and WHY was there a REcall in CA? Gov Arnold says: Let them eat cake (to State Workers)

[annm4peace]

If you had been in CA during the Recall you would better understand. What occurred provides a classic example of how media and celebrity can control the outcome of an election.

Shortly after the Bush regime seized power in Washington, an Enron-led band of Texas-based energy traders swooped into CA, scamming an energy market that was ripe for the picking thanks to deregulation. The price of electricity soared by more than 400%, as an artificial shortage was manufacturer by periodic intentional shut downs of power plants and black outs. The hapless former Governor Grey Davis traveled to Washington, seeking a federal assistance in the form of price controls only to be rebuff by Cheney and the FERC which was being run by Ken Lay’s people. Desperate to provide relief to this manufactured crisis, Davis entered long-term contracts with the energy traders, creating a $12 billion deficit (under Schwarzenegger it has swelled to $20 billion).

Congressman Dan Issa (R.CA) then funded a slight Recall petition drive and when that qualified for the ballot, Arnold appeared on Leno to announce his candidacy. His star power bought him additional free air time on Larry King Live and other media shows. During the ensuing fiasco, more than 200 people entered the open-ended race for governor. There was only one debate entailing Arnold, Lt. Gov. Bustamonte, Ariana Huffington & Peter Comejo (the Green Party candidate). Bustamonte’s performance was woeful, and most agreed that Comejo performed best amongst the four--and Grey Davis, the incumbent governor was not permitted by the media to participate in the debate.

The week of the Recall, you could not turn on a single station in So. CA without seeing either an Arnold ad or one of Arnold’s movies being run--it was a complete corporate media propaganda blitz. Progressives divided their votes amongst Comejo, Bustamonte & Huffington, and Arnold won in a landslide.

[Freddie Stubbs]

1. The problem was that Gray Davis was a very unpopular Governor who

managed to get reelected by manipulating the Republican primary to ensure that his opponent would be someone too conservative for California voters.

[mulsh]

2. um Tom McClintock (R) also ran and debated that night

of all the candidates he was the only one on either side who actually tried to talk about substantial issue like the state's debt and stuff. Of course given the buffoons both sides of the stage he was easy to ignore.

which is too bad because more people should hear Tom - only job he's ever had is an elected official- decry our wasteful government. I say for jaw dropping hypocrisy always look to the repukes.