Prime Minister Tony Blair and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger do a joint interview this past March in London, with Schwarzenegger participating by satellite.
** CASINO TRIBES WIN. The Indian gaming compacts negotiated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are, as predicted, going through. Some side deals have been negotiated that address accounting issues — but do not make labor happy — and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is on board. More to follow.
** BLAIR STEPS DOWN AS MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AS HIS NEW ROLE AS MIDEAST ENVOY IS STILL EVOLVING. Tony Blair, who resigned as British prime minister earlier today, then received a key new post as special Mideast envoy, returned to his picturesque Sedgefield constituency in northern England by train to tell local Labour Party members that he is resigning his seat in the House of Commons. That will set up a by-election for July 19th. Blair chose to give his only media interview of the day to his local newspaper, The Northern Echo, on his train ride from London. Amusingly, there was no car to meet him at the train station, so he and his wife Cherie waited for a few minutes before a car showed up and took him first to his home to freshen up, then to his local party gathering place. As you’ll see in tomorrow’s video of his final departure from Downing Street as prime minister, the British do things in a less grand way than is done in the American presidential system. Even as the outgoing prime minister ventures to an immense palace to tender his resignation to the Queen of England.
I’m also going to get hold of video of Blair’s last Question Time today, a weekly practice in which the prime minister goes to Parliament and, yes, answers questions from fellow MPs. It’s all very close-in, as you’ll see, about the scale of the town halls that Arnold Schwarzenegger does these days, as you’ve seen in NWN videos, though the questions are much more probing. Opposition Leader David Cameron was sitting about six feet away from Blair as he peppered away.
As for his new role as Mideast envoy representing the Quartet powers of America, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations, Blair — who is setting up his private office in London — will have a new office in Jerusalem. His charge is going to be evolving over time. At first, he will work with the Palestinians, who are in near total disarray. But since Blair, and most experts, believe that the crises in the Middle East are all intertwined, I suspect he’ll be doing still more than that.
** GIULIANI TO CALIFORNIA. Rudy Giuliani, who still holds a sizeable lead in the California Republican presidential primary in a forthcoming poll, will be in California tomorrow and Friday for fundraising and public events in Sacramento and Orange County.
** SCHWARZENEGGER IN A DAY OF CAPITOL MEETINGS, WITH GOOD NEWS FORTHCOMING IN A NEW POLL. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will spend tomorrow in a day of private meetings in and around the state Capitol. He has some very good news coming in a new poll.
** CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY CONTROVERSY. Yes, I do have more material on the controversy surrounding the hiring and departure of an Australian citizen with major immigration problems — and, as has new state Republican chairman Ron Nehring, longstanding ties to contoversial Washington conservative power broker Grover Norquist — as the party’s top staffer. But it’s a bigger day than that, not to mention a busy day, so it’s held for tomorrow.
** SCHWARZENEGGER AND GARAMENDI AT LAKE TAHOE FIRE. Just back from his conference in London yesterday with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now the special Mideast envoy, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in a tour of some of the fire devastation at Lake Tahoe and a briefing on the overall situation.
Joining Schwarzenegger and Garamendi in the event carried live on CNN were Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki. (The big blue lake in the Sierra Nevada is intersected by the state line between the Golden State and the Silver State.) With Schwarzenegger out of the country from Sunday through Tuesday, Democrat Garamendi, who has great knowledge of the region through his efforts as a state senator to preserve Lake Tahoe, functioned as Acting Governor and oversaw much of the emergency response effort. It was clear from viewing the event, and from what I know of their long history, that there is an easy rapport between Schwarzenegger and Garamendi — who is very familiar with these issues as the former state insurance commissioner and deputy US interior secretary — and the two frequently referred to one another during their statements and the press conference and chatted in the background.
