"I believe the people of California would like a respite from me..."
December 21, 2018 9:52 AM Subscribe
In 1982, then California Governor Jerry Brown said, "I believe the people of California would like a respite from me, and in some ways I would like a respite from them." Now, after another two-terms, Brown is making the rounds, giving exit interviews and reflecting on a long political career. What a long, strange trip it's been.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., aka Jerry, first gained statewide recognition as then Governor Pat Brown's son who was a Jesuit novitiate. He eventually left the clergy, graduated from Berkeley and then went Yale for law school. After a brief stint on board of the Los Angeles Community College District, he became the California Secretary of State in 1970. Then in the 1974 gubernatorial race he beat Houston Flournoy, becoming the youngest, and in many ways unconventional, governor in the US. (And also succeeding Reagan, who famously beat Pat Brown in the 1966 election.)
Most people remember 1970s Governor Brown for his Governor Moonbeam persona which obscured his accomplishments in pulling the state out of a financial crisis. He also had his sights on higher office, running for president in 1976 and 1980, and US senate in 1982. After leaving office in 1982 he famously left politics and California, going to Japan to study Zen Buddhism and then to Indian to work with Mother Teresa. Ever a man of contrasts, he returned to California in 1989 and was elected Chairman of the Democratic Party.
He quit that position to run for president again in 1992, with a fiery speech of leftist populism in front of Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia. Throughout the campaign Brown railed against the corrupting influence of money in politics, the need for campaign finance reform, eschewing PACs and using his toll free line 1-800-426-1112 to connect with the people. He frequently sparred with Clinton (remember the classic Donahue episode!), but as history shows, he lost the nomination but didn't really go away.
Instead he jumped into talk radio with We The People, where he would take calls and interview guests he found interesting. You can listen to an episode with Gore Vidal. Brown accurately described his show as "back talk radio." Thanks to the C-SPAN archives, you can watch an episode as it was broadcast on the air. His anti-establishment streak continued through the 1996 election, when he called into question if there really was a two party system, since both the Democrats and Republicans catered to corporate interests. He was still angry and seemed to have given up on politics, but wouldn't actually say that. He compiled a book of interviews from his radio show called Dialogs, which you can watch a book talk of here.
He gave up radio to run for office again, becoming Mayor of Oakland in 1999. His legacy on the city is a mixed bag to say the least. But that was the start of the political comeback. He cruised through the election of California Attorney General in 2006, a position his father held from 1951-1958. And then in 2010 he beat Meg Whitman to become Governor again, and again taking the office after a Hollywood star. Since 2016, he's been one of the prominent voices against the Trump administration. And after another two terms (and 16 years as California Governor), he's leaving office for the last time. Jerry, his wife Anne Gust Brown, and their dogs Colusa and Cali are going back to their ranch in Colusa County; a county he's never won over, but the site where his great grand-father August Schuckman first settled down in America. You can read more about him (and the rest of the family) in Miriam Pawel's new book The Browns of California.
And if you actually read all these links, try out this Jerry Brown quiz. It's kind of hard.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., aka Jerry, first gained statewide recognition as then Governor Pat Brown's son who was a Jesuit novitiate. He eventually left the clergy, graduated from Berkeley and then went Yale for law school. After a brief stint on board of the Los Angeles Community College District, he became the California Secretary of State in 1970. Then in the 1974 gubernatorial race he beat Houston Flournoy, becoming the youngest, and in many ways unconventional, governor in the US. (And also succeeding Reagan, who famously beat Pat Brown in the 1966 election.)
Most people remember 1970s Governor Brown for his Governor Moonbeam persona which obscured his accomplishments in pulling the state out of a financial crisis. He also had his sights on higher office, running for president in 1976 and 1980, and US senate in 1982. After leaving office in 1982 he famously left politics and California, going to Japan to study Zen Buddhism and then to Indian to work with Mother Teresa. Ever a man of contrasts, he returned to California in 1989 and was elected Chairman of the Democratic Party.
