"Time to recall California"

[AggieDave 6]

I got a kick out of this, thought I would share:

Quote

Time to Recall California
By Gil Leroy
CNSNews.com Essay
August 12, 2003

August has long been known as Silly Season among media watchers. With much of the world on vacation, dumb stuff can get extraordinary play.

Now cometh the State of California, in the midst of the worst sort of fiscal crisis (brought upon itself by the worst sort of neo-socialist legislators, led by a rail-thin warthog of a governor).

Unless you've recently awakened from a coma, you know that California is in the midst of producing the best the political sideshow of the current - and possibly last - century: The Recall.

Yeah, it makes for fascinating cable news coverage. After all, there's much more going on with The Recall than there is in the Scott Peterson and Kobe Bryant cases or, for that matter, the Hunt for Saddam.

But The Recall isn't helping anyone. It's likely to hurt the Republican Party in '04. It's definitely hurting the Democratic Party right now. The problems which led to The Recall aren't going away, regardless of whether Gray Davis gets the toenail enema.

California can throw its little political temper tantrum if it wants to, but here's a better idea for the rest of us: let's kick California out of the United States.

Sound impossible?

Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution says: "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress."

We're not talking about forming a new state, or parts of states, without the consent of legislatures. We're talkin' about dropping California from the team roster, and there's nothing in the Constitution that says we can't.

Further, the 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

In other words, we've got the right to send California packing; we can recall California's 1850 admission to the Union.

It's not such a horrible idea, really. The world is full of Iraq-sized countries. And it wouldn't be like setting the crew adrift in a lifeboat with a hogshead of water, a sack of maggot-infested biscuits and 3,000 miles of open sea to cross.

California has - or could have, if it wasn't so silly - a vibrant economy. Hollywood wouldn't go anywhere; its denizens are far too self-absorbed to even notice the change. And the new country would rival France for wine exports. Actually, it would probably do better, since so many Americans are still reluctant to quaff an authentic Bordeaux.

Speaking of France: one advantage to cutting California's painter would be that the French could stop blaming America for the ongoing contamination of their culture. They could instead blame California, which is where most of the ideas that get French knickers in a twist come from anyway.

Similarly, when radical Islamic fundamentalists spew forth on the decadence of America and the way our media poisons the mind of their youth, we could say with a straight face, "Hey. Ain't us! It's those idiots in California!"

Putting California in the dumpster could help the U.S. forge new alliances around the world which, of course, has been awfully peeved at us lately for not being willing to forge new alliances.

Now, it's true that this wouldn't come without cost. Patrolling a border running from Yuma, Arizona to Brookings, Oregon would be tough. And the border crossing checkpoints at South Lake Tahoe and elsewhere would likely increase the already heinous traffic.

But at least the U.S. would be rid of its biggest political embarrassment since Florida. It's worth writing your congressman about.

And maybe, if we're lucky, we could send Oregon with 'em.

Gil Leroy is a curmudgeon who lives in Maine, because it's about as far from California as one can get without exchanging currency

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200308\COM20030812e.html

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[akarunway 1]

i'm a Floridian stuck in god forsaken so.cal. well said but tread lightly Texas boy

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[kmcguffee 0]

[whisper] It's very quiet in here. [/whisper]

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

[jfields 0]

Dave,

I'm not the biggest fan of California, but the source of that "news" is pretty much crap. The quality of writing is poor and the slant is ridiculous.

"CNSNews.com is a Division of the Media Research Center"

MRC claims to be:

"The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias"

So putting an alternative spin on the facts and skewing everything to support a conservative agenda is better? That is like saying the way to fix the college admissions inequalities that favor minorities is to support the Klan. It doesn't make any sense if the "cure" is as bad as the problem.

[rehmwa 2]

It's simply satire. And funny. I don't see a political slant either. From either party, the California politics are pretty screwed up. Funny thing about leftists (and I don't say that Justin claims to be left) is they take this type of article as serious 'news'. No humor.

I'll look for current articles from the left that are both: serious about their position, and even more wacked out.

Shouldn't be hard.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[jfields 0]

If it is trying to be real, it is sad.

If it is trying to be satire, it is bad.

It didn't strike me as being good at either. Just my $.02. I'm not saying California politics aren't messed up. That wasn't the issue.

[squirrel 0]

tell you what....california will leave the union, and take all the computer tech, entertainment, and the central valley which produces a majority of the nations veggies with it...oh yeah, and stay off our beaches!

and next time i am in texas...i am gonna mess with it.

________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

[AggieDave 6]

Justin,

I know that about the source.

I said I got a kick out of that, not that I was implying it was serious (I think it was, sadly enough) and especially not implying that I agreed with it.

You should know me better by now to know that when I post something serious and I use sources to back a discussion, the sources are valid and respected sources.

