At least we dont put goat cheese, pineapple and spinich in our tacos. I don't even know of a mexican resturant in Manhattan, but if you go to the outer buroughs (Queens and Bklyn) you would be surprised.
Mexican food back east has improved greatly over the last decade or so, thanks to all the Mexicans who moved to Jersey. A damn sight better than what I've eaten up in LA. And no, bagels out here still suck. But there is good pizza in San Diego, if you know where to look for it. I've got a better idea: how about we start clearing out the idiots who hear transplants like me open our mouths and start to make nice by quoting @#$%ing Seinfeld. Or (god help me) think they can pull off a New York accent. No, I've got it: Clear out the idiots driving trucks who think they can drive 75 in the rain like they used to back home, and prove it by slaloming around the natives driving 45. Better yet (and back on topic), have them lock the @#$%ing doors to the legislature, and not feed those fools until they come up with a budget.
This started after the Dems move to end the election process during the primary. No legal wrongdoing, but not quite a nice way to do business. People are funny. We have short attention spans with long memories. If any of you think Arnold is the answer, watch Pumping Iron and see what a bastard, back-stabbing guy he really is. I think he is qualified as he is not a dumb-bell and is a success story for anyone's American Dream, but I just am sick of him already and has personal character flaws that would make Clinton blush. His best move would be to support Davis based on the legit political process and run unopposed next election. Besides, I saw T3 today. Thumbs up. Get a date who loves Arnold and you will get laid later that night.
Nope - James Hahn is the current mayor of Los Angeles. And the twits on the City Council are currently kicking his ass up and down Temple Street, but that's a separate issue.
It's on. Anti - Davis Group Claims 1.4M Signatures (AP) Depending on how slowly the S of S decides to count the signatures, it looks like we'll have history here in California.
Gray Davis Recall That's really sad news...and I am not fan of Gray Davis. Actually when I visited Cali on a fundraising trip last year I was stunned at how every left group I visited (enviros, pro-choice, labor etc) had nothing but terrible things to say about him. That said, this just sucks for Democracy. As soon as we are in a situation where people are removing politicians from office for their political actions, not ethical, we are rapidly destroying the stablility of the electoral system that has allowed America to thrive for 200 years while other countries have floundered. Coups, government take-overs etc etc are not good for the economy. They also tend to be rapidly spiraling events that happen more and more frequent and those contribute to the instablility. What's to say that the Dems won't pull the same shite in a year or two? If you have enough money any one can get enough signatures.
Re: Gray Davis Recall The precedent is terrible, and I wish this would happen at any other time in our political history (ie, one without such silly polarization), but the dude's a crook. He's just been doing things (pay for play) the other side's been doing for years, so that's not the main issue. The right does seem intent on turning us into the world's largest banana republic, don't they? I was no Clinton fan, but I thought the impeachment was just silly. Pay for play ranks higher on my list of bad stuff to do in office than getting a **************, though. Motives behind each of these "Get that tax-and-spender out of there" efforts seem suspect. This time, they're just after the right guy.
Re: It's on. Oh goody, we get to watch Gray Davis squirm. Actually, I would blame California's near future going straight into the toilet on Gray Davis more than any other single politician, and it is because of his lack of ethics. Gray Davis has shown time and again that he is willing to put the state of California into tremendous amounts of debt in order to pay off his campaign contributors, including quadrupling spending on California prison guards. Likewise, he is more than willing to force ratepayers to cover up for the corporate greed and political mismanagement known as "energy deregulation" to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Not only should he be voted out of office, I think he likely should be brought up on criminal corruption charges. You know that his political and governmental practices are completely unethical. His entire administration has been an embarassment, and he was only re-elected by 4% more voters than those who voted for that creep Bill Simon - a totally arrogant rich-kid that doesn't have a clue about government, doesn't even vote in major elections, was born with his foot in his mouth, etc.
Re: Re: It's on. That is all true. People who don't live in California and don't understand who Gray Davis is cannot begin to understand the many reasons why we must have a recall. In addition to his disastrous record in office, I can add that he has been a shameless immoral campaigner who only got ahead by spending millions demonizing his opponents by lying and exagerating their record and constantly attacking them on the most ridiculous grounds. There is a good example in today's Sacramento Bee newspaper that ilustrates well the kind of campaigner that Davis is. This is from his (failed) campaign for the US senate: Quote: 'David scorched-earth approach to politics became evident during his first bid for major office, a 1992 campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. senate. He aired television ads likening rival Dianne Feinstein to Leona Helmsley, the New York hotelier/tax evader. Flashing side-by-side photos of the two women, the RV spot's off-camera announcer intoned: 'Leona Helmsley and Dianne Feinstein? Hotel queen Helmsley misreported $1 million to the IRS. Feinstein misreported $8 million to the Fair Political Practices Commision. Helmsley blames her servants for the felony. Feinstein blames her staff for the lawsuit. Helmsley is in jail. Feinstein wants to be a senator? Truth for a change. Gray Davis, Democrat for U.S. Senate.' These are the same lying demonizing tactics that he would use to beat Dan Lungren for governor and later to assault Richard Riordan during the Republican primaries against Simon. And now he is trying to demonize those who are organizing the recall campaign. He does this because he has nothing positive to say about himself. And he is also trying to confuse the issue by arguing that a recall is bad for democracy. Somebody please explain to me how deciding the issue by a popular vote from the citizens of California, done according to the current laws of the State of California, would be an assault on democracy. That ridiculous statement is just another tactic to blow smoke over the real issue, which is Gray Davis himself. The recall effort is legal and democratic. The focus should be on Davis, his incompetence and his dishonesty.
