You can run, but you can't win

Gray Davis will do just about anything to distort the democratic process. Poll after poll shows that the people of California clearly want him to go. But with any dysfunctional person, denial is usually stronger than truth. A perfect case in point is the latest legal move in attempts by Davis supporters to block the state gubernatorial recall election:

Federal judge says he may delay California's Oct. 7 recall

(San Jose-AP) -- A federal judge in San Jose says he may decide to postpone California's October recall vote.

US District Judge Jeremy Fogel heard from civil rights groups earlier today. They argued that the quick election is forcing changes in the voting process that require federal approval.

Under the federal Voting Rights Act, any changes in the voting process must be pre-cleared by the Justice Department in places like Monterey County that have a history of low voter turnout.

Fogel set a hearing for August 29th. He suggested he may delay the election at that hearing if federal approval hasn't happened by then.

Also today, Fogel ordered Monterey County not to mail out its overseas ballots until the issues are resolved.

So much for allowing the people the right to choose and vote.

Gray Davis is a crafty politician. But he's an incompetent governor. Delaying an election through legal technicalities is an attack on the democratic process, and in the long run will only deepen the resentment and harden the resolve of the voting public. Before this nightmare is over, we will see more unethical attempts to deny the people of California their rights.

Take his conflicts of interest with labor unions, for example.

In turn for ironclad support of Davis and his Democratic party apparatchuks by labor union leaders throughout the state, the Governor quietly instituted mandates to increase union control of the state employees, and thus lock workers under Democratic control. Until recently, state employees were free to choose whether they wished to join a union or not. Two years ago, Davis introduced a "fair share" deduction for unions, which mandated that all employees of the state would automatically have $29 deducted from their paychecks to go to union dues, regardless of whether or not they belonged to a union. Other actions have been put in place to force non-union employees out of the state workforce.

Or take the state auto registration fee. Governor Davis proposed tripling the annual fee on all registered vehicles. The reaction was swift and loud, and plunged the Governor's already low approval ratings through the floor. Quickly backtracking, Davis and the Democrats opted instead for a more subtle and highly illegal approach: proposing to hike taxes on liquor, cigarettes and wealthy taxpayers. There's nothing illegal about that, except that levying new taxes in California requires a 2/3rds majority of the state legislature. Davis proposed doing this by decree, basing that this was a trade-out for the rescinding of the vehicle tax increase that itself had not been approved.

Mr. Davis, you can run, but you can't win. The sooner you accept that, the better California will be.