He quit that position to run for president again in 1992, with a fiery speech of leftist populism in front of Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia. Throughout the campaign Brown railed against the corrupting influence of money in politics, the need for campaign finance reform, eschewing PACs and using his toll free line 1-800-426-1112 to connect with the people. He frequently sparred with Clinton (remember the classic Donahue episode!), but as history shows, he lost the nomination but didn't really go away.
Instead he jumped into talk radio with We The People, where he would take calls and interview guests he found interesting. You can listen to an episode with Gore Vidal. Brown accurately described his show as "back talk radio." Thanks to the C-SPAN archives, you can watch an episode as it was broadcast on the air. His anti-establishment streak continued through the 1996 election, when he called into question if there really was a two party system, since both the Democrats and Republicans catered to corporate interests. He was still angry and seemed to have given up on politics, but wouldn't actually say that. He compiled a book of interviews from his radio show called Dialogs, which you can watch a book talk of here.
He gave up radio to run for office again, becoming Mayor of Oakland in 1999. His legacy on the city is a mixed bag to say the least. But that was the start of the political comeback. He cruised through the election of California Attorney General in 2006, a position his father held from 1951-1958. And then in 2010 he beat Meg Whitman to become Governor again, and again taking the office after a Hollywood star. Since 2016, he's been one of the prominent voices against the Trump administration. And after another two terms (and 16 years as California Governor), he's leaving office for the last time. Jerry, his wife Anne Gust Brown, and their dogs Colusa and Cali are going back to their ranch in Colusa County; a county he's never won over, but the site where his great grand-father August Schuckman first settled down in America. You can read more about him (and the rest of the family) in Miriam Pawel's new book The Browns of California.
And if you actually read all these links, try out this Jerry Brown quiz. It's kind of hard.
I find it hilarious when people about my age (38) trot out the derogatory nickname, "Moonbeam". There can no better indicator that you just repeat the horeshit you read on Drudge or whatever.
posted by sideshow at 10:21 AM on December 21, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by sideshow at 10:21 AM on December 21, 2018 [9 favorites]
As a non-American, I can't remember if I first heard of Brown while listening to the Dead Kennedys or reading Joan Didion, but I've always found it interesting that he was a subject for both.
posted by dobbs at 10:25 AM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by dobbs at 10:25 AM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
The thing about Brown as governor (this round, wasn't here for the last one) is that while he's a very interesting person, his tenure has been mostly *boring* in the best possible way.
While there are and will continue to be serious problems in CA and serious issues to debate, I've had 8 years of being able to assume that the basic functions of government will be run effectively and competently, the budget will get done, and things will tick along. Given the trashfire at the Federal level, it's been really nice. I support Newsom, and I think he'll do OK in general, but I suspect it won't be quite as smooth.
posted by feckless at 10:36 AM on December 21, 2018 [25 favorites]
While there are and will continue to be serious problems in CA and serious issues to debate, I've had 8 years of being able to assume that the basic functions of government will be run effectively and competently, the budget will get done, and things will tick along. Given the trashfire at the Federal level, it's been really nice. I support Newsom, and I think he'll do OK in general, but I suspect it won't be quite as smooth.
posted by feckless at 10:36 AM on December 21, 2018 [25 favorites]
Yeah, on one level Brown didn't really fix anything significant - CA jails are still a horror show, the state burned more than ever. Did he repeal Prop 13? He did not.