Re: Re: Re: It's on. Look, you guys had an election less than a year ago. That's why this is bulls***. There's a running theme. Republicans are using the elements of democracy to destroy democracy. They did it in the Clinton investigations. They did it when they scrubbed 10s of thousands of legal voters in Florida. They did it in the weeks following the election. They tried it in the Texas legislature. They're doing the same thing here. Will to power.
It's on. Absolutely. The folks behind this would have pondscum seeking libel compensation if one would make that comparison in public. Now rationalize that with the fact that most Californians on this board (an interesting, if unscientific cross-section of society), or at least the ones who've spoken up, have voiced support for the recall. Left, right, up, down, and indifferent. I'm not looking forward to Gov. Haider (nor do I think he'll be elected). But Davis is a crook, and should be asked by the good people of the state of California to seek employment elsewhere. OK, I will. Direct Democracy through referrendum, while noble both in name and intent, is even more easily bought than your standard election. Facts are that one can, with a butt-load of cash, buy enough signatures to get most anything on a ballot.
[rant] This is totally fucking insane, and will result in someone becoming governor of California with something like 10-15% of the popular vote. This makes sense to anyone? That's democracy? Whoever wrote this law failed kindergarten. The whole "hey, it's legal" argument doesn't allow it to make any more sense. California's recall and initiative laws are idiotic and have completely given the state over to checkbook democracy. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded by hatred for Davis. "Davis is a bad man"? Boo fucking hoo, you big babies. You knew he was a dickhead when you voted for him in November. You failed to get involved with the process on either the Democrat or Republican side that could possibly have given you a better candidate. Instead you let Davis and Simon get nominated instead of Riordan. They hoisted shit upon you in April and May 2002, and you let them do it. Grow up and get involved in '06 if you're so unhappy. If he's committed a crime, impeach him. Otherwise you're going to end up with somebody who becomes governor with ten to fifteen percent of the god damned vote -- even Davis' seemingly bottomless approval ratings are above that. You are all crybaby idiots who got what you deserve. All 1.4 million people who signed this petition should be ashamed of themselves. They should have just given the guy holding the clipboard a dollar and been done with it. [/rant]
Gray Davis Recall I'm a Dem who's really unhappy with Davis, and am of the opinion that he's brought a lot of this upon himself. But the crop of people who are lining up to replace him in a recall election don't seem to be much of an improvement. I can't honestly see how much of an improvement Rep. Darrell Issa would be as gov. I don't think the gridlock or many of the state's woes will disappear in a Gov. Issa administration. The only people I would want to replace Davis are Feinstein, Bustamante and Riordan. The rest of the wannabes can just f--- off.
Gray Davis Recall I know it's hard....but please seperate your distaste/hatred/dissapointment of Gray Davis from the prescendence this sets. If you can point to an impeachable offenses by Mr. Davis then by all means impeach his ass. But if he has simply been a ****************** politician it is NOT a cause for a recall less than a year into his term. Why? I have been the campaign manager of 2 statewide signature gathering initiatives here in Oregon that qualified for the ballot. Both were primarily volunteer driven but we also paid for signatures. I can tell you from personal experience that ANYONE with enough money can qualify a intitiative/ballot measure/recall effort etc. The people buying the signatures are accounable to no one unlike a state rep who has to vote for impeachment. From now on this threat of recall will be over the head of any governor in CA and as much as I am positive that I would positively retch at the idea of Gahvener Ahhhnnnold, he should be allowed to serve his term IF POPULARLIY ELECTED. Do you guys/girls not see the dangerous precedent here?