The fire is less than half-contained, yet officials are fairly confident they’ll have it fully under control in the next few days. In any event, Schwarzenegger, who called firefighters “the true action heroes,” says it will be safe for people to visit Lake Tahoe over the 4th of July, when it is a huge tourist and vacation attraction. 3500 acres have been burned and about 200 homes destroyed so far, along with other structures. Fortunately, no lives have been lost. Despite the presence of the lake, the terrain around Tahoe is quite arid now, with the Sierra snow pack for the year having been at a 30-year low at just 29% of normal capacity. Schwarzenegger, Garamendi and others attribute this to the greenhouse effect. To the extent there is a controversy so far, it’s over how much brush and trees should have been cut back in the vicinity of homes and structures. Some say environmentalists are to blame. Some point the finger at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. There will be plenty of time to sort that out.
** BLAIR FORMALLY APPOINTED SPECIAL MIDEAST ENVOY, WELCOMED BY SOME. As anticipated, Tony Blair has stepped down as prime minister and as member of Parliament for Sedgefield, accepting the difficult post of special Mideast envoy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Blair in his new role, and Israel is supportive as well. But the Palestinians are divided now, with Hamas taking the Gaza Strip from Abbas’s Fatah organization. And while Blair has generally good relations with most Arab leaders, he brings substantial baggage from the Iraq War.
But Blair achieved a lasting settlement of the seemingly intractable Northern Ireland crisis, also involving diametrically opposed religious groups.
** L.A. CONGRESSIONAL SPECIAL ELECTION. State Assemblywoman Laura Richardson, an African American, has won the Democratic nomination over state Senator Jenny Oropez in yesterday’s special election to replace the late Congresswoman Juanita Millender McDonald, who died two months ago. Richardson, backed by most of labor, defeated Oropeza, backed by casino tribes, by what looks like a 38% to 31% margin. The district is a safe Democratic seat, traditionally a black seat, and Richardson’s victory in a run-off is assured.
** BLAIR STEPS DOWN AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, SLATED FOR LATER ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY AS SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST. Tony Blair stepped down as prime minister earlier today, handing off the office to Gordon Brown, and according to CNN International will be announced as the new special envoy to the Middle East later today. A recent phone conversation between Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin is said by other sources to have smoothed the way. Russia and Britain have had rocky relations of late, as discussed yesterday in NWN.
** NEW IOWA POLL, FRED THOMPSON SECOND AMONG REPUBLICANS. A new poll of the first-in-the-nation Iowa presidential caucuses by the Strategic Vision PR firm has some interesting results. On the Republican side, it’s Mitt Romney 23%, Fred Thompson 17%, Rudy Giuliani 14%, and John McCain 11%.
On the Democratic side, it’s John Edwards 26%, Barack Obama 21%, Hillary Clinton 20%, and Bill Richardson 11%.
** FROM LONDON TO LAKE TAHOE. SCHWARZENEGGER LIVE WEBCAST FROM TAHOE AT NOON TODAY. Just back in Sacramento from conferring in London with outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair and leading executives and environmental experts, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger journeys to the Sierra Nevada Mountains today to tour the big fire at Lake Tahoe. Along with Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, who oversaw the fire emergency in Schwarzenegger’s absence, and state Insurance Commissioner Stever Poizner, Schwarzenegger and several state officials, legislators and local officials will view damage from the fire and receive a briefing from fire officials. At noon, Schwarzenegger will do a live webcast and press conference from Lake Tahoe.
** AL QAEDA’S AMERICAN PRISONERS STILL NOT LOCATED. American troops are now in the midst of a 46th day of searching for the remaining two US soldiers captured by Al Qaeda in an ambush south of Baghdad. They have had no luck so far. A video put out by Al Qaeda forces in Iraq claims that all three men were executed after being captured. But, with the exception of the Californian found floating in the Euphrates River, that claim can’t be confirmed. The US high command in Baghdad has revealed that ID cards for the other two American prisoners were found in an Al Qaeda safehouse on June 9th.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Most crude oil prices are in the $67 to $68 per barrel range.
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Does Schwarzenegger fly to the lake or drive?
