Posted on 11/14/2005 9:02:02 AM PST by NormsRevenge
In 1945, Winston Churchill was swept from office in a devastating election defeat just days after leading England safely through World War II. As he watched in morose silence as the results rolled in, Clementine sat beside him, patted his knee and said, “If you ask me, Winston, it’s a blessing in disguise.” Churchill growled, “At the moment, madam, it is very well disguised, indeed.”
I’m not going to pretend that Tuesday’s election was anything other than what it was: an unmitigated and stunning defeat of some of the most basic principles of good government ever put to a vote: that government should live within its means; that politicians shouldn’t chose who gets to vote for them; that teachers should demonstrate sustained competence before they’re granted lifetime tenure; that public employees have a right to decide for themselves what candidates they’ll support with their own money; and that parents have a right to know if their teenaged daughter is undergoing an abortion.
Nor am I going to pretend that the election can be easily dismissed as a fluke. It was a major setback in the cause of reform and a major victory for the government unions that are now ascendant, emboldened and unchallenged in their domination of our political and legislative process.
There are many lessons to be learned and to be learned well. But as Mark Twain warned, “We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits on a hot stove-lid; she will never sit on a hot stove-lid again--and that is well; but also she will never sit on a cold one anymore."
I have always said that it is naïve to believe that the same legislature that got California into its mess is going to get it back out. The Governor learned this during the first year of his administration, when, despite a few cosmetic and incremental successes, no serious reforms survived the legislature and the state’s finances continued to deteriorate (masked by a $15 billion infusion of borrowed money).
The governor ultimately had no alternative than to bring this impasse to a head and appeal directly to the people. He could have maintained a façade of bipartisanship, contented himself to tinker at the margins, put forth pleasing half-measures while the state’s deficit continued to mount – but he chose finally to confront the state’s condition boldly and forthrightly. And he knew that to do so, he had to confront the government unions responsible for that condition.
Should the election have been called sooner, when civic attention and the Governor’s popularity were at an all-time high? Could the reforms have been better selected, framed and crafted? Would a clearer presentation of these issues have prevailed?
Those shoulda-coulda-woulda questions are important ones and I don’t begrudge the pundits who are now raising and answering them. But they should be tempered by Teddy Roosevelt’s observation that, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again (because there is no effort without error or shortcoming), but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause…”
Now the watchword is “compromise,” but through all this soothing rhetoric there is a hardened reality: the government unions are now in a stronger political position than ever and no “compromise” will escape the Capitol without their seal of approval. And that means the state will continue to drift upon the course that has already brought it to the brink of insolvency, until the next crisis awakens voters.
Elections are decisive moments in time that record a snapshot of public judgment, but they are conducted in a dynamic world where events can quickly reshape the political landscape. If the fundamental course of the government is not changed – and the government unions have an intense self-interest and demonstrated ability NOT to change – crises will visit California with increasing frequency and intensity. In such an environment, the politics of the state could shift very rapidly.
Whatever the Governor does in response to the election, it is imperative that he levels with the people on the actual fiscal condition of the state and that he is very clear and uncompromising in presenting the solutions that must ultimately resolve it. And when watered-down and meaningless changes are all that emerge from the legislature, he must resist the temptation to proclaim them as anything more.
We humans are creatures of habit. We instinctively resist change and engineer our institutions of government to resist it as well. Change occurs in a society only after the necessity for it finally overcomes our own resistance. That is why serious reforms only come in a state of agitation – and why the recall succeeded in 2003, while the reforms to consummate that recall failed two years later. The recall proceeded while the public perceived a crisis and the reforms were attempted when they did not.
When the next crisis comes, the Governor will find a new appreciation among Californians for what he was trying to do in this election, and a more receptive electorate to do so in the next.
Good for you.
My concern is that the CAGOP may keep clinging to the governor's death spiral and foul the pond for newcomers.
