dade County, Fla. to structure a Republican dictatorship during the 2000 presidential elections.

Rove, in collusion with Dick Cheney’s since convicted former Chief of Staff Lewis “Scooter” Libby, is also the guy who leaked Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative. This was in retribution for an op-ed titled “Mission to Niger” her former Ambassador husband, John Wilson, published in The New York Times.

Those are merely a few of the more noted scandals and conspiracies Rove has been connected with. When he was summoned to testify at Siegelman's trial he refused.

Rove is the guy who should be heading to prison, not Don Siegelman.

My multifaceted bias about the case comes not only from the contempt I’ve developed watching Rove’s devious political maneuvering dating back to the 1994 bullshit he pulled in Texas to get George W. Bush — that’s right, he was Dubbya’s campaign adviser in ’94 and ’98 — elected and re-elected as governor.

I’m also concerned because the evidence in Siegelman’s case, as well as well-known prosecutorial misconduct, is extremely sketchy (topics I’ll address in an upcoming Daily Forty-Niner editorial).

I’ll also disclose that Cal State Long Beach alumna Dana Siegelman, Don’s daughter, is a good friend of mine through promoting peace, human and civil rights.

Her father has just filed a second appeal to his convictions seeking a full-panel review because the last jury was not given important instructions that could have ended this.

In the meantime, Rove continues to enjoy freedom and wealth. He’s so slippery, the U.S. can only estimate his overall worth at between $ 1.5 million and $6.3 million. Instead of being a prison cell, he continues to enjoy his freedom, something possibly allowed by connections in the IRS. If ever a conspiracy theory stood out….

BLR blurs lines of ethics

2009-03-15T18:44:00.001-07:00

Image from Google Images

Total world domination

After editorializing recently about insignificant state and national political gunk, it’s time to bring it back down to Earth here at good old Cal State Long Beach.

The recent Beach Legacy Referendum that was put out for a campuswide vote -- and failed -- brought student campaign ethics under the microscope.

Probably the most disturbing part of the BLR blur was that it wasn’t a binding vote; it was merely to test how students might feel if they were slapped with a new fee for athletics goodies, as we learned by perusing California State University Executive Order 1034.

Regardless that the campus community overwhelmingly voted the BLR down, CSULB President F. King Alexander holds the power to impose the fee anyway. What it boils down to is an administrative power play, manipulated largely by a few insiders. There were a few suspected dungeon masters in this conspiracy.

Any student in their right mind should be pissed that the thing was treated like some winner-take-all Obama/McCain-Sarah “America’s favorite MILF” Palin campaign when the BLR was merely a survey.

This issue was essentially relegated to guerilla warfare. The Athletics Department was told, “There are no rules” and fought a no-holds barred battle accordingly. They took off the gloves and boxed bare-knuckle style.

Some of the chicanery included turning rowdy student athletes loose in the dorms pestering sleeping students in the middle of mid-term exams, celebrating victory while the election was still in process and punking students into voting ‘yes’ at the makeshift “unofficial voting” booths set up in the CSULB Pyramid.

I had tried to warn them of the implications in both editorial and signed opinion that we were putting our campus soul at risk.

There were reliable reports about swimming coaches canceling scheduled classes and walking students to the Walter Pyramid to vote.

In the end, however, the campus may have deteriorated a great deal of its essence. When ethics and fair play are overshadowed by the need to win at any cost, the money becomes secondary to benevolence.

In the arena of applied ethics, the entire CSULB community lost.

The death knell to BLR? Hardly, me thinks!!!
Enjoy the video of my homie, Tiffany Rider.

'Ahnold' takes red-eye to D.C.

2009-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

Illustration Duke Rescola and Google Images
You've been screwed, Golden State...

READ MORE BELOW!

Probably the least effective teaching strategy imaginable is to slap a student upside the head with an eight-pound civics textbook and pray they absorb California politics.

I can't believe Californians haven't seen through the glitter and glam of the quasi-red carpet persona to see that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is nothing more than the bully in charge.

It’s easy to put the broken promise of his gubernatorial years under a microscope and understand how I was able to copyright the term "Educ-Hater" (sort of rhymes with Educator) in editorials nearly two years ago.

While it began as part of an editorial about the "College Textbook Affordability Act," in 2007, I tried to warn you guys against Arnold when he was running to replace former Gov. Gray "the clerk" Davis. Now we’re $42 billion in debt and on the verge of insolvency (not an economic term as gentle as it sounds).

Schwarzenegger might be many things to many people, but to me he transcends his silver screen image; he is a wealthy ne'er-do-well intent on stepping over our corpses to be a career politician.

No sooner had he given a "Terminator" reminiscent 'thumb-up' to the vile Golden State budget and he was off to promote himself as a moderate/conservative in Washington, D.C. Hell, he didn’t even leave Sacramento before he whored himself as a redeemed national conservative by pushing to have needles quickly spiked into inmates on Death Row.

Arnold is simultaneously selling himself as a George W. Bush-type kill-'em-all-let-God-sort-'em-out tough-on crime governor and giving a "woot-woot" to President Obama's stimulus package. This is playing both ends against the middle, but it isn't because Schwarzenegger thinks it’s a Kennedy/Shriver privelege; he’s spreading his political safety net.

You have to wonder if he or his agent Lou Pitt have a soul by taking a role from Sylvester Stallone in the soon-to-be flick,"The Expendables" that Arnie is locked into. Ask yourself, fellow Californians, “Who are 'The Expendables' in this multi-gazillion dollar production, where Arnold is expected to play, ahem, a governor?" They are us.

Have you any doubt that the acting role is a result of lobbying by the film industry? Part of the California budget agreement was to pony up preferential tax cuts (notice a pandering trend) to the Hollywood machine.

And now, some Ahnold via The Simpsons

Some peanutty humor to make you hungry

2009-02-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

If this 'toon doesn't make your
mouth water for the article below,

From Google Images

Maybe this original one will:

Anybody up for grilled cheese?

Mr. Peanut delivers death threat

2009-02-13T13:52:00.001-08:00

When Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, was questioned this week by the “House subcommittee on PB&J” he seemed to have some of his tainted product stuck to the roof of his mouth.

The beleaguered peanut butter magnate, under congressional fire for the recent salmonella epidemic that has thus far claimed nine lives and made 600 others violently ill, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment on Wednesday.

The most dramatic part of the hearings came when Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) offered Parnell a taste of his own poison.