“NEW IOWA POLL”
Hey, anybody remember that one presidential candidate…what was his name?
Oh yeah, John McCain.
Wasn’t he a front runner or something once?
Great, Schwarzeneger does a webcast from a fire and not from Paris. lol
I have never before seen a webcast from a fire.
Tahoe hasn’t seen this much destruction since Phil Angelides was tearing down the Corleone compound.
Tommy — The Corelone compound is no more?!
“Fredo, you’re nothing to me now; not a brother, not a friend. I don’t want to know you, or what you do.”
You know, I’ve either forgotten about that or didn’t know about it …
Wasn’t that the dastardly ad that mean Garry South ran against Angelides?
Whatever it was, Arnold took him out fishing.
That’s what I said.
>Ann :
Great, Schwarzeneger does a webcast from a fire and not from Paris. lol
Jun 27, 2007 09:18 AM
Ah, the halcyon days of yore.
>Brasky :
“NEW IOWA POLL”
Hey, anybody remember that one presidential candidate…what was his name?
Oh yeah, John McCain.
Wasn’t he a front runner or something once?
Jun 27, 2007 09:00 AM
Ah yes, Lake Tahoe, the scene of many a “boating accident.”
Ah yes, Lake Tahoe, the scene of many a “boating accident.”
What happened to http://www.recallron.com? Did somebody kiss and make up? Did somebody get taken for a boat ride?
I have more on the Ron Nehring/Grover Norquist issue. But I’m learning about some other things before I go up with that again. Other as in less …
Refresh my memory on that fascinating topic, TB.
>Tommy Boy :
Wasn’t that the dastardly ad that mean Garry South ran against Angelides?
Whatever it was, Arnold took him out fishing.
Jun 27, 2007 09:58 AM
Let’s go to the definitive source on the ’06 gubernatorial race…
NWN 06-05-06
Tommy Boy, why don’t you go instead to your business about the Corleone estate, which is what I asked about.
I was just cracking wise.
No there there…unless you know something?
Oh, well I definitely needed a distraction while doing 3 other things.
One thing I do know is that there actually was something to that Westly ad, which I did not think at the time.
But that is another, hardly pressing, story.
After the drubbing he got in the election, I felt like leaving poor, inept Phil alone. No comment I could make would match the damage he must feel every time he looks in the mirror and think of the greatness he aspired to but failed – so dramatically – to achieve.
Then, while watching clips from the Take Back America conference, I saw Phil’s speach. It was just so clear that he has some warped intention of trying again.
I remember after the election the report of Phil and his circle of advisers meeting with an eye on the future. I figured it was just him getting politics out of his system…somewhere between detox and a chicken running around after it’s neck has been wrung.
Then came the emails.
Then a speech at the state Dem Convention.
Then Take Back America.
This man was a lodestone on the Democratic Party in 2006. He needs to be cut loose (with a dull rusty knife) before 2008.
I used lodestone when I shouldn’t have…he was anything but magnetic.
It seems kind of long for an ad, but isn’t that Phil in the chair?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQygwUBwnn4
Who wants to hear about Angelides again? Talk about your dead letter. lol
Whew! It seems the Godfather estate is now the Fleur du Lac Clubhouse and part of the annual Lake Tahoe Historical home tour.
http://rgj.textamerica.com/?r=5177343&_ctgry=24412
Just noticed this. My guess: Fly.
>Jonas Blane :
Does Schwarzenegger fly to the lake or drive?
Jun 27, 2007 08:56 AM
I thought it was there when I was there for the Carson City presidential forum.
>Brasky :
Whew! It seems the Godfather estate is now the Fleur du Lac Clubhouse and part of the annual Lake Tahoe Historical home tour.
http://rgj.textamerica.com/?r=5177343&_ctgry=24412
Jun 27, 2007 11:03 AM
Let me just say that the question of Phil Angelides is totally irrelevant to anything I’m writing about or anything I’m aware of in the entire news flow.
