For something entirely different, the Daily News in New York reported today that geneaologists have determined that the great-grandfather of New York civil rights activitist and former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton was a slave owned by the great-great-grandfather of one-time segregationist South Carolina U.S. Senator and former Presidential candidate Strom Thurmond. Good grief! And the mainstream media criticizes content on the Internet!… Read More

For Californians who follow such things and may be attending the national Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. next weekend (which I had the privilege of co-chairing a few times many years ago while National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom), Mayor Rudy Guiliani is just reported on Politico to have made the decision to address the CPAC audienceon Friday, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. For info on CPAC, go to www.conservative.org. Senator McCain and Guiliani were previously reported as both taking a pass on the CPAC conference. Guiliani’s appearance now appears to be a further indication of his concerted interest in building bridges to movement conservatives. I predict he will get a great welcome, as he did at the California Republican Party convention in Sacramento earlier this month.… Read More

Fletcher Scores Another Big Endorsement… Continuing to skate in the direction of thick ice, 75th AD candidate Nathan Fletcher last week announced Sen. Mark Wyland’s support. Add this endorsement to a list that includes current 75th officeholder George Plescia, announced a week prior, and anyone else mulling a run could quickly be yelling uncle, albeit privately. Here’s what Wyland has to say:

I’ve known Nathan for a long time, and I’m proud to endorse him for the State Assembly. He has the experience and work ethic to be an outstanding Assemblyman, and I know he will provide effective representation to the people of the 75th District. Nathan embodies the values we all share; he will work hard to keep our streets safe from dangerous and violent criminals. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I need Nathan in Sacramento to help me bring more accountability to our classrooms and provide our children with a quality education. As a Marine Corps Veteran, Nathan understands the issues our Veterans face, and I know he will be a tireless… Read More

Are you getting the most out of the FlashReport? Here is our "Top Ten Ways To Maximize the FlashReport": 1) Sign up for the daily e-mail on the main page. This is great for two reasons. The first is that we send you all of the headlines from each day’s news, so that whether you want to eyeball them on your computer, or scroll through them on your Blackberry, Treo or other PDA, you are "in the know" on the news of the day. The other reason is that it is your way of knowing when the main page has been updated each morning, as we send the e-mail alert right after compiling the days news. The e-mail now links back to the day associated with the headlines in it – a request of many readers. 2) The Main Page will give you a comprehensive look at California politics. Our motto is, "We spend two hours so you can spend two minutes — or twenty." Our team visits over 80 websites each morning to make sure that if there is a story on California politics, anywhere, we find it and link to in on the main page! Hint: If you go to the toggle next to the date in the upper right corner, you can actually choose… Read More

Are you getting the most out of the FlashReport? Here is our "Top Ten Ways To Maximize the FlashReport": 1) Sign up for the daily e-mail on the main page. This is great for two reasons. The first is that we send you all of the headlines from each day’s news, so that whether you want to eyeball them on your computer, or scroll through them on your Blackberry, Treo or other PDA, you are "in the know" on the news of the day. The other reason is that it is your way of knowing when the main page has been updated each morning, as we send the e-mail alert right after compiling the days news. The e-mail now links back to the day associated with the headlines in it – a request of many readers. 2) The Main Page will give you a comprehensive look at California politics. Our motto is, "We spend two hours so you can spend two minutes — or twenty." Our team visits over 80 websites each morning to make sure that if there is a story on California politics, anywhere, we find it and link to in on the main page! Hint: If you go to the toggle next to the date in the upper right corner, you can actually choose… Read More

Former Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack, infamous for vetoing Eminent Domain Reform in Iowa, drops out of the running for the Dem nomination for president, citing a lack of funding. Having his veto overridden [see my July 19 ’06 post on this] by about a 9-1 ratio in the Iowa Legislature to restorethe Eminent Domain Reform bill he vetoed, couldn’t have been a big momentum builder…

Even if he was righteous on the right to own and keep private property, this partially underscores the argument about California and the rest of the states in this gold rush to run their presidential primaries forward to February ’08, the results we’ll likely live with, and not get a real chance to correct, forthe next 8 years. It will make it nearly impossible for non "name" or non big money candidates to get a foothold in the race with a little early momentum, overcoming "conventional wisdom" and giving American voters a spectrum of choices instead of a red or blue rubber stamp.… Read More

The Director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, George Valverde, was dispatched to Washington, D.C., last week – presumably at the direction of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – to express grave concerns that the State of California Government (read: the Governor) has with the implementation of the REAL ID Act passed by Congress and signed by the President back in 2005. This law established federal standards for drivers’ licenses. If you want a license, you have to show demonstrate something that should be pretty simple: proof of legal residency (SS# or birth certificate). It would appear that the main objections that states all around America have is the tremendous costs associated with implementing the ACT (the National Governors Assocation pegs it upwards of $11 billion collectively for the 50 states to come up to snuff). The law gives states from 2008 – 2013 to check out drivers for their proper documents and re-issue new licences for the roughly 250 million currently licenced drivers nationwide. The penalty to states if they do not comply? Licenses in a non-compliant state cannot be used as… Read More

Stanislaus County was once a stronghold for the democrat party and the Condit machine had been a powerful force for years all the way until the Levy scandal broke. The collapse of Condit and that machine has opened Stanislaus for GOP dominance at the state and local office level. Continued population growth and local election victories bode well for maintaining the surge in Republican officeholders and voter registration numbers. Here’s the lowdown:

County Board of Supervisors

Not so long ago, county government had a strong contingent of democrats. Now, after a string of defeats there are zero democrats on the Board of Supervisors. County GOP Chairman Jim DeMartini and William O’Brien defeated long-term democrat incumbents in 2004 and are serving their first terms on the board. The seat of retiring board member Ray Simon was claimed by former state Senator Dick Monteith keeping that seat in the Republican column. They are joined by long-time board member Tom Mayfield and Jeff Grover, a growing power player in Stanislaus County who sailed to re-election in November.

DeMartini and O’Brien… Read More