In Defense of Robbie Waters

Full Disclosure: Councilman Waters appointed me to my post on the Sacramento Youth Commission.

City Council member Robbie Waters (pictured here with District Director Pat Clark, another youth commissioner, and myself) has been accused in recent days of illegally spending campaign funds to embellish his business, Pocket Custom Framing. Waters claims he is running a district office inside the store.

Now, I am not a campaign finance expert. But I can say that this story is being blown way out of context.

As involved constituents know, ever since he was elected in 1994 Councilman Waters has had an open door policy at his business, at that time a full-fledged hardware store. Citizens were welcome to stop on by and discuss city business at any time, even if they did not buy anything. As a small child, I remember my parents going into the store on numerous occasions for this very reason.

This open door policy has continued with the Councilman’s new framing business. Constituents are still welcome to come by and talk with their representative in city government. Anyone is welcome. It is the closest you can get to a district office without the city physically owning the property.

While I’ve never seen the backroom that apparently is the actual district office, it does not matter. Councilman Water’s hospitality at his business should allow him to claim it as a legitimate office that serves the needs of the people he serves.

Sorry He Isn't Here

The US Supreme Court today refused the appeal of an Arizona man sentanced to 200 years in prison for the possession of 20 pieces of child pornography.

I'm not here to defend or support the sentance, but the man should be sorry he does not live in California under a proposal introduced by legislative Democrats last year. In that case, he would only have been charged with a misdemeaner.

Dem Leader Explains why she Opposes Redistricting Reform

Don't you just love it when politicians are honest about their reasons for opposing reform proposals:

California could threaten the slim Democratic majority by giving up the ability to draw districts advantageous to Democrats, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), chairwoman of California's Democratic delegation.

"We're finally about to deal with the Iraq war issue, we're finally taking on global climate change, energy independence — things we've been stonewalled on for a dozen years — and there's great interest that these efforts not be short-circuited," Lofgren said.

I think Zoe speaks for a lot of Democrats who oppose redistricting reform, so she wins the intellectually honest liberal of the day award.

Aaron Park is Back!

It is with great enthusiasm that I announce that Aaron Park, formerly the Roseville Conservative, is back in the blogosphere, flamethrower at the ready. Find him at http://aaronfpark.townhall.com/

Condoms at the CRP

This story relating to last weekend's Republican convention is just funny:

On Saturday morning, Feb. 10, a prolonged confrontation occurred at the exhibit table of the pro-abortion California Republican League. Pro-life activists discovered that the pro-abortion California Republican League had pro-abortion NARAL Pro-Choice California staff, political paraphernalia, “Vote Pro-Choice” buttons, pens, post cards, posters, and newsletters -- and even condoms -- for distribution at their exhibit table adjacent to the Convention Center’s main meeting hall.

NARAL originally was an acronym for National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, and then became the National Abortion Rights Action League. NARAL’s abortion advocacy newsletter even boasted of their efforts to defeat Proposition 85, the Parents’ Right to Know and Child Protection initiative, which was endorsed and supported by the California Republican Party and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s reelection campaign.

A loud confrontation lasted for about an hour and a half, as pro-life Republicans protested that the NARAL staff members were really pro-abortion Democratic Party operatives, and had no right to distribute their propaganda at a California Republican Party convention.

California Republican Party staff became involved in the effort to have the NARAL staff, paraphernalia, and condoms removed from the convention. NARAL had not contracted for exhibit space, but had come in under cover of the California Republican League. NARAL staff rudely refused to remove their materials and leave -- and even threatened legal action if they were removed.

California Republican Party legal counsel Chuck Bell did not back up staff and party members’ demands that NARAL remove their pro-abortion paraphernalia, propaganda, and condoms and leave.

As a minor concession, NARAL staff did remove their condoms from the table.

I saw this table over the weekend, though apparently I was too late for the confrontation and condoms as they were already removed. All I did notice is that the table was littered with literature about “Stop the extremist judges” and other liberal causes. The table, unlike most in the hall, was rarely visited, and when it was generally it was by a person looking to argue. I saw no supporters.

But, I would suggest that this is not a negative thing. Ever hour that a NARAL volunteer puts in at a Republican convention and every piece of literature they distribute is one that they are not putting towards furthering their pro-abortion message or indoctrinating vulnerable teens. They are wasting their time and resources with the only goal of making pro-life advocates angry, so as far as I am concerned, they should be welcomed back at every opportunity.