There’s lots of evidence that the Food and Drug Administration knew about the salmonella infection but failed to warn the public. This is problematic because PCA had contracts with the federal government to sell its products as part of the federally-funded free school lunch program, which feeds millions of poverty-level children.

One of the largest food recalls in history is having a rippling effect as even pet products are being yanked off of store shelves.

It’s no small wonder the goober tycoon Parnell has gone into hiding. Just three weeks ago, a Chinese court sentenced two men to death and sent a host of others to prison for last year’s tainted milk fiasco; an international disaster that claimed the lives of six children and made thousands more ill.

As a result of the untold stomach aches Parnell’s greed has allegedly caused, his company now seems on the brink of going belly up. One tragic irony is that Parnell lives in the Virginia town of Lynchburg. Hopefully, nobody will practice lynching.

George Washington Carver, the historic peanut promoter, is probably turning in his grave. Carver, told Congress in 1921, “I do not know of a single case … that complains because peanuts hurt them.” You stand corrected, Mr. Carver.

Hopefully, chocolate is safe. Depriving us of peanut butter cups is bad enough without having to worry about threatening the planet’s second greatest addiction — caffeine, of course, being the first.

Loose Cannons

2008-12-15T09:41:00.001-08:00

President-elect should cover his butt

2008-11-23T02:21:00.000-08:00

They want him to guess

Among the greatest problems with political analysis is the root of the word “analysis” itself; anal. One thing everybody can believe is that scrutiny over some of President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet considerations is going to involve, you guessed it, proctologic exams.

The snapping latex gloves of Senate confirmation are not expected to be worn by Republicans, though. Their best strategy right now is to play hide-and-wait. Many of the objections to Obama’s choices will likely come from within his own party. Democrats have to be extremely cautious — call it colonic — about Obama’s picks because this is their chance to run the board for the next decade.

It’s already established that Hillary Clinton is Obama’s pick for secretary of state. No popularity gain could be made by the elephants poking Clinton in the eye about Monica Lewinsky puffing on former-Pres. Bill Clinton’s cigar; at least not until after she’s been potty trained.

That scandal, however, might kick the donkeys in the ass on another of Obama’s possible appointments. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is riding the inside track for secretary of commerce, according to The Wall Street Journal. For him to blow past the Senate, Richardson will need to explain offering Lewinsky a U.N. “hush” job during the “Lick Willie” impeachment hearings.

Republicans in the Senate will either save the Richardson choice for a later “We told you so, America” ambush, or will use the selection objection as a red herring to upset Obama’s honeymoon.

Five miles to the outhouse

Republicans might follow the latter tactic to lure lost Latino voters back across the aisle in 2012. Many Latino lobbyists had hoped Richardson would get the secretary of state post to bolster revisiting immigration reform.

My third choice as a possible hemorrhoid is Eric Holder for attorney general. It might sound conservative, but it doesn’t take a phony psychic of Miss Cleo’s stature to read the tea leaves in this toilet. Holder signed off on billionaire tax-evasion fugitive Marc Rich’s pardon, which Bill Clinton delivered on his last day in office.

Of course, nobody ever connected any sexual dots between Clinton and Rich’s ex-wife Denise, but she was a major donor to the Clinton Library.

Another of Obama’s potential shoe-ins also has a sexy past that Democrats might object to. Janet Napolitano, the Arizona governor deemed healthy to be the secretary of Homeland Security, has a skeleton or two with sharp teeth.

Will she make it?

Napolitano was part of the team that tried to roust Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas — an appointee of former-Pres. George H. W. Bush — for allegedly sexually harassing attorney/former co-worker Anita Hill and several other women. Because of Thomas’ assuredly lingering resentment from that embarrassing hearing, the Senate might want to tread cautiously in confirming Napolitano to such an investigative powerhouse.

In fact, Napolitano’s confirmation to the Senate for her slot in Arizona was delayed because of her lawyerly involvement in the Thomas hearings, a point that won’t be lost on Senate historians or Republicans.

Still on a roll...

Regardless of the calculus Obama is using for his Cabinet transitions, it’s obvious that his promise for “change” will at some point, whether now or later, need a tough nanny to situate the box of Pampers, er, Depends. If monitoring isn’t secure on his side of the Legislature’s aisle, the other team will clearly call in the dung beetle.

Candidate’s lookalikes ‘Palin’ by comparison

2008-09-12T02:43:00.001-07:00

Looks like me!

Within two weeks of Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s announcement of Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate, the global search for her mirror images has begun in earnest.

Finding doubles to parody public personalities is a staple for late-night talk shows. Jay Leno has done it for years on The Tonight Show, even helping comedians like Brent Mendenhall — a near duplicate of Pres. George W. Bush — turn physical similarities into cottage industries.

Saturday Night Live cast member Amy Poehler regularly lampoons Sen. Hillary Clinton, even appearing side-by-side while Clinton’s presidential candidacy was still alive.

A recent Google search turned up a plethora of blogger comparisons between Palin and established celebs, like former SNL star Tina Fey.

While the blogger lauds the uncanny semblance, he admonishes that “One is funny. One is scary.” Another blogger swears Palin is an identical twin to Kathrine Narducci’s fictitious Soprano’s character Charmaine Bucco.

Looks a lot like me?

But the life of an instant celebrity can produce implications far beyond the realm of mere recognizable imagery. Scanning through photobucket.com reveals scads of people who think they are the ones who best compare to Palin. Some of these images are posted by folks who are either delusional or just plain vision impaired, or possibly both.

They range from the absurd — like “Sicko” producer Michael Moore’s face superimposed on a hairy, extremely obese body with enormous man boobs — to a voluptuous nude woman hugging a snowman.

With nearly 85,000 Google pages as of yesterday, there seems to be no shortage of people looking for women meeting the Palin glamour criteria. And there’s no lack of those seeking Palin body doubles for prurient reasons and occupation.

Looks like something I killed!!!

The candidate from the state whose state flower is the “forget-me-not” has elicited lookalike casting calls on the Internet from Los Angeles to Atlanta that she’d probably like to forget.

Provocative ads seeking women to appear in hardcore and soft porn videos are in no short supply. Some of the more crass ones have already been flagged for removal for depicting the types of “acting” counterfeit Palins are needed to perform, including one — which has since been shut down — that sought to pay a woman “tons of cash” to perform oral sex on a moose on camera.

