A legal battle that started in 1989 will culminate next Monday when President Bush is anticipated to sign into law H.R. 5683, Duncan Hunter’s Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Protection Act, which transfers possession of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego to the federal government.

This will effectively save the cross atop Mt. Soledad, under attack for nearly two decades by those who claim they can’t drive by without getting hives or worse. Get some antibiotics or Absorbine Jr. folks, the POTUS will be signing this bill.

Several individuals have played roles over the years in this local drama, now shifted to the feds. Judge Gordon Thompson, Jr., who has consistently sided with groups like the ACLU, Society for the Separation of Church and State, and the American Atheists in ruling the cross unconstitutional.

On the other side, the side of right, Phil Thalheimer and… Read More

San Bernardino County is a red county. While it was not always the case historically, this sprawling Inland-Empire County has become a bastion of conservatism. This is evidenced by the significant partisan advantage that Republicans have in terms of the delegations to Washington, D.C., and to the State Capitol. But nowhere is this GOP influence felt more than on the local Board of Supervisors. On that board, you not only have a dominant Republican Super-Majority, but Bill Postmus, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is also Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Postmus has been a friend for many years, and his Chief of Staff, Brad Mitzelfelt, is the San Bernardino Correspondent for the FlashReport! So I was quite surprised to read in the newspaper a scheme that doesn’t sound very conservative at all…

I cannot tell you how disturbed I was to read an article in the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper that, if accurate, makes it sound like the Republican County Board of… Read More

San Bernardino County is a red county. While it was not always the case historically, this sprawling Inland-Empire County has become a bastion of conservatism. This is evidenced by the significant partisan advantage that Republicans have in terms of the delegations to Washington, D.C., and to the State Capitol. But nowhere is this GOP influence felt more than on the local Board of Supervisors. On that board, you not only have a dominant Republican Super-Majority, but Bill Postmus, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is also Chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Postmus has been a friend for many years, and his Chief of Staff, Brad Mitzelfelt, is the San Bernardino Correspondent for the FlashReport! So I was quite surprised to read in the newspaper a scheme that doesn’t sound very conservative at all…

I cannot tell you how disturbed I was to read an article in the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper that, if accurate, makes it sound like the Republican County Board of… Read More

Today was the first of the last 25 days before theadjournment of this 2 year legislative session. The big issue today was the amendment of Senate Bill 1437, which, before amends,would require public school curriculum tofeature historical events involving homosexuals. Thisbill alone has inspired as many phone calls, faxes, e-mails and lettersfrom upset parents and grandparents as anything I’ve seen here. With the Governor promising to veto it, we were offered, and passed, amendments on the Assembly floor today to strip out the curriculum aspect of the bill. Still in it is language that stops any reference that may "reflect adversely" on sexual orientation in instruction or school activities. Of course, this still could mean most anything, including sports teams that are gender specific, etc. if taken to the extreme. So, taking the amendment makes an extremelybad bill into still a bad bill…either way, it is likely to get out of this house and reach the Governor’s desk, albeit without Republican support. We’ll see. Hold on to your hat…and your wallet, these next 24 days.… Read More

Former GOP Long Beach Frank Colonna lostthe Long Beach Mayor’s race to Bob Foster. Now he is lookint running for the Water Replenishment Board of Southern California against fellow GOP’er Norm Ryan. See article here.The Water Replensihmnet District is HUGE and Colonna has good name ID and can raise some cash.

Four years ago Ryan was endorsed by the state party for the Long Beach Mayor’s job. After losing , he was elected to this post. This year he ran for council, failed to make the run-off and then endorsed the Dem.Creating some ill will.

It will be interesting to see where the party would go. Deadline for filing is Friday.… Read More

[Update: (3:40 p.m.) – I just got off of the phone with Paul Jacob — and he is definately committed to fighting any effort to loosen term limits. You can hear the resolve in his voice. – Flash] I have said before that I think it is very unlikely that any ballot measure would pass muster with the California to loosen term-limits for State Legislators. Unlikely, in my opinion, shifts to down-right impossible if that measure is not only placed on the ballot BY legislators, but also EXTENDS THE TERMS of current members of the legislature. That will appear so self-serving to the public that it might eclipse the debate completely.

Well, the ante has just been upped considerably for legislators thinking about noodling with the voter-imposed limits — today in Sacramento, U.S. Term Limits President Paul Jacob… Read More

Am I the only one who is sick to death of global warming? And it frustrates me to hear the Governor talking more about that than controlling spending or fighting crime. Maybe it is because I live in Oakland and every day there is another story about a teenager shot and killed in Oakland or Richmond.

The other day a small news story caught my eye in the San Francisco Chronicle. The mayor of Richmond, Irma Anderson, announced her intention to put a measure on the November ballot which would require the city to set aside five percent of the city budget for additional police and crime-prevention programs. Frankly, I was surprised to see a Bay Area politician pushing a public safety… Read More

People like to compare San Francisco to Chicago. Chicago is, hands down, my favorite U.S. city and San Francisco doesn’t hold a candle to the Windy City….except when it comes to politics. There I will agree that the two cities have much in common: city politics and governments dominated by the Democratic Party. Today’s Matier & Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle highlights the questionable fundraising of a Board of Supervisors candidate, Jaynry Mak. Mak has lots and lots of big donations from minimum-wage type of workers, some of whom M&R couldn’t find when they doublechecked the donor’s info. Makes me think of… Read More