No, the Vessel With the Pestle Has the Brew that is True

From 1955’s The Court Jester. Danny Kaye and Mildred Natwick as Hubert Hawkins and Griselda:

Hawkins: The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right?

Griselda: Right. But there’s been a change: They broke the chalice from the palace!

Hawkins: They *broke* the chalice from the palace?

Griselda: And replaced it with a flagon.

Hawkins: A flagon…?

Griselda: With the figure of a dragon.

Hawkins: Flagon with a dragon.

Griselda: Right.

Hawkins: Did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?

Griselda: No! The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!

Hawkins: The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.

*****

Sen. Roy Ashburn, a Bakersfield Republican, is termed out. Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, a Bakersfield Republican, is running to succeed him. She does not have a Capitol fundraiser in support of her candidacy during the month of April.

But on Monday April 5, Shannon Grove has one for $1,000 at Frank Fat’s to raise money so she can replace Fuller in the Assembly. Fuller has endorsed her, Grove says, noting that she decided to run with the encouragement of her friends, family and “God’s leading.”

Assemblyman Pedro Nava, a Santa Barbara Democrat, is termed out. He is running for Attorney General. He does not appear to have a Capitol fundraiser in April either. But Susan Jordan is pouring cocktails at Chops for $1,000 a head on Tuesday April 6. She says on her website: “I will fight for you” and notes that “California government is broken.” In addition, she says she is not “a typical politician.”

(Editor’s Note: For the record, there’s nothing remotely atypical about a $1,000-a-pop fundraiser at Chops.)

One day later, one of Jordan’s potential GOP opponents, Mike Stoker, has a free “meet-and-greet at the California Chamber of Commerce. (Also not atypical, save the price of admission.)

Assemblyman Juan Arambula, a Fresno independent, is termed out. He does not have a Capitol fundraiser in April. However, Henry T. Perea is pouring some brewskis at the Pyramid Brewing Company cor $1,000 on April 7.

Perea says “California is going in the wrong direction.” In order to get the Golden State going in the right direction, he pledges he “will not vote for any more big paychecks going to big shots doing a lousy job,” call a “time-out on writing laws that don’t create good jobs,” and “spend our money pushing career education training for men and women who are ready for work.”

Assemblyman Mike Villines, a Fresno Republican, is termed out. He is running for state insurance commissioner. He doesn’t have a fundraiser scheduled in April – yet – but Dr. Linda Halderman does in Fresno at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Marshall and Naomi Flam for $100. Dr. Halderman recently had a fundraiser at the shooting range in Fresno. Dr. Halderman will be in Sacramento on April 13 ffering lunch for $1,000 at Frank Fat’s.

Dr. Halderman says that “as a surgeon caring for women with breast cancer” she has “seen the consequences of toxic government intrusion into private medical decisions.”

Like Henry T. Perea and Susan Jordan, Dr. Halderman considers state government to be broken. However, while broken, the state government has been able to make “California hostile to business.”

Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, a San Diego Democrat, is termed out. She does not have a Capitol fundraiser scheduled in April. But Toni Atkins is offering cocktails for $1,000 at the Tex-Mex restaurant on April 8. Atkins, a Democrat and former San Diego City Council member, wishes to be Saldana’s successor.

The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true? Or was it the flagon with the dragon?

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