If only we had a recall process to rid us of this useless coalition

THE voters of California deserve an Oscar for sending an actor to the governor’s mansion, rather than a politician.

Arnold Schwarzenegger may or may not be a serial groper but a majority of the good people of the golden state would prefer to see him in charge of their future instead of the rather unfortunately-named Gray Davis, who groped too much in the dark and left them with a legacy of a $38 billion deficit.

But the Californians are lucky, because they have a recall mechanism whereby they can oust a regime they are totally disillusioned with. Let's face it, you can't get too much more disillusioned than a $38 billion deficit.

I realise that California has one of the world's largest economies, but what happened there is, on a sliding scale a steeply sliding scale comparable to what happened here.

Democrat Gray Davis went into the gubernatorial mansion in his first term with a very comfortable financial cushion, something like a $10 billion surplus, or maybe more, because the American tiger was striding throughout the state. He managed to turn that into a colossal deficit and the economy collapsed. Admittedly, 9/11 happened, which did not help.

What happened here is not dissimilar, although on a different scale. Before they got returned to power at the last general election for their second term, the conglomeration that is the Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats government swore that everything was rosy, thanks to the Celtic tiger.

As far as we knew, it was. Because at that stage the only difference between us and California was the sunshine and even the fork-tongued FF-PD conglomeration couldn't promise that. Ironically, this year they could have guaranteed the weather and they would have sworn blindly that they delivered.

As I have said, the Californians are lucky in that they have the mechanism to sack a useless governor, and even though it was the first time in 82 years that they exercised their prerogative, they did. Pity that we don't have a similar device to ditch our government.

Fianna Fáil are utterly inattentive to the needs of the people, and the Progressive Demons are totally useless in their own perceived role as the guardians of the conscience of the government.

Of course, to be guardians of anything you would need something to guard over. If this so-called government ever had a conscience in the first place, it is now in a jar of formaldehyde on a forgotten dusty shelf next to all those expensive reports.

The Government should be consigned to a similar jar because it would defy the best political scientists to try to figure out right now out how any administration could be so far out of touch with the people they are supposed to represent. Some day in the future maybe the aberration may be explained.

Insofar as George W Bush could ever be described as lucky, it might be in the sense that he consulted with Tony Blair on invading Iraq. (Or maybe he just told Tony Blair that they were going to invade Iraq). Had the only ear available to him at the time been Bertie Ahern's, the Yanks would be looking for oil reserves around Drumcondra now.

Unfortunately we do not have a recall safeguard in our system to exercise, as they are blessed with in California.

Unlike them, we are stuck with one of the greatest mistakes this country ever burdened itself with in an election.

Like Saint Augustine and I'm thankful he's not in a position to sue for libel because of the comparison some backbench members of Fianna Fáil are belatedly beginning to see the stupidity of the global smoking ban which Minister for Health Michael Martin is determined to sanction by regulation.

AS they assemble in Kilkenny this weekend for their Árd Fheis, it is not health or education, the lack of gardaí or the cost of housing which will concentrate their minds, but the threatened smoking ban.

Apart from backbenchers, there are ministers and junior ministers who are totally opposed to denying about one-third of the adult population their right to enjoy a smoke in the pub.

On Wednesday, for instance, Pat The Cope Gallagher joined the growing opinion within Fianna Fáil who think the Minister for Health has lost the run of himself in a big way on this issue.

Pat The Cope's voice is one of reason, as are the voices of so many thousands of others who are not against reducing smoking, but who do object to the way the Minister is going about it.

Mr Gallagher has declared that he wants the ban suspended for three years so that a compromise can be reached to accommodate people who smoke.

And let's not forget something which the Minister has forgotten that those people have rights also. At the moment they have the legal right to smoke in pubs, restaurants and hotels and that right should be has to be acknowledged.

Bertie Ahern's bosom buddy Tony Blair quite rightly dismissed out of hand any such ban on smoking. Despite Bertie's professed support for Micheál Martin up to now, the latter Rockies supporter should not feel too sanguine. His leader is a great believer in bending with the wind. It's an incurable condition of the backbone.

His Junior Minster for Labour Affairs, Frank Fahey, suffers from a similar complaint which the Spanish sun does not seem to have improved. He had originally sought a compromise on the smoking ban, but during a siesta seems to have had a visit from the Holy Ghost which has changed his mind. Despite threatened revolts by publicans all over the country many of them Fianna Fáilers Minister Martin is determined to do a John Wayne on it.

He's like a zealot the Minister I mean, not John Wayne in the way he's blindly going about this without any regard to the dire warnings he's getting about jobs, or the impact on tourism. If he would only stop and think for one moment, he would achieve his objective.

Without any doubt we now accept that there has to be a serious curtailment in smoking. That psychological obstacle has been overcome. Along the way, consideration must be given to those who wish to continue smoking. Compromises have been put forward, many of which would meet that criterion of curtailment, and the Minister should recognise that.

Had he done so before now, he would have had wholehearted support, and his own party would not be facing members' resignations from councils and health boards on the issue.

Just how strong is the internal Fianna Fáil opposition will be gauged when the dissidents are put on the spot when it comes to supporting the Government or not.