Daniel Weintraub’s “The saga of the special election ...” Sunday’s November 13, Sac Bee ForumMr.
Daniel Weintraub’s “The saga of the special election ...” Sunday’s November 13, Sac Bee Forum
Letter to the Sac Bee Editor

After reading Daniel Weintraub's piece, "The saga of the special election," I can't help but think, your reporter has caught the NY Times' Judith Miller syndrome. He’s too close to his story and empathizes with his protagonist, i.e., Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Weintraub does not provide his readers with unbiased reporting, but with a skewed, twisted, and a distorted picture that paints Mr. Schwarzenegger as a white knight, when in reality he is the blackest of knights, a true prince of darkness.

Mr. Weintraub says, "proving his powers as a populist leader," when referring to Mr. Schwarzenegger, which is nothing less than ridiculous. A populist is someone who fights for the underprivileged in society, those not participating in the American Dream, against the rich and greedy who torment working people. The working people in this state and our country are being committed to economic genocide: teachers, nurses, fireman, police, administrators, clerks, staff, programmers, and general working stiffs. Mr. Schwarzenegger travels the country taking money from the richest of the rich, the greediest of the greedy, and the most gluttonous members of our society -- the robber barons. Some of his biggest contributors: Kleiner Perkins’ Vinod Khosla, Cisco Systems’ CEO John Chambers, Yahoo’s CEO Terry Semel, T. Boone Pickens, Alex Spanos, Wal-Mart’s John T. Walton, Safeway’s CEO Steve Burd, among many Fortune 500 companies, hardly the destitute.

Mr. Schwarzenegger doesn't stand against corporations or the power elite. He facilitates their power and hegemony over workers and our political system. A populist, like Teddy Roosevelt, takes on the corporations, the elite institutions, the most powerful in society, i.e., the robber barons. He doesn't facilitate them, but works to improve the lot of the weakest members of society. This is not Mr. Schwarzenegger.

Mr. Weintraub claims, "it was an election that a majority of voters did not want on issues about which the governor could not get them to care." This statement is ludicrous. Of course, the citizenry cared, that's why they voted Mr. Schwarzengger's initiatives down. They voted them down because they are not in the best interests of workers. The propositions attacked workers rights and lessoned their ability to get a fair wage and benefits. No amount of propaganda or advertising could sway the citizens otherwise; this was a direct onslaught on the rights and dreams of workers. California’s workers donated massive amounts of time and energy to send this governor a message. We know what you're up to governor. We know who you represent and it's not us!

Your paper and Mr. Weintraub have participated in the worst of journalism. Mr. Weintraub has absolutely no journalistic integrity, similar to Judith Miller of the NY Times. He is an operative of an elite group of robber barons that prey on the hopes and dreams of working people to destroy their ability to gain a quality life.


Andrew H. Dral “The Rabble”