Free Republic

Two days after Gov. Jerry Brown called off talks and suggested Republicans were obstructionist, Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton and his budget point man, Sen. Bob Huff, held a news conference today to explain their moves over the last week. Dutton said first lady Anne Gust Brown "yelled" at him in one meeting with the governor last Wednesday over a lack of cooperation. "Frankly, I was yelled at more than I was talked to," Dutton said, "and mostly by Mrs. Brown, not even Gov. Brown." Brown press secretary Gil Duran blasted Dutton later. "And the dog barked at him, too,"...

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed wife Anne Gust Brown to be his unpaid "special counsel" and named two executive secretaries as he began Wednesday to shape his new administration. Brown announced more than 20 appointees, all of them Democrats and many of them people who advised Brown when he was governor before. Jim Humes, 51, Brown's chief deputy in the attorney general's office, was appointed executive secretary for administration, legal affairs and policy. Nancy McFadden, also 51, a former adviser to Gov. Gray Davis, is executive secretary for legislation, appointments and policy. Brown is using the title "executive secretary" instead of...

Legendary pop singer Linda Ronstadt said that supporters of President George W. Bush "voted against themselves" when they reelected the president to a second term and exclaimed that "now we've got a new bunch of Hitlers" because of the war in Iraq. In an article that appeared in USA Today on Wednesday, the 58-year-old crooner spoke openly of her disgust following the recent presidential election. "People don't realize that by voting Republican, they voted against themselves," she exclaimed. When commenting on how she felt about the war in Iraq, Ronstadt noted, "I worry that some people are entertained by the...