Recently a friend of mine, a former Californian who moved to New Mexico to teach at university that dissolved within one year of her new run as a tenure-track professor, was telling me about how much she misses living in the Golden State, although more specifically in the Bay Area, where we both used to live. When I asked if she had any plans to return she said she doubted it. "California is in such bad shape," she blurted with a confidence that felt like it was bordering on betrayal. 

In all fairness, I guess she's right, and I still choose to live here, despite having a freaky Republican governor, who has recently been the subject of impeachment talks, who I can barely handle listening to when his voice comes on the radio, as it did this morning. But, California has it merits, and I do feel at home here among many like-minded folk (minus the ones who voted for Proposition 8).

So this morning when I heard the news about Arnold Schwarzenegger doing a drop-in at a Democratic Party fundraiser and making comments that  generated a rather hostile reception, I wasn't the least bit, well, bothered by it. Apparently State Assemblyman  Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, angered by the Governor's "trivializing of important issues" called out inappropriately to him, first jokingly with the same "You lie!" jab that President Obama received last month.

Then he took it one step further by yelling, "Kiss my gay ass!" 

I have to admit, after hearing this news, my first thought was, how bad can California be? At the very least, you gotta love it for hosting precious and gratifying moments such as these!

When asked to comment, the Assemblyman insisted that Schwarzenegger's idea to make a surprise appearance to a group of people who are so entirely frustated with him was a bad move on the governor's part. "It was a cheap publicity stunt and I think this guy has a problem distinguishing between movies and reality," Ammiano said. "You don't come uninvited and you don't devalue what the Democratic Party stands for."

In a later response to the incident, Schwarzenegger seemed surprisingly unmiffed. "Compared to the reaction I got in Hyannis Port when I told the Kennedys I was marrying Maria, it was fantastic."