Cross-posted from Calitics: the progressive community blog for California
The Stockton Record editorial board apparently has their head buried so far in the sand that they, like the Lodi newspaper, think that somehow Richard Pombo is going to stop being Richard Pombo. Like a victim of domestic abuse, they just, tragically, keep coming back for more.
What follows (on the flip) could be the most bizarre endorsement that I have ever read since well, the Lodi endorsement of Pombo. They want Pombo to be elected, but they want the guy who talked tough before he was first elected. They want him to change his corrupt ways, they want him to be a model citizen, they want him to be, well, not Richard Pombo. Follow me to the extended
And their reason for not supporting McNerney? Well, apparently they believe he doesn't have enough experience. Well, they didn't mind so much when Richard Pombo, a brash 32 year old rancher of privilige strolled onto the scene. McNerney has real business experience and a great technical familiarity with the challenges we will face as we attempt to free ourselves of our oil addiction.
But the Record would rather have a man who tried to sell of the National Parks, gut the Endangered Species Act and play with corrupt lobbyists. Oh, I'm sorry, they endorsed the non-corrupt Richard Pombo. Problem is, that man is long gone. We are stuck with the corrupt one, and no amount of wishing or Pombo apologies will change that.
And here's how I imagine that editorial board interview went: "I'll never do it again baby-district. I'm only corrupt because I love you so much. You can cover up those oil derricks off the coast with a big sweatshirt and some foundation."
Here's the "endorsement":
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, still might wear his trademark cowboy boots and hat.
But the former Tracy City Councilman no longer is a Washington outsider. After 14 years in Congress, the 46-year-old Pombo has become an influential insider susceptible to the enticements and temptations of political power in the nation's capital.
{snip}
If he wants to be a maverick in Washington, D.C., changing the way he seeks and accepts campaign donations would set him apart.
It's a naive notion, but Pombo should become a model member of Congress whose campaign contributions have absolutely no connection to his legislative agenda.
Well, you said it first ... it's a naive notion. Pombo is Pombo. You will never change that. The odds of your naive notion ever coming to fruition, well, what are the odds on the Raiders winning the Super Bowl this year? Take those and multipy by several orders of magnitude, and then you will, wait no, that's still too good of odds. Add the odds of winning powerball in there too because it's never going to happen.