So come on back NARAL!

Minimum Wage Increase Hurts Teens

Think the argument that minimum wage increases lead to more people out of work is a bunch of conservative hogwash? Think again.

Republican Convention Review

I have spent the bulk of the past two days at the California Republican Party Convention here in Sacramento. While I’ll save most of my observations for a commentary in the Union, here are a few observations:

1. Governor Schwarzenegger was met with a tepid response from the delegates. While he did get a few periods of loud applause, especially when talking about transferring prisoners to out of state without their consent (did the victims consent to having a crime committed against them?), there were long sections of the speech when talking about the recent infrastructure bonds and the health care plan where the only sound that could be heard was the clanking of forks and knives. This clearly was not a “post partisan” crowd; one of the biggest applauses came when the Governor mentioned that as a result of a recent special election, Republicans now control every seat on the Orange Country Board of Supervisors.

2. Mayor Giuliani was given a very warm reception. He was interrupted numerous times by applause and standing ovations. However, this does not translate into a groundswell of support for his Presidential bid. From what I observed, many delegates merely wanted to see the man that led New York through the 9/11 disaster and has been a celebrity ever since. But as some told me before the event, they will not support his 2008 bid. And of course, this doesn't even count the CRP members who didn't buy a ticket. In fact, I would say the number of Giuliani stickers on the shirts of delegates during the events not related to his appearance only slightly outnumbered the number of Romney and Duncan Hunter stickers. The attendees were there to honor the man, but not necessarily his future aspirations.

3. Tom McClintock, as usual, was extremely popular. His announcement of his new website and organization was standing room only, with perhaps around 200 people in attendance. Given that the event occurred at 5:00 this evening, hours after the major events of the day had concluded, this was quite a crowd.

4. Finally, thanks to the Sacramento Union for allowing me to obtain press credentials (I’ll elaborate more on this in my commentary for them, but it was quite an experience and privledge) and to the press room staff of the CRP. They made myself and the other members of the press very comfortable and offered free food and drinks, as well as helpful information.

Bee Double Standard on Parade

John Hughes of the Bee complains below that I overlooked the fact the piece was an "editorial notebook" written by a single member of the Bee's editorial staff, in this case Ginger Rutland. He is correct. However, it still does not change the fact that I am sure Ms. Rutland along with the majoirty of her editorial staff would be all over a Republican had they made the same remarks.

The hypocrisy of the Bee shines through again in this editorial about Joe Biden’s recent gaffe:

In response to a question from a reporter, Biden called the Illinois Democrat and fellow presidential candidate "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Although Biden's remarks show his unfortunate tendency to open his mouth without engaging his brain, they surely were not intended to offend. But, this being presidential politics and the subject being race, of course they did.

In response to a question from a reporter, Biden called the Illinois Democrat and fellow presidential candidate "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Although Biden's remarks show his unfortunate tendency to open his mouth without engaging his brain, they surely were not intended to offend. But, this being presidential politics and the subject being race, of course they did.

Biden implied that previous black candidates for president -- the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley-Braun and Alan Keyes -- were unclean, inarticulate, not bright and ugly, or some combination of the above.

I don't think that's what he meant, and I believe fair-minded people, including, I suspect, the vast majority of black Americans don't either.

I'm black. I don't pretend to speak for all black people. But speaking for myself, I would appreciate some straight talk about race from presidential candidates, something more than the "gotcha" garbage that flows every time a candidate forgets to install his PC filter when race comes up.

Now, can anyone imagine the Bee publishing this editorial if instead of Joe Biden, it had been Rudy Guiliani or Mitt Romney? No. The paper would be all over a Republican to apologize for the “racist” comments. Just like with Trent Lott, there would be no peace until Republican X resigned, dropped out of the race, or otherwise was severely punished for his or her words.

But when a Democrat like Biden says something that might be offensive, he is praised for “straight talk about race.” Double standard on parade from the Bee.

California Should Get Out of Iran

A GOP legislator has introduced a piece of legislation that would require the state of California to divest from the nation of Iran. Specifically, state retirement pensions would be cleansed of any connections.

This is a common sense bill. Just as last year the legislature divested from Sudan, it needs to do the same for Iran. So now the question is, will the Democrats pass this immediately to get California's investments out of nations that loathe us, or will they allow the state to continue to hold $24 Billion in funds connected to a country whose leader believes the holocaust never happened and that Israel should be wiped off the map?