On the other hand he managed to do the basics - he got the state budget into better shape and took advantage of amazing financial conditions (the FB IPO) without fucking it up. Which seems like it should be easy, but empirically Republicans in other states tend to take a good year as an excuse to cut takes and fuck the budget into the future for years. I guess maybe basic competence is as good as it gets.
posted by GuyZero at 10:42 AM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
On the other hand he managed to do the basics - he got the state budget into better shape and took advantage of amazing financial conditions (the FB IPO) without fucking it up. Which seems like it should be easy, but empirically Republicans in other states tend to take a good year as an excuse to cut takes and fuck the budget into the future for years. I guess maybe basic competence is as good as it gets.
posted by GuyZero at 10:42 AM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Well, he got Californians to vote to raise taxes, which is pretty fucking hard. I think you underestimate the difficulty of 'basic competence' when it comes to running a state like California.
posted by tavella at 10:46 AM on December 21, 2018 [18 favorites]
posted by tavella at 10:46 AM on December 21, 2018 [18 favorites]
As a lifelong Californian, I adore Jerry Brown and would vote for him for anything. And Sutter Brown was the best First Dog ever.
posted by sageleaf at 10:48 AM on December 21, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by sageleaf at 10:48 AM on December 21, 2018 [13 favorites]
Here's a fitting tribute song to the man, which was coincidentally the first time I ever heard of him, long before I ever visited California : Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:52 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:52 AM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Did he repeal Prop 13? He did not.
There are so many things to talk about his first stint as Governor, but his flipping on Prop. 13 reflects his pragmatism but it was a big mistake. Somewhere in this oral history interview Pat Brown laments that the Javis plan (Prop. 13) was a huge disaster, chastised Jerry for going along with it, and then basically outlined how the state would erode and fracture as a result. (Many of Pat's doomsday prognostications came true.)
And Sutter Brown was the best First Dog ever.
He really was. I feel like a weird manifestation of my California boosterism is that I get teary eyed thinking about Sutter Brown and Huell Howser. I also cried when they both died. Nobody else gets to me like those two.
posted by kendrak at 10:54 AM on December 21, 2018 [5 favorites]
There are so many things to talk about his first stint as Governor, but his flipping on Prop. 13 reflects his pragmatism but it was a big mistake. Somewhere in this oral history interview Pat Brown laments that the Javis plan (Prop. 13) was a huge disaster, chastised Jerry for going along with it, and then basically outlined how the state would erode and fracture as a result. (Many of Pat's doomsday prognostications came true.)
And Sutter Brown was the best First Dog ever.
He really was. I feel like a weird manifestation of my California boosterism is that I get teary eyed thinking about Sutter Brown and Huell Howser. I also cried when they both died. Nobody else gets to me like those two.
posted by kendrak at 10:54 AM on December 21, 2018 [5 favorites]
My favorite Jerry Brown factoid is that the first time around he was the youngest Governor California ever has and the second time around he was the oldest. To quote a song from Jerry's youth, "What a long strange trip it's been".
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:58 AM on December 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:58 AM on December 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
My Orange county relatives hate Jerry Brown so much and they blame him personally for everything that is wrong with California. And of course they all call him Governor Moonbeam. I wish he would run again just to spite them.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:23 AM on December 21, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:23 AM on December 21, 2018 [7 favorites]
Funny choice of title. Do you really think people feel that way about him in the present day? (aside from the previous commenter's Orange County relatives)
posted by ClimateCal at 11:35 AM on December 21, 2018
posted by ClimateCal at 11:35 AM on December 21, 2018
Side Note:
Mike Royko, the legendary Chicago columnist whose 1976 comment about Brown attracting "the moonbeam vote" originated the nickname, had by 1980 issued a retraction and a wish that people would stop using it, a request he would echo many times over the next 30 years.
I imagine it will be front-and-center in his obituary.
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:41 AM on December 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Mike Royko, the legendary Chicago columnist whose 1976 comment about Brown attracting "the moonbeam vote" originated the nickname, had by 1980 issued a retraction and a wish that people would stop using it, a request he would echo many times over the next 30 years.
I imagine it will be front-and-center in his obituary.
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:41 AM on December 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
I used to occasionally see Sutter being walked around Capitol Park by a staffer and it was better than seeing a celebrity.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2018 [9 favorites]
Jello Biafra’s criticism of him was mostly tongue in cheek talking about forced meditation in school and the suede denim secret police. I think his later rendition after Reagan’s election was sufficient recantation.
