Big Daddy

Big Daddy

Hey Big Daddy,


So, what do you think of this Schwarzenegger recall? Should Arnold be packing his bags?


-Mike in Sacramento

Hey Mike,

Personally, I’m not a fan of the recall in general. The recall is the political equivalent of having a marriage annulled. Sometimes, you make a bad decision that seemed right at the time, and you just have to stick with it. And trying to have it erased by some obscure legal proceeding isn’t going to do much to help you realize the folly of your ways.

I think remorse carries it’s own rewards when it comes to politics. Only when voters are forced to live with a bad decision for a few years to they really begin to realize the consequences of their actions. That’s probably wishful thinking, but hey, gotta hold out hope for something, right?

It should be noted that recall threats are nothing new. The last seven governors have had recall papers dropped against them. What makes this one more salient is that  the last guy in the corner office actually did get booted via recall. That, and the fact that CCPOA is sort of the equivalent of Darrell Issa, if Issa were ever to become a labor union – well-funded, but not nearly as powerful as they would like to be. Though, for the record, I have never heard anyone claim that any member of CCPOA boosted a Maserati in Cleveland, or pulled a gun on a former employee. But I digress…

As for whether or not this recall is real, for that, you’d have to delve deep into the mind of CCPOA President Mike Jimenez. And if you’re game, well then, godspeed and good luck to you. Of course, the odds makers still think there’s a better chance that Sarah Palin will reenter the Ms. Alaska competition this year, but if you’re taking bets and giving odds, I’m sure some around the Capitol might give you some action.

If the recall were real, the California Teachers Association and Service Employees International Union would be involved, or at least murmuring about it. And guess what – they ain’t.

CCPOA has become the Capitol equivalent of William Randolph Hearst. They’re richer than god, and not averse to spending that money. Just look at the $600,000 that the union dropped into Don Perata’s No on Prop. 11 committee. Far be it from me to suggest there was some kind of quid pro quo involved with that donation, but I’m guessing the union was hoping Perata might make an 11th-hour push for a CCPOA pay raise. So far, it hasn’t happened, and by my watch, time is running out, even going by the clocks of this ridiculous budget standoff.

But as it was with Hearst, the level of paranoia eminating from the union is startling. And you get the sense that at any moment, the boss might call you up and order you to bring him back the pelt of a grizzly bear, or start calling out cryptically for Rosebud.
The fact is the recall has become the vestige of the sore loser. It just so happened that in Gray Davis’s case, the majority of California voters identified with the sore losers. So it goes.

So, TiVo nation, you don’t like your governor? Tough luck. You’ll get a chance to pick a new one in a couple of years (let’s just see how you like the return of Jerry Brown!) But as far as a recall goes, there have got to be some better ways for all of us to waste our time and money.

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