There are a lot of interesting stories today.
The "must read" of the day is a column from veteran Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton. I don’t always agree with what George has to say. As a matter of fact, if I did, George would tell you that HE would be worried. George isn’t conservative, let alone as conservative as me.
But today he has written a column looking at the growing controversy surrounding the hire, last December of Democrat Susan Kennedy to be his Chief of Staff. I have said (repeatedly) that I support this Governor – I think he is a smart, capable leader. But the decision to bring back the Deputy Chief of Staff to the disgraced and recalled Gray Davis sent a chilling message to those of us that see this Governor as being totally against anything that Davis stood for — especially the ‘pay-to-play’ perception that permeated that administration.
So while my personal objections to her being hired are mostly partisan, with the idea that a Republican Governor should have a Chief of Staff that is a Republican — the irregular financial issues surrounding Kennedy are continuing to grow.
Of course, the FlashReport is happy to make a suggestion. Give her a nice but controversial ‘golden handshake’ from the campaign, and send her packing.
I’ve met Susan, briefly. As I have said before, she is personable, warm and quite likable. But none of this changes what she represents, and as for me, I will always remember what she did to Bruce Herschensohn.
All of this said, I support the re-election of Governor Schwarzenegger, who made a bad-call on this hire. :-)
I have to run today, but don’t miss the Sacramento Bee article on Mark Leno — who is single-handedly protecting sexual predators by putting up a roadblock to passing Jessica’s law as a legislative solution – forcing its authors, George and Sharon Runner, to gather signatures and take this reform to a vote of the people.
Take care,
Jon
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