I had never been more in favor of a presidential candidate than I was for Jerry Brown in 1992. At a time when it was political suicide to say so, at a debate lectern, the democratic candidates were asked what they thought of capital punishment and without hesitation Brown spat back “The government should not be in the business killing people. Period.” The subtext was “...and shame on all you people for even thinking it.”
I get that from the unthinking corporate mainstream middle of the road opinion, there was some stuff about him that looked unusual and funny. He is a larger than life figure for all the good and bad that entails but he was almost on the ride side of the issues. A United States that would have made him president would have been a far greater, stronger, freedom loving country than the pathetic mess our corporate overlords have created.
He deserves every goddamn school and bridge and airport they name after him so the kids can learn about what could have been.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:36 PM on December 21, 2018 [23 favorites]
I had never been more in favor of a presidential candidate than I was for Jerry Brown in 1992. At a time when it was political suicide to say so, at a debate lectern, the democratic candidates were asked what they thought of capital punishment and without hesitation Brown spat back “The government should not be in the business killing people. Period.” The subtext was “...and shame on all you people for even thinking it.”
I get that from the unthinking corporate mainstream middle of the road opinion, there was some stuff about him that looked unusual and funny. He is a larger than life figure for all the good and bad that entails but he was almost on the ride side of the issues. A United States that would have made him president would have been a far greater, stronger, freedom loving country than the pathetic mess our corporate overlords have created.
He deserves every goddamn school and bridge and airport they name after him so the kids can learn about what could have been.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:36 PM on December 21, 2018 [23 favorites]
Almost *always* on the right side of issues I meant to say...
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:46 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:46 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
He quit that position to run for president again in 1992, with a fiery speech of leftist populism in front of Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia
And a platform of a 13% flat tax with no low income exemption and abolishing the department of education. Even Ben Carson had a 14.9% flat tax and exemption to 150% of the Federal poverty line.
Firey rhetoric for the left, and right wing tax and education policies that made Ben Carson look like a moderate. Actions and policies speak louder than rhetoric.
posted by Francis at 1:11 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
And a platform of a 13% flat tax with no low income exemption and abolishing the department of education. Even Ben Carson had a 14.9% flat tax and exemption to 150% of the Federal poverty line.
Firey rhetoric for the left, and right wing tax and education policies that made Ben Carson look like a moderate. Actions and policies speak louder than rhetoric.
posted by Francis at 1:11 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I never really understood what Jello Biafra's beef was with Brown, and being 5 years old when that song came out don't have the context to make sense of it. Was it in fact tongue-in-cheek? It didn't come off that way to me, and doesn't seem to be his style to gently poke good-natured fun.
At some point I searched around for a clarifying explanation of the politics of this song, and found an interview where he was asked about it. I don't remember the exact response, but it was kind of an evasive non-answer that didn't answer my question at all, but did made me think he wasn't a fan at the time, but eventually softenend. Perhaps I got the wrong impression and he was just annoyed at being asked about it. It is a pretty goofy song, I guess.
posted by cj_ at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
At some point I searched around for a clarifying explanation of the politics of this song, and found an interview where he was asked about it. I don't remember the exact response, but it was kind of an evasive non-answer that didn't answer my question at all, but did made me think he wasn't a fan at the time, but eventually softenend. Perhaps I got the wrong impression and he was just annoyed at being asked about it. It is a pretty goofy song, I guess.
posted by cj_ at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you want to wrap your head around Jello Biafra you'll need a pretty long scalp. He is a strange person. But as far as I can tell, Brown was an authority figure who was avaliable and I've heard worse reasons for punk invective.
posted by East14thTaco at 2:53 PM on December 21, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by East14thTaco at 2:53 PM on December 21, 2018 [8 favorites]
It’s not like the song was about Jerry Brown. Jello was poking fun at the ubiquity of 1970s California hippie culture, and Jerry Brown was (unfairly or not) sort of a stand-in for that.
posted by panama joe at 3:45 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by panama joe at 3:45 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I find it hilarious when people about my age (38) trot out the derogatory nickname, "Moonbeam".
