Jerry Brown is a busy guy, but unfortunately he’s not so devoted to his present gig.
Rather than fulfilling his attorney general duties to the citizens of California, he instead has been seeking publicity with high-profile celebrity cases.
Brown latched onto the Anna Nicole Smith case, the death of Corey Haim, and the criminal case against Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s doctor. He even spent time on the TV couch with Dr. Phil.
When for no apparent legitimate reason Brown dropped elder abuse cases, his opponent in the governor race, Meg Whitman, issued the following statement: “Jerry Brown has been using his official office to bolster his gubernatorial run, rather than protecting California's most vulnerable citizens. Instead of going after defendants who are suspected of elder abuse, career politician Jerry Brown has chosen to pursue celebrity headlines.”
In May of this year, at a trendy Hollywood nightclub on Hollywood and Vine, a fundraiser was held for Brown, who was formerly known as “Governor Moonbeam.” The event was called “Generation for Change,” a name that smacks of the 2008 Dem presidential campaign.
In addition to movie producers Alan Ladd Jr. and Jerry Zucker, a host of young actors were present at the affair along with Hollywood’s favorite former CIA operative, Valerie Plame, and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson.
At the fundraiser, Brown told the crowd about three problems that he must face.
“Now, we got a recession, and we've got a Republican actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger,'' he said. “So I do know how to deal with these three problems: the recession problem, the Republican problem -- and the actor problem.”
Needing more cash to take care of the “problems,” in August Brown went to the Venice, Calif., home of Jodie Evans for a $500 per person fundraiser, which was hosted by Sally Kellerman, Bill Press, Cindy Asner (wife of Ed Asner), and Gail Zappa (wife of Frank Zappa), among others.
Evans was Brown’s treasurer for his 1980 presidential campaign, finance director for his 1982 senate campaign, executive director of his political action committee, and manager of his 1992 presidential campaign. She is also the co-founder of Code Pink, has commiserated with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, and has put together trips to Gaza to support their friends in Hamas.
Jodie and Code Pink even went to Iran at the personal invitation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
It comes as no real surprise that Brown’s first TV and radio ads are misleading.
An ad trumpets Brown’s two-time veto of state employee pay increases. But it conveniently leaves out the fact that the legislature overrode the governor's vetoes. In the end, Brown caved to somewhat smaller pay increases instead.
The ad brags about a lower tax burden, which is technically correct. However, the greatest tax relief came from voters having passed Proposition 13, the important initiative that limited property tax increases and one that Brown had vehemently opposed.
Brown’s current ad touts the 1.9 million jobs that he purportedly created. But it ignores the disturbing level of unemployment he left to his successor, a staggering 11 percent.
All of this will undoubtedly come up at the first Whitman-Brown debate, which is set to take place on Sept. 28.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, commentator, media analyst and law professor. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and has made several appearances there on various landmark decisions. Hirsen is the co-founder and chief legal counsel for InternationalEsq.com. Visit: Newsmax TV Hollywood.
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