If the CAGOP is foolish enough to promote the governor, through whatever spin they concoct, after he approves a tax increase without exacting a meaningful reduction in spending, these conservatives will face a real battle.
Hell, lets take the ropes to Sacramento and drag Arnold out of the capitol now and let Bustamywallet become governor.
It is obvious now to my old damaged brain that all of the problems in California are Arnold's fault.
Thanks for helping all of us confused people out.
This is the same lameA$$ logic that gave the Clintoons eight years to rape and pillage this nation. Bush I was so evil, the nation was better off with the Clintoons.
We've duked it out before over this issue. It got ugly several times. May 2004 comes to mind. However, I remain optimistic and have the greatest of hope that things will turn around for California and my fellow conservatives, who are slowing being buried under a mountain of debt. Liberalism will be the death of California. And as California goes, so goes America.
I just received this statement from the editor:
The subheading was our subhead 'cause we sure thought things didn't turn out so special...
I agree with your comments on all points. I will admit to being temporarily unable to see much of a bright spot for the state. I do think Tom is positioning himself well, if he can win. However, if Tom gets ready to run in 2008 and the RP pulls another a.h. out if it's hat, what then?
Color me very very fed up with the RP in the state of California.
Can you think of one organization on the right who pulled out all the stops to push the proposition? I mean a big money concern. The left has the unions and the right it's hat in it's hand.
Next will come a visit to your door by the local Central Committee chairman.
So Norm, are you going to alter the misleading header?
But, had I been there, I would have been champing at the bit to vote for Prop. 73 and Prop. 75, especially.
As you may recall, we tried to pass something very similar to Prop. 75 here in Oregon, and not only did the public employee unions beat us, they personally destroyed (through lawsuits) the taxpayer advocate who put the measure on the ballot.
Sadly, it looks like the public employee unions are fully in control of the political process up and down the west coast.
Nice selective memory, dude. Southhack no longer appears to be a member, and I'm not inclined to do any research at your direction. If you don't remember. it was during the initial recall. Have fun. Freep-mail me when you're 'in-town'.
They didn't.
First the CAGOP wanted nothing to do with the recall. When the populist revolt took full bloom the CAGOP then reversed course and laid claim to it.
When Wilson entered Schwarzenegger the CAGOP recoiled. Their old enemy poked them right in the eye. But once again, after the Terminator fever spread, the CAGOP reversed course and attached themselves to their new action hero, never remembering the bad old times.
I did not say that all of the problems were Arnold's fault. I asked a specific question, that you did not answer.
This is the same lameA$$ logic that gave the Clintoons eight years to rape and pillage this nation. Bush I was so evil, the nation was better off with the Clintoons.
What logic do you refer to? I asked a question, I did not make a statement.
I believe that we should hold elected politicians to their campaign promises. In the current case, that would be acting like a fiscal conservative--not raising taxes, cutting spending, not endorsing or promoting new social programs. Are you saying he should not be held to those promises?
Southack, not Southhack. My apologies. However he is from Alabama so my story has loose ends. Perhaps I am confused. Still ain't gonna do any research for you.
I'm not quite as generous as you are, but I'll address the problem. If another j.a. gets lofted in 2008, it's going to be the last nail in this state's coffin, if it lasts that long.
"Now we feel bad.
"We assumed that it's assumed that headlines and subheads are from editors and the body is the author...
"However, the last thing we'd want is to cast any negativity on Tom McClintock 'cause we're completely aligned with his compass.
So - we have removed our cynically tinged subhead and put in a very simple comment in its place..."
It's up to you, Norm.
Change it or perpetuate a lie.
Thank you!
"As you may recall, we tried to pass something very similar to Prop. 75 here in Oregon, and not only did the public employee unions beat us, they personally destroyed (through lawsuits) the taxpayer advocate who put the measure on the ballot.
"Sadly, it looks like the public employee unions are fully in control of the political process up and down the west coast."
Yep, and their legislature thugs in California probably now have some long job security thanks to the defeat of prop 77.
You are right.
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