Re: Gray Davis Recall No, I don't. In fact, I think all of you folks (who don't live in California BTW) are over-reacting...but this is, of course, bigsoccer finnegan, if you have such experience using the initiative & referendum process to qualify measures for the ballot, then why do you shun using the same process for a recall? Why is it okay to do one, but not the other? Don't you realize that they all come from the same period of history with Hiram Johnson and the Progressive movement of the early 1900's? While it is true that you can get anything on the ballot if you hav enough money, it is interesting to notice that this will be only the first time in 90-ish years that this has happened. It's pretty clear to me that this is about more than just a millionaire spoil-sport who felt like stirring up a little trouble because 2006 couldn't come soon enough for him. I really think that this has a lot more to do with Gray Davis. Davis has made a career out of nasty hatchet-jobs on his competition (both Republicans and fellow Dems), while not offering anything of substance about himself. It is no wonder that he has a 21% approval rating. He spends all of his campaign money (over $50 million raised for his last election - none of it self-financed - all of it requiring big-time payback in the form of favors and plum appointments and massive labor contracts, unnecessary 9-figure software purchases, out-0of-control prison construction, etc.) talking about the other guy/gal and not talking about himself or what makes him so great. Now he's screwed (and he and his handlers probably still havn't figured it out) and I'm loving every minute of it. Let him sweat a little. There are many scenarios of how this could play out that would be an improvement over pay-to-play-Gray. And even if a nut-job like Issa becomes governor, the entire state legislature and all constitutional offices are controlled by Democrats. It's not like he's going to be able to turn this state into Texifornia or anything. I say, sit back and enjoy the show. Black-out's in 2000-2001, Gray's out in 2003/2004! LOL that's funny. But last I heard our friend Jurg's Nazi-Conservative party was on the outs in Austria. People are smarter than that.
Whoa there, Obie. I think you have made an excellent case for IRV (Instant Run-off Voting). It's a great system for voting that never lets a politician win an election without earning a majority of the vote - something that Davis was not able to do in 2002 and that no American president has been able to do since at least George Herbert Walker Bush in '88, if not earlier. Can we all at least agree on that?
Perhaps we should consider that the recall law was created for a time such as this. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and things are bad here. Still, if a majority of people even now feel that Davis should not be recalled, they will win and will keep him in power. But it is doubtful that it will happen, even though a great majority in our state are democrats. That in itself should tell people something about Davis and his performance. I bet if the democratic leaders presented a decent democratic alternative to Davis they would likely win. Governor Feinsten? Hmmm. Not bad, but I don't think she'll give up her senate seat.
Just thought this should be repeated. Everyone in California knew Davis was slimy when he ran for Senate, when he ran for Governor, when he ran for reelection. I've yet to hear anyone give any convincing reason of what he's done since the election to deserve recall. You're angry about the budget shortfall? Pressure the state reps to act responsively. You're angry about the deregulation mess? Repeal term limits, which is how such a terrible bill got passed when it was written by out-of-state energy hacks. "Pay for play?" Get organized and defeat the guy in the primary, California Republicans wrote the book on how a group of insurgents took over their party. Face it, California voters and Davis deserve each other. Oh, and I'll bet that $25 million to hold the special election will look great on California's budget sheet.
I would be less against this if CA had instant run-offs, but they don't and Issa would never have done this if he required a majority of even his own family to vote for him. Besides, it's still a special election that's going to cost a nearly bankrupt state $25 million. All because (a) Californians voted for Davis less than nine months ago even though they all hated him, and (b) Issa is an impetulant prick who knows that he can only become governor if he spends his own money on an anti-Davis tirade and only needs about 15% of the popular vote. And this cocksucker is the champion of fiscal responsibility? I'm wondering if Davis can be put on the 2nd half of the ballot. This way Californians can prove their collective stupidity by mustering the majority vote necessary to recall him, but then (through the spliiting of votes among all of the other lobotomized candidates) provide the plurality necessary to put him back in office. That would be totally fucking brilliant, and totally within the script of this absurdist power play that would make Ionesco proud.
Instant Run-off Voting? Instant Run-off Voting? Mr. Bandwagon, can you tell me more? This sounds very interesting. Have any municipalities tried this in the US? Are there any other places where IRV is the voting system of the land?
I would just like to take this opportunity to say, Cali has been in a death spiral ever since they passed Prop 13. Sure, every once in a while it looks like they'll snap out of it, like when the Reagan defense buildup pumped 10s of billions of dollars into the state every year. But they can never get out of the whirlpool.
Gray Davis Recall I say to you - follow the money. It is what you always have to do with ballot measures today to truly understand the motives behind them and the money behind this effort is clearly a right-wing effort to clear the path. While I respect the I&R process as an another part of the Democratic process I think that it's original intent has been blown to hell here in the Western States. Once paying for signatures became legal in the early 90's everything changed. I will say to you that the main reason that this recall process has not been used in the last 90 years because it was just too hard to gather that many signatures with volunteers and people saved their energy for more worthwhile Initiative efforts. In fact this effort was floundering until Issa stepped in with his millions. So, while Davis is a bastard by all accounts, this really IS about a millionaire spoil sport who has a extreme right-wing agenda. What is to prevent Unions in the future from financing their own recall effort when a Republican governor proves unpopular?
Re: Gray Davis Recall Around this time in 2005, when the state is in the exact same budgetary quagmire under the Issa administration, those unions just might do it.
Now if (and probably when) Davis is recalled, does he have any legal recourse at all. Or is he just out of luck.