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New York, 8:06 PM
Fri Nov 27
13 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/19/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
11/19/09
UGH! whydontyoujustleavemealone!?
11/19/09
#tips
#whydontyoujustleavemealone!?
11/19/09
#tips
11/19/09
11/19/09
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11/19/09
11/19/09
10/28/09
Between this and the knife incident, I think we New Yorkers can safely say to you Californians that your governor is a bigger goddamned fool than ours. And trust me, Paterson has set that bar pretty high. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
10/29/09
10/28/09
I can hardly wait to see who buys the office next. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Ironic that the one who wasn't "man" enough to speak his mind was the Terminator.
He can still kiss my gay ass. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
I give him points for being cordial and coy while remaining blunt and demonstrating some wit.
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
But when you are bitching about how awful the politicians are, make sure that you place a healthy share of the blame on the voting population of California.
*The unworkable budget and tax situations can't be fixed because voters would freak.
*The state keeps adding spending mandates because the voters want them.
*The state can't raise revenue to pay for the spending mandates because the voters won't stand for it.
*The only reason that Arnie's in a position to make this gesture is because the voters recalled his predecessor, for the heinous crime of returning automobile registration fees to their previous level.
As Kent Brockman said, "Sometimes, democracy just doesn't work." #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Um, aren't these elected officials supposed to represent us when it comes down to decision-making time?
I apologize for any redundancy... it just feels like a whole idiotic mess.
#arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
We vote into office people who excel at fundraising and manipulating their local political machines. (You might have noticed the slate cards in last year's elections, their endorsements, and the amount of time politicians spend pandering to the competing Democratic clubs of SF. That is an industry in itself, trust me.)
The people we elect are supposed to make educated decisions about the most pressing issues, but instead, they spend their time building up their campaign funds and pandering to their political bases, in preparation for the next level of office. That's because term limits (which I sincerely regret supporting) don't allow them time to learn the issues or develop coalitions that transcend party lines.
The initiative process in California is a very low barrier to putting whackadoodle ideas on the ballot, or to enacting them; witness the Prop 8 debacle. It is easily manipulated by people with the money to pay for signatures, which is how we wound up with Arnold as governor.
It has become easier for the Legislature to put items onto the ballot than it is for it to enact them on its own, in part because of the dysfunctional budgeting process.
The only thing that scares me more than the current state of affairs is the lunacy that we could get up to in the process of writing a new constitution for the state.
In short, our legislative branch has reduced itself to a talking-shop, and if there are terrorists armed with nukes, I hope that they set one off in Sacramento while the Legislature is in session. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
What I want to know is why there is such a low barrier for the initiative process? Was the entire concept (not citing specifics, just the general origin of props) created from money-filled special interest groups or was there a real, legit reason at first (like, you know, the reason for the democratic process in its most raw form)?
Oh, and it isn't like they'd be interrupting much.
#arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
To address why the barrier is so low, my only explanation is that people a hundred years ago assumed that the electorate would be increasingly better-educated and civic-minded, thereby being in a position to evaluate laws on their merits.
As you might have noticed, this is not how things turned out. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
The idea is a good one, but there has to be some change to crush the advent of political hit men (both commercial and political) using paid sig gatherers to get things on the ballot. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
You're right that Johnson probably didn't expect that there would be paid signature gatherers, but given the explosion in the state's population over the ten years preceding his governorship, I don't think it takes much of a leap to assume that he expected the state to keep on growing by leaps and bounds. What I'm sure he didn't count on is the extension of citizenship (and thus, the franchise) to the degree that has happened.
I would be happy to see paid signature gathering outlawed, but I don't know if that would survive the inevitable challenges in both state and federal courts. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
Way to screw an entire state over pique, Arnold. Adult. Real adult. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
tim redmond:
UPDATE: Aaron McLear from the governor's press office just called. When I asked him if the Fuck You message was intentional, all he would say was "what a strange coincidence." He was clearly being sarcastic.
Tweedle, that pretty much confirms it -- these guys knew exactly what they were doing.
What. An. Ass. Fantastic that a bunch of Frat Asshats and their serial-molesting boss have the time to craft such nonsense while the state is burning (not literally, as of this moment - phew!), while screwing a major city and county of CA.
That's leadership! #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
In short, the state handed SF a mess of rotting piers, warehouses and seawalls, and told the City to have fun. Local government contributes nothing to the Port's operations (even if it had the money, which it doesn't), so the decay has continued, with the notable exceptions of the Ferry Building and Phone Company Park. Sure, Herb Caen Way... is pretty, but most of the piers are just a sneeze away from collapsing into the bay. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
unwarranted gossip creation by the so-
called "editors" at Gawker. This is the
kind of thing that demeans all blogs.
It's sad, but it is increasingly apparent
that this is the new standard here.
As a reader and California native, it
really saddens me to see all of the
new, innovative ideas our Gov. has
introduced to help our state grow and
excel be lost under your faux-scandals. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
What exactly has Der Governator accomplished in the last six years? I can't think of a single thing. That said, Ammiano is a toad who got where he is because of identity politics, and he got what he deserved. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
"Suck it Arnie" didn't escalate matters, and I suspect he is doing other things with his time than reading Gawker, like Sudoku or Jumble, or shopping for a Bluetooth headset for Maria. #arnoldschwarzenegger