Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Living in a state of disrepair: California (Dave Barry)
miami herald ^ | Sun, Aug. 24, 2003 | Dave Barry

Posted on 08/25/2003 6:52:56 AM PDT by presidio9

CALIFORNIA - I came out here because I've been reading disturbing reports that my state, Florida, is about to lose the coveted title of ''The Doofus State,'' which we Floridians worked so hard to win following the 2000 presidential election by not being able to figure out whom we voted for. We have been The Doofus State for just two lousy years, and now these greedy Californians, who had the title for decades, are trying to get it back.

I regret to say that they have an excellent shot. The political situation out here is very bad.

Q. How bad is it?

A. One of the saner-sounding people involved is Larry Flynt.

How did California get into this mess? Everybody agrees that the root cause is a person named ''Gray'' Davis, who has the warm personal charm of a sea urchin. Incredibly, Californians elected him governor twice. It's still not clear how this happened. Apparently, from time to time the entire California electorate goes to a bar and chugs industrial quantities of margaritas, and it gets late, and one thing leads to another, and the next morning the electorate wakes up in a dingy motel room, and there, snoring next to it, is: Gray.

To make matters worse, Gray lost the state budget surplus. California had this gigantic surplus, billions and billions of dollars, and now it's gone. They've looked everywhere, but nobody can find it. It is the Weapon of Mass Destruction of budget surpluses.

So now Gray is spectacularly unpopular. Everybody despises him. When he tries to get into the governor's house, his own dog attacks him. When he calls for his security personnel, they side with the dog.

Of course California is not the first state to find itself being led by a known bonehead. Many other states have gone through this ordeal, and the way they have traditionally handled it is to pretend that the bonehead is competent and popular, thus causing him to be so impressed with himself that he resigns from the governorship and runs for president of the United States.

But California has a unique system of government, known technically as the ''Any Random Loon Can Put Any Random Thing On the Ballot If Enough Random Loons Agree'' system. If you're a Californian, and you want to put something to a statewide vote, all you have to do is gather a couple of million signatures. That sounds like a lot, but in California you can get that many signatures in 45 minutes merely by approaching disgruntled motorists gridlocked on a freeway during rush hour (6:30 a.m-11:30 p.m.) and having them pass your petition from car to car. As a result, Californians are constantly voting on things. They have repealed gravity several times.

So now there's going to be an election to decide whether to recall Gray, and it is causing massive political turmoil. Gray is a Democrat, so the Democratic Party pretty much has to support him, although its support has been less than enthusiastic, as indicated by the party's official campaign slogan: ``Gray Davis: Maybe He'll Improve.''

If Gray gets dumped, there are literally hundreds of candidates vying to replace him. Under California election law, virtually anybody can run for governor, except of course smokers. Porn King Larry Flynt has courageously thrown his hat into the ring, despite the very real risk that he will draw attention to himself. (Larry's hat is still in the ring; nobody wants to pick it up, because who knows where that thing has been?)

Also on the ballot are Arnold Schwarzenegger (who has promised to straighten California out by, quote, 'Not making any more movies''); Arianna Huffington, former wife of former congressperson Michael Huffington; the Huffingtons' former cat, Puffington Huffington; Demi Moore; her cute new boyfriend; the Oakland Raiders; the late Bob Hope; and Harold R. Wankmilker, a resident of Nevada who accidentally got on the ballot when he attempted to pay a California speeding ticket by mail.

Gray's campaign strategy is to remind the voters that if they dump him, they'll wind up being governed by some wingnut. His opponents' strategy is to remind the voters that if they don't dump Gray, they'll wind up with: Gray. Opinion polls show that the voters currently favor Puffington.

But the point is that California is embarrassing itself hugely, and people are starting to forget about Florida, and all the hard work we Floridians did to become the top national laughingstock. Well, I have a message for you Californians: We're not going to take this lying down. You're in the limelight now, but there's another presidential election coming, and we're going to be ready.

We're bringing back the chads.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; Political Humor/Cartoons; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: davebarry; pufflist
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

1 posted on 08/25/2003 6:52:58 AM PDT by presidio9
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: presidio9
EXCELLENT!
2 posted on 08/25/2003 6:58:32 AM PDT by EggsAckley (. . . S.U.E. . . . STOP UNNECESSARY EXCERPTING . . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Thankyou Florida and California for taking the limelight off Arkansas.
3 posted on 08/25/2003 7:03:31 AM PDT by Arkie2 (It's a literary fact that the number of words written will grow exponentially to fill the space avai)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
HAR!!!

