t's Halloween, my least favorite mass celebration, soon to be followed by my absolute favorite, Thanksgiving. The spookiest statistic of the morning pertains to the Republican party and the President. Only 22 per cent of those polled at the weekend "strongly approve" of the president, and fully 46% agreed that ethics and honesty in the government have fallen under him! The President needs to apologize to the American people following the indictment of a top White House aide for lying to the CIA leak investigation.
A Washington Post poll put Mr. Bush's ratings overall at a new low; 39%. Partisan but appropriate, the Senate Democrat minority leader, Harry Reid, believes that Bush and Cheney should "come clean" following the indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby for obstructing the investigation into the revelation of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. The Democrats have renewed their call for the resignation of Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political aide. Maybe they should call on President Clinton to give them advise, because none of us want to see a real lame duck for the next three years.

Tuesday, November 8th, election day in California where the electorate is called upon to do for the legislators in Sacramento what they appear incapable or unwilling to do on our behalf. I'm not for direct democracy ...I thought we had a republic.
In earlier journals I offered my stance on proposition 74 ("YES"), Proposition 76 ("NO"), Proposition 75 (YES") and proposition 80 ("NO").
Our Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, appearing in a Spanish-language TV advertisement, speaking against the Schwarzenegger ballot initiatives. He says "No a las proposiciones 74, 75, 76, 77." In Spanish-language ads touting Schwarzenegger's propositions the line is "Inciativas para la reforma de Sacramento, 74, 75, 76, 77...Vote Si."
The Los Angeles Times this morning has a front page story headlined "First Lady Appears to Be Sitting Out This Election." That's understandable because almost any comments Maria Shriver makes would cause controversy. Her Kennedy legacy clashes with her obvious loyalty to her spouse, the Governor. Sad for the Governor because he's deprived of one of his most articulate and charismatic advocates. The G.O.P. Governor needs passage of the four special election measures to raise his long-sagging poll numbers as a run-up to his 2006 re-election drive. It doesn't appear that he'll be successful overall.

Let's take a look at PROPOSITION 77
This one we need and it is timely. Rhetorical question; Do you believe that politicians can be trusted to draw fair districts? Nor do I. Look at the job that a real conspiracy between the Democrats and Republicans has brought about. The current map shows how badly the system has been mangled. The national GOP was concerned that it would lose control of the U.S. House if California Democrats created more Democratic congressional districts after the 2000 census. So, in an exchange for a guarantee that it could retain its current seats, the GOP agreed to a plan that guaranteed Democrats a majority in the Legislature and the current 53-member U.S. House delegation for the next ten years. Complicated? To put it frankly this is a rotten deal for the people of California.
As it stands now, dozens of districts are so solidly Republican or Democratic that only the most conservative of GOP candidates and most liberal of Democrats can win. Independents and those who would rather see more moderate candidates from both parties have hardly any chance of winning. We are seeing, more and more, an increasing polarization of politics.
If you vote FOR Proposition 77 you are voting to fix the problem by taking away the power to draw new district lines from the Legislature and giving it to a panel of three retired judges. The current system is corrupt. The California Constitution states that redistricting must respect "the geographical integrity of any city, county or any geographical region" to the extent possible. There is no local or regional integrity in the current system.
I'm assuredly voting "YES" on Proposition 77 in the hope of helping to restore logic and some moderation to the California political process.