Category Archives: California Gov Recall 2003

What The Shrub Can Learn From The Gropinator — Oops, I Mean Governator

This one’s a little late getting up, but better late than never.

Recall Lessons for the President

By Howard Fineman for Newsweek.

It would be nice to think that the ending of Election Day here will bring peace to the politics of California, and to the country. It would be nice, but wrong. Don’t expect an end to partisan rancor, voter anger and alienation, here or elsewhere. This state’s political warfare will resume long before Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger actually takes office. And the same forces that are shaking Sacramento could materialize on the doorstep of the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave…
But in an odd but important way, the Arnold victory could be an ominous message for President Bush. There is a straight line of voter protest running from Ross Perot through John McCain and on to the Internet-based campaigns of Wesley Clark and even Howard Dean. To some extent, all were or are powered by a sense of voter alienation from the centers of authority in government politics-whether those center are in Sacramento or Washington, D.C. The bigger and more remote the government, the more ignored and misunderstood the voters feel.

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John Perry Barlow: From Burning Man To Running Man

Man does John Perry have a way with words.

If someone like Karl Rove had wanted to neutralize the most creative, intelligent, and passionate members of his opposition, he’d have a hard time coming up with a better tool than Burning Man. Exile them to the wilderness, give them a culture in which alpha status requires months of focus and resource-consumptive preparation, provide them with metric tons of psychotropic confusicants, and then… ignore them. It’s a pretty safe bet that they won’t be out registering voters, or doing anything that might actually threaten electoral change, when they have an art car to build…
Hey, maybe he’ll turn out to be a terrific Governor. Weirder things have happened, and lately in abundance. Maybe he will demonstrate such administrative genius that he will surgically remove 9 billion dollars of fatty deposits from California’s budget without devastating public services. Maybe he will get the state back on track without either raising taxes or holding Enron accountable for the billions they swindled from his state.
But I kind of doubt it. This is a man who wanted to be adored just like Hitler, as he himself put it. This is a man whose record of boorish sexual impositions would bar him from employment in any Fortune 500 company. Not only is he macho, he *is* macho. He is arrogant, distorted, and possibly the most narcissistic person in Hollywood. (Which would make him, I guess, just about the most narcissistic person in the Milky Way galaxy.) His primary assets are good bones, great teeth, killer name recognition, and a wife whose loyalty exceeds even Hillary Clinton’s. Yet the people of California turned out in record numbers a couple of Tuesdays ago and gave him everything but a blowjob.

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The Results Are In – We Lose, But The Fight Has Just Begun

Well guys, we tried hard, but we were outnumbered by the sheep.
However, it’s not over. If I understand correctly from the little birdies I know, the next step is Recalling Arnold. People will start collecting signatures soon so keep an eye out.
This isn’t over yet. We won’t just hand our state’s future over without a fight.
It may seem a little silly to go around and around like this, but they started it.
In the mean time, try to keep your spirits up. At least Prop 54 didn’t pass!
I’ve got to go to a meeting this morning at my local elementary school, where I’ll be starting soon as an SF School Volunteer (more on this later). Then I’ll be back to upload some more new music to help get our minds off of this negative stuff.
Peace,
lisa

Watch This Clip Before You Vote Today – Arnie’s Groping Confession and Helpful Score Card (Including Bizarre Vagina Requests)

Wish I’d had a chance to put this up over the weekend, but I just got back into town late tonight.
A friend of mine and I were discussing the idea of creating a “groping index” of sorts that might be useful to help keep track of the 16 sexual harassment complaints about Arnie that have come in so far — and the rest that are likely to start pouring in over the next few weeks.
Little did we know that Jon Stewart had already begun just such an index last Thursday night!
This is from the October 2, 2003 program.
Jon will be providing live results from the election tonight! Don’t Miss it!

Arnie’s Groping Confession and Helpful Score Card (Including Bizarre Vagina Requests)
(Small – 4 MB)





The Daily Show
(The best news on television.)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Groping Narcissist?

Doug McGuire is a consultant, entrepreneur, and self-proclaimed “writer wannabe” who has taken the time to put the following essay together about Arnold Schwarzenegger, which he has entitled “The Groping Narcissist.”
McGuire’s done a fair amount of research on this article, and I felt it was worthy of bringing it to your attention before the vote tomorrow.
The transcripts included were borrowed from www.burrelles.com.
The full text is available below. It’s not available online – he just sent me a DOC file in an Email. Doug can be reached at Damac57@cs.com.

