[10-Ring]

I couldn't watch the entire thing. My son asked me if I realized I was yelling at the TV :rolleyes: :cuss: Oct 7 won't get here fast enough!

[winstonsmith]

I vote for total recall ...

If I could vote yet anyway.

[El Tejon]

Best wishes to our friends in California.

The Socialists have made a huge mess; time to clean it up!:cool:

[4570Rick]

For those unfortunate enough to have seen Joe Gumby's soliloquy, I have a question.:confused:

Who has more personality, Gubber-Naught Grey-out Duffus or a Bridge Piling?:neener:

[Malone LaVeigh]

The Socialists have made a huge mess; time to clean it up!Socialists aren't a factor here. The two wings of the corporate party made the mess, by doing the bidding of Enron and the other energy companies.

If Davis had any sense, he's point out that the person who started the mess is none other than Arnold's #1 advisor, Pete Wilson. He's the one that signed that idiotic deregulation bill.

[rick_reno]

10-ring and Winstonsmith are confused. They still think they're going to vote in this thing.

Gumby, with his sidekick Bill Clinton advising him, has this one wrapped up. Remember the 2000 presidential election? Remember the Gore (Clinton was advising him then too) strategy? I'll spell it out for you

If you can't win at the ballot box - and lets be honest, there is no way Gumby could win on Oct. 7th - you win in the courts. They're doing a bang up job of winning the court battle.

The ONLY vote that counts in this election is the judges vote.

[El Tejon]

The Socialists are the ones who created the Welfare State to which California is addicted. The Socialists are the ONLY factor in California's mess.

[hammer4nc]

If you can't win at the ballot box - and lets be honest, there is no way Gumby could win on Oct. 7th - you win in the courts. They're doing a bang up job of winning the court battle.

I haven't been following too closely, but hasn't the court decided NOT to intervene in the Oct. election? I read one story where they ordered that absentee ballots not be mailed out, but other than that, nothing. Can someone post an update? Is the Oct. election still being contested?

[rick_reno]

Hammer-4nc wrote "Is the Oct. election still being contested?"

Of course it is. And this isn't the end of the legal dance by the Davis/Clinton camp. This one won't be over until all the judges have ruled who gets to run Kalif.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/19/recall.court/index.html


ACLU asks delay of recall vote
Decision could come later this week
Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 3:49 AM EDT (0749 GMT)

Six counties without electronic voting machines have high concentrations of minority voters, ACLU says.

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Davis is borrowing a page from former President Clinton's playbook.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A federal judge said Monday he would try to rule by Wednesday on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that requests a delay of California's gubernatorial recall election.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit earlier this month arguing that as many as 8 million California voters could be disfranchised by what it described as defective machines that still use punch card ballots. The state argued that the October 7 election would be fair and should be allowed to proceed.

At least six California counties still have punch card ballots, and all have high concentrations of minority voters, according to the ACLU. California has been updating its voting technology, and has said punch card machines will be replaced in all precincts by March 2004.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson said he will consider arguments made in court Monday by both sides and would try to "come to a decision promptly."

Lawyers for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis filed a similar lawsuit in state court, asking to delay the recall until March. The California Supreme Court turned it down.

A delay could help Davis by giving him more time to win over disenchanted Californians. Also, the March presidential primary is expected to have a strong Democratic turnout.

Justice Department signs off
The U.S. Justice Department signed off on the election Monday, saying it does not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The department had been asked to review election procedures by a federal judge in San Jose who is hearing another lawsuit that questions whether minority rights would be safeguarded in four counties.

The lawsuit singles out Monterey County, where election officials are trying to save money by cutting polling places from 190 to 86 and hiring fewer Spanish-speaking poll workers. The suit says such cutbacks could discriminate against voters.

Under the Voting Rights Act, all changes in election practices in Monterey, Kings, Yuba and Merced counties, which have a history of low turnout by minority voters, must be approved by the Justice Department's civil rights lawyers.

The suit also seeks to delay the election. The judge is not bound by the Justice Department's advice. A hearing is scheduled August 29.

California voters will be faced with a two-part ballot when they go to the polls.

In part one, they will be asked to say yes or no to recalling Davis, who was elected to his second term in November 2002 but has seen his popularity plummet amid state budget woes.

In the second part, they must pick their choice to replace him, should the recall succeed, from a list of 135 candidates.

At least six California counties still use punch card ballots, and all have high concentrations of minority voters, according to the ACLU.

Those counties are Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, Solano and Mendocino. The group says the recall vote should not take place until those counties have new voting machines like the rest of California's counties.

In its lawsuit, the ACLU said the continued use of punch card machines would "needlessly and unlawfully disenfranchise African-American, Latino and Asian-American voters."

Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, said in a statement, "I don't believe any one of us would like to see a repeat of the Florida [2000] presidential election debacle here in the Golden State."

In 2000, the ACLU filed suit not only on behalf of Florida voters but also those in other states, including California. The state then agreed to update its voting machines by the March 2004 presidential primary.

"If the October election goes forward, we can predict with absolute certainty that every Californian's vote will not count," Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California, said in a statement. "Democracy in California should not hang by a chad."

Meanwhile, the recall campaign intensifies this week as the top candidates hoping to replace Davis broadcast their first TV and radio ads, and others unveil their plans to fix the state's economic ills. And Davis, in his first major speech on the recall effort, will come out swinging. (Full story)

[ElToro]

For those that could stomach the "speech" .gov karate chop said that the "energy 'deregulation' mess was a disaster that he inherited" that may be... however, why, when it came up for a vote, did EVERY SINGLE legislator both Dem & Rep, vote yes ? Also, the author of this bill, with the support of the energy companies, is a Mr. Peace (sp?) this Mr. Peace is currently a top economic advisor to .gov gumby. and his wife, Mrs. Peace hold a $100k a year do nothing .gov job on some commission to investigate at tax payers expense. that my friends is a very intersting collection of facts... to the winners go the spoils i guess...

[Mike Irwin]

Almost as pathetic as Hillary Clinton going on national TV to say that there was a vast right-wing conspiracy against her husband...

[rick_reno]

Steve Peace is Gumby's budget director. He was licking Gumby's butt this spring. I recall a meeting with one of his people where they were describing wanting to run the state "like a business". I would have spoke up, but I was busy trying to down my jar of ipecac.

Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Salinas, said that Peace had hurled "abusive insults" at local governments, a lobbyist for the American Heart Association and other lawmakers and that his "crowning achievements" as a legislator included the state's energy, workers' compensation and budget crises.
Peace was a 20 year "representative" from the San Diego area before he was forced out by term limits in 2002.

Something to remember whenever you discuss these "public servants" is once they start feeding from the public tit - they NEVER let go. They get termed out of one job and get appointed somewhere else, it's usually a lifetime of employment.

[Malone LaVeigh]

A socialist is anyone winning an argument with a conservative.

[Bruce H]

Energy deregulation didn't happen in Pete Wilson's office by immaculate deception. I'll bet the legislature passed it and sent it to the governor. Now Pete Wilson, not being completely stupid knew what this would do. He also knew he was through and whoever was next could have the headache. Davis is trying to pass it back to Wilson. It all starts in the legislature, and that is where the fault lies.