FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog

With the release of the latest California Field Poll, California Governor Arnold Swarzenegger said Tuesday that he wants to seek compromise with Democrats on the state budget and on issues he has placed before voters for a November special election. The Poll conducted between June 13-19, following the Governator’s call for a special election in November:

1. The Field Poll finds the Governor’s approval rating sliding to 37% among registered voters statewide, while 53% disapprove of how Schwarzenegger is handling his job.

2. More voters oppose (52%) than favor (37%) the Governor’s call for a November special election,
even when the additional costs of holding the election are not listed in the question.

3. There has also been a big decline in the public’s appraisal of the job that the state legislature is
doing over the past four months. Last February 36% of adults and 34% of registered voters
approved of the state legislature. Now, the approval figure among adults is 26% and just 24%
among registered voters.

4. Voters believe that neither Schwarzenegger nor the legislature is negotiating with the other in
good faith. Rather, pluralities see their actions as being characterized more by confrontation and
posturing, with little room for compromise. Currently, 52% see Schwarzenegger’s actions as being mainly confrontational, compared to 32% who believe he is negotiating with the legislature in good faith.

5. In three separate Field Poll surveys conducted last year, a sizeable plurality of voters said they
would be more inclined to support the Governor over leaders in the legislature if the two sides
disagreed on an important policy matter. However, in two surveys completed this year, voters
have been turning away from their earlier support of the Governor. Currently, 44% say they are
now more inclined to support the positions of legislative leaders, compared to 33% who would
tend to side with the Governor.

6. Voters express little confidence in either the Governor or state legislature to do what’s right in
resolving the state’s budget deficit. Just one in six voters (17%) say they hold a great deal of
confidence in Schwarzenegger to do what is right in dealing with budget deficit, while 49% have
not much confidence. Another 32% report having some confidence in him.
Opinions of the legislature are even more critical. Only 5% report a great deal of confidence in
state lawmakers to do what’s right to resolve the budget situation, with 54% expressing little
confidence in that body. Another 40% have some confidence in the legislature to do what is right.

Today at a Capitol News Conference the Governor said:

“I feel that there is an agreement to be had. We can resolve this, and then we can go together to the special election — Democrats and Republicans alike — and also that we can solve this budget. It’s all about the will. Do we have the will to represent the people of California?”

Schwarzenegger did not directly offer an olive branch to Democrats on Tuesday but said voters delivered a message in the poll.

“It is a very clear message from the California people to all of us at the Capitol _ work together,” he said.

Schwarzenegger said he also wanted the two sides to pass a state budget “as quickly as possible,” preferably before the state’s fiscal year begins July 1.

The special election will go forward even if the two sides compromise on some of the ballot measures. If they do, the Legislature by two-thirds vote could place a set of compromise proposals on the ballot. That could create a scenario in which Schwarzenegger would campaign against the initiatives he initially placed on the ballot.

So, is the Governator being a Girlie-Man for negotiating with the Girlie-Men of the California Legislature?

Or facing the realities of an unfavorable poll?

Stay tuned.

Cross-Posted to The Bear Flag League Special Election Page.

Under pressure from Republicans and some Democrats, Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, tearfully apologized Tuesday for comparing American interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to Nazis and other historically infamous figures.

“Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line,” the Illinois Democrat said. “To them I extend my heartfelt apologies.”

His voice quaking and tears welling in his eyes, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate also apologized to any soldiers who felt insulted by his remarks.

“They’re the best. I never, ever intended any disrespect for them,” he said.

Flap listened to the entire Senate floor speech on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show and will post a link to the audio and transcript when it becomes available.

Trey Jackson at Jackson’s Junction has the Video here.

The Video of Durbin’s original remarks are here.

But, did Durbin really repudiate his June 14th remarks?

“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings.”

Actually, no.

Durbin needs to tell the world that he repudiates the idea that the United States is a tyrannical and murderous regime like Pol Pot or Nazi Germany.

If Durbin doesn’t, then the Senate should introduce a resolutuion repudiating these assinine and morally bankrupt statements and let him and the other Senate lefties vote for it —– if they will.

Flap normally would have more respect for the dead, but these moron family members of the deceased have absolutely no class and hence Flap has to comment on them. Read Corwyn (Cory) William Zimbleman’s obituary here.

Michelle Malkin suggests that some people just can’t move on.

Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters has:

Regardless of his atheism, I’ll pray that Cory is in a better place today. His family should check themselves into a clinic for the perpetually dyspeptic, however. The bitterness of this screed and the effort they put into insulting everyone they obviously hate shouldn’t stand as anyone’s obituary. If that’s the way they want Tucson to remember their loved one, the Zimblemans must be sad, lonely, and incredibly petty people, who (if their premise is correct) will soon be following Cory into the hereafter as victims of heart failure due to Bush Derangement Syndrome.