One Los Angeles adult film producer’s ad on Craigslist reads,

NEED SARAH PALIN LOOKALIKE ASAP FOR ADULT FILM (LA)

Looking for a Sarah Palin lookalike for an adult film to be shot in next 10 days.

Major adult studio.

Please send pix, stats etc. ASAP

Pay: $2000-3000

No anal required

While much ado has been made that the hopeful second-in-command is an attractive woman, isn’t it nice to know that we don’t need to worry our pretty little heads over issues like war, the economy, health care, First Amendment rights, separation of church and state, or destroying the environment?

Our main concerns are about finding somebody who “looks” like the person trying to represent those issues.

There you have it folks. And now for a little interlude titled "The Ballad of Sarah Palin."

A 54th B-Day in the 54th AD on 5/4 at 1:54

2008-05-08T00:37:00.001-07:00

Tonia Reyes Uranga leads organizing
meeting in Cal State Long Beach Chartroom

Youthful minds realizing adult dreams

Local politics usually isn’t my bag. I’m a long-time Long Beach townie who’s listened to a lot of broken political promises. Being more than an objective observer can be dangerous, especially for a journalist-in-waiting; physically, emotionally and “careerally.”

Except for an occasional foray into several campaign headquarters, I was never impressed with the glad-handing of local politicians. I always felt empty when I left the “party,” inevitably departing with more questions than answers. I’m one of those curious types.

I decided to slake my curiosity by visiting 54th Assembly District candidate Tonia Reyes Uranga’s campaign headquarters for her birthday party last Sunday.

I’ve known Tonia and her husband Roberto for a few years, mostly as a reporter at Long Beach City College where Roberto is a trustee. I still approach politicos with the apprehension and skepticism only a journalist can enjoy.

I half expected to see a bunch of well-heeled prehistorics clambering over each other to get next to the city councilwoman groveling, “Take my picture with Tonia.” I wasn’t expecting much, to be frank.

What I observed instead of the usual hangers-on were teenage volunteers from San Pedro High School, Long Beach Wilson High School and LBCC chomping at the bit to get Uranga’s campaign in high gear.

There was a contagion in the air among these young adults and it wasn’t all about posing for cellphone mug shots or wolfing down free pizza.

In one room students were folding brochures, while in another teens were mending “Vote for Tonia” lawn signs. The room in between had a crayoned wall mural and a group of little girls happily playing with dolls.

The teens were excited about the possibility of change. What they were craving wasn’t the change being uttered by candidates on the national stage. They want things to be immediately different in their own yards and believe Uranga will deliver.

Rather than giving a long-winded speech laden with astronomical promises, Uranga offered a brief pep talk hailing the efforts of the young volunteers. She could have offered them the moon, and set off looking for donors, but opted to celebrate her 54th birthday with family, friends and supporters.

Uranga promised them she would fight with her last breath to improve their quality of life by championing education, the environment and healthcare reform.

With a daughter about to graduate from Cal State Long Beach, a son planning on attending CSULB next year and another planning "Bruinship" at UCLA, the parental concern was very palpable.

Citing that her Democratic and Republican opponents have far stronger financial support than she does to do battle with, Uranga said, “They might have a lot of money, but I have gold,” sweeping her hands toward the teens. “I’m already a winner.”

Myself being a parent of college and high school students — and believing I know what is important to their future happiness — I couldn’t help but step astride of my ego while thinking, “Now that’s a ‘mom’ speech worthy of a piece of birthday cake.”

Flatulence flying over gas tax vacation schemes

2008-05-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

Running on empty, running dry

All three presidential candidates are pumping hot air into the political fray over how to deal with high prices at the pumps.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain have proposed a “holiday” on fuel taxes for the upcoming summer travel season, while big oil enjoys a surreal all expenses paid vacation of its own.

Clinton’s plan is to call for a national moratorium on gasoline taxes (currently at 18.4 cents per gallon). McCain, on the other hand, hasn’t released details of his similar scheme, but both have fueled discontent among oil execs, economists and Clinton’s Dem opponent — Barack Obama.

President Bush said he would consider such a plan, but it’s certain the Texas oilman will only support fellow Republican St. Juan de Arizona’s deal, whatever that might be.

Current expectations are that gassing up the old jalopy will hit $4 per gallon in the next few weeks. Consumers are already fuming over the recent news that large oil companies recorded exorbitant profits during the ongoing fossil fuel crisis.

Obama, calling any moratorium a mere stopgap “gimmick,” said he is against a gas tax holiday, claiming it will only serve to further raise prices in the long run.

Oil companies are sure to drop an “F-bomb” on either Clinton’s or McCain’s strategy.

In the meantime, most of us will probably be pushing our cars down the road — out of cash and out of gas.

Heated run-off could turn into philosophical 'race'

2008-04-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Chris Chavez speaks against hatred visiting the Cal State Long Beach campus in November 2007

A campus rep with venomous tendancies
(click on picture to view a leader in action)

The recent Associated Students, Inc. student government elections were mostly positive. Not much in the way of the negative campaigning demonstrated by presidential candidates senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was visible during the Cal State Long Beach battles, except for the few campaign violations settled by the rules committee.

The unsettled race for ASI vice president, while seemingly optimistic, has begun an online flow of abusive name-calling and vitriolic accusations among supporters and detractors of the two run-off candidates, Christopher Chavez and Jason Aula.

Negative charges about each candidate have been popping up in the CSULB forum on MySpace. Many of the comments in the ongoing joust over who the best candidate may be involve racially-toned rhetoric.

One message from a Chavez supporter with the user name “Guido” calls Aula a “known Internet troll” and calls on other supporters to join him in “a fight for free and good government against the forces of idiocy and incompetence (and Jason’s resources in these areas are inexhaustible).”

One comment from “Mike” — claiming to be Aula’s “political advisor/strategist” — takes a direct attack on Chavez. He writes that Chavez isn’t fit to fill the seat because of his involvement in the La Raza Student Association, a group Aula has consistently in the past tried to evict from campus. “Mike” even ventures as far as to write that La Raza is a “latino supremacist organization.”

The hostility between both candidates’ supporters apparently emanates from the November 2007 visit to CSULB by Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist.

Now for some brief 'non-racist' iconic amusement

As the president of the Conservative Students Union, Aula invited the controversial Gilchrist to speak on campus. The reaction among most of the CSULB Latino community was to reject Gilchrist for its perception that the Minutemen promote racially-motivated hatred and bigory against Latino people as a whole.

