Why wasn't Davis investigated too?

[Moogie]

The LA News reports that the LA Times "buried" a story critical of Gray Davis.<br><br><table width="90%" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" bordercolor="#63635A" bgcolor="#E7E7E2" align="center"><tr><td style="font-size: 12px; font-style: italic;">I couldn't have been more shocked to see the lurid stories about Arnold Schwarzenegger and the things several women allege he uttered or did to them. But it wasn't over the allegations, which I had read much of in a magazine before. I was most shocked at the Los Angeles Times.<br></td></tr></table><br><br>Here's the <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~24781~1676763,00.html"><b>link.</b></a><br><br>Any thoughts? This type of things seems to happen on every election.<br><br><br><br>

[rsbriggs]

Mostly, I find the timing of the story rather suspect. Given that many of the claims are 20+ years old, and completely unprovable, it's both "amazing" and completely unaccepatable that they didn't start getting reported until 6 days prior to the election on the aptly named, "Dirty Tricks Thursday".

Obviously the LA Times had ulterior motives and a political agenda that was served both by the release of the allegations and certain other things they conveniently forgot to report. They're losing lots of subscriptions over it, and their journalistic credibility has suffered, as well it should. This kind of crap should put them completely out of business AFAIAC.

[Chinasaur]

The Republicans give us Watergate, Iran-Contra, latest Iraq war where we spend $160B lose hundreds of lives over oil, NO WMD found and all people want to do is bash Democrats. They spent years dragging Clinton through the mud over Whitewater but they won't lift a finger to investigate the crime committed by somebody who leaked a CIA agents name. Republicans puta Felon (John Pindexter) in charge of the Gub't TIA (Total Informaiton Awareness) program ... "Gee..sounds like a good idea to me Dubya...let's do it!!!"

ALMOST NOBODY in this country is awake. The Puritanical mindset of this country is still working. Lie, cheat and steal; send your country to war for Exxon, but By GOD don't YOU EVER!!!! have anything to do with SEX!!!!! "Or we're gonna git ya!!!". Ronny personifies this pathetic mindset in his letter where he (not a quote..I didn't bother to memorize it) "thought there was something evil about sex...". OMG, and this guy was responsible for Iran-Contra but never took responsibility for it. And yes yes I know, Clinton lied, and he deserved what he got for it... but they ALL lie..only some of them don't get caught.

I'm not defending people who actually commit sexual harrassment(sp) but @#$ Almighty...can we get our priorities straight first?!!!!

America deserves the government it gets because most of the sheep just don't care.

[prokaryote]

Originally posted by Chinasaur

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America deserves the government it gets because most of the sheep just don't care.

Couldn't agree more!

Maybe that's why I turned from being an idealist to a cynic. If nothing else, I at least vote every election so I can still feel justified in complaining! :D

[tim]

Didn't more people vote to throw Davis out of office than voted in the last election? 70% of registered voters make it to the polls to vote on 2 ballot props and a governator, as compared to, what, 40% in the last election? And they don't care? Granted, the previous administration presided over a nasty decline in the state's fiscal situation, and tripling the car tax didn't help, but still, 70% voter turnout says the average citizen, when confronted with a crisis, cares enough to do something about it.

[prokaryote]

By going with this example, it shows just how short sighted the American public is, it only cares about a "crisis" when it bites them on the backside and when the solution s become extremely unpalettable, in other words lets look for someone to blame for our problems that we've been ignoring for years. What cuts it in my mind as a crisis are the everyday issues facing American politics and government that we can do something about now. These have long term effects that will be nearly impossible to pull out of if something isn't done now (Social Security, medicare medicaid, Infrastructure (electrical grid, roads and bridges, safety and protection, education)) etc., yet only 44% of the American registered voters have managed to pull their arses off of the couch since 1945 to go out and educate themselves about important issues and vote. That to me says that no they don't care, but they sure want someone to blame for the easily preventable crises that they will face in the future. As long as there's a scapegoat to point a finger at and rid themselves of any culpability then yes they'll turn out in droves.

[tim]

Yes, I think that's an accurate assessment of where the public is. But yet there is some civic spirit (or star attraction) that can get that big turnout.

An interesting question: why the apathy today? Could it be a byproduct of the affluence of the post-WWII era, concerned about getting and having nicer than the Joneses, and the peace that let folks concentrate on their own lives, now that (as they perceive) they are safe and untouchable in fortress America? Even the cold war was a distant idea that never really seemed tangible. Just bomb drills and vague fears. And their children learned that attitude from their parents, into generations, that the country is safe and strong and nothing to worry about. Coups and revolutions were for other countries, not for us.

Just an idea, I wasn't alive then. Any others?

[pointwood]

I find this one interesting too: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16902

[Dyyryath]

I find that intriguing, too, but the style in which it was written seems just a little too acerbic to be taken without an extremely large grain of salt. It sounds like something I'd like to know more about, but I'd like to get the information from somewhere other than the writer or his sources...

I generally consider myself a republican, though in reality I'm probably more of a moderate or independent. I tend to have little use for people at either the far left or far right of the political spectrum. In fact, I have little use for anyone who is sure they always have the right answer and that everyone else is wrong. Zealots make me nervous.

