Mail from California
Even though I am in school here in Rhode Island, I am still registered to vote in California. I also have a California driver’s license [the reason behind this should be separate post, but I can summarize it in two words DMV nightmare - ok, I am not sure if DMV counts as one word, but I don't care].

Today I got mail from California.

Envelope number one was my driver’s license renewal. As I pulled out my spiffy new license, the first thing my wife said, “Now everyone will think you are an illegal alien!” Oh no!

Envolope number two was my application for an absentee ballot for the recall election. It includes a sample ballot with the ludicrous list of all 180 something candidates. While I was looking it over, reading names such as Robert C. Newman II (Psychologist/Farmer), Mary “Mary Carey” Cook (Adult Film Actress), William “Bill” S. Chambers (Railroad Switchman/Brakeman), David Laughing Horse Robinson (Tribal Chairman), Kurt E. “Tachikaze” Rightmyer (Middleweight Sumo Wrestler), Daniel Watts (College Student), and Angelyne (Entertainer), I became rather upset. Many have claimed that this is an example of democracy in action, but I think this is a slap in the face of democracy and the governing institutions. It is an abuse of a system that was supposed to guarantee the rights of voters in the face of criminal action by a leader. While Gray Davis might be unpopular, he has done nothing wrong or criminal. I am also appalled at all the people with “celebrity” names (or those that have names that resemble those of politicians or celebrities) who got on the ballot. These include Jack Grisham, S. Issa (similar to Daryl Issa – the original recall organizer), D.E. Kessinger, Edward Kennedy, Robert “Butch” Dole, Dan Feinstein (similar to Dianne Feinstein), Michael Jackson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oh no, that last one is not a clown trying to cash in on his name resembling a celebrity, it's just a clown trying to cash in on his being a celebrity.

Please excuse this tirade, it just angers and upsets me that at a time when funding for schools, for health care (especially mental health), for elderly care, for the environment, and for many other things is being cut, the citizens of California have to pay for this carnival of fools.