The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken.
Now, thirty-four pages of internal Enron memoranda have just come through this reporter's fax machine tell all about the tryst between Maria's husband and the corporate con men. It turns out that
Schwarzenegger knowingly joined the hush-hush encounter as part of a campaign to sabotage a Davis-Bustamante plan to make Enron and other power pirates then ravaging California pay back the $9 billion in illicit profits they carried off.
Here's the story Arnold doesn't want you to hear. The biggest single threat to Ken Lay and the electricity lords is a private lawsuit filed last year under California's unique Civil Code provision 17200, the "Unfair Business Practices Act." This litigation, heading to trial now in Los Angeles, would make the power companies return the $9 billion they filched from California electricity and gas customers.
It takes real cojones to bring such a suit. Who's the plaintiff taking on the bad guys? Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor and reluctant leading candidate against Schwarzenegger.
Now follow the action. One month after Cruz brings suit, Enron's Lay calls an emergency secret meeting in L.A. of his political buck-buddies, including Arnold. Their plan, to undercut Davis (according to Enron memos) and "solve" the energy crisis -- that is, make the Bustamante legal threat go away.
How can that be done? Follow the trail with me.
While Bustamante's kicking Enron butt in court, the Davis Administration is simultaneously demanding that George Bush's energy regulators order the $9 billion refund. Don't hold your breath: Bush's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is headed by a guy proposed by … Ken Lay.
But Bush's boys on the commission have a problem. The evidence against the electricity barons is rock solid: fraudulent reporting of sales transactions, megawatt "laundering," fake power delivery scheduling and straight out conspiracy (including meetings in hotel rooms).
So the Bush commissioners cook up a terrific scheme: charge the companies with conspiracy but offer them, behind closed doors, deals in which they have to pay only two cents on each dollar they filched.
Problem: the slap-on-the-wrist refunds won't sail if the Governor of California won't play along. Solution: Re-call the Governor.
New Problem: the guy most likely to replace Davis is not Mr. Musclehead, but Cruz Bustamante, even a bigger threat to the power companies than Davis. Solution: smear Cruz because -- heaven forbid! -- he took donations from Injuns (instead of Ken Lay).
The pay-off? Once Arnold is Governor, he blesses the sweetheart settlements with the power companies. When that happens, Bustamante's court cases are probably lost. There aren't many judges who will let a case go to trial to protect a state if that a governor has already allowed the matter to be "settled" by a regulatory agency.
So think about this. The state of California is in the hole by $8 billion for the coming year. That's chump change next to the $8 TRILLION in deficits and surplus losses planned and incurred by George Bush. Nevertheless, the $8 billion deficit is the hanging rope California's right wing is using to lynch Governor Davis.
Yet only Davis and Bustamante are taking direct against to get back the $9 billion that was vacuumed out of the state by Enron, Reliant, Dynegy, Williams Company and the other Texas bandits who squeezed the state by the bulbs.
But if Arnold is selected, it's 'hasta la vista' to the $9 billion. When the electricity emperors whistle, Arnold comes -- to the Peninsula Hotel or the Governor's mansion. The he-man turns pussycat and curls up in their lap.
I asked Mr. Muscle's PR people to comment on the new Enron memos -- and his strange silence on Bustamante's suit or Davis' petition. But Arnold was too busy shaving off his Hitlerian mustache to respond.
The Enron memos were discovered by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, Los Angeles,
Consumer WatchDog
Greg Palast
Was the White House Behind the California Recall Effort
And the Candidacy of Arnold "The Groper" Schwarzenegger?
You Bet.
BuzzFlash is a little bit tired of the press hedging about whether or not the White House is behind the recall effort and Arnie "The Groper's" candidacy for governor of California. According to Molly Ivins, when BuzzFlash interviewed her, one of Karl Rove's few strategic mistakes against the Democrats was backing former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in the Republican primary. But, the right wing Republicans in California revolted and supported William Simon.
So the way BuzzFlash sees it is that Rove was planning the recall initiative probably within days after Davis beat Simon last November. They got a multi-millionaire California Grand Hypocrisy Party (GHP) Congressman (are there any other kind?) to pay petition gatherers for a recall less than a few months after the actual election!
Well, Rove used the rich Congressman (Darrell Issa, 49th District) for a sap. Once the recall initiative was assured, they had Arnold announce his candidacy on the Leno show (the perfect venue for the Republicans: the combination of image, entertainment and money triumphing over substance). Then they had Issa and Riordan announce that they were not going to place their names on the recall ballot. Any other high-profile Republican who might be thinking about running on the recall ballot in California is probably currently being visited by two Rove RNC operatives equipped with shotguns to blow their knee caps off if they even think about taking the thunder away from Arnold "I love Kurt Waldheim" S.
