Can an Oprah Campaign Happen?
Hollywood is good at making news—usually about the latest movie blockbuster or acting sensation. But that was not the case at the most recent Golden Globes awards which worked hard to take the industry and the Golden State out of an unfavorable spotlight. Before a jewel-bedecked audience of very well-coiffed Californians—notably woman all attired in […]
The Passing Of San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee
When any city loses its Mayor it is a notable event. When the City is one of the nation’s most important, heavy coverage is guaranteed. San Francisco’s quiet and often invisible leader for the past seven years, Ed Lee, died unexpectedly this past week bringing close to another epoch in a city always in ferment […]
The California U.S. Senate Race And A Steyer Insurgency
Tom Steyer, the self-styled Democratic activist and billionaire who has made little secret of his desire to be the next Senator from California has spent in excess of $10 million of his estimable fortune, but not to replace long-time incumbent. Diane Feinstein. That may come later. His company, Next Gen Climate, a San Francisco based […]
Are We Seeing the Disappearance of the Two-Party System?
For much of its recent history the nation has gotten along well enough with a two-party system which functions effectively if not always harmoniously. This is true even with and partly because of divided government when the White House and the two chambers of Congress are—as is often the case—in separate hands. With all branches […]
Natural & Other Disasters
As many of California’s bone-dry North Coast counties near where I live are being ravaged by the worst fires ever in a state that has become all to accustomed to these conflagrations with people dying and homes and businesses reduced to a pile of cinders we need to take stock of the preciousness of life. […]
The California Housing Crisis
While the U.S. Congress is setting records for futility in passing important measures, the California legislature just completed one of the most productive sessions in its history. Immigration, transportation, climate control, medical and recreational marijuana, public safety, health care and much more got attention as Governor Jerry Brown, riding a popularity wave most governors can […]
San Diego Mayor Scores Points at California Commonwealth Club
What is a “New California Republican? One rising political star increasingly mentioned as gubernatorial material thinks he knows and believes that prospects for GOP success at the polls will improve if others embrace his credos. In a generally well-received address before the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco this past week, San Diego Mayor, […]
Ronald Reagan’s Chief-of- Staff Was the Role Model
“The President asked me to accept the most sensitive position in his personal entourage and to be his chief of staff to organize the White House on his behalf. I didn’t see how I could turn that down.” With those words 36 years ago James A. Baker, III, a Republican in high standing with impeccable […]
Does The Death Of The Health Care Bill Present An Opening For Bipartisanship?
With the collapse of the GOP health bill, Republicans could use the moment to revive interest in genuine bi-partisan law-making or they can double down on a losing strategy to gut the entire Affordable Healthcare Act and start all over. Democrats, led by California’s redoubtable former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, can either sit back and […]
The Right to Privacy and the Election Integrity Commission
Privacy is everybody’s business or to put it differently only what each of us individually decides it should be. However, with the coming of the Internet, how much of what we think, say and do has raised serious questions as to exactly what is protected by that word and when it is being violated. California […]