President Obama made the right call in approving the highly-surgical killing of master terrorist Osama Bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan, and he deserves credit for the successful mission. As Commander in Chief, he took a risk – both militarily and politically. Intelligence reports were reportedly initially far from conclusive when planning for the mission began last August. By last Friday the president felt he had enough intelligence to believe that Bin Laden was actually in the compound, and approved the mission.

As with any mission, success was far from certain, yet Obama gave the order. Good for him. Had it backfired, the news today (and for a longtime afterwards) would have been that Obama is an incompetent leader. We would have had a replay of Jimmy Carter’s disastrous April 1980 attempt to rescue 52 American hostages in Iran. In that failed mission, several helicopters crashed, no hostages were rescued and eight American servicemen lost their lives. The event played a major role in Carter’s defeat to Ronald Reagan later that year.

Instead, today we are celebrating the death of one of the most horrific terrorists in the history of civilization as a… Read More

Six weeks ago the California Republican Convention met to among other things debate rules changes pertaining to the endorsement process since passage of Proposition 14.

The media was relentless. Headlines featured words like “tension’ and “clash”. My favorite came from the lefty blog Calbuzz that asked “Will the Stalinistas strike a blow for authoritarianism?”

All this centered around the fight between two proposals that would let either the state board decide endorsements or a caucus of state and local central committee members. Both plans contained exceptions that specifically protected incumbents. Insiders choosing is the worst possible way to get the candidates we need and don’t get me started on incumbent protection. Ultimately, I wrote an alternative plan supported by Congressman Tom McClintock that rejected both approaches and would lead to pre-primary mail in balloting by Republicans was adopted. (The chairman is announcing something soon, so I won’t steal his thunder or hair gel on this one.) So … Read More

Add Rocky Chavez to the List in San Diego… Former Oceanside City Councilman Rocky Chavez is said to be mulling an open 2012 legislative seat in San Diego. Jim Sills has it first at San Diego Rostra yesterday:

“Friends and supporters are encouraging Rocky Chavez to seek one of SD County’s seats in 2012,” Sills writes. “The career US Marine served two terms on the city council, leaving in 2009 when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first named him Undersecretary for Veterans Affairs, and then Acting Secretary the past six months, as Jerry Brown looked for a permanent successor.”

Which seat? As Sills notes, it depends on the upcoming state redistricting (and if Chavez plans to stick around Oceanside). The 74th Assembly (Martin Garrick leaving due to term limits), 75th Assembly (should Nathan Fletcher run for San Diego mayor) and 39th Senate (Chris Kehoe is termed out) could all be in play.

As I reported in February, … Read More

Yesterday the Los Angeles Times “Politi-Cal” politics blog carried a story by ace reporter Seema Mehta talking about how, at their convention this weekend, California Democrats are looking at changing their rules so that local caucuses of Democrat leaders can gather and endorse candidates for Congress and the State Legislature. Thanks to the “reforms” given to us with the passage of Proposition 14, political parties can no longer use the June election as a mechanism for their registered party members to hold a primary.

At the State GOP convention last month a coalition made up primarily of federal and state legislative leaders passed a plan that takes a much different course than the Democrats. Under the GOP’s new rules, it is a very restrictive process for the party to support a candidate before the June election (it takes a 2/3rds vote of every County Central Committee that overlaps a part of a district and then a 2/3rds vote of the State Party Board of Directors —trust me, very… Read More

I first would would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and Passover!

Criticizing Barack Hussein Obama is fair game. And there is plenty to criticize. I should know – Obama stuck me by name on his website’s famous enemies list – “Fight the Smears” – during the 2008 Presidential campaign, because of the website and PAC that I lawyer and co-manage at www.ExposeObama.com. He didn’t like our questions about his health care plan, his associations with radicals and a former communist, our criticism of his buddy and preacher Jeremiah Wright, and much more.

I didn’t like the publicity of getting on Obama’s enemies list, and its aftermath, which have included Jerry Brown’s campaign smearing me for being a “birther.” But I probably earned it, whether I am or not by just publishing questions that Obama would just as soon not have wanted magnified, including raising questions about his birth certificate, the same questions now being trumpeted by Donald Trump.

So, speaking as a professional Obama watcher and anointed enemy of the President, I think I can speak with some… Read More

Earlier this week, former U.S. Representative Chris Chocola, President of the Club for Growth, made a visit to California. I caught up to Chocola at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where he appeared at an event for GenNext, an organization to which I belong. Before the event, I was able to arrange for some time to interview Chocola about the Club and what they are up to.

For those who are not familiar with the Club for Growth, they are an organization that is laser-focused on issues of economic liberty and free markets. Rather than get into more detail, I invite you to relax, and enjoy this interview that takes about ten minutes to watch…

… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary Email…

Jerry Brown’s Reckless Labor Deal

Before leaving office last year, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California negotiated new contracts and pension reforms with six state unions. The prison guards were the only major union to hold out, figuring that they could get a better deal once Democrat Jerry Brown assumed the governorship. They were right.

The new contract that Mr. Brown and the guards have negotiated uncaps the number of vacation days that officers can cash in upon retirement, which is 80 for most state unions. Since officers get eight weeks of time off each year, many prison guards have racked up hundreds of unused vacation days. Officers receive so many days off, the Brown administration says, that they “can’t avoid exceeding the vacation cap.” That, in short, is Mr. Brown’s justification… Read More

Look! In the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a blimp funded by elitist and hypocritical liberals protesting conservative philanthropists Charles and David Koch.

At least that was the scene a few months ago in Palm Desert when liberal groups like Common Cause protested outside a private meeting held by the Koch brothers. In true liberal style, AstroTurf demonstrators were bused in from all over the state to protest. To show how serious they were, they even brought out a blimp—the big guns.

So what egregious crime against liberalism had the Koch brothers committed? Simple. They had the audacity to exercise their First Amendment right to participate in the political process.

Liberal groups like Common Cause love to wrap themselves in a cloak of constitutional protections to attack the constitutionally protected rights of those who with whom they don’t agree. But their hypocrisy goes beyond their unequal application of constitutional rights.

Common Cause and other liberal groups associated with the event are funded by the likes of George Soros and other wealthy benefactors. Yet Common Cause’s entire beef with the… Read More