Poll: Meg Whitman Trails Jerry Brown -- And Voters Don't Like Self-Financed Campaigns

For the record, Meg Whitman was NOT "found guilty of assaulting a staff member."

Rather, she settled a civil case with a former eBay employee for $200,000 without ever having to stipulate as to the veracity of the charges, after the latter filed a lawsuit alleging she had been assaulted by Whitman. Further, the plaintiff is prohibited by the terms of the settlement from discussing the case in public, which is why we've never heard directly from the woman who filed the lawsuit.

And no, it is NOT the same thing. Under California law, a defendant may only be found guilty or convicted in a criminal trial upon a unanimous verdict by the jury. The case against Meg Whitman differs markedly in that the charges were filed in civil court by a private citizen rather than in criminal court bt the State of California, and had it gone to trial, she could have been found liable for damages by three-quarters of a jury voting in the favor of the plaintiff, based upon a clear preponderence of evidence.

It's perfectly okay to publicly infer from the $200,000 settlement that Meg Whitman did not want this case to go to trial for officially unspecified but still very obvious reasons. However, when you say eMeg's been "found guilty" of assault, you are wrongly implying that she's been convicted in criminal court of a misdemeanor or felony, when she most assuredly has not.

Now that you know the difference, in the future please rein in the hyperbole. While it might take more effort and thought, you can certainly make a solid case against Meg Whitman's gubernatorial candidacy without wildly overstating or exaggerating it.

It's like throwing a birthday party for yourself and paying people to be your friends.

She could always claim that this is her way of stimulating the economy.

Whitman's an idiot, but don't lump in H1-B's with her lunacy. The fact is that America, for all the money it dumps into higher education, simply doesn't produce all the skilled workers our economy needs (too many folks like me who chose history over engineering and law school over going back and getting a lab tech certificate). Eli Lilly, for example, has had no problem getting US trained people with PhD's to run labs, lawyers and salespeople, but for years had to import mid-level scientists and lab techs to work in Indianapolis because they just couldn't fill those spots, no matter how hard they recruited. The local vocational schools finally (about 5 years ago) started offering an AA in lab tech skills, but I'm not sure it has alleviated the need for bringing in folks from overseas. Likewise, hospitals have brought in nurses from the Phillipines for years because our healthcare system needs LPNs and even RNs in greater numbers than our educational system produces.

Even worse for her is the other prominent story of the campaign. Ever since she went to war with our nurses' union, one of the biggeest stories has been headed "Whitman vs Nurses".
With nurses ranked as the most trusted profession in America, this is not a good place for her to be.

Oleeb, we need to mark the calendar! We absolutely 100% agree on something! There's hope for the country, yet!