While Aula’s conservative champion spoke inside the near empty Beach Auditorium, the hastily formed ad hoc Campus Coalition Against Hate mustered an array of speakers and a large crowd denouncing Gilchrist’s organization. Chavez was one of the student speakers against Gilchrist’s visit.

To add to the confusion, several of Aula’s past supporters, who ask to remain anonymous, question his commitment to conservative values. Aula is a campus organizer for Tuition Relief Now, which has on its agenda pushing legislation to tax millionaires to pay for rising tuition costs — a standpoint seen by many as being far left of conservatism.

Other Aula advocates have surreptitiously accused Chavez and his supporters of removing Aula’s campaign lawn signs, a charge Chavez vehemently dismisses as false.

As the run-off this week emerges, it will be interesting to see how voters decide on which candidate should be the one projecting the image of our university, and whether or not the winner will be a positive or negative public figurehead and student representative.

Setting futile threats of litigation, cultural insensitivity, academic sloth and perceptual ignorance aside, I hold no personal animosity against either candidate, ahem.

Believed to have been posted on MySpace by one of the vice-presidential candidates.

Messin’ with rural folks’ guns is ungodly

2008-04-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Hunting becomes spiritual

The Democratic presidential combatants have sunk to a new low in the battle of race and gender; they’ve started courting working-class white people in Indiana. Sen. Barack Obama dipped into the Sen. John McCain treasure trove by gaining support from a diehard Republican Vietnam veteran.

Obama mentioned David Taylor in his speech at Ball State University on Saturday. Taylor, a past Muncie city councilmember (and current delegate for the elephants), said, "There are a lot of disaffected Republicans. People are frustrated with the direction George Bush has taken this country."

Now that’s an astute observation from a Republican. Most would have thought Sen. McCain had Republican war vets locked and loaded.

It’s too soon for Obama to claim scoring a coup in Muncie, though. Muncie’s Republican Mayor Sharon McShurley snubbed Obama by not showing up at the event. Instead, she made profound statements to the press.

"I am disappointed in Obama and his anti-capitalist views." Did she just call the senator from Illinois a socialist" The mayor said capitalism needs to be "alive and well" for democracy to survive. Whew, somebody had to say it.

Let's hurt each other and ourself

Both candidates are in damage control mode. Obama punk'd folks in small-town Pennsylvania when he said last week that they were "bitter" and "cling to guns and religion." Start trashing their First and Second Amendment rights in rural communities, senator, and the ruralites will be up in arms.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was accused by her husband of being old. Careful Bill, it’s taken a long time for you to build pillow credibility after Monica. Now you’re going to say the missus had a senior moment when reminiscing sniper fire at a Bosnian airport?

In his explanation last week of Mrs. Clinton's slipped memory of the 1996 non-event in Bosnia, Bill attributed her fallacious recall to geezer fatigue. "Some of them [candidates], when they're 60, they'll forget something when they're tired at 11 o'clock at night, too," he said.

It's a good thing Hillary is awake at 3 a.m.

So much for courting the youth vote, eh, Bill? Never use your wife’s — or any other woman’s age — as a talking point. No good will come from this.

Now for a brief intermission

McCain has memory lapse

Meanwhile, St. John de Arizona is being chided by The Young Turks on Air America Radio and blogs for being wishy-washy in the old soldier department. It appears McCain's 100 years in Iraq commitment is ultra conservative to his more liberal stance when Bill Clinton ran the country.

The Young Turks compiled a stack of YouTube videos showing McCain insisting that U.S. troops be immediately withdrawn from Somalia and Haiti.

Perhaps not all elephants have good memories, it seems.

Sexy bowling, lies and video tape

2008-04-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

No pissing contest on my fence, please

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s camp is feeling the pressure from many insiders who want her to throw in the towel on her White House bid.

Pundits are asking for the stubborn senator to end the race following her miscued recollection of dodging sniper fire at an airport in Bosnia in 1996, when an actual video shows her and Chelsea taking a leisurely stroll on the tarmac.

It’s hard to comprehend why a highly-visible person would lie about such a thing, knowing there surely must be video available to the contrary.

Mrs. Clinton showed she has a sense of humor by delivering an April Fools challenge to Sen. Barack Obama. She offered the Illinois senator to settle the nomination battle with a friendly winner-takes-all bowl-off, obviously seeing a weakness in his recent pin-articulation in Pennsylvania.

Probably the least of her worries is Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a fellow Democrat, who months ago jumped the aisle to support Sen. John McCain. Perhaps the sell-out Lieberman is running interference for McCain following the Shiite/Sunni/Iran misidentification gaffe St. Juan de Arizona made during his Iraq visit.

Lieberman told the press that the Democratic Party has, “[B]een effectively taken over by a small group on the left of the party that is protectionist, isolationist and very, very hyperpartisan. So it pains me." It's ironic that Lieberman would call the Democratic nominees a "small group on the left" given his Liberal past.

It's also tragically ironic he would call them isolationist, while jumping ship to support a party insistent on erecting the "Tortilla Curtain" between the U.S. and Mexico. Lieberman probably shouldn't be billed as a coalition builder at the Democratic National Convention. He most certainly won't be the keynote speaker.

It’s easy to conceive where Sen. John McCain gets his foreign policy sensitivity. Vice President Dick Cheney effectively blew off the U.S. public with his arrogant and dismissive commentary about why the Iraq War has lasted a tad longer than he predicted in 2005.

After Cheney was told that two-thirds of Americans believe the war isn’t worth fighting, he smirked “So?” He followed that egotistical tongue wag with, “I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.”

Nice touch, Dick.

During a speech Pres. Bush gave last week heralding the success of the Iraq War, McCain added that the U.S. and Iraq were “on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism.”

Aside from figuring out how one would lose a “major victory,” we implore McCain to stop getting his information from “Tom and Jerry” cartoons. Hopefully, Bush's past speeches aren't copyright protected so the GOP knighted one can use them again, if necessary (insert mental image of somebody seriously quoting W.) .

Not long after McCain returned from his good-neighbor junket to Iraq, it was revealed that several low-level government employees had peeked at his and senators Clinton's and Obama's passport information. While the employees got either reprimanded or fired, we might expect to see that private info offered through an online auction on or about Nov. 5.

It’s a good thing McCain had already done his soft shoe in the Middle East (and that the passport employees only "peeked"), or he could still be tap dancing at the airport, gripping a tampered-with passport, trying to convince Baghdad customs inspectors, “I AM the next president of the U.S. of A., dammit. Let me back in.”