Moonbeam is a derogatory term? All my friends are happy to say we voted for Governor Moonbeam. Several times, for some of us. This may be why the term's so hard to kill; in the SF Bay Area, it's usually not considered an insult. (I'm aware that it's considered an insult in much of the country. Not my problem.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Moonbeam is a derogatory term? All my friends are happy to say we voted for Governor Moonbeam. Several times, for some of us. This may be why the term's so hard to kill; in the SF Bay Area, it's usually not considered an insult. (I'm aware that it's considered an insult in much of the country. Not my problem.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Brown has accepted the Moonbeam monicker.
(I frequently refer to my kid as Kid Moonbeam.)
posted by kendrak at 5:36 PM on December 21, 2018
(I frequently refer to my kid as Kid Moonbeam.)
posted by kendrak at 5:36 PM on December 21, 2018
We've had worse. Much worse. I think I'll miss him. In this age, the lack of drama in a major politician is such respite.
If you want to wrap your head around Jello Biafra you'll need a pretty long scalp. He is a strange person. But as far as I can tell, Brown was an authority figure who was avaliable and I've heard worse reasons for punk invective.
Yeah, that coincides with the punk scene I remember. Sort of "young man yells at clouds" mentality for the most part.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:24 PM on December 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
If you want to wrap your head around Jello Biafra you'll need a pretty long scalp. He is a strange person. But as far as I can tell, Brown was an authority figure who was avaliable and I've heard worse reasons for punk invective.
Yeah, that coincides with the punk scene I remember. Sort of "young man yells at clouds" mentality for the most part.
posted by 2N2222 at 6:24 PM on December 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Fantastic post, kendrak...
posted by PhineasGage at 8:14 PM on December 21, 2018
posted by PhineasGage at 8:14 PM on December 21, 2018
I have been really impressed with Jerry Brown (and his love of corgis) this time around. I'm sorry to lose him as a Resistance leader. I'm not psyched about Newsom, but what can you do.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Jello on Jerry Brown was largely a punk vs. hippie thing, I think. And they did have songs that were just for fun.
posted by atoxyl at 11:10 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 11:10 PM on December 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
When he was running for governor the second time, one of my conservative friends mentioned all of California's budget problems and pension obligations and how the last thing California needed now was a spend-happy Democrat for governor. Many people were predicting the state going bankrupt.
I reminded him that the last time he was governor the biggest complaint from republicans was the surplus. Yes, there were large headlines deploring the surplus. "Why is he collecting our taxes, then not spending any of it?" I told him that he was exactly what we needed.
Note that his father was also a California governor, though more of the back-slapping, back-room deal making type.
And his sister, Kathleen Brown is also a politician and once ran for governor of the state. Some say she's the smarter one and would have been a wonderful governor. But, well, sexism...and it is hard to beat an incumbent. Governor Pete Wilson proceeded to pass the energy deregulation law that allowed Enron to grow and almost bankrupted the state.
posted by eye of newt at 12:50 PM on December 22, 2018
I reminded him that the last time he was governor the biggest complaint from republicans was the surplus. Yes, there were large headlines deploring the surplus. "Why is he collecting our taxes, then not spending any of it?" I told him that he was exactly what we needed.
Note that his father was also a California governor, though more of the back-slapping, back-room deal making type.
And his sister, Kathleen Brown is also a politician and once ran for governor of the state. Some say she's the smarter one and would have been a wonderful governor. But, well, sexism...and it is hard to beat an incumbent. Governor Pete Wilson proceeded to pass the energy deregulation law that allowed Enron to grow and almost bankrupted the state.
posted by eye of newt at 12:50 PM on December 22, 2018
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Vaya con Dios.
And we actually do have kids meditating in school now and it seems to be working pretty well.
posted by East14thTaco at 10:17 AM on December 21, 2018 [8 favorites]