Buzz Plus

By Steve Wiegand

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June 26, 2008

Are you going to let HIM down?

The Nov. 4 election is still months away, but proponents of the initiative to constitutionally ban gay marriages aren't waiting to trot out the Big Guns in their fundraising efforts.

In an e-mailed pitch from the California edition of the National Organization for Marriage called "Who Cares More? Gay marriage advocates vs. people of God," executive director Brian S. Brown suggests that the only way opponents to the ban can defeat it is by working harder than proponents.

"Can we go and face God and tell him, 'I had more important things to do than defend your sacred institution of marriage?' " Brown asks, just before asking recipients to not only write the group a check, but also get five friends to do the same.

"Together we cannot fail to win," he concludes. "Because we know Who wins in the end."

Can't wait to see who the pro-ban folks get to sign the ballot arguments.

Posted by swiegand on 11:46 AM | Comments

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June 23, 2008

Unclear on the concept

I know it's early yet, but the "well, duh" award of the day, if not the week, goes to the International Bottled Water Association.

The folks at the IBWA are a tad peeved that the U.S. Conference of Mayors has approved a resolution that expressed concern about the environmental impact of bottled water and suggested municipal governments phase out their purchases of said containerized beverage.

In a press release replete with the usual gobbledygook defending a product whose only virtue is that it's convenient, the IBWA protests that the resolution "could discourage consumers from drinking bottled water."

Uh, guys? If discouraging the consumption of bottled water wasn't the point, what did you think it might be?

Posted by swiegand on 9:56 AM | Comments

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June 20, 2008

Each in his own way

This just in: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is directing state agencies "to prepare for extreme high temperatures across Southern California and the Santa Clara Valley over the weekend."

"I have directed my Office of Emergency Services to coordinate with state and local agencies and do everything we can to ensure personal safety for all Californians during high temperatures today through the weekend," the guv was quoted as saying in a news release from his press people.

In case you're concerned, the guv is ensuring his own personal safety by spending the weekend in Cancun, or Hawaii or someplace other than California. I'd tell you where, but for security and privacy reasons, the guv's people refuse to say where it is he is.

But we know it's not Southern California or the Santa Clara Valley.

Posted by swiegand on 10:28 AM | Comments

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June 18, 2008

State should live like average family. Uh...

Republican legislative leaders are touting their plans to fix the state's budget mess through a spending limit and other stuff, the broad outlines of which they sketched in a piece in this morning's Bee and the details of which they were going to reveal in a conference call with press types later today.

"Our spending limit will force lawmakers to operate like most families - only spending what we have and planning responsibly for the future," Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines and Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill wrote.

Uh, do you guys mean like most American families? Would those be the families that have a negative savings rate for the first time in history? The ones who average $10,000 in credit card debt, which is like 21.7 percent of the median family income? Isn't that exactly the model governors and legislators have already been emulating?

Just asking...

Posted by swiegand on 9:49 AM | Comments

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June 17, 2008

Flying the friendly skies

So, it's 1988, and the governor of California, George Deukmejian, has no state plane that is exclusively at his disposal. This is an outrage, according to an earnest young Assembly member from Southern California.

"The tiny state of Rhode Island has three state aircraft (for the governor), and California, one of the largest states, has none," he frets. In fact, he says, 41 of the 50 states have aircraft for their chief executives.

In fact, when Edmund G. "Pat" Brown was governor, he flew around in a state-owned plane called "the Grizzly." His successor, Ronald Reagan, thought it was an extravagance and got rid of it. Then Reagan decided he needed a personal plane after all. So the state leased one for the Gipper, at a cost of about $525 an hour. Then Pat Brown's son Jerry succeeded Reagan, and decided to fly commercial, apparently to provide entertainment on flights without movies.

But despite the earnest efforts of the earnest Assembly member, Deukmejian wasn't really keen on having a plane. So the idea went nowhere, and to this day, California governors have to make do on commercial flights, or aircraft loaned by admirers, or through leased private jets.

And that earnest young Assembly member? He's running for the 4th Congressional District seat as the Republican nominee. Name of Tom McClintock.

Posted by swiegand on 1:06 PM | Comments

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June 11, 2008

Leland Yee will bring them to their knee(s)

You may have read or heard that former prez Bill Clinton and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez have canceled commencement speeches at University of California campuses because of a long-running labor dispute and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

But they're mere dilettantes compared to Leland Yee.

Who?

Leland Yee, the Democratic state senator from San Francisco. Yee's office has released a statement decreeing Yee is boycotting the university until patient care and service workers represented by an AFSCME local "are guaranteed a fair contract."

According to the release, Yee "will not step foot on a University of California (UC) campus, besides to join worker picket lines," until there's a settlement.

Whether that's a promise or a threat isn't clear.

Posted by swiegand on 1:56 PM | Comments

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June 9, 2008

Musings from the left

With the recent announcement that actress/activist Jane Fonda is going in California's Hall of Fame, you're probably wondering whatever became of her former husband, the 60s-70s activist and 80s-90s state legislator Tom Hayden.

Well, you can ask him yourself, should you choose to mosey on by the Avid Reader at 1600 Broadway on June 25, about 7 p.m.

Hayden will be there to discuss, and presumably sell and sign, two books he's penned: "Writings for a Democratic Society," and "Voices of the Chicago 8: A Generation on Trial." Hayden knows from whereof he writes, having been head of the radical Students for a Democratic Society, and one of the Chicago 8 who were put on trial for allegedly plotting to disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

To save time in line, he's supporting Barack Obama.

And he's 69 years old now. Which makes many of the rest of us feel a lot older too...

Posted by swiegand on 1:19 PM | Comments

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June 5, 2008

Why politics perplexes people

Not that I'm in the habit of referring to Web sites that might be considered competitors, but it's hard to ignore comment on two back-to-back stories listed today on the political news compendium known as Rough & Tumble.

From the S.F. Chronicle is a piece headlined: "Prop. 99 likely to have little effect."

Followed by a piece in the North County Times titled: "Prop. 99's limited protection may lead to more reform."

Thank goodness Prop. 98, which like 99 dealt with eminent domain, was defeated. Otherwise it might be really confusing.

Posted by swiegand on 1:33 PM | Comments

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June 2, 2008

Poll wars

Geez, the June ballot boxes haven't even been stuffed, the November election is 155 days away and their constitutional amendment initiative hasn't even formally qualified yet, and the anti-gay marriage folks are already itching for a fight.

Just look at the press release today from Capitol Resource Institute (motto: "What strengthens families, strengthens California.") The Sacto-based group says 56 percent of Californians oppose homosexual marriage.

Never mind a Field Poll last week reported 51 percent of the state's residents support gay marriage.

"This accurate new poll directly asks respondents' opinion of the definition of traditional marriage," said CRI executive director Karen England. "Contrary to the vague Field Poll, this polling accurately reflects the true sentiment of the electorate."

The new findings come from a nationwide survey of "battleground" states, presumably in the presidential race, which makes one wonder why Demo-safe California was included. It was done by a Virginia outfit called ccAdvertising, which used robo-pollsters rather than real people.

There's no telling if the new survey includes robo-responses.

Posted by swiegand on 10:57 AM | Comments