"THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HO HO"

Robert Scheer has lost it.

Joining is soul-mate Maureen Dowd in the sanitarium seems like a good option for this well known liberal columnist. In today’s LA Times (back to the font again I go), he has an honest-to-goodness breakdown over the California recall. His hysterical rantings sound like those of a six year old who has been told she can’t get the latest Barbie fun house. Seriously, all I can picture is this man jumping up and down, waving his arms, screaming that he won’t be my friend anymore.

It seems that the whole recall is George Bush’s fault. Who knew? The fact that the Federal government has no control over a state recall movement conducted under a 1911 California Constitutional Amendment is actually irrelevant. But, I’ll let Scheer tell the whole story:

“However you feel about Gray Davis, the fact is, this recall has become a shell game, led and paid for by Republicans, that conveniently distracts from the alarming failures and frauds of the White House.”

Ahh, it’s being done as a distraction. That crafty Karl Rove, is there nothing he can’t do? He’s Superman!

“…the key black marks on Davis' resume — the energy crisis and the budget shortfall — were both messes created by deregulating, tax-cutting Republicans.”

I’ll get to the energy thing in just a second, but let’s touch upon the budget shortfall. Scheer says this is caused by tax-cutting Republicans. What Scheer doesn’t mention in is that spending in California from 1994-2003 (projected) almost doubled, from 39 to 76.7 billion dollars. In the Davis years (only since 1998), it went from 53 to 76.6 billion dollars. I’m thinking over-spending had a lot to do with the budget shortfall. Scheer seems to be saying that taxes should have doubled, too. Hey, what’s a 16% sales tax?

The energy crisis. Boy, some people never learn. Between 1980-2000, the population of California went from 24 million people to 35 million people. How many power plants do you think California built? Zero. When energy deregulation was passed in 1995, what do you think California did? Froze the rates artificially low, assuring power companies would do nothing to increase power supplies in the world fifth largest economy. When the mandated caps came off and California had done nothing energy wise, we ended up with a power supply problem and rates finally reaching market levels. This is somehow Dick Cheney’s fault:

“Vice President Dick Cheney's infamous meetings with top energy executives that excluded consumer representatives. The minutes of those meetings are still secret, yet we know that the policy that emerged benefited the con artists who caused California's energy crisis in the first place.”

Oh, let’s not forget George Bush!!:

“Nor will the Republicans who bought this recall delve into the role of the Bush-dominated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That's the agency that failed in its obligation to bring the energy pirates to heel and force them to properly compensate California for creating artificial shortages.”

The FEC was supposed to protect California from itself, got it. Damn that Karl Rove!!

Thrashing about on the floor in a tantrum, Scheer reaches out for everything he can think of to slam Republicans. Veering quickly from budget and energy, we should now be concerned about “puritan values” (California is well known for embracing these, especially in Hollywood and San Francisco).

“Didn't the puritans of the right squirm just a bit when their new candidate told Jay Leno that the toughest decision in his life prior to announcing his candidacy was whether or not to have a bikini wax?

Suddenly the Republicans care not a whit about those social values they have been prattling about, or anything else but defeating a prominent Democrat. They brook no opposition, even from a conservative Democrat; their goal is a one-party system.”

Oh, we make jump to a one party-system. Yeah, the Republicans have always had a lock on California State Government and if we can just get a Republican in the Mansion, we’ll have it, except for that Democratic controlled House and Senate, of course.

Mr. Scheer, it will all be ok. Just let these nice gentleman in the white coats help you; besides you can now hang with Maureen Dowd and Harley Sorenson.