When you talk about working in the trenches, I can’t think of a more challenging job than being a Republican in Alameda County — except, to be Chairman of the Alameda County Republican Party. That is Richard Spees. Dedicated and hard-working, Richard leads a team of freedom-fighters in promoting the Republican Party in the home county of Jerry Brown, Ron Dellums, Barbara Lee, Don Perata and a cast of left wing socialists (in the case of Dellums, I think I mean that literally.) Oh yes, Richard was a City Councilman in Oakland for 24 years!

Richard and I exchanged some emails, and I thought I would share his opinions on two issues, the appointment of Republican Judge Carol Corrigan to the State Supreme Court and the controversy surrounding the appointment of Democrat Susan Kennedy by the Governor to be his Chief of Staff:

Spees on Corrigan:

My torts professor once quipped, "On a clear day, the California Supreme Court can foresee forever." The humor of this comment is probably only directly apparent to lawyers. However, the comment is profound and summarizes the current national debate about the role of judges in this country. The comment also epitomizes the importance of the decision faced by Governor Schwarzenegger in appointing a replacement for former California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers-Brown.

"Foreseeability" is one of the four elements of a tort. For you non-lawyers, a tort is basically a civil wrong such as a personal injury — think slipping and falling on a banana peel on the floor of a supermarket. In order for a person to be liable for damages in tort, the results of negligent conduct must be "foreseeable." For instance, a supermarket owner can reasonably presume that a banana peel left on the floor ofa market can lead to someone slipping and injuring himself. So, the resulting injury is "foreseeable." My former professor’s quote is profound precisely because the California Supreme… Read More

I’ve definitely been quiet on the blog front the last few days…mostly because it’s not my normal behavior to be on stage ….who would have thought Flash would become so real…and what a better time for that to happen with everything that’s going on?

As a private person, it’s been a difficult adjustment to keep up with the constant flow of things and then make my thoughts public. While I’m not shy about my opinions, it’s not normal for me to do so in front of so many eyeballs that this place gets. That’s what all the written disclaimers were about in my most early posts…that simply this is not a forum I’m used to….one of the bloggers on here said my intro post read like a personal ad…another friend said I must have watched too much MST3K. They’re both right. I could never be a professional… Read More

Perhaps I am starting to understand the pure genius of Governor Schwarzenegger appointing Democrat activist Susan Kennedy to be his Chief of Staff — it has apparently significantly lowered by expectations on other appointments coming out of the his administration. This is too bad, and it goes to an enthusiasm problem that is not unique to me — it is coursing through the veins of GOP activists throughout the state, demoralized that after the hi-profile recall of Gray Davis, both the Governor and the First lady have tapped two of Gray Davis’ most influential Deputy Chiefs of Staff to be their Chiefs of Staff. The whole thing sounds soludicrous every time I write it down. Well, this is a subject for much more debate, but not right now… … Read More

Today there were more changes made at the senior-most levels within the Administration. Governor Schwarzenegger, presumably with the advice and sign off of his Chief of Staff, controversial Democrat Susan Kennedy, moved Fred Aguiar (pictured to the right) from his post old post of Secretary of California’s State and Consumer Protection Agency to the position of Cabinet Secretary, displacing Terry Tamminen who will now be a senior advisor (read: still in the Governor’s office, but in a lower-profile role). Also, Dan Dunmoyer (pictured below, to the right) comes onboard as a Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for Policy Development.

Aguair and Dunmoyer have… Read More

The GOP seems to be spending a lot of time weeping and gnashing our teeth over Susan Kennedy. As a committed conservative, and supporter of the Governor, I understand the symbolic issues here. Her presence on his staff is a tough one to digest. But I have a suggestion, once we get over this issue – let’s deal with our REAL political problem. How do we defeat teachers, nurses, firemen, prison guards and cops, politically speaking? I don’t care who the chief of staff is, if we don’t deal with this challenge, none of our candidates can win. As a matter of fact, unless we come up with a realistic strategy soon, we shouldn’t even field candidates for Statewide office. Why put donors, volunteers and candidates through another losing political season? Sure, the Kennedy appointment depresses the GOP base. But even an energized base faces defeat every time against our well regarded adversaries. Not the Democrats. They aren’t well regarded. It’s the teachers, nurses, firemen, prison guards and cops. Any time spent apart from developing a strategy to neutralize and defeat them is a waste of time. My ideas will follow. I would love to… Read More

Today. Governor Schwarzenegger named Justice Carol Corrigan to the Supreme Court of California. Corrigan is currently a Justice on the First District Court of Appeal. Among other things, the Governor’s says this about his appointee: "Justice Corrigan is conservative, thoughtful and a brilliant jurist. She believes that the law belongs to the people, not to judges and has a proven record of being supportive of victims’ rights."

Over the coming days, the FlashReport will be bringing some analysis of this pick and what it means. Our political law correspondent, Michael Houston, will weigh in, and I have already reached out the the FlashReport newtwork of lawyers who study things like the rulings of Judges (I am more focused on the rulings of NBA referees).

The Governor’s office issued a Press Release that starts out:… Read More

If you read the newspapers these days in the Bay Area, you’d think that the liquor store owners in West Oakland were responsible for Oakland’s crime problem. City leaders, who believe that liquor stores are magnets for the bad elements of the city, are leaning on store owners to change their inventory from cheap wine to broccoli. When you drive through West Oakland, there are many, many small independent markets and a noticeable absence of large chain supermarkets. There is no doubt that the amount of liquor being purchased and consumed in Oakland’s troubled neighborhoods is a problem, but it is the shop owners’ problem or the customer’s problems? In a typical Bay Area nanny-government approach to social problems, the government and community groups answer to the problem is to lean on the shop owners and, in some instances, shut… Read More