For Los Angeles, Only One Choice, One Slim Hope

5/16/05 | AnnaZ

[AnnaZ]

For Los Angeles, Only One Choice, One Slim Hope

05/16/05

 

 

Republican-about-town Jeffers M. Dodge was at a function a couple of weeks ago, one that was also attended by campaigning-incumbent-Mayor James Hahn.

 

"Hey, Mayor! I have a website up supporting your re-election," he said.

 

"Really?" replied Hahn. "What's it called?"

 

I wasn't there, but, as I imagine it, Jeffers paused, if only briefly, before he said, "The lesser of two dot com."

 

Sad is the day when a Democrat like Hahn becomes a Republican's only hope. Worse yet, when he becomes a city's. How bad must his opponent be?

 

The L. A. Times, not for the first time, is killing me with their coverage of the race. Or lack thereof. They've endorsed the Mayor's opponent in the upcoming runoff election, Antonio Villaraigosa (and even Kerry - remember him? - flew into town for support [anywhere else this would be considered the kiss of death]), and it's looking like he might win.

 

Perhaps, if real journalism existed in this city, there might be a story. However, considering that the original Mayoral election which led to this runoff garnered a whopping 26% of the electorate's attention, maybe that's a pattern they're hoping to keep.

 

(To pre-emptively correct any misunderstandings, I no longer read "Al Jazeera West", but front pages are occasionally impossible to avoid. All I've seen are bland below-the-fold articles about Hahn and fundraising. If they're doing a smashing job, let me know.)

 

Villaraigosa has also had to return inappropriate funds, but those details don't really concern me. I'm more concerned with the LAPD officers who dread a Villaraigosa win, as he has fought the city against gang injunctions that saved neighborhoods, and he's endorsed by former police chief Bernard Parks, whose department brought us Rampart and an end to community policing.

 

However, in the press, and "on the street" the two candidates have been presented as more or less equivalent, and maybe Villaraigosa better "just, like, 'cause he's different."

 

Besides, what's better than a left-leaning liberal? A left-wing extremist, of course, and those are issues and views that smart people keep to themselves.

 

However, the more one looks at Villaraigosa, the more Hahn looks like McClintock.

 

I had the opportunity to meet and interview Mayor Hahn last week, and I was expecting to meet a typical big-city politician; slick