McCain is enjoying his free ride by taking a "Service to America" nostalgia tour, visiting his old haunts, touting his military heroism and virtue, showing he’s fallible and signing copies of his memoirs. Ahhh, life is good when you don’t have to fight for your political existence, eh Senator Ol’ Soldier?

Of course, McCain's nap was interrupted when he commented about his willingness to let the Iraq War last another century. The 'donkey' party was quick to jump on McCain's statement, "We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea 50 years or so. That would be fine with me. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that's fine with me." That would make McCain (drum roll please) 171 years old by the time the war ends.

Somebody needs to improve McCain's wake-up method because a mere nudge might not do the trick in a few months when his blood pressure starts fluctuating again. All of the quality face-time he's putting in now is valuable busy work, but may take its toll by the time the Dems decide who he'll battle.

Please read the headlines, St. Juan. A 'presumptive' Republican candidate-egoist can be a hard sell to an already skeptical public, unless you have an exit strategy they can witness in their lifetimes. Not having our citizens "injured or harmed or wounded or killed" would be a nice trick for some magician. Now if you only can get al Qaida and other terrorists to cooperate.

photo from movietone.com

(Actor Ray Walston, 1914-2001)

Not Sen. Joe Lieberman!!!

Is Sen. Joe Lieberman!

La revolución nunca morirá

2008-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

They eat their young -- again.

If "Help" is at the grave marker's base, it's too late

2008-03-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Should we call it, yet?

The buzzards are circling over the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Each has had to give the axe (undoubtedly with pressure and empathy) to campaign insiders who each could stand some lip-replacement surgery.

Name-calling, back-biting, knockdown, drag-out, pastor-run-amok campaign battles are a sight to see. It’s probably even nicer to see on someone else’s pay-per-view, which is exactly what Sen. John McCain decided to do this weekend by visiting Iraq; hide and watch.

It’s time to practice a little “good ol’ boy” diplomacy, while the Democratic youngsters play nasty politics. Let their underlings implode and St. Juan de Arizona will try to establish some “street cred” across the globe.

Time-out for a tiny Texas two-step

McCain’s endorsement from Pres. Bush (which was preceded with a little jig while waiting for McCain’s morning Geritol to kick in), was merely the pilot episode of how the Republicans will run the election circus.

Gramps is playing the “presumptive Republican candidate” role to the hilt. He has months to develop the patriarchal persona the GOP will demand when and if “an incident” occurs. If you want to know what “an incident” is, read the earlier blogs, dammit.

Oh, all right, “an incident” is what Republicans need to actually pull off a victory in the outside chance that no Floridian goblins are trusted with vote-counting duties.

Something as trivial as U.S. troop movement out of Iraq just when Latin American countries (one of them our ally) are posturing to blow each other to hell, for instance, wouldn’t hurt McCain — the soldier.

Anybody up for dominoes?

As if McCain’s goodwill mission isn’t enough to build conspiracy theories on, Bear Stearns crumbles and sells to JP Morgan for a pittance. Some financial pros think it could result in a downward-zooming domestic calamity, with other banks following suit.

Now that’s being in the right place at the right time, Sen. McCain. Being elsewhere — any elsewhere — when an economy teeters is wise if you’re a candidate who doesn’t need to fight for his next meal like Clinton and Obama.

Two pigeons hit with two arrows from one bow

2008-03-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

Obama, Clinton ride McCain’s mechanical bull

Sen. John McCain should be yee-hawin’ it up in Texas this week. Not only will he almost certainly nail down the Republican slot for Election ’08, but he’s gaining rock star status with the media following last week’s gaffe by The New York Times.

The Times’ McCain/Iseman blunder is causing a rippling effect throughout the legions of hangers-on press corps. The Times sex scandal failed to make Sen. McCain’s hands tremble and nobody is accusing the relic of being either a philanderer or a stud.

Sen. Clinton, on the other hand, still faces months of facetious taunts and jeers about a certain “blue dress” and “the cigar incident” should she get green-lighted to the Democratic National Convention. The conservative blog-o-sphere will chant, “Lewinsky, Jones and Flowers,” all the way to Denver.

The biggest problem facing Sen. McCain in the short stretch is whether or not he is considered a “natural-born citizen” because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. It isn’t much of a thorn at that, but is merely another red herring put out by his well-tooled war room.

Most reporters and editors are now too terrified to question anything in the old war horse’s past, including whether he is legally eligible to be president. Another scandal leaked, another scandal squashed in a hurry (at least among the journalists catching a ride on Sen. McCain’s bus).

It hardly matters which candidate takes the biggest slice of the Democratic pie this week. The Republican corner is chomping at the bit for the Dems’ winner to assail St. Juan de Arizona’s constitutional birthright to ascend the White House steps. Taking aim at his non-stateside natal origin would ultimately ring as unpatriotic.

Sen. Barack Obama’s failure to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem, or to wear a U.S. flag pin on his lapel, already makes him a moving target as a “non-patriot,” should he get the party nod.

Other red states are already using his middle name when they talk about Sen. Obama, alluding that he is anti-Semitic.

Gilley’s, no place for weak stomachs

And as if he doesn’t have enough Right Wing momentum, Sen. McCain got help this week on the international scene. Fidel Castro resigned and passed the torch to younger brother Raul. Sen. Obama said he would meet with the new Cuban president with no pre-conditions, which set off a flurry of rhetorical sniping from Castro’s U.S. counterpart, Pres. “W.”

Brushing such redundant issues as sex and patriotism aside, Sen. McCain received another push with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dropping by Baghdad for a neighborly meet and greet.

This comes during the same weekend (although they swear it’s only a coincidence) that Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, happened to drop by Iran’s once-mortal enemy’s pad for tea and crumpets. Can you feel the love?

What will the Republican voters in Texas do this week with Sen. McCain’s bid essentially set in stone? They’ll do what every Lone Star Republican worth her/his (mostly “his”) weight in crude oil would do; they’ll vote in the Democratic primary. They’ll do so to ensure Sen. McCain’s opponent will be the one THEY want to see burned by “the rocket’s red glare.”

After all, why waste one of your lifelines on Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul when you can tailor the ultimate ballot in the prehistoric guy’s favor?

How much bang do you expect for a buck, kid?

2008-02-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

N.Y. Times fails to pop McCain's balloon.

