With the absence of any new news, with the Legislature on recess and no compromise reached on the special election, analysis and further dissection of
the governor's deal with a pair of fitness magazines continues to dominate the state's political news. The Bee's Dan Smith says the deal is a
breech of the pledge of openness the governor made when he first took over for
Gray Davis. "What's unclear is whether the governor and the magazine publisher should be blamed for deliberately obfuscating the arrangement or whether Schwarzenegger simply forgot his pledge of openness and reverted to the Hollywood deal-making sensibilities that have served him for so long.
The Times' Michael Hiltzik takes a look at "the
nature of the industry Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger climbed into bed with" as the former executive editor of a pair of bodybuilding magazines. Looking at the link between these magazines and dietary supplements, Hitlzik writes: "Judging from the August issues,
supplement manufacturers are pretty much the only advertisers in these magazines, which are little more than supplement sales catalogs wrapped around
photo spreads of freakishly distended musculatures."
Hiltzik blasts the industry in language generally reserved for Sen.
Jackie Speier, who is quoted toward the end of the column. "There's
nothing innocent about the supplement industry. It has been hawking its products for years
using the same techniques perfected by cigarette manufacturers — pushing them at kids by sponsoring athletic contests, lining up celebrity endorsements, downplaying evidence of adverse health effects."
The business side of the deal with the magazines is
explored in the New York Times' today. "When Mr. Schwarzenegger first contemplated a run for governor in 2002, tabloids owned by
American Media buried him with salacious stories about his textured past. But the company has since purchased Weider Publications, a group of muscle and fitness magazines that was partly built on Mr. Schwarzenegger's fame."
"In return [for the governor's agreemnet to be a strong editorial and photographic presence in the magazine], there was
either an explicit or implicit understanding that the other wing of American Media, the avenging tabloids, would lay off the exposés."
Dan Weintraub applauds the governor for coming clean, but argues that the governor
should give back the payments received from American Media.
After receiving an invitiation from the governor earlier this year, the
Minutemen began their patrol of the California-Mexico border this weekend. "Up to two dozen anti-illegal immigration activists, some of them armed, came to town to stage a border watch, followed by protesters, legal observers, journalists and extra law enforcement brought in to keep the peace," the U-T reports.
In
Congressman George Plescia News, San Diego begins to contemplate
a future without Duke Cunningham, who announced he would not seek reelection in 2006. "Former Democratic Rep.
Lionel Van Deerlin, who represented a San Diego-area district in the House for 18 years, observed: "You can't lose eight terms of seniority and not feel it. Whoever goes back there, you've got to stay awhile to get much done. It's obviously going to hurt from that extent."
Former Assemblymember
Fred Keeley joined the chorus calling for reform of the state's budget process in Sunday's Bee. "[M]any people who have been working on reforms of the budgeting process think that these ideas, if taken together, would
increase accountability, flexibility, transparency and honesty in the budgeting process. Such changes would be real reform of a system that has failed California and the people who fund it and rely on it for basic services."
The AP's Beth Fouhy takes a look at the
deuling prescription drug measures on the special election ballot. "Differences have led to an initiative campaign expected to be
the costliest in state history, surpassing the $66 million spent by Indian tribes in 1998 to legalize casino gambling on tribal land."
While the governor was in the Los Angeles City of Anaheim celebrating Disneyland's 50th anniversary, the Tracy Press celebrates the
40th birthday of the Williamson Act, which they call "probably the most important environmental law that has ever been passed in California."
Term Limits Cake Walk: The Daily News' Rick Orlov
takes a look at the upcoming fight over
Senate District 20. "State Sen.
Richard Alarcon is being forced from his 20th District seat in 2006 and has announced plans to run for the 39th Assembly District seat, which is being vacated by Assemblywoman
Cindy Montanez, so she can run for the Alarcon seat. She has been endorsed by Alarcon and Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez."
"While [
Alex] Padilla has not formally declared his intentions, he is close to taking out papers to run for Alarcon's Senate seat, too. The Montanez forces do not want to face him in a head-on race, so they have been trying to pressure Padilla to run for city controller or any other office. Padilla, however, has set his sights on the Senate, looking down the road for a future run for statewide office."
Padilla is expected to be supported by key Los Angeles politicos, possibly including Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa.
The Mercury News reports
a protest that turned violent in San Francisco last month leaving a police officer hospitalized, set out very specific targets for destruction. Among them were corporate giants like KFC, Wells Fargo and "Shoebiz: A Valencia Street store that is
an agent of gentrification.''
"Allie Bruch, Shoebiz's general manager-in-training, was flattered by her store's vaunted position. She thought the store merely sold Pumas and Doc Martens; she had no idea it was a force for social change.
"I'd rather take it as compliment than anything,' she said. 'If it's a position of power, then anyone would prefer to be in that than anything else.'"
Excused absence: The Riverside Press Enterprise reports the Senate's ranking Republican on the budget committee
had good reason to miss this year's budget vote. "Hours before the Legislature voted to approve a spending plan ... state Sen.
Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, and wife, Natalie, welcomed the arrival of a daughter,
Rachel McCallum Hollingsworth."
Department of Corrections: In Friday's Roundup, we wrote that the governor did not hold a media availability in Los Angeles after news of the magazine deal broke. While he made an appearance at the BRAC commission last Thursday, he had no avail scheduled. The governor did take questions at a Los Angeles middle school the day before, as scheduled.
