Arnold has often likened
himself to the great populist Governor Hiram Johnson and is now doing
so in prominent Internet advertising. Well here are a few well chosen
words from Hiram for Arnold:
"In some form or other, nearly every governmental problem that involves
the health, the happiness, or the prosperity of the State has arisen,
because some private interest has intervened or has sought for its own
gain to exploit either the resources or the politics of the State. I
take it, therefore, that the first duty that is mine to perform is to
eliminate every private interest from the government, and to make the
public service of the State responsive solely to the people." (First
Inaugural Address of Gov. Hiram Johnson, 1911)
Now that Arnold has raised more private campaign money than any
California politician in history, it’s time to drop the Hiram Johnson
talk. The Gov has even raked in $78,200 from the railroad barons that
Johnson’s populist platform targeted. He has appointed an oil industry
lobbyist to the Air Resources Board, an energy industry executive to
head the California Energy Commission, and an insurance industry
lobbyist to head the Office of Administrative Law, which oversees
insurance regulations. This is a private service governor, not a public
servant. It’s time to let Hiram Johnson rest in peace.
