Den Beste has some cogent commentary on the California recall. Some salient points:
That the media are actors, not merely observers, has been obvious for a long time. Especially in the Iraq conflict. Quoting Ralph Peters:
every indicator of success [is] turning positive. Yet the media insist we are incompetent and failing.
The Kurds are prospering. The Shi’ites no longer live in fear. Even
most Sunni Arabs feel relieved that Saddam’s gone. The mullahs are
behaving. Local markets are busy and full of goods. The
electricity’s back on – more reliably than before the war. Schools
are open. Oil’s flowing. The Iraqi media is booming, boisterous and
free. The Governing Council has convinced previously hostile
factions to cooperate. Iraqis provide more and more of their own
local security. And the torture chambers are closed.
What do we hear from Iraq? Another soldier killed. The rest is silence.
But the amount of “wailing and gnashing of teeth” over the California recall is telling. Gersh Kuntzman in Newsweek writes that Schwarzenegger’s victory is the fault of the press.
Instead, we in the media let this recall train leave the station.
We blamed Davis for California’s energy “crisis” two years ago
(which, would you believe it?, was actually a result of Enron and
other energy traders cooking the books). As apt as Davis’s first
name actually is, he is not the kind of elected official for whom
the recall law was written. He has not violated the public trust.
He has not committed treason. He has not exhibited immoral or
criminal behavior. You may think he’s doing a bad job as governor,
but the standard for firing an elected official should be much
higher than merely disagreeing with his approach to governing and
having a right-wing Congressman in your state who has several
million dollars with which to pay the so-called “volunteers” to man
the recall barricades. Where was the coverage that should have
called the effort what it is: a coup?
This makes me incoherent with rage. That some talking head should think that he and his buddies know better than the people of California…
Thankfully, though, the recall is a vindication of the American system of government. The French are being hard hit by a drop in tourism and business from America, and are looking desperately for evidence of a government conspiracy. Thing is, there is none. It’s the concerted action of the only political power greater than the government of the United States: the people of the United States.
Read the whole thing.