The New York Times shot its credibility in the foot with the story about Sen. John McCain and his suspected secret love lobbyist, Vicki Iseman.

McCain clearly gained the upper hand in strategy with this failed attempt at integrity assassination. Several things happened to McCain's advantage. One, the Times is now on notice to be extremely cautious with its reporting practices. They screwed up by focusing the story on the sex angle, rather than the more important lobbyist favor-pandering aspect.

The story, which was most likely leaked by McCain's own cronies, sweeps aside the potential for future negative campaigning by the Democratic survivor, whoever that will be, especially if any such negativity is generated by the Times staff.

Suspicion will loom ominously over any of the iconic paper's reportage that involves McCain's financial and/or sexual exploits. Even if scandals exist in Republican Land, they can't be exposed by the Times for fear the paper will appear to have old score to settle with old guys. It's too late to save face now, though. The editor should have tossed caution to the wind on this one by calling in Jayson Blair. At least then they'd have a scapegoat.

If an actual sex dalliance ever was scandal-sheet worthy, McCain is now clear to brush it aside. Ink has clouded the water. It's inconceivable that he will reach the porn star status that Bill "Slick Willie" Clinton achieved with Monica, but then again, that's not the image McCain wants to project.

The Times put the kibosh on criticism directed at McCain's moral standing, whether perceived or real; essentially creating a GOP martyr. The rush to scoop the New Republic, who tried to scoop the Times, who tried to scoop the New Republic, omitted two basic news imperatives; attributable sourcing and sound editorial judgment.

The next major newspaper to accuse McCain of impropriety had better have 8" x 10" glossies, a YouTube video and/or DNA evidence before committing their publication to the bottom of the proverbial bird cage.

Any accusations of courting financial deal makers (or under-the-sheet-tussles with blonde lobbyists) will be viewed by voters as desperate liberal media mudslinging. Practically every potential voter in dread of negative campaigning will reject future slams against St. John de Arizona.

Most likely, to survive in the elections coverage mix, the Times will now direct its focus on Obama slamming, much as McCain has already announced he will do. What a frightening concept; tag-team headline writing between liberal media and the conservative candidate (Huckabee is only a red herring).

Hillary's recent tirade against Obama for his mailers proved to be a big audience turn-off in Ohio -- and blue collar workers in Ohio take that crap personally. By lambasting the kid from Chicago, who consequently appeared surprised at her verbal meltdown, Hillary all but tossed the "youth-mallows" and the super-duper delegates into Obama's already raging bonfire.

It's merely a matter of months before we hear a loud sizzle and pop in the youth vote. College-age voters don't have the stamina or attention span to survive the months of confusing ads, issues twisting and name calling that lies ahead. They will become desensitized and disenfranchised before summer's end, which ultimately will benefit McCain.

The Times all but guaranteed buku million-dollar investments in the 'Nam vet's war chest. By the time mainstream evaluation of the old soldier melds with the "blogzone" rhetoric of ultracon supporters, McCain will be palming the White House Bible with a loud rendition of "I do solemnly swear...."

It appears I may have to publish one big, fat "I told you so" on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

With Chelsea in the water, whose pond is this?

2008-02-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

Chelsea Clinton could be force among college voters

In an all out war to become the leader of the known world, a candidate needs to pull out every available weapon and toss concerns about casualties to the sidelines.

Most candidates have paraded their children on stage, but understandably keep them off limits to the media and the voting public.

What’s funny is that, for the first time since the elections of the last millennium, the youth vote is deemed important. The problem with chasing young voters is that it’s difficult to measure which candidate, er, celebrity they deem important enough to trust.

Barack Obama whipped out the heavy artillery early with endorsements from Oprah Winfrey, Will.i.am and Fall Out Boy.

It’s barely worth noticing that John McCain has pulled a combination of geezer muscle and star power by gaining endorsements from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Tom Selleck. It hardly matters who supports McCain as long as “W” gives him the thumbs up.

But Hillary Clinton counter punched her co-frontrunner with such backers as Barbra Streisand, Magic Johnson, 50 Cent and Jerry Springer.

In a battle for the youth vote, all of the top candidates have courted some pop icon or another.

With Obama holding an edge in the “big-gun friends of Dems” category, it’s obviously time for Hillary to unleash her own firepower — her daughter Chelsea Clinton.

That’s right, Chelsea. The 28-year-old Clinton has been drafted into the ranks of family politics and is saying “aloha” at college campuses in Obama’s backyard in Hawaii.

Of course, this isn’t Chelsea’s first foray into the battle zone. She’s already been on the campaign trail during this rotation, but has been mostly silent. In fact, mom and dad’s former hip ornament has even made national headlines without speaking a word.

MSNBC reporter David Shuster was indefinitely suspended after suggesting that Chelsea was being “pimped out” by her parents. Shuster single-handedly made Chelsea a martyr and elevated her celebrity status with his unkind remarks.

One might think Chelsea isn’t a major force in the battle to get mom elected. Some have been critical that she’s too soft spoken. But this may play well among college students who are sitting on the fence.

A little soft touch might be welcomed after the barrage of harsh negative campaigning we’ve already grown accustomed to in this race.

Chelsea might draw empathy from the college crowds who’ve watched her grow up in her parents’ shadows.

The “aww” factor may resonate among young voters more than celebrity endorsements. Chelsea could bring both weapons to the battle ground, youth and name recognition.

The bridge gets harder to cross

2008-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Today, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed what he's already threatened; cuts in education and health care for the poor.

I consider it a great source of pride to have the leader of our student government treat me and my assistants with disrespect. It lets me know that we’ve touched a sore spot.

We ripped the scab off the wound with our scathing editorial addressing our Associated Students, Inc. silence during the announcement of this current budget crisis at the Cal State University Board of Trustees meeting. Simply put, Cal State Long Beach's ASI was a no show, even though they had the closest proximity.

ASI reps from Chico, Stanislaus, San Diego and other CSUs made the trip and voiced their objections, but our ASI apparently couldn't find its own backyard.

It was their responsibility, not only to their constituents at The Beach, but for students throughout the state. After all, the most controversial item on the agenda was Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts to the CSU and University of California systems.

My assistant editor, Simon Barta, made multiple conscientious attempts to elicit comments from ASI President Mark Andrews. These attempts went ignored. Barta was trying to get the most accurate information available.

What amounts to even less than "no comment" was the best he received from Andrews. I surmised Barta, a fellow student, must not be at the right frat party to be deemed worthy of common courtesy.