On the other hand, perhaps this might be good news for the Left. They could use it to explain how Dick Durbin lost his mind, and the rest of the Democratic leadership lost their judgment in supporting Durbin. It sounds as reasonable as any of their rationalizations over the past week.

Flap’s final words:

Dude, you should have moved to Hollywood to alleviate your stress and you would have been right at home with all of the other California Snakes.

Flap made the case to censure Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill, here for his remarks last week, June 14th, on the floor of the United States Senate:

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime–Pol Pot or others–that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

Now, the Republican Leadership of the United States Senate has written a letter to Senator Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Senate Minority Leader, asking Senator Durbin to apologize and withdraw his June 14th remarks made on the floor of the Senate:

“June 20, 2005

The Honorable Harry Reid
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate

Dear Senator Reid:

We call upon you to encourage Senator Richard Durbin, the Senate Democratic Whip, to apologize for and withdraw his remarks made on the floor of the U.S. Senate on June 14 likening the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and other U.S. Government civilian employees defending America’s freedom to “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others—that had no concerns for human beings.” Such language and comparisons are inappropriate, unwarranted, disrespectful, and dangerous.

Referring to one person’s characterization of treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Senator Durbin said:

“When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here [Guantanamo Bay] — I almost hesitate to put them in the Record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

‘On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold . . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.’

“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.” (emphasis added)

Such hyperbolic, insensitive, and inaccurate statements should not be spoken on the Senate floor. As numerous Senators collectively noted on the Senate floor on June 16, such statements:

· Tarnish the U.S. Senate as an institution by making comparisons of U.S. actions taken against the Nation’s enemies and in accordance with U.S. and international law, i.e., the Geneva Conventions, to those of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Pol-Pot, who slaughtered tens of millions of innocent civilians, mostly women and children, for reasons such as racism and political ideology.

· Insult and demoralize the overwhelming majority of U.S. soldiers and civilian employees honorably defending America.

· Exacerbate the terrorist threat against Americans by providing “evidence” of what they claim are reasons for attacking us. (The Arab media were quick to publicize the criticisms.)

· Are unproven and part of a legal investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Defense.

· Deny due process legal rights to those alleged of committing abuses (by presuming guilt upon the accused party).

On June 16, Senator John Warner (R-VA), seeking to clarify the “Nazi” reference as well as to obtain a formal apology from him, engaged in floor debate with Senator Durbin and said:

“I go back on my own recollections [of] those three examples the Senator used. I don’t know what interrogation took place. Perhaps if we go into the sinews of history there were some, but what the world recognized from those three examples the Senator used, they were death camps — I repeat, death camps — where, as my colleague from Kentucky very accurately said, millions of people perished. It is doubtful they were ever often asked their names.

“To say that the allegations of a single FBI agent mentioned in an unconfirmed, uncorroborated report give rise to coming to the Senate and raising the allegation that whatever persons of the uniformed military, as referred to in that report — albeit, uncorroborated, unsubstantiated report — are to be equated with those three chapters in world history is just a most grievous misjudgment on the Senator’s part, and one I think is deserving of apologizing to the men and women in uniform.”

Subsequent statements by Senator Durbin indicate only that he was regretful if people misunderstood his remarks. We do not believe his remarks were misunderstood.

In deference to the Senate as an institution for which we serve and to the millions of men and women currently serving this Nation in uniform and civilian dress for which we owe so much in the War on Terrorism, we ask Senator Durbin to issue a formal apology and strike his remarks from the record.”

Signed by Senators Frist, McConnell, Santorum, Hutchinson, Kyl and Dole.

An apology like the one mentioned by John McCain on Meet the Press this past Sunday is inadequate.

Will a Republican Senator have the cajones to introduce a resolution of censure?

Update #1

Senator Durbin’s only response to the Flap is:

“I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood,” he said in a written statement. “I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.”

Some apology?

The Bear Flag League - a coalition of conservative leaning bloggers in California - will be holding its annual Summer Conference, Sunday, July 17th, 2005 at The Avery House on the campus of CalTech in Pasadena. The title of the conference is Preparing for 2006: Bloggers Gaining Access.

As the influence of blogs grows, more often bloggers are gathering news directly in addition to commenting on stories from the traditional press. The Bear Flag League’s conference seeks to bring bloggers and newsmakers together.

Scheduled to speak are former California Assembly Speaker and Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg, Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub, editor of The California Target Book and former GOP consultant Alan Hoffenblum, and People’s Advocate leader and Gray Davis recall architect Ted Costa.

Two panel discussions are scheduled, Blogs as Part of a Political Campaign and How Blogs Impact Campaigns and Make Policy. The panels will be moderated by Scott Schmidt, former Communcations Director, Log Cabin California.

The event is hosted by blogs Calblog, FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog, Irish Lass, and Local Liberty Blog and co-hosted by Boi from Troy, and The Pirate’s Blog.

Registration for the conference is $50 and includes lunch. To register, click here.

Hat Tip: Mayor Sam