No Recall for Davis…
[This has been sitting in my Nowhere-Near-Finished pile for a long time, so I just decided to spit it out just to get something written. I think I'm going to have to get away from the long essay/diatribe trend towards which I had been heading, and just fall back to rambling about whatever is on my mind. The original goal of the ramblings was just that -- to ramble about whatever I felt like at the time. When the writing started flowing, I became more ambitious, sacrificing quantity for a warped sense of quality. 'Nuff said. Ramble on...]
For the record, I voted by mail today! Woohoo! First time in the last couple of elections, thanks to the Santa Clara County Voter Registrar’s office continuously sending me to polling places that are nowhere near anywhere I go! Now that I’m have permanent status as an absentee voter, it’ll be a lot easier.
I voted No on the recall. The laws that allowed the recall were written with the intent to dethrone corrupt or outlaw politicians. Davis hasn’t done anything illegal. The only charges that might stick would be mismanagement, charges easily enough applicable in hindsight to anyone who would have been in office during the most difficult economic times in decades, thanks to the *national* economy.
I voted against party lines for Arnold. Technically, I’m only a Democrat because that just happens to be the checkbox I originally selected way back when. I’m more interested in candidates than parties, so party lines don’t matter to me. Bustamante, the only real Democratic choice, just seems too oily to me. I don’t trust him, and I was very disappointed with his performance on a debate I listened to on NPR. He and Ariana seemed more like bickering children than intelligent adults.
On Proposition 53 I voted Yes. Nay-sayers will question where the mandatory money for infrastructure will be pulled from, but when the infrastructure improvements are not in place a decade from now, someone will cite mismanagement!
I don’t buy the arguments for Prop 54. Despite the language that racial data can still be used for medical research purposes, prohibiting the government from collecting the large quantities of data that it can will destroy medical research’s best source of readily available data. Racial blindness is all about quality education, family values, media coverage, and persona choices. Don’t blame racial stereotypes on classification for statistical purposes.
I heard part of the debate while driving home from work, and saw the last 15 minutes or so after arriving home. It’s interesting hearing it and then seeing it. I’m reminded of comments made about the Nixon/Kennedy debate. Those who listened thought Nixon won. Those who watched thought Kennedy (tall, good hair, no jowls) won. On the radio Peter Cameho of the Greens came off as passionate but unrealistic and probably ineffective. Arianna Huffington sounded rude, ignorant and mostly interested in using her collection of scripted sarcastic comments and sound bites. Cruz Bustamante did sound oily and arrogant. Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t leave much of an impression, actually. And Tom McClintock, whose positions I most disagree with, came out sounding most Governor-like. Reasoned, adult, not looking for the (supposedly) funny barb or focussing on dissing his opponents. Once home and seeing it on TV I realized Cameho wasn’t actually waving his arms around, Huffington wasn’t grabbing the mike and poking her finger into everyone else’s chest, Bustamante wasn’t looking down his nose. Even the general sense of chaos was lessened; though they interrupted each other as much, they SEEMED to do so less because I could SEE who was talking. Although I still wish the moderator would have truly treated them like the children they were generally being. “On this panel in front of me I have switches controlling all of your microphones. Anyone who talks out of turn, makes a gratuitous insult or doesn’t pay attention when I call their name will get their mike cut off.” Heh. THAT would do it!