I wonder how many other CSULB students Andrews ignores or treats with disrespect. My recent guess is approximately 34,000. If I gambled I'd start an office pool.

Not one returned phone call or e-mail from a student-funded BlackBerry; another situation when ASI felt they owed nothing in the way of explanation to our student body.

Rather than issuing a statement to the Daily Forty-Niner, Andrews chose to publish an opinion piece in the Union newspaper, assailing our editorials supporting community college students and chastising ASI's lack of involvement in the budget emergency.

That’s like a supermarket reader writing to the Penny Saver about an opinion they read in The New York Times. My advice would be to write to the original publication.

To do otherwise means the author's convictions carry an unwieldy stench of cowardice. It reduces his/her commentary to mere back door sniping, but I suppose that's par for the course with this ASI.

As if to validate his middle-school, popularity contest "right to office," Andrews relayed a third-person message to me through Super Fan Jo-Ryan Salazar that I was a “whiner” and the Daily Forty-Niner is nothing more than a “tabloid.”

That’s the typical name calling and childishness we’ve grown accustomed to at our “tabloid” from many in our student government. It seems as if most mumbled when they took their oaths of office.

I claim ownership for being “whiny” on behalf of 35,000-plus students. Our elected leaders aren’t doing it.

If anything screams for student representation (insert whining here), it should be about the 10 percent cuts to the CSU being passed along to students in the form of tuition increases well into the next decade.

The presidents of our university and our student government (insert tabloid-like scandal here) should be leading the charge to protect one of the largest high school graduating classes in California history.

With forced admission caps already in place, large numbers of these high school grads will be deprived of access to our university.

They should be speaking in public for thousands of community college transfer students (insert more whining) who have been busting their humps the past few years to get here, only to be denied when they think their time has finally arrived to cross the university bridge.

Not only is Schwarzenegger’s plan to heap another burden on the backs of public education, it’s a direct violation of the guaranteed growth funding promised in the Higher Education Compact that CSU Chancellor Charles, UC President Dynes and the Educ-Hater illegitimately signed in 2004.

Why wouldn’t our elected representatives take a proactive stand by voicing our concerns? They are ASI, right? I'm also a CSULB student, so "I am ASI," right? Somewhere in the ASI title is “associated” and somewhere else is “students.”

But the part of the political nomenclature our reps are focused on is the “Inc.” Much like the old mafia group, Murder, Inc., our student leaders seem incapable of making important decisions on their own. They simply wait for a contract hit from some capo di tutti capo.

They prefer, it seems, to wait until the university president, the Board of Trustees, or the California State Student Association tells them how to group think. Rather than taking seriously their responsibilities (insert loud guffaw laughter) and spiriting the lead, our ASI takes orders.

ASI will invariably take a retro tail-between-the-legs stance against the tuition increases. They will probably try to appear as leaders (I can't wait to say "I told y'all so") by endorsing or initiating a signature collecting campaign to freeze tuitions, ahem.

The problem is, though, that this student-led initiative has been in the pipeline for several months and is picking up steam while our ASI awaits a command. This despite the fact that Students and Families for Tuition Relief Now posted our "whiny, tabloid" articles on this topic in November.

While our ASI might plan on making a grandiose announcement of their objection to this wallet attack in a week or so, more than 430,000 signatures are needed by mid-April to get the initiative on the ballot.

Consider that need with the availability of approximately 450,000 currently enrolled student signatures in the CSU system, and it becomes a mathematical urgency to start earlier. But our ASI needs to be safely led by their collective noses to represent us.

Many political pundits have suggested the only way Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain can win the election is if we have another tragic event like 9/11.

A similar metaphor could probably be applied to our current ASI leadership, which is likely saving their group announcement to “lead” us against tuition increases in anticipation of upcoming spring elections — or spring re-elections for some. With crisis comes opportunity.

It’s in the best interest of students at CSULB to reject any false springtime campaign claim that so-and-so led the way in a fight to freeze tuitions. That would be like them professing they put the fragrance in spring flowers. Waiting for permission to be an activist is following, not leading.

When Andrews and ASI finally take a position, it will be that of reactionary, self-serving spectators; not as true leaders. Pity.

A train wreck in the making

2008-02-11T01:49:00.000-08:00

The Democratic Party better watch its proverbial ass in the next few months. The ongoing fight for delegates between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama might hurt both of their chances to occupy the throne.

As many youth engage in their first presidential election (an estimated 17 percent of Cal State Long Beach students voted on Super Tuesday), this voting block leans toward a Democrat. An atmosphere of confusion is needed to draw youth away from the donkey ticket.

With the Republican nod going to John McCain -- due to Mitt Romney’s hastened exit from the race -- President Bush all but told conservatives the campaign focus will be on the war in Iraq. The ultimate conservative goal is to maintain defense spending and investment in the war on terrorism.

The McCain endorsement will piss off the ultra-conservative evangelical backers for Mike Huckabee. Bush’s recommendation is already reverberating in the ranks of neo-con youth voters who will be left to choose between a lesser of two evils; a Democrat or a rebel.

Many to the religious right don’t approve of McCain’s perceived wishy-washiness on Roe v. Wade, which sways the conservative ideology in many southern states to Huckabee’s camp.

Two strategies are implied with Bush’s early backing of McCain. The first is to present a clear-cut candidate so they can focus on campaign strategies earlier. The fact is, Republicans are in trouble and they need the extra time to circle the wagons on key issues.

Secondly, by announcing an ultimate candidate early, the elephants can kick back and watch the donkeys tear each other apart. As Obama and Clinton rip into each other, Republicans will cut and paste selected miscues in their presentations to be used against them at a later debate.

Even though we got an early jump on the election procedure, time is still of the essence. To mount formidable slash and burn attacks, Republicans need this added time element to let the donkeys make asses of themselves.

By allowing the Democrats the extended opportunity to implode, the Republicans stand their best chance of throwing either juggernaut off the tracks.

Directing 'little people' from slanted windows

2008-02-03T13:50:00.001-08:00

When acts of power become acts of abuse

It's disturbing when people in high places turn on those with little or no voice. This is the case with the campus e-mail sent Monday by President F. King Alexander about Proposition 92, the community college initiative.

I'm not as troubled that Alexander opines on an issue as I am in the spin he put on it at the Associated Students, Inc. Senate two days later.

