John Kerry: "help will be on the way to California!"

The article 'Kerry offers aid in capital visit' appears in the SacBee, but I occasionally thought it might be in the Onion:

Presidential hopeful John Kerry said Monday that "help is on the way" to California if he is elected, suggesting that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would be better off if the Massachusetts Democrat is in the White House...

"We knew each other when he first came over to this country to make 'Pumping Iron,' and we've stayed in touch ever since then, and our families are friends, and so I hope California does well. When I am president, ladies and gentlemen, Governor Schwarzenegger, help will be on the way to California!"

...Kerry did not meet with Schwarzenegger while in town, his first visit to Sacramento since he became the presumptive Democratic nominee, his campaign said. But on Sunday night, shortly after touching down in the state capital, Kerry did sit down at the Esquire Grill for a glass of wine with Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, a Democrat and a member of the Kennedy family...

A Vietnam veteran, Kerry told the crowd at the Sacramento fund-raiser, "I learned bitterly what it was like when a president and a government take a nation to war and leave them at war when the truth is left tattered in the background..."

I wonder, was that "Vietnam veteran" bit inserted because they couldn't find a quote where he mentioned that fact himself? Naw, that can't be the case.

The picture is from a celebration of California's newest state holiday, Cesar Chavez Day. Somehow I'm a little uncomfortable with schoolchildren waving a flag that a) represents a union, and b) has a racial component. See the history of the UFW flag:

The Aztec eagle is an historic symbol for the people of Mexico. The UFW incorporated the Aztec eagle into its design in order to show the connection the union had to migrant workers of Mexican-American descent, though not all UFW workers were Mexican-American...

Would the educational establishment allow schoolchildren to wave flags that represented, say, management and had a white-oriented symbol on them? I think not.

Also, note that John Kerry has gladly accepted the endorsement of Antonio Villaraigosa, the former president of the UCLA chapter of the racial separatist organization MEChA. Bush is bad for California, and Kerry would probably be even worse.