Ican’t believe it’s only my second posting and I’m writing about sports already.

Well, I’m on my way to the game in a few minutes, so here goes.

I know this is hard to believe, but I may have misheard a broadcast (or maybe I correctly heard a misleading broadcast) on L.A. radio yesterday that said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle had lifted his season-long “boycott” of Angels baseball games in time for today’s opening game of the American League Division Series against the hated New York Yankees.

Before that rumor goes any further, let me clarify what I believe to be Pringle’s actual position: The Mayor will host the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim at today’s game as a charity event. Pringle has said his choice not to attend regular-season games was not actually a boycott, as some people have described it. The Mayor’s choice to attend post-season games will be considered on a game-by-game basis, with special consideration given to benefit selected charities.

I feel better knowing all of that, although I had been impressed by Pringle’s principled stand – You… Read More

Here are the final returns from today’s Special Election in Congressional District 48…

Brewer fizzled for sure, Gilchrist really didn’t pick up steam, and Dems stayed home…

With all 268 precincts reporting:

JOHN CAMPBELL (R) 36,640 46.0% MARILYN C. BREWER (R) 13,272 16.7% JIM GILCHRIST (AI) 11,490 14.4% STEVE YOUNG (D) 7,110 8.9% JOHN GRAHAM (D) 3,242

This is the leading story from my daily commentary today. Click here to read it all…

Is Bakersield ready?? Controversy swirled a bit in the news last week when former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett, a frequent columnist and ‘talking head’ on news program said:

“But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could — if that were your sole purpose — you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down,” Bennett said. “That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.”

Bennett made these comments in the context of a debate that he was having on television. He defended his remarks in this… Read More

THERE’S A NEW SURVEY OUT….I am not high on surveys, but then, it turns out, neither is Schwarzenegger Chief Strategist Mike Murphy. On the Join Arnold blog, there is a great post from Murphy talking about the release of a new KABC POLL which shows ALL FOUR of the Governor’s reform measures AHEAD…

Here’s the bottom line:

The poll was taken 9/30 to 10/2. (You can also go to the actuall poll here)

Prop 74. Yes 55%, No 44%.

Prop 75. Yes 60%, No 37%

Prop 76. Yes 58%, No 36%

Prop 77. Yes 59%, No 36%

Murphy says:

"Today’s post is about a brand new poll out tonight on KABC-TV and KPIX-TV. Warning: Lots of science and propellor head data stuff here, but it is all… Read More

Recently a police officer friend of mine, very active in his Central California based union, grabbed me by the shoulder told me how critical it was to get Fresno State Senator Chuck Poochigian elected Attorney General in 2006. After a nod and a brief pause, I asked “then why are you screwing him so bad on TV right now?” Befuddled, he looked at me and asked me “what I meant by that.” I replied, “It’s real simple, your union is spending $50 million in a concerted campaign to destroy the Governor. What makes you think ANY of our candidates down the ticket from the Governor can win if you are successful in your efforts? You can’t have it both ways. If you defeat Arnold, you get a terrible replacement AND Jerry Brown for your Attorney General. You will be less safe under that scenario than ever before. But you might get a 4% cost of living raise!” With that, my friend walked away shaking his head. I shook my head back. I have never been more disappointed in public safety unions that I am today. Pursuing a narrow, labor first agenda, they are imperiling all the citizens of California by attacking our Governor. If you know a… Read More

UNION THUGGERY Today in the Los Angeles Times is a ‘must read’ story that talks about how, in their battle to stop Proposition 75, "Paycheck Protection," unions how now resorted to threatening companies if they contribute towards the passage of the measure. This is thuggery at its worst. But, the public employee unions have everything on the line here. Remember that the CTA even mortgaged its headquarters to pay for their political push to defeat this measure. Why? You need only look to the union membership. Exit polls showed that in the 1993 recall election, around 40% of union members actually voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tom McClintock. Yet, if you look at public employee union political spending, 100% (yes, that would be ALL) went to defend Gray Davis. It is really about a small group of union leaders that are totally out of touch with their members. The do not want to empower the individual employees, for fear that if they continue to be myopic in their spending habits, that their members will simply stop giving a portion of… Read More

A Los Angeles Times editorial laments the the passing over of David Dreier as the Republicans replacement for Tom Delay. (http://www.latimes.com/…)

Of course it blames conservatives for opposing him because of his votes to federally fund experimentation on human embryos, his opposition to a constitutional ammendment to stop homosexual marriages and of course his views on immigration. While other accounts verify this, they fail to mention the most important point. This was good news for Dreier.

The 2004 elections saw his vote totals plumment as attacks on his record concerning illegal immigration by LA Radio Hosts John and Ken became more widely known.

The Majority Leader position would of made him a bigger target for those trying to recruit a credible candidate to run in the GOP Primary. Most of the focus is still on John March, the father of Deputy March, killed by an illegal alien.

The lower profile the better. Conservatives didDreier a big favor.… Read More

– Inland Outrage Sparks Initiative Against Sex Offenders –

SAN BERNARDINO — The Inland Empire is the most vast, spread-out metropolitan area in the nation. So for decades, the desire to elude the prying eyes of cops in densely populated cities has drawn criminals to Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Exacerbating the criminal migration, the relatively low cost of housing and lower density of surrounding residences also has led state agencies to place sex-offender parolees – and other persons who have committed sex crimes – in halfway houses, group homes and other living arrangements in Inland areas. The result is more than four million residents at higher risk of being victimized.

But with increasing economic and educational opportunities, a rising sophistication among the Inland electorate has put some pretty smart, pretty tough lawmakers into office to change the way government deals with problems. And as California voters are wont to do, when politicians don’t deal with problems, those uppity voters do it for them.

That’s where… Read More