From the 24 Sept 06 L.A. Times story:
Angelides Puts Iraq on Table
The gubernatorial candidate says he would immediately seek the Guard's withdrawal. In a move to bolster his appeal among Democrats, state Treasurer Phil Angelides said Saturday night that on his first day as governor, he would call on President Bush to withdraw California's National Guard troops from the war in Iraq.The Democratic nominee for governor said in a telephone interview that he would take court action against Bush if necessary to extract the state's National Guard members from Iraq. He said he would also urge other governors and members of Congress to join his effort....http://www.latimes.com/la-me-angelides24sep24,1,4217099.story?coll=la-center-politics-cal&ctrack=1&cset=trueA few thoughts on his tactic. It's pure pandering to the spineless anti war left who has no stomach to fight. That's really no big surprise, but what is really galling is his attitiude toward the CA Guard. Hey Phil, it's not your personal army. Once the reserve forces are federalized by the President, you have zero say in where they go and what they do. While he knows he can't really do anything about it, he plays the tired approach of taking it to court. Ultimatley, and this comes from watching his campaign ads, is that he's really running against Bush.
So, if this hack were in office... I suppose I could opt out of any state mission that I felt was immoral/illegal/mismanaged... ect.. (No, not really). But, it's the precedent he sets. I think he'll be pounding sand come Nov.8th anyway.
