F-bomb
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typically attaches a message to bills he signs or vetoes, telling California lawmakers why he took the action.
But a Democratic assemblyman who heckled the governor during a recent event in San Francisco may have received more than one message: the veto letter itself and a not-so-subtle rebuke creatively hidden within it.
Like a find-the-word puzzle, a second message is visible if one strings together the first letter of each line down the left-hand margin of the letter. If read in that way, a common four-letter vulgarity followed by the letters “y-o-u” is visible.
“My goodness. What a coincidence,” said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.
The target may have been Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who had sponsored a bill that would have granted the Port of San Francisco expanded financing power to redevelop a former shipyard into a new neighborhood.
“Kudos to the governor for his creative use of coincidence,” said Ammiano’s spokesman, Quintin Mecke. “You certainly have to have a sense of humor in politics. Unfortunately, this humor came at the cost of the Port of San Francisco.”
Headed to battle
George P. Bush, the 33-year-old son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush and the nephew and grandson of two presidents named George Bush, will probably go to war in the near future as part of his Navy Reserve unit.
George P. Bush becomes the latest offspring of a political leader who will fight or have fought in the war on terror. Others include John McCain IV, serving in the Navy; James McCain, serving in the Marines; Track Palin, serving in the Army; and Beau Biden, serving in the National Guard.
While it may be somewhat premature to consider a Bush the next generation in politics, a political career appears to be where George P. Bush is headed. He moved from Florida to Texas and has hinted that he might run for political office there in four to eight years.
While George P. Bush’s father, Jeb, remains popular, his more famous uncle, George W., isn’t so much. But a Bush knows that political unpopularity, like glory, can be fleeting.
The Bush family has been in public service for almost six decades.
Penn’s latest role
Actor Sean Penn is turning journalist. He has arrived in Cuba, where he hopes to interview Fidel Castro. The actor has already been spotted walking in the town of Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth with local painter Alexis Leyva.
Penn is apparently writing a story for Vanity Fair magazine about how the Obama administration has affected Cuba.
Since he became president in January, Obama has eased rules about visits and money transfers to Cuba. But so far the administration has not taken major strides in its approach to the Americas’ only communist regime.
The Obama administration has said it will not, for now, seek to end the economic embargo, instead urging Havana to show progress on human rights.
Rating the veep
Gallup.com reports that, after peaking at 59 percent last November, Vice President Joe Biden’s favorable rating continues to decline and now stands at 42 percent.
That barely exceeds his 40 percent unfavorable rating, and it continues to trail Obama’s favorable rating.
Compiled from the (ever popular) mainstream news media, the blogosphere and other reliable sources. For more political buzz, go to KansasCity.com and click on Prime Buzz.
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