I’m disappointed - Rep. Darrell Issa has withdrawn from the California Governor’s race. Maybe it’s because he read yesterday’s entry here at Fanatical Apathy, but that’s no excuse. As the man who initiated the recall effort and then spent nearly two million dollars on it, he owes it to the people of California to stay in the race.

When you bash Democracy on the back of the head with a shovel and drag it into the town square, you ought to have the good grace to help bury it. It’s only fair. I was outraged at first by Issa’s defection, I confess. But then I learned about his pressing commitments, and I realized that maybe I’d misjudged the man.

Issa insists that he’s way too busy to run. Busy “uniting the people of the Middle East.” This seems pretty plausible: The Middle East was a quiet, oft-overlooked region back when Issa started his tireless work on the California recall back in May, but in the past couple of months it’s become a somewhat troubled area, generating literally dozens of headlines. It’s nice that at least somebody in the US government, particularly someone as high-profile as Issa, is willing to stand up and say, “Hey, maybe we oughta do something about this.” From Cairo to Kabul, the word is spreading, ringing from the tops of mountains and mosques: “Darrell Issa, representative of the 49th California Congressional district is on his way! Everything’s gonna be all right.”

To be fair, Issa is of Lebanese descent, a fact of which he’s proud enough to trumpet on his website that he is “the grandson of immigrants.” No, scroll down a bit. It’s towards the bottom. A couple of paragraphs after the stuff about him becoming the Chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association. It doesn’t actually say “Lebanon” anywhere, but the implication is there.

Still, I’m sure Issa’s colleagues on the House Committee on International Relations will be glad to have him back. The House has had such a profound impact and influence on our international policy lately that it’s hard to imagine how they managed to run the region without him. Especially right now, when Congress is in recess.

So Darrell’s gone, leaving California in a riotous shambles behind him. The people of California can only wave fondly, wish him well, and look forward to his triumphant return, running for reelection in 2004 in what’s left of his district. Good luck, Congressman Issa! Say “hi” to the Middle East for us.