I wouldn't take issue with the contempt displayed for the California electorate, the "Lib-Dems," and Schwarzenegger personally. But. The one important progressive proposal to emerge from the entire recall circus came from... Schwarzenegger! He promised a program to provide hydrogen refueling facilities *every twenty miles* along California's major highways by 2010. How important this idea is was recognized by the NYTIMES editorially with the adjectives "unrealistic" and "utopian."
Of course, this may turn out to be campaign verbiage. But I did have an experience that reflects favorably on Schwarzenegger. In May 2001 I served on the jury in a lengthy damage trial against GM for the death of a husband in an SUV rollover. He was gruesomely crushed when the roof collapsed on his head. GM claimed that its design was not defective because reinforcing the supporting columns would do nothing for safety. We found against GM. On the next day I read in the Financial Times an article reporting that before Schwarzenegger agreed to buy a Hummer he had insisted that GM include exactly the reinforcement that had been at issue in our trial!
Shane Mage
"Thunderbolt steers all things."
Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64
Hi Pensters,
My view from down here and from having known people in the rank & file voting public of California is that they voted for Arnie because he promised them simple, honest good governance and a 'strong' government. The government under Davis was seen as weak, which is why so many people got screwed (the thinking goes) during the 'energy crisis" (fix).
The problem with the voting public is that they're, for the most part, a bunch of ignorant fools who, like the kool-aide drinkers of Jonestown, are looking for an honest guy to lead them to the simple life away from the slimy, weak polytricksters, like Davis.
The ground for this kind of debacle is fertilized on a daily basis by mealy-mouthed liberals who won't stand up for what they believe--mostly because the DP is in the hands of a gang of bureaucrats beholden to various sections of the ruling class. These politicians are satisfied with playing the role of safety valve during the toboggan ride to the bottom which Capital and the Repugs are bound and determined to take the rest of us. They don't tell their constituencies that they're being ripped off royally. They tell them that businessmen and the 'free-market' can save the day, if the voters just choose to go with them on their nice toboggan ride with cushions, instead of on the 'mean old' Repugs' sled.
A lot of people see through this 'propaganda'--it's all phoney--remember what Bobby D told you? But, because the major pollies in the DP, which is the only voice given credibility as an opposition by the corporate and State owned media ("Camejo...who's he?" Joe Shit the ragman asks as he quaffs his Bud and reads the sports section at the short bar) don't even begin to educate their constituency (because they're already bought and paid for as safety valves) the voters who vote in quantity choose Arnie because Arnie is better looking and he's like 'cool' baby.
Best to all, Mike B)
--- "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:> for Davis, or Bustamente. There were also a lot ofobviously, Cooper doesn't like Camejo, for whatever reason. I thought, however, that one of MC's points was that the progressive wing and ethnic-minority grassroots of the DP (which are not the object of MC's derision here) sat out because Gray Davis was so bad. And most of them -- and MC, I'd guess -- are wedded to the lesser of two weevils logic which says if you're not voting for Ah-nold or Bustamente, you might as well vote for Gary Coleman or Mary Carey or Larry Flynt.
Davis' explanation -- right white nativist anti-immigrant uprising fueled by talk shows -- is true, but only part of the story. It's not only who voted for der Gropenfuehrer but also who didn't votepeople who voted for Mr. Universe for reasons besides those highlighted by Davis.
btw, MC's article is from the curent L.A. WEEKLY. Jim
-----Original Message----- From: Doug Henwood [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 10/12/2003 2:48 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Subject: Re: [PEN-L] cooper on the Gray demise of the Lib-Dems
As Eudora told me, the word "Camejo" was not found in this piece. Why, if this was a not-unadmirable uprising, as Marc Cooper argues, was there not more support for him (or Huffington)? Mike Davis' explanation - that it was a right white nativist anti-immigrant uprising fueled by talk shows - seems more compelling, given the demographics of the vote. Arnie's vote was highest in the above-$75k households.
Doug
===== ***************************************************************** "A man's maturity consists in finding once again the seriousness he had as a child at play."
Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (500 B.C.)
http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal
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