Arnold Schwarzenegger announces he's running for governor -- on the "Tonight Show." From his wheelchair, Larry Flynt says he'll be the next governor because Californians are progressive enough to elect a pornographer. Angelyne, Hollywood's self-made billboard celebrity, has taken out papers.
The New York Times, Newsweek and National Public Radio have all called this state and its inhabitants crazy in recent weeks. ABC anchor Peter Jennings routinely refers to "the craziness in California," and CNN stories carry the graphic, "California's Crazy Recall."
Californians, after many generations of practice, are usually inured to insults from the jealous throngs who don't get to live here. But the recall-sparked crescendo of craziness has landed with unsettling force because so many of California's own residents have been throwing around the C-word.
Even the state's most loyal protectors -- well-practiced at reminding critics that California has the world's fifth-largest economy, as well as its most advanced multicultural society -- seem shaken.
"I have defended California in season and out, but I'm throwing in the towel this time," says Kevin Starr, the state librarian and author of several California history books.
"We sort of deserve it this time, don't we? You've got a leading candidate deciding or not deciding on Leno. This is a society melting down into deliberate self-parody."
Californians like Starr say the labeling of the state as crazy would be funny, if the instability wasn't taking such a toll. The price of California's bonds is way down, making it more expensive for the state and local governments to borrow money to cover deficits or build schools and roads. August commentators say the recall could make it easier for national Republicans to marginalize California.
"Yes, it's usually good to be talked about, even for the bad," says Hollywood nightclub owner Gene La Pietra, who is such a devotee of the just-spell-my-name-right school of publicity that he told a reporter Wednesday: "If I don't give you a good, juicy quote, you have my permission to make one up."
But La Pietra, who led a quixotic effort to get Hollywood declared its own city, says: "When the bankers on Wall Street are talking about lowering our bonds, when investors are talking about sitting out California, it's time to worry."
