Now that investigators have cleared the Angelides campaign in the audiotape scandal,
more recordings of the governor are available, reports Peter Nicholas in the Times. "The recordings, newly obtained by The Times, also feature him chatting about American resentment of illegal immigrants, about his taste for gas-hungry Hummers and about his wife's habit of tinkering with his speeches.
"Made by Schwarzenegger's staff last year, the recordings offer a rare window onto the governor's operation and a more complex portrait of Schwarzenegger than typically emerges in public, where his appearances are carefully stage-managed.
"In the latest recordings, the Republican governor describes Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata (D-Oakland) as a 'very sick man' and Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nu�ez (D-Los Angeles) as 'a political operator coming from the union background' who evinces no real 'passion' about issues. And he worries that a federal plan to build a fence along the Mexican border will send a troubling message."
Must have been pre post-partisanship...
Speaking of Perata, the Oakland Trib's Steven Harmon writes
the FBI investigation of Perata has apparently stalled.
"Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has spent nearly $1 million defending himself against a federal probe into whether he illegally funneled money to family and close associates. But more than two years after the harsh light of suspicion first fell on the 61-year-old Oakland Democrat,
the FBI investigation appears to have fallen quietly into a black hole of obscurity.
"The flurry of subpoenas flying out of FBI offices in San Francisco has slowed to an apparent stop. There haven't been any publicly acknowledged FBI interviews of witnesses since last summer. Images of FBI investigators carting off computer files and papers from Perata's home have faded. The urgency to defend Perata also has waned: Money going into Perata's legal defense fund has essentially dried up, and his debts are nearly all paid."
The Chron's Carla Marinucci writes: "In the nation's most populous state, where political trends often begin, the unique style of California's governor -- who has favored a relentlessly cooperative, can-do theme over the past year as he sought support for health care, budget and transportation initiatives -- puts him
unquestionably at the head of the pack in what could be dubbed the '
Tony Robbins School of Politics.'
"An example: Schwarzenegger's recent inaugural address, in which he visualized success by speaking glowingly of 'my vision of California 20 years from now.'
"'It is a big vision. ... Some may say, 'Arnold, it's just a dream,' the governor said. 'Well, yes, it is a dream -- but how can we grow into something greater, something better, something more meaningful without a dream to guide us?'"
"Or, his address about physical education to middle school students in Sacramento last month, in which Schwarzenegger said, 'Each and every one of you are a winner. It doesn't matter what you want to do in life. If you study hard and if you exercise every day, you can achieve anything that you want.'"
The LAT's Peter Nicholas
profiles the guv's communications director, Adam Mendelsohn. "In the battle to present Schwarzenegger in the most advantageous light possible, Mendelsohn takes no chances. A stray bit of candor could undermine the vetted sound bites and images meant to communicate the governor's positions precisely and minimize any chance of political backlash...
"After an hour and a half, Mendelsohn has insisted on anonymity 47 times. Among the few points he deems suitable for public consumption: His wife is 'a saint,' the governor a man with 'a command of ideas.'
"With Schwarzenegger beginning a new term, Mendelsohn is going beyond an insistence on rhetorical discipline, assembling perhaps the most aggressive communications shop the California governor's office has ever seen."
Dan Walters looks at the
struggle to define gaming tribes, including whether they should be considered local governments. "The tribes' relationship with the state, meanwhile, is being brought into sharp focus with the reintroduction of legislation that Schwarzenegger vetoed last year, that would allow 16 Southern California tribes to join the Southern California Association of Governments, a regional intergovernmental planning agency with influence on transportation spending and other development matters.
"Assemblyman
Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, is once again carrying the bill, and it hasn't improved with age.
"The essential problem with the measure is that it treats the tribes as local governments for certain purposes, without requiring them to live up to the responsibilities that other governments must shoulder. They could continue to function as private businesses when it suits them, such as retaining their ability to write big campaign checks to politicians, a right that governments don't have for obvious reasons."
Meanwhile, from our
Run-up to Valentine's Day Files: "
Tom Berryhill is living proof that legislators have a heart --
in fact, he's had two of them.
"The Modesto assemblyman, a Republican rookie, is the only California legislator ever to serve with a transplanted ticker.
"'
As cat's lives go, I'm pushing the envelope,' said Berryhill, son of the late
Clare Berryhill, former lawmaker and state agriculture director.
"Berryhill doesn't worry much about partisan warfare or political sniping, now that he's battled much worse -- and survived.
"'It gives you a different outlook, absolutely,' Berryhill said. 'Every single day that I'm here is a day that I wouldn't have been.'"
The Bee's Steve Wiegand
looks at who will succeed Mike Machado. "With the next regularly scheduled election in California's seemingly continual vote parade only 17 months away, speculation about who will run in the 5th Senate District is already whetting the appetites of people with waaay too much time on their hands.
"On the Demo side, the names of Assemblywoman
Lois Wolk of Davis and UC Merced Vice Chancellor
John Garamendi Jr. have been thrown into the pot. On the GOP side, political watchers who know a thing or two about the district have offered up the names of Assemblyman
Greg Aghazarian of Stockton and
Dean Andal, a former legislator and Board of Equalization member, and a current board trustee of the Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton."
Finally, from our
Father Knows Best Files, Actor
Ryan O'Neal was arrested and accused of assaulting his adult son with a handgun during a fight at the actor's Malibu home, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said on Sunday.
"Deputies went to
Ryan O'Neal's home at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday and determined that he had assaulted his son,
Griffin O'Neal, during a family dispute, the Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
"Ryan O'Neal, 65, was accused of assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm. He was released on a $50,000 bond after five hours in custody. Sgt.
Peter Charbonneau at the Malibu Lost Hills station said the weapon was a handgun but he did not know how many shots had been fired."
But enquiring minds want to know: Where was
Sgt. Sugar Tits?