A Bodacious Dave Barry Bump!

4 posted on 08/25/2003 7:05:10 AM PDT by Ronin (Qui tacet consentit!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: *puff_list; Gabz; Flurry; SheLion; Max McGarrity
Under California election law, virtually anybody can run for governor, except of course smokers.

LOL Puff

5 posted on 08/25/2003 7:07:56 AM PDT by Just another Joe (FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
FINALLY we get an accurate sumation of the Kollyfornya situation!
6 posted on 08/25/2003 7:09:01 AM PDT by WestPacSailor ("Atomic batteries to power; turbines to speed....")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
the Huffingtons' former cat, Puffington Huffington
7 posted on 08/25/2003 7:11:22 AM PDT by Guillermo (Proud Infidel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arkie2
Arkansas has a permanent DOOFUS status for giving us WJC.
8 posted on 08/25/2003 7:13:46 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy ("I'll quit killing myself with smoking, when they quit killing babies with abortion.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Flurry
Arkansas didn't "give" you Krinton. The "american electorate" gave him to you. Knowledgeable people in Ark tried to warn everyone but no one was listening.
9 posted on 08/25/2003 7:20:32 AM PDT by Arkie2 (It's a literary fact that the number of words written will grow exponentially to fill the space avai)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Arkie2
Knowledgeable people in Ark tried to warn everyone but no one was listening.

That reminds me of 1976, when Georgians were trying to warn people about Jimmy Carter and nohody listened. (Not that Carter could compare to Clinton, but he was well-known as not the sharpest blade in the drawer.)

And in 1992, for another example, I was vacationing in Utah and the nicest couple came up to me. They said that by my Texas license plates they knew I had to be proud of Ross Perot. Because they were so nice, I tried very gently to tell them that in Dallas ol' Ross was known as an off-the-wall wackjob in many ways. They weren't convinced. Sigh.......

10 posted on 08/25/2003 7:41:24 AM PDT by xJones
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Love Barry's writings.... excellent read, I needed a good laugh this morning.
11 posted on 08/25/2003 8:07:19 AM PDT by Great Dane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Sorry, Florida... California has been working hard at the Doofus title for many years and won't give it up lightly. What other state would find O.J. Simpson innocent? ;-)

Thanks for the great Barry column!

12 posted on 08/25/2003 8:08:49 AM PDT by Tamzee (Incrementalism will seize the day, and the next., and the next... exactly how the left did it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xJones
but he was well-known as not the sharpest blade in the drawer

Carter is no dummy. He just didn't have the stones to be President, that's all. I believe he was at the top of his class at Annapolis.

13 posted on 08/25/2003 8:11:47 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Just another Joe; Great Dane; Max McGarrity; Tumbleweed_Connection; Madame Dufarge; MeeknMing; ...
Heh!


14 posted on 08/25/2003 8:16:47 AM PDT by SheLion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
``Gray Davis: Maybe He'll Improve.''

IMPROVE? OH YES, RIGHT!


15 posted on 08/25/2003 8:18:27 AM PDT by SheLion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Arkie2
The state produced him. I listened to my friends from Arkansas plus he even looked like a crooked bassturd but you're right the contry didn't listen.
16 posted on 08/25/2003 8:18:51 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Roy Moore has more guts than the entire Democratic Party and most Republicans)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
PING!

Your One Stop Resource For All The California Recall News!

Want on our daily or major news ping lists? Freepmail DoctorZin.

17 posted on 08/25/2003 8:19:38 AM PDT by DoctorZIn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SheLion; presidio9
Doofus State bttt !! ...


18 posted on 08/25/2003 8:20:26 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Check out the Texas Chicken D 'RATS!: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/Redistricting)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: SheLion

19 posted on 08/25/2003 8:24:09 AM PDT by presidio9 (Run Al Run!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Arkie2
Arkansas didn't "give" you Krinton. The "american electorate" gave him to you. Knowledgeable people in Ark tried to warn everyone but no one was listening

To a certain extent the party before principle faction of conservatives are resonible for klintoon. If they had demanded a complete investigation of Iran/Contra/Mena we would have avoided Bush1 and klintoon. Not a bad trade, imo.

20 posted on 08/25/2003 8:24:48 AM PDT by steve50
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson