Volume 2 Issue 120

August 7, 2003

Mayhem

California goes from bad to worse, there's still a war in Iraq, and don't go in the water...you'll freeze

Wow. That's really all I have to say. After the political explosions the last 24 hours in California, villagers in Iraq must be reading their papers and saying "Do we really want a democracy?" I mean, I'm all for democracy, but this is getting ridiculous. Over 500 people will now likely run in the October election to recall Grey Davis, and a recall became more and more likely with the declared candidacy of former Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger (whom the LA Times this morning referred to in their lead as "best known for playing a killer robot in three "Terminator" movies") who faked out the world by announcing on the Tonight Show that he would run for Governor, after almost everyone (myself included) had decided he was out.

After Arnold went in (Note: I doubt I will figure out how to spell Schwarzenegger with any accuracy, so to prevent mistakes and save time, I will refer to him as "Arnold". Unless Schwarzenegger is in my spell check, which will freak me out.) all sorts of Democrats came out of the woodwork to run, including the Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, Muckracker and hell raiser Arianna Huffington, and so on and so forth. In addition, a stripper from LA is running, a 22 year old college student, Gary Coleman, Larry Flynt ("Vote for a Smut Peddler who cares"), and God knows who else.

It's gotten so ridiculous, that today there were two must-reads about the unprecedented level of electoral wackyness. In an LA Times piece, the State Librarian is quoted saying ""I have defended California in season and out, but I'm throwing in the towel this time," says Kevin Starr, the state librarian and author of several California history books. "We sort of deserve it this time, don't we? You've got a leading candidate deciding or not deciding on Leno. This is a society melting down into deliberate self-parody."" -
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-circus7aug07,1,1102700.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The Washington Post also had a great piece joking that after Arnold's announcement, "At which point, the studio audience screamed and their heads exploded, spattering blood everywhere. (OK, OK. Maybe they'll add that part, with CGI, in the movie version.) ". Hank Steuver also wrote "Talkin 'bout the collapse of the golden land. California is behaving badly, like a disheveled celebrity gone off her meds. Broke and bipolar, babbling incoherently into an invisible phone; toothless and trespassing and asking for help. Orange jumpsuit; darkened roots. Dumped by both her agent and her publicist. The state is as obsessed as ever with fresh starts and extreme makeovers. " Steuver has always been a genius writer, and this piece is fantastic. He details some of the lesser known candidates as well. It is truly the piece of the day, that captures best the madness along the daily routine of life in California -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25988-2003Aug6.html

Perhaps it's best captured best when Steuver says "Every day in California now begins with Control-Alt-Delete. Fresh starts, fresh anarchy, fresh fed-upness." Which makes it sound like such a wonderful place. Perhaps I should go out there for this.

Oh, and by the way. I am saddened to report that Schwarzenegger is actually in my spell check.

California Mayhem: Arnold is in! Feinstein is out! And look who's also running - Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante! And Democratic Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi!
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/national/07RECA.html?hp=&a mp;pagewanted=all&position
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-recall7aug07,1,5633864.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/08/07/MN96768.DTL

And Gary Coleman is in!
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/06/candidate.coleman/ index.html

And Peter Ueberroth!
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/07/recall.ueberroth/i ndex.html

Is Davis Screwed?
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-analysis7aug07012425,1,7987415.story?coll=la-home-headlines

In Mickey Kaus' words, "the Dam has burst" -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2086666/

Arnold was pretty good about how he announced, making everyone think he wouldn't run and then, boom! It shows that politics is at least half theatre as well as policy -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/07/MN156039.DTL

The Davis dirt machine will certainly now go active on Arnold, with charges like this story from July disclosing that Schwarzenegger's father was a Nazi Party Member in Austria, though Jewish groups defended the movie star -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/13/MN243790.DTL

Still bleeding in Iraq: In one of the largest attacks since the end of the war, at least 8 were killed in a Baghdad car bombing today, and 2 GI's were also killed in another incident -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/international/worldspecial /07CND-IRAQ.html

Another Country: After weeks of anticipation yesterday the US entered Liberia...with 7 Marines. While this is actually good (smaller training forces that are highly mobile and work with forces on the ground are better than large scale invasion forces), it is kind of anti-climatic -
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030806-113742-3704r.htm

Rumors? Is Bush screwed if Colin Powell does leave the administration?
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/6474825.htm

Look Who's Running for President: It was Dean Meet-up day yesterday -
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m080703k.h tm

Look Who's Running for President 2: OK, people stop with the Al Gore thing! Mario Cuomo is the latest to say Gore should run -
http://www.adn.com/24hour/politics/story/961804p-6740066c.html

An Annual Ritual: It's 2003, and we've yet to come up with a way to make college roommates totally compatible. That's right, it's time for the annual roommate selection story in the NY Times!
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/technology/07ROOM.html?hp= &pagewanted=all&position

Brrrr! It's another hot and humid summer on the East Coast. So you pack up the car, and head to the shore. Maybe in NJ, maybe MD, or perhaps the Outer Banks. Then, the moment of joy. You head down the beach to dip your toes in the Atlantic Ocean. And then...a sudden rush of pain, as the 55 degree water hits you. That's right, in the last week, the water temperature off the Mid-Atlantic coast has suddenly dropped 20 degrees, baffling scientists and pissing off vacationers -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25865-2003Aug6.html