I'd have voted for Arnold if I were a California resident. Obviously, there isn't really any way to know what he's really about, but I tend to agree with most of the things he says he's going to do. I hope that he's as capable as the image he projects.

[pointwood]

I would probably have voted for Georgy: http://www.georgyforgov.com/index.php

[Dyyryath]

I'd seen several articles about her on slashdot. I found them interesting, but didn't consider her seriously due to her age. It's funny, actually. When I was younger, I didn't think age should be such a consideration, but as I get older, I've gained a little more perspective on how much a person can gain with life experience (in any capacity).

[pointwood]

I guess I'll find out in some years :D

You're probably right though, she lags experience. I do believe though, that she could do it just as well as Arnold...

[Dyyryath]

If human perception wasn't a factor, perhaps so. Unfortunately, any time you have to deal with others (especially people in positions of influence), how they perceive you becomes a major issue. All other skills & intellect aside, she would probably have had a much harder time convincing stubborn legislators & lobbyists to listen to her than Arnold will.

Arnold may face the same issue, albeit on a much smaller scale simply because he is a political 'outsider'. It remains to be seen how much of a factor that might be...

[Moogie]

Well, I voted against the recall.

:rant: Davis is an egotistical jerk, who thinks highly of himself, and makes promises that are well out of his reach:rant:

That being said, IMHO he did nothing to warrant a recall. There are those who would feel that "doing nothing" is reason enough. :D There was no evidence of any crimes/misdameanors. What Davis is guilty of is opening his mouth, and having all the personality of a dead fish.

But, we're speaking of California where it's pretty simple to get a recall on the ballot.

The fact of the matter is, most of the problems that the "anti Davis" folks are complaining about were already in place BEFORE Davis took office. No matter how much you may dislike him, he didn't CAUSE the problems...but, then again, I can't see where he did anything to make them better.

We elected him (well, I never voted for him) to office. Unless he has done something unscrupulous, we have to live with it. To me, this was a waste of tax payers money, to say the least. And it's well known, we have a huge budget deficit here...and we just made it worse.

As I see it, California has 3 looming problems (this is only skimming the surface):

1. Insane real estate prices. I live in a town-house that I bought back
in '97. By 2000, the value of the joint had appreciated by 50%. For a
regular single-family house, that figure was 75% in the same time-frame.

2. Schools have been, and still are, having some severe problems here in
California. So bad, in fact, that my kids are enrolled in a private school
at a price that stings.

3. While the SF Bay area is beautiful, with a wonderful climate and truly
spectacular natural attractions (think Yosemite and the Northern California
Coast, just for starters), the Bay Area is also becoming almost unbearably
crowded.

4. Don't even get me started on the energy crisis.

I think that Arnold was elected because he is not "politics as usual." We are so sick and tired of all of the taxes, and the problems and promises.....we were looking for something different. Whether Arnold will be able to do the job or not remains to be seen. The people have spoken. Arnold is in, Davis is out.

I say, let's move forward and get on with it.

[tim]

Moogie, I agree completely. Let's move on. The CA recall law is written such that the gov could be recalled just for being ugly. Whether or not Davis merited it, what's done is done.

One thing Arnold has that most politicians don't: he's a star. The media observers have been saying all campaign long that more cameras followed Arnold's campaign than that of any politician ever in CA. So when he goes to the Dem. controlled state assembly (and his Lt. Gov. Cruz) and says "these are my promises to the people who elected me, you enact legislation" and they balk at it, he can go directly to the people, over the heads of the legislators and right to downtown Fresno, Sacramento, LA, SF, whatever, and get his message out. I think he'll be able to rally public support for his agenda like no governor before him, including Reagan. He may imply publically that if the legislators don't follow his leadership, the people who voted him in with a clear mandate (that being that they don't want business as usual politics), those same people will vote reluctant legislator out next election. I heard Bustamonte on NPR just after the election, and said "cooperation and compromise, but not capitulation." The public's support for change generally and Arnold specifically may force Cruz et. al. to change their definition of capitulation.

[Moogie]

I have to admit, it's going to be interesting to see how Arnold deals with all of those democrats. :D

His choice of the transition team is an interesting one. Tom McEnery is part of it and he has NEVER liked Davis. That dislike goes back to when he (Davis) was former Governor Jerry Brown's (remember Governor Moonbeam, who is now Mayor Moonbeam in Oakland?) Chief of Staff.

Of course, I don't particularly care for Mr. McEnery myself, but I have to say he is rigidly honest which is hard to come by in a politician.

[Fozzie]

Nice to see your political process is as f**ked up as ours.

Lies, lies, bribes and more lies.

Democracy is something that is an ideal and not a reality.

Once poeple get elected they look out for no.1 and forget (mostly) the poeples who put them there.

Power corrupts it always has and always will.

Can't do anything about it until we get rid of money and the ideas of wealth. As that will never happen the world will continue on as it has for countless generations.

Humans taking and not giving until a the big one hits the planet and the cockroaches have their turn.


:shocked:

[pointwood]

I think Douglas Adams has said it best:
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. :D

Ps. I wanted to find more of that part where the quote is from, but I couldn't find it :(