It's the perfect Rove strategy, thinking it through on three dimensions. You don't have to spend a cent on name recognition when you have a high-profile movie star running. What's more, if Rove clears the field of prominent Republicans on the ballot, Arnie "the groper" has a very good shot at winning if Gray Davis is recalled.
Why is that the case?
Because if more than 50% of the voters recall Davis, the next governor of California is the candidate on the second part of the ballot who receives the highest percentage of votes. If Democrats run and split the Democratic votes (as well as Arianna Huffington drawing independent and progressive Democratic votes), Arnie wins because the Republicans in California will listen to the White House and vote as their tin horn leader, Bush, tells them to. Already, Rove is hinting that Bush might campaign for California's most famous groper (and hugger of former Nazis).
Here is further proof of White House involvement in positioning Arnie (a virtual candidate whose sole qualification is his movie image of being a tough guy) to win the recall. Just remember, first Rove had to have Issa (a Republican with the usual GOP checkered past) appear to independently get the recall ball rolling.
Don't cry for Issa, though. Rove's probably promised him a position as Secretary of the Army or some other appointment of little concern to the Bush Cartel. Or given Issa's past run ins with the law for carrying concealed guns, maybe Bush will appoint him head of the FBI.
* * *
The White House's Active Role in the California Recall:
A Partial List of the Evidence
Bush Guru Karl Rove Met With Schwarzenegger in April.
Schwarzenegger visited the White House for a meeting with top Bush adviser Karl Rove on April 12th, 2003.
Both Schwarzenegger and Rove claimed that politics was not discussed during the meeting.
[Washington Post, 4/13/03]
Karl Rove: Possibility of a Governor Schwarzenegger "Would Be Really, Really Nice." "With Mr. Rove's blessing," Bush political advisers met with Schwarzenegger in 2001 about the prospect of Schwarzenegger running for CA governor in 2002. The New York Times reported on the meeting, "That would be nice," Mr. Rove said of the prospect of a Governor Schwarzenegger. "That would be really nice. That would be really, really nice."
[New York Times, 4/15/01]
Laura Bush's Press Secretary Helped GOP Candidate Strategize for Recall Campaign. Noelia Rodriguez, Laura Bush's press secretary and former LA deputy mayor, was in Los Angeles for a week in July helping former mayor Richard Riordan assemble a campaign team and strategy for a possible run on the recall ballot.
[Los Angeles Times, 7/31/03; New York Times, 8/1/03]
Top Bush CA Adviser Playing Major Roll in Recall. Gerry Parsky, Bush's top adviser in California, has been advising GOP candidates on the recall strategy. The Sacramento Bee reported, "Bush isn't staying entirely out of the election. His liaison in California, businessman Gerald Parsky, summoned representatives of potential Republican candidates to his office Tuesday to discuss how the GOP could help recall Davis."
[Sacramento Bee, 7/30/03]
High Level Bush Re-Election Strategist Involved in Recall Effort. Mindy Tucker, who served as a Bush spokesperson in the 2000 election and is currently a high level Bush campaign strategist, is involved in the recall election strategy. A memo by a California GOP campaigner noted, "Mindy Tucker, former Bush campaign spokesperson and current Bush campaign operative in California, has the White House's blessing" The same memo noted that Tucker would be involved in coordinating recall campaign events, and that "the resulting issue-oriented and image-enhancing coverage will benefit the image of the Republican Party, the recall candidates, and will benefit President Bush as we remind the public of who is to blame for the mess in this state." [San Francisco Chronicle, 8/6/03]
Tucker Has Denied White House Involvement, But Alludes to Bush Strategy. Tucker has claimed that her involvement is not on the part of the White House, but has also said, "the president has given everybody in California his blessing to take a position on this" Tucker has also said, "We've identified some areas where the recall will help us build the party -- not only for the recall, but also for '04, which everyone believes is important."
[San Francisco Chronicle, 8/6/03]
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
For more information:
Daniel P. Welch
AMERIKKKA
Mediocre times produce the very worst that the world has to offer:
Reagan, Bin
Laden, Bush, Hussein, Sharon, and Blair. None but the feeble minded
could draw
inspiration from such a ghastly lineup of "leaders".
