Fire Reiner Today

The San Diego Union-Tribune had an editorial yesterday on MeatheadGate and was pretty tough on the Hollywood actor turned sleazy politician (h/t Hugh Hewitt):

It's hard to fathom how a Hollywood actor-director-activist with an idealistic reputation for caring about children could make the transition to sleazy pol so quickly, but that's just what Rob Reiner has done. His role in orchestrating the use of millions in taxpayer money to push his latest cause is beyond slimy and way past arrogant....

Now [Reiner's] leading the push for another measure, Proposition 82, which would mandate government-provided preschool. It was bad enough to learn in December that the First 5 California Commission – the agency created under Reiner's previous initiative to distribute tobacco-tax proceeds – had spent $18 million in taxpayer funds on a “preschool for all” TV ad campaign while Reiner was trying to gather signatures for his “preschool for all” initiative....

As for Reiner, it used to be just a bit annoying to watch him in TV interviews offering himself up as a noble man. Now such a performance would have an emetic effect. He's a scoundrel, not a hero – a scoundrel who owes California taxpayers $23 million.

The U-T editorial page tends to be pretty kneejerk liberal, so they must be pretty upset to go after Reiner this way. Gov. Arnold can fire him anytime he likes, and the sooner the better.