What bothers me intensively is the manipulative nature in which he set about sending a mixed message to our community.

The original letter was sort of ambiguous as far as where he stands on Proposition 92. It appeared more like an informational message.

But he declared openly at the Senate meeting that he was not taking a stance as president of a university, but as a teacher and parent.

This public admonition is contrary to the original Monday mailing and more strongly-worded follow-up e-mail he sent on Friday. In the latter e-mail, he takes a clear stand, not as a professor or parent, but as the university president.

Much like all other measures being confused on T.V., he lists an influential list of opponents to 92. At a glance, they even seem credible. With a deeper reflection, though, they are overt in their mass paranoia of being cut off at the knees.

This is a selfish, self-serving approach and is a clear abuse of power. I perceive it as cow-towing to the whims of the CSU Board of Trustees, which I believe Alexander hopes to lead when Chancellor Charles Reed retires.

Ambition can blind judgment.

Tens of thousands of transfer students from community colleges strive each year to reach the university level to earn a higher degree. But Alexander feeds into the Educ-Hater's plan to divide higher education's once-unified lobby coalition.

In backing this assault on community colleges by advocating a "no" vote on 92, Alexander is essentially feeding transfer students to the wolves in Sacramento.

This is irresponsible as a president, as an educator, as a civic leader, and more significantly, as a parent. Current and future public university hopefuls are being dumped on and our own president is driving the truck.

Certainly, his children won't be deprived of educational opportunities. He has their backs. But what about minorities and low-income students who rely on lower-division academics to realize their hopes and dreams?

If his own children were dependent on attending community college to reach the higher plateau, his message would be differently toned. He would be eating his young with his manipulative abuse of position but, because they're not on the equity menu, the rest of our youth are edible.

Muscle can outweigh values

Young people from CSULB voting in their first election will take him at his authoritative word and vote "no" on 92. Faculty and administrators will deem his message as a threat to job security and vote against this important measure. This is fear and loathe to civic responsibility.

I spent many years at Long Beach City College trying to make it to the university system because it was the only way I could make afford basking at The Beach. My sons also must attend community colleges to knock off their lower division coursework, in hopes that they too will grab a more significant parchment.

Apparently, the view from a slanted window in an ivory tower or penthouse office is different that the one down here on the streets, where community college is the only viable and affordable escape from poverty that doesn't require firearms and chicanery.

Dad's ranting politics again.

2008-01-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

I recently took my sons on a day trip to Olvera Street in Los Angeles. My oldest, Bobby (left in the photo), had never been on the Blue Line or the Red Line trains. Neither Bobby or Darrell had been to the historic L.A. icon.

We had a good excursion, ate great food, took in some sights and, frankly, I burned their young candles at both ends. Before boarding the glider express back to the beach without waves, I started citing one of my favorite dead tree scrolls about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget crisis; the one he saved us from getting into when California struck real estate gold of '49er proportions a couple of years ago.

I figured they would be interested. Bobby is a community college student planning to transfer to a yet-to-be-determined California State University. Because he has to work a campus job to help with his books, I thought the irony of the Educ-Hater's dual scheme to offset the emergency and bust the education lobby would strike a nerve.

I knew Darrell wouldn't be overly interested in the politically-loaded plot, but then again, dust never worries about the inevitability of the vacuum cleaner and grass in the shade doesn't fret the sun's return. Little does the teenager know, the increased financial woes Arnold's assault will cause will be his inheritance in a very short time and will last a very long time.

The pulp I read to them must have appeared to be pure fiction; and not good lies at that. Within a few minutes of my tirade about the "Gov 'roid nor"-gone-amok, they were studying their arm freckles, accompanied by sound effects that only the woolly mammoth should make.

It's understandable that young men aren't utterly absorbed in their father's work, especially if the geezer's a journalist and they're into music. After all, I write about boring politics at the boring student level all of the time. "Dad's ranting politics again," they seemed to snore in unison.

Who cares if some musclebound actor wants to destroy the future of California public education, despite all the promises he made to the contrary when he was pandering votes waaay back when? What's a 10 percent slash in education here, or a 10 percent spike in tuition there among friends, right?

If Arnold succeeds in splitting the state's educational lobby into three self-preservation oriented, demonize-the-other-guy factions (the university, community college and K-12 systems), as I warn in the Jan. 28 issue of the Daily Forty-Niner (as well as several past editorials), they'll still have Sallie Mae and other eager student lenders to fall back on, correct?

As I warned them that they won't always have a dinosaur's wallet to drain, they contemplated their freckles with louder aplomb. The lady sitting between them and I laughed and laughed. I wiped the tears from my eyes. They were not tears from my hearty amusement, but rather from dread. Then only she (Charlotte) laughed.

Each time I read the governor's, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed's and/or The Beach's President F. King Alexander's spin magic that the CSU parchment is still the cheapest in the land, I cringe and ask myself, "What are these used car salesmen's yarns gonna cost me and my kids this time?"

My sons aren't the only students who will suffer if the Educ-Hater has his way. They will have plenty of company. Poverty, struggle, pain and suffering all love company. Yawn, young people. Sleep while you can, because you'll need to work several jobs at a time to pay for the governor's forgotten promises.

Why the spider?

2008-01-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

You might wonder why I chose the brown recluse spider as a symbol of what this blog is about. Allow me to briefly delineate.

Policy from any level of governance that effects us all is set with the intention of luring us into believing whatever message the source wants us to believe.

We all too often follow blind faith based on appearance and allure of the messenger, only to be trapped in a web we find difficult to escape.

This happens at all levels of the political sphere, whether it be at college, locally, regionally, statewide or on the national landscape.

Once in the web, we have few advocates to set us free.

It's my intention to strike out at institutional racism, inequity, bigotry and unfair public policy before, during and after the damage has effected minorities and the underrepresented in our society.

If we, as journalists, do not share with the public that which we feel is felonious to anybody and everybody, it is a mere misdemeanor to all but us.

What some may construe as heroic, I view as pragmatic. It's a small planet to share, but share we must.

Many conservative fundamentalists will vilify me as liberal. I embrace my humanity and look into my own eyes in the mirror each time I shave (which I do when I feel the urge).

I bear no strong allegiance to either side of a two-sided (preferably more) political joust, as long as it includes all races, ethnicities, cultures, gender preferences and a feminist perspective in the mix.

If that makes me a liberal, call me the "L" word and I will respond.

2008-01-22T21:51:00.000-08:00