News from California

Like president, like governor... Taking a page from President Bush's playbook, Gov. Schwarzenegger's administration has produced a mock news story and distributed the videos to news channels. Because these videos mislead the public into thinking that neutral journalists did the story, I find them to be unethical. But much of the blame for this propaganda should also be placed on the news channels that run the videos. It's no surprise that the target of these efforts is local news stations (18 of which ran Schwarzenegger's tape), which are often just a step above incompetent.

On another matter, there's a mayoral election coming up (March 8) in Los Angeles (see here and here).

Finally, Ron Brownstein's column in the Los Angeles Times highlights the mindset of those in the political trenches today. It's a "with us or against us," mentality that leaves no room compromise. It's the natural product of the 24 hour news cycle and single member legislative districts.