Just noticed that Richardson now has double digits in Iowa, about what he has in Nevada. Good for him.
He’s slowly coming up.
Where is Schwarzeneger?!
Behind schedule.
Schwarzenegger is also going to be live on CNN. When he’s through touring.
The new Iowa poll is very interesting.
Only about an hour late, give or take a few minutes.
What do you find most interesting?
>carole w :
The new Iowa poll is very interesting.
Jun 27, 2007 02:41 PM
The Republican candidates are lined up just as I called them during the last Rep debate. My wagering skills are totally wrong on the Dem side. I am surprised that Edwards is in the lead.
I did not like the Coulter vs Mrs. Edwards debate this morning.
Edwards has always been the early favorite in Iowa, as I may have mentioned once or twice.
What didn’t you like about Coulter v. Edwards?
“Only about an hour late…”
That reminds me of working on the Jackson campaign in ’88. There was time, and then there was Jackson Time. By late afternoon most days, he was 2-3 hours behind schedule. But people, thousands of them, would wait for the chance to hear him speak.
I respect Mrs. Edwards but, her arguments should have been private. Giving Ann an audience is what she lives for,(Ann is a marketing genius). Mrs. Edwards should ignore Ann.
I don’t like it when women spare over men in public.
I loved the fact that Ann got bitch slapped by Liz. Just how long is Coulter going to be allowed to spew this garbage? Think for one minute that, say, James Carville or Rosie O’Donnell would get away with calling Bush a Dry Drunk and joking about him and Condi? Remember the crap over remarks at the Wellsone Memorial? Or Whoopi Goldberg? Bullies are whimps – I say more please!
sorry…spare should be “spar”
Coulter should only be used to raise money with the faithful.
The Edwards’ (and Democrats) should focus their attacks on ABC for putting Coulter on at all.
Re: Controversy on the brush clearing around the Tahoe homes.
I am sitting here thinking about the folks that lost their homes in the Tahoe fire. I am also looking out my window and I can count at least 4 huge dead enormous pine trees. Anyone of these trees could fall or catch fire and ruin my home. Do my neighbors care? Nope. I think the state fire marshal should step in and seize property if land owners do not clear dead brush and trees from their property.
Censoring Coulter will raise her market value.
carole — in similar circumstances, municipalities usually clear fire hazards themselves and then bill the costs to the landowner in the form of a tax lien.
I’m not sure the state can do similar activities in unincorporated areas. Although maybe a fire protection district could.
Brasky,
I wish you were in my neighborhood. I would give you a big ax to cut down trees and to take a couple of swings at the local politicians who are permitting this unsafe activity to continue. I live in the city and I have UNSAFE trees surrounding my property.
Arnold are you listening?
“Censoring Coulter will raise her market value.”
Exactly – go after ABC. They will feel pain, Coulter would only benefit.
How about this for ABC — obviously the Democratic party, candidates and allies will all be spending big money on network television this campaign season.
Advocating for a boycott of ABC is unreasonable and unfeasible.
How about moving all the issue advertising to other networks, and only spend money on candidate advertising on ABC? This would be a loss of millions to the network, but result in no actual drop in the amount of political advertising the network receives.
Carole – hate to turn this into a municipal help line, but try the following:
Contact your city councilman.
Contact your public works department (they tend to hate dead trees).
Contact your local fire department.
Contact your city attorney – mention the dead trees in terms of liability (falling and crushing something nearby).
If there are power, cable or phone lines in the area, contact those companies – they have intervening rights to cut down and trim trees that could affect their service.
Call a professional tree-trimming service (someone expensive and bonded). If there is a way to get those trees cutdown, they’ll probably know how.
Brasky,
Thank you. Dave the husband/ firefighter has contacted all of the above , except the city attorney/ councilman. You give excellent advise. I still would rather see you swinging an ax. It’s a girl thing
I suspect the brush and trees issue will become more of a state issue, to the extent it isn’t already.