Way back in 1811, almost 40 years before California became a state, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry engineered a congressional redistricting plan guaranteed to let his Democratic-Republican Party control his state’s congressional delegation. The plan – motivated in part by Mr. Gerry’s loss of a seat in Congress after opponents 10 years earlier set up a district he could not possibly … Read More
46 Years Later, Final Manson Family Roundup?
Charles Manson. Photo: CA Dept. of Corrections
Consider the criminal history of Bobby Beausoleil, 67, the latest follower of Charles Manson to come up for an automatic parole hearing. Among the lesser-known members of the murderous so-called Manson Family, Mr. Beausoleil was a Manson henchman who fled Los Angeles after the 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and movie stuntman Donald (Shorty) Shea. Caught near San Luis Obispo … Read More
Paying Later for Ah-nold’s Sins
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Photo: WENN
California has bled many millions of dollars because of the myriad blunders by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He probably should have remained a muscleman actor and never ventured into politics. Spending barely has begun on the high speed rail project he enthusiastically backed without worrying about troublesome details like its precise route or whether it can ever attain the ultra-high speeds … Read More
Condoleeza’s Lead Proves a California Axiom
Condoleezza Rice. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Condoleeza Rice, the former secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration and now a Stanford University professor, has stated very clearly she would rather attend college basketball games and help choose the college football playoff teams than be a U.S. senator. At 61, she says she prefers a secure job in academe, playing the piano in her spare … Read More
Probe of Ex-PUC Leader Peevey Began Within Minutes
Michael Peevey. Photo: indybay.org / Contra Costa Times/Karl Mondon
California attorney general Kamala Harris’s agents wasted no time after this column in late January called for a criminal investigation of the former state Public Utilities Commission President Michael Peevey. Less than five days later, investigators executed a search warrant at Mr. Peevey’s primary home in La Canada- Flintridge. Scope of the investigation might not be broad enough. Egregious as his alleged … Read More
Look for a Carousel of Initiatives When You Go to Vote
If voters get annoyed and sick of seeing paid petition circulators outside their favorite big box stores during the next 15 months, they will have only themselves to blame. Low voter turnout is one big reason to expect a larger-than ever proliferation of ballot initiatives looking to share the fall 2016 ballot with presidential and U.S. Senate candidates. If you didn’t … Read More
How Healthy Can We Be When So Few Bother to Vote?
Barely 21 percent of eligible California voters cast ballots in last fall’s election, which means 80 percent should have no complaints even if they don’t like the performances of those who were elected for the next two or four years. It’s easy to conclude this was because of apathy and ignorance. After all, polls showed 40 percent of Californians weren’t aware Gov. Brown was running. Merely 41 percent of those registered bothered to do …
Another Sneaky Obama Green Card Attack Needs Scrutiny
Green cards for spouses – that’s the latest quiet Obama administration move to please and appease the high-tech companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere who constantly clamor for more H1-B visas to bring in cheap, skilled foreign labor. The ploy sounds extremely humanitarian. However it might be little more than …
True Reason Why Brown Is Not Running for Boxer’s Seat
If the current large corps of potential candidates for retiring U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s job look to some like a gaggle of political pygmies, it might have something to do with the 800-pound gorilla lurking in their living room. That would be Gov. Brown, who could most likely have the job for the asking. There are plenty of other names, including …
Latino Votes Finally Have Reached a Life-Support Level
For the last 20 years – ever since passage in 1994 of California’s abortive anti-illegal immigrant Prop. 187 – Democrats here and around the nation have increasingly depended on Latino vote. Election results last fall showed what happens to Democrats when they disconnect with Hispanics or take them for granted. They lose, or narrowly avert defeat. Barack Obama knew he …