First and foremost, thank you for being a ‘customer’ of the FlashReport website on California politics! While starting as an e-newsletter, it has now been almost three full months since we made the shift to being a web-based publication. The response has been overwhelming, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU on behalf of myself, and the team of folks who are contributors to the site!
THE MAIN PAGE, COMMENTARY PAGE and E-MAIL NOTICE features of this site will be DOWN until Tuesday, January 3rd. It has been an annual tradition since the FR started in 2001 for the Publisher (me) to take this time off. However, the FLASHREPORT WEBLOG WILL BE UP AND RUNNING throughout the holidays, where many of our contributors will still be posting tidbits and thoughts. I’ll be pitching in my ten cents, too.
While the main part of the site is down, we’ll be working on some changes that I hope you will enjoy. We are hopefully going to be bringing you a couple of new exciting contributors to the site, and we are also working on having all of the changes in place for 1/3 to allow for you, FR readers, to be able to post your own comments on both my dialy commentary as well as to any of the posts on the blog.
DOOLITTLE(S) AND POMBO
I wanted to say a few words on the top two stories on the FR page, or rather, the subjects of them — Richard Pombo, and John & Julie Doolittle.
I’ve had the good fortunate to know the Doolittles going all the way back to 1988, when John was still in the State Senate. He and Julie are not just honorable people – they are GREAT PEOPLE. They are people of strong faith, who understand the principle of doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.
Richard Pombo and I met during his first campaign for Congress, and I have always been impressed by him. I’ve since had a chance to meet his family, and can tell you that they are ‘salt of the earth’ great folks. Richard, like John Doolittle, is a good person.
We are fortunate to have BOTH Pombo and Doolittle in the House of Representatives.
"Money is the mothers milk of politics," the late California Speaker Jesse Unruh was famed for saying. And he was right. We have 435 Members of Congress, with districts that have more and more people in them every year. Communicating a message and campaigning in large districts takes resources. You cannot blame any Members of Congress for taking contributions. It isn’t wrong — on the contrary — whether you are an individual or a business, donating funds to a politician is the ultimate expression in free-speech.
A voter needs to assess their Member of Congress on how they are doing, and how they are voting — and whether their actions as a Congressman or Congresswoman are, in fact, consistent with the philosophy they have espoused as a politician. Most Republicans campaign under the philosophy of promoting free-enterprise, and getting government out of the business of regulating the marketplace. So does that mean that they should take no contributions from business interests? Of course not.
I could go on about all of this at length. Rather, I would say this: What disgraced Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham did, taking millions in bribes and kick-backs, is atrocious. But don’t stain all Representatives with his crime.
But, Members of Congress should be aware of the public perceptions out there, and politics is about people. If it looks like some donor or lobbyist is tainted, or is plagued with a scandal, it is appropriate to create distance from them. Most Congressmen are returning donations they received from anyone involved with the Cunningham scandal. Similarly, it appears that uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff is going to plead guilty to inappropriate activity, and there would be more distancing that should take place.
The Republican majority should be self-policing, and as a party, separate from the institutions of the government (House Ethics Committee, etc), they should be making some political decisions about what to do in these situations.
John Doolittle should take the funds that were given to him (legally) and send them back or donate them somewhere, because of the perception. Politics is about perception sometimes.
As for these articles in the paper, especially the off-base implications that Julie Doolittle is anything less than a woman of high moral character — phooey. Don’t you believe it.
Jon