Buster Posey and the California Mindset
I spent the last few days in the Bay Area, where it was
impossible to avoid conversation about Buster Posey. The nature of that
conversation has something to tell us about what’s wrong with California
politics and government.
For those
of you aren’t baseball fans, Posey is a young catcher and the best hitter on
the San Francisco Giants. They wouldn’t have won last year’s World Series
without him. But what people are talking about now is a ghastly injury Posey
suffered on May 25.
On the
much-discussed play in question, Posey partially blocked the plate as he
received a throw from the outfield. The base runner, Scott Cousins of the
Florida Marlins, could have tried to slide around Posey. But instead he ran him
over – a legal play in baseball. And in this case, an effective one. Posey
dropped the ball. Cousins scored the winning run. And Posey’s leg was caught in
such a way that his leg broke; he also suffered ligament injuries to his ankle.
Is California the new Afghanistan?
Every time I turn on the news and hear how
"un-governable" Afghanistan is, I can’t help but think of the similarities
between that far-flung country and our own beloved, dysfunctional state of
California. The similarities are striking, from their most basic level to
their more complex political geography.
Think about it.
In Afghanistan, poppy is the #1 export.
In California, poppy is the State flower.
According to the History Channel, Osama Bin Laden had
a wealthy powerful father but believed he should sleep on a mattress on the
floor every night.
According to the Capitol press corps, Jerry Brown had
a wealthy powerful father but believed he should sleep on a mattress on the
floor every night.
Small Business Day 2011: Budget Deals?? And Regulations!!
Assembly
Speaker John Perez assured attendees at California’s Small Business Day that he
was confident the legislature would meet it’s constitutional deadline to pass a
budget by June 15. Perez’s optimistic message was wrapped around a concern for
California’s fiscal woes. However, he did not get into the partisan bickering
that has gridlocked the budget debate.
The speaker
did acknowledge the state’s unemployment problem saying the legislature’s principle
task was to create jobs. He pointed to some tax credit legislation as proof of
that effort.
The speaker
said the recession has laid bare flaws in California’s economic system but did
not offer specific remedies. He simply said now was the moment to protect
California’s legacy of entrepreneurship that goes back to the Gold Rush days.
Newspapers + Public Policy: 2.0
This is a shortened
version of an essay that appeared originally at The
American.
H. L. Mencken once said, "A newspaper is a device for making the
ignorant more ignorant, and the crazy crazier." The "Sage of Baltimore" knew whereof
he spoke, having infuriated many over four decades’ writing for the Baltimore Sun. From the invention of the
printing press to the advent of the web, the direction of communication from
writer to reader was essentially a one-way street. Now, the more creative
publishers are taking advantage of the Internet’s interactivity to develop
civic engagement tools that both educate and solicit the informed "voice" of
their readers. Because municipal governments have undertaken similar efforts,
relative strengths and weaknesses of government vs. newspaper-hosted online
engagement are emerging.