<p>The nation owes Arnold Schwarzenegger gratitude for pushing Kobe Bryant out of the headlines for the first time in weeks.</p>
<p>Still, the concept of recalling a sitting governor for anything less than moral turpitude strikes this conservative as ill-advised.</p>
<p>I raise the matter of principle because the state of California is currently paralyzed in part because it has abandoned the sound principles upon which the nation was founded. The Constitution does not, of course, specify how Californians are to govern themselves -- except to say in Article IV, Section 4 that every state must be guaranteed a ``republican form of government.'' A republican form of government means that the people choose their leaders. It does not mean that the people decide every question by referendum.</p>