My reading, listening and viewing habits are broad. I tend to read magazines like the New Yorker or the Atlantic, listen to NPR, and watch the BBC America. Liberal stuff? Sure. But when you work in Republican politics day in and day out, Lake Woebegoneis a welcome change of pace.

So last night I was pulling a turkey out of the oven and listening to Air America. When I lived in Los Angeles I was a regular listener of the Pacifica Network, which is your basic run of the mill far left craziness mixed with ‘global’ music. Nutty and dated? Yes. But it was entertaining. Last night I listened to Air America for nearly two hours and I can truly write, with no qualms, that it was not entertaining.

Now understand, I’m not judging the programs I heard based on ideological content. I don’t listen to get angry, or educated, or whatever. I listen for entertainment. And the quality of the entertainment was just low. It wasn’t funny. It wasn’t sharp witted. The format of the programs were difficult to keep clear, the individuals talking talked over each other, and there was no attempt to stick to a topic for more than a couple… Read More

Flannery on Peters… Pat Flannery, the oft-times one-man spotlight on the City of San Diego’s greasy underbelly, had some strong words for Scott Peters last week. Peters, the city council president and city attorney wannabe, was calleda liar by Flannery inBlog of SD on Thursday:

Peters tried to smear the City Attorney (Mike Aguirre)for doing his job. Peters has abused the legal process by filing a false complaint with the State Bar wrongly asserting that Mr. Aguirre was not authorized by his client, the City, to file a cross-complaint in a matter in which the City was sued…Clearly Scott Peters does not have the best interest of the City at heart, merely his union backers. His abuse of the State Bar disciplinary process for political purposes should be enough to disqualify him from practicing law let alone becoming City Attorney for any city. And, the city attorney race hasn’t even gotten ugly yet.

Speaking of… Will Carless’ Friday… Read More

On this quiet Sunday, I’ll give you some recommended reading!

Cold Water on "Global Warming" by Thomas Sowell

Does the Left Value Truth? by Dennis Prager

Economics and Property Rights by Walter Williams

For those who take a more considered look at the conservative movement, and whether the "Reagan Coalition" is seeing its final days, this article (from the libertarian perspective) is quite thought provoking…

The End of Republican ‘Fusionism’? by Robert Tracinski

OK – For those with a bit more time, and the willingness to take in some… Read More

On this quiet Sunday, I’ll give you some recommended reading!

Cold Water on "Global Warming" by Thomas Sowell

Does the Left Value Truth? by Dennis Prager

Economics and Property Rights by Walter Williams

For those who take a more considered look at the conservative movement, and whether the "Reagan Coalition" is seeing its final days, this article (from the libertarian perspective) is quite thought provoking…

The End of Republican ‘Fusionism’? by Robert Tracinski

OK – For those with a bit more time, and the willingness to take in some… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: FR Congratulates Shawn Steel on his election as Republican National Committeeman for California. As of today, we have "promoted" Shawn to be a "Statewide" correspondent for the FR! – Flash]

Sometimes College Republicans have too much fun. Presently, CR’s usually dominate student political groups on most campuses. The Left is lethargic and the only cores remaining are tenured Marxist 60’s professors who are retiring in droves. Since 9/11 a new generation of CR’s in rapidly impacting California politics. Already, graduated CR’s are holding important posts in the CRP and with up and coming politicos.

At San Francisco State University the CR’s are on fire. Besides suing the Administration,… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: FR Congratulates Shawn Steel on his election as Republican National Committeeman for California. As of today, we have "promoted" Shawn to be a "Statewide" correspondent for the FR! – Flash]

Sometimes College Republicans have too much fun. Presently, CR’s usually dominate student political groups on most campuses. The Left is lethargic and the only cores remaining are tenured Marxist 60’s professors who are retiring in droves. Since 9/11 a new generation of CR’s in rapidly impacting California politics. Already, graduated CR’s are holding important posts in the CRP and with up and coming politicos.

At San Francisco State University the CR’s are on fire. Besides suing the Administration,… Read More

[Cross-posted from OC Blog]

An interesting story has emerged from last month’s California Coastal Commission hearing on the 241 toll road completion.

One news story (I can’t find it at the moment) mentioned the rapid-response operation toll road opponents had going at the hearing. Whenever a speaker testified in favor of completing the 241, this operation would print out the speaker’s name, their remarks and a rebuttal and pass it out to the media.

This slick operation was due to the efforts of Cerrell Associates and Sacramento-based GOP consultant Joe Rodota, who were brought on board to help kill the 241, as I reported in September 2007.

Rodota is a… Read More

As part of my job, I’ve spent the entire week reading through and analyzing the hundreds of new bills introduced in the Assembly and Senate last week. As you can imagine, there are some doozies this year. If it weren’t so sad for the future of our state, it would be funny. Next week I’ll post some of the highlights (and lowlights) of this session’s potential laws. You’ll probably laugh, but you’ll most likely cry when you read what some lawmakers want to make law.

Last week there was media coverage of a bill Assemblyman John Benoit introduced that requires all welfare recipients be subject to random drug testing. It’s a great idea, but the subject of the media coverage was the bill idea’s source: a sixteen-year-old high school student in Benoit’s district. The student, R.J. Field, won an essay contest sponsored by Assemblyman Benoit called “There Ought to be a Law.” You may be surprised to learn that many lawmakers sponsor similar contests in their districts—including many Republicans.

Last year the product of one such contest was a bill that would have mandated community… Read More