But does Arnold have the politically savvy to win in California? Oprah

Seven Reasons From MoveOn To Vote Tomorrow

Here’s a message from MoveOn about why it’s sooooo important for you to vote tomorrow in the California Recall Election.
I’ve rearranged them a bit because I still believe that Arnold’s connection to the energy crooks (here’s Greg Palast’s Info on this issue) is the most important reason to not trust this guy as governor.

Dear Friend,
Please forward this email to anyone you think should read it — this is once again a very close race and tomorrow every single vote will count. Also keep in mind that many usual polling places will be closed this election. You can click here to look up your polling place. And forward this to your friends so they can look up their polling places as well.
Seven Reasons Why You Absolutely, Positively MUST Vote on Oct. 7:
Ed note: I’m putting #7 first because I still feel it’s most important:
7. Because Schwarzenegger STILL hasn’t explained why he met with Enron’s Kenneth Lay at the height of the energy crisis. Schwarzenegger attended a meeting of top business leaders and Republican politicians on May 17, 2001 that was apparently held to thwart a Davis-Bustamante plan to recover $9 billion from energy companies. He still hasn’t explained why he was there or whether his candidacy for Governor was discussed at that meeting. And he’s refusing to talk to reporters in these last days of the campaign. (San Mateo Times, FTCR)
1. Your vote matters. If you don’t vote, Schwarzenegger becomes your governor. It’s that simple. A poll conducted Wednesday through Saturday showed support for the recall and Schwarzenegger dropping fast. This election could be decided by a very small number of votes. We can win this, but your vote is absolutely necessary. (
The Mercury News
)
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Pete Wilson sequel. Governor Pete Wilson grew state spending much faster than Gray Davis ever has. Worse, he championed energy deregulation and in 1996 signed the bill that deregulated energy in California. Wilson opened the gates to let his energy pals rob the state blind. And now he and his former team are running Schwarzenegger’s campaign and choosing his policies. Even more troubling: Schwarzenegger seems to be in bed with the same energy interests as Wilson (See #7). We want to see Terminator 4, not Wilson 2. (Horowitz, Conason)
3. We have no idea what Schwarzenegger is going to do with California, and neither does he. He doesn’t have a plan to balance the budget. He hasn’t said what cuts he’ll make or what taxes he’ll raise. California needs a real leader, not someone who plays one in the movies. You may be frustrated with the way things are now — but if Schwarzenegger had a plan to make them better, don’t you think he would have told us about it?
4. He lied about taking money from special interests. The night he announced his candidacy on the Jay Leno show he told us, “As you know, I don’t need to take money from anyone. I have plenty of money myself.” He then turned right around and accepted over $10 million not from “special” interests, but rather, as he explained it, “business and individuals, absolutely. They’re powerful interests who control things.” (Saramento Bee,
CNN)
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger might belong on the sex offender registry, but not in the governor’s mansion. So far 15 credible women have come forward with stories of being physically assaulted by this man — some only a few years ago. He has not denied some of the stories (in fact, he said “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”). He has tried to chalk his mistakes up to “rowdiness.” But these incidents constitute a string of crimes that would land anyone except a multi-millionaire actor in jail and on the sex offender registry. (Los Angeles Times, Newsday)
6. The Nazi stuff is serious. Who care’s how long ago it was that Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he wanted to have an experience, “like Hitler in the Nuremberg stadium, and have all those people scream at you and just being in total agreement with whatever you say.” That’s scary! And now nuns are being roughed up at Schwarzenegger rallies. A film maker who worked closely with Schwarzenegger in the 70’s says he saw him playing, “Nazi marching songs from long-playing records in his collection at home.” At his 1988 wedding Schwarzenegger toasted a confirmed Nazi war criminal, Kurt Waldheim, saying “My friends don’t want me to mention Kurt’s name, because of all the recent Nazi stuff and the U.N. controversy, but I love him and Maria does too, and so thank you, Kurt.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! (New York Times, Slate, Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times)
Thank you,
— Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn PAC Team
October 6th, 2003