by Jonathan Herschfield, 10-1-03

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State of Emergency

A great source of humor stands a serious chance of becoming a great source of disappointment in a few days - disappointment not only as it pertains to the economy and policies of California, but as it pertains to the very legitimacy of our nation’s democracy and our political parties.

It doesn’t seem to bother anyone that our president’s grandfather was a Nazi financier, so it shouldn’t bother us that Arnold’s father was a Nazi storm trooper (although it would be nice if the media mentioned it as many times as they mentioned Bustamante’s mispronunciation of the word Negro). But it should bother us that Mr. Schwarzenegger is a liar and a hypocrite.

This is a man who goes on television badmouthing the Indian gaming industry and other “special interest groups” for their evil donations. Interesting how Schwarzenegger’s only claim to political fame is Proposition 49, which was financed partly by Tribal Funds. This is the after-school program proposition in which nobody gets a dime unless the government has some ridiculous surplus it will never have. Good work, Arnie!

So am I correct in noting that Schwarzenegger’s major political platform is that the government isn’t taking enough from… NATIVE AMERICANS? This, while their legislatively guaranteed health insurance amounts to less than we give federal prisoners. Oh, Enron had too much responsibility, but the Indians aren’t paying their fair share! What exactly is his plan to siphon money from the sovereign tribal nations?

Schwarzenegger may not understand how government works (as Bustamante is quick to point out), but you have to give people incentive to cooperate with you. If and when he’s “elected”, he’ll have to work with a Democratic legislature, as well as several different kinds of interests. Will they be ready to jump to his commands after being slandered on television?

The other white meat, Tom McClintock, is a crazy right-wing (insert expletive here). We know this. But crazy right-wing politics aside, he’s also a state senator and a conservative Republican Party loyalist for over twenty years. His views, like them or not (generally not), accurately represent the views of his political party. Then why has the party chosen to endorse a moderate actor instead?

If a political party fails to produce a candidate that accurately represents the political ideology of that party, then what is the point of having a political party? Has it occurred to anyone that all they want is to win and they couldn’t care less about addressing the issues of their constituents? This irresponsibility should lead to more of their sheep jumping ship when they realize the Republican Party only serves the interests of a handful of corporations and not this generalized “business” they keep talking about.

But I digress. We should all vote no on the recall and hope the whole thing blows up in their smug Republican faces. We all know Davis is crooked, but until this so-called President is impeached, you’re really being insincere demanding a recall here. And while it’s true that many businesses are leaving California for Republican states where the people pay higher taxes, but businesses don’t, the California economy is not as messed up as the Republicans are making it out to be. Take a look at the national averages and tell me honestly that California is in much worse shape than the others.

Yes we have problems with energy deregulation, but this is a function of the feds not holding corporations accountable for felonies – and not just because of Gray Davis. Yes, he takes money from special interests. Yes, it’s all true. So let’s vote him out in a real election and replace him with someone we choose – not someone imposed on us by irresponsible Republicans.

Now, preliminary polls have suggested that the recall will pass and that Schwarzenegger will beat Bustamante. But let’s keep in mind that while the major media loves displaying these numbers, they are totally skewed. Not that anyone would notice, but about half the people Gallup interviewed are Republicans. Well, that’s nice – considering Republicans only make up 35% of California.

But let’s say the recall passes. Who are you going to vote for? The well-intended but underqualified Huffington and Ueberoth are out. So realistically that leaves Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, Camejo and Gary Coleman. Camejo is a great man and fights hard to push for a standard most of the world has – runoff elections. This means you keep voting until someone has more than half of the will of the people. Fantastic. But we don’t have this and that means Camejo can’t win (this time).

I don’t agree with the philosophy that a vote can be wasted unless you’re really voting for someone you don’t believe in at all, someone that truly offends you, but only less than, say, an idiot. People who blame the Green Party for Bush’s “election” when a few thousand votes in Florida went to Nader while nearly 100,000 voters were erroneously and illegally identified as felons by a corporation hired by Florida Republicans – are missing the point. And Democrats who don’t also blame their selection of a truly pathetic candidate that year are missing an even bigger point. But regardless, the Greens of California could have voted for Nader a billion times and the state would still have gone to Gore.

But in this case, if the recall passes, a vote for Camejo is a little unrealistic. I voted for Camejo last time when Davis was up against crazy right-wing nutbag Bill Simon and, as expected, Davis won and the Green Party grew. I’m not even saying Bustamante is the better man (although he is technically more qualified as the people’s elected Lt. Governor for several years). I’m saying, for reasons I’m sure aliens will explain to us when they finally invade, Schwarzenegger may win unless we support Bustamante.

Bustamante does not agree with Davis on everything, but he is part of the machinery and we may not agree with every position he holds (like raising taxes on my compulsive drinking habit). And yes, he took money when he probably shouldn’t have (although he is investing all of it to fight the racist Prop 54). But he is qualified and Schwarzenegger is not. End of story.

In addition, with the millions of taxpayer money already spent on this Republican adventure, a Schwarzenegger “win” will mean millions more in a longer, more legitimate recall - once again. Ask yourself if we’re doing any worse than the rest of the country. Then vote no on the recall. Then, just as a contingency plan, vote for Bustamante. You probably already did this once before. Think of it as voting against the recall twice.

This is a game to Schwarzenegger and it’s obvious. Let’s not let him play. What’s next? Rush Limbaugh doing sports?