Man, you've just been itching to stir up some shit the past week or so, maybe we should dig up one of our old BIG debates...or we could switch it up a little...try something new.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[turtlespeed 226]

Thanks Dave....Greak "News Article"

Oh, if things could be so simple, eh?

I say lets just drop the coast off and start new...wouldn't take much..some well placed charges in the San Andreas fault...and "Supplies!" you have a brand new coast line.

Then lets adopt Puerto Rico in as a state...that way we can resume our live fire excersises....

as far as the "Produce" well...texas has plenty of land for that.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[jfields 0]

Quote

I said I got a kick out of that, not that I was implying it was serious (I think it was, sadly enough) and especially not implying that I agreed with it.

Okay. No problem.

Quote

You should know me better by now to know that when I post something serious and I use sources to back a discussion, the sources are valid and respected sources.

Except when you are talking about gun issues.

Quote

Man, you've just been itching to stir up some shit the past week or so

Who? Me?

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Except when you are talking about gun issues

Just because I refuse to use uber-liberal-anti-gun-propaganda organizations for my sources, I wouldn't think they were bad sources...

Ok, ok, we can't start this right now, you can, but you'll need to have someone else fill in for me for a while, I've got a final in an hour and a half that I'm fix'n to start getting read for (no, not studying, I've already done that). Then I'm off to the DZ for some fun jumping and some tandem students, so I'm going to have to take a rain check.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[lawrocket 3]

Dave:

I don't think California can be all that bad.

And look at Texas. Even your legislators would rather be in Oklahoma or New Mexico



p.s. At least you now these legislators won't be passing any new taxes on you.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Muenkel 0]

Justin,

Stop pretending you're smart.

Chris

_________________________________________
Chris

[bmcd308 0]

If the U.S. could kick the South back in, surely it can kick California out.

----------------------------------
www.jumpelvis.com

[Guest]

Would that be as in "Total Recall"?

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that yet.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[tbrown 26]

Quote

Would that be as in "Total Recall"?

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that yet.

Actually I mentioned that last week, when Ah-nold threw his Uzi into the ring. But it is surprising that it doesn't seem to have caught on. What's bothering me, as a Californian, is that the process of selecting the next governor is so fupped duck. I mean OK, you want to recall the governor, fine ? But 271 possible candidates ? Holy shit! A minority of 2-3% of the voters could elect some bizarre Hitlerite sorehead who lives in his mother's garage.... Where's the orderly transfer of power ? Why doesn't the job just go to the Lt. Governor. I'm no fan of our current Lt. Gov, but aren't the death, incapacity, or REMOVAL FROM OFFICE cause for him to get the job ? And if not then WTF do we even have a Lt. Gov (Gov. Lite ?) for ?? That's what's bothering me and why I'll probly vote against the recall altogether.

But I know Arnold's gonna win.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[bmcd308 0]

>>"The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias" <<

Not to defend this source, but why, in and of itself, would "neutralizing" a perceived bias be a bad thing?

----------------------------------
www.jumpelvis.com

[jfields 0]

Quote

>>"The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias" <<

Not to defend this source, but why, in and of itself, would "neutralizing" a perceived bias be a bad thing?

Well, in itself, it isn't. But it makes a lot of assumptions that aren't necessarily true. Before a "bias" can be "neutralized", it must exist. Second, is the goal fairness of treatment and reporting, or are they simply trying to swing the perceived bias to one that they like? That accomplishes nothing. If you read the article they wrote, you'll see that it is as uselessly derrotory as they say the liberals are to them. Perhaps it is time for them to get some maturity and deal with a real problem in a constructive way.

[livendive 8]

Quote

>>"The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias" <<

Not to defend this source, but why, in and of itself, would "neutralizing" a perceived bias be a bad thing?

In order to "neutralize" something, you have to go a similar distance from "neutral" as that which you wish to neutralize, just in the opposite direction, e.g. neutrilizing an acidic solution with a caustic solution. Thus while the overall bias may be relatively neutral, it's only by averaging opposite extremes, neither of which is good for anyone on it's own.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[FallingMarc 0]

I swear, liberals have no sense of humor at all. The thing is satire, it's not serious, it's supposed to be funny. Whether or not you find it funny is your own problem.

This is why the media and liberals always immediately assume that conservatives are morons--y'all take our jokes too seriously!

M

[livendive 8]

Actually, I thought the original article was reasonably funny, but I had nothing worth posting in response to it. On the other hand it seemed bmcd308 was asking an honest question "...why, in and of itself, would "neutralizing" a perceived bias be a bad thing? " and so I gave an honest answer.

Given I was answering a question that had nothing to do with an involuntary secession of California, what was it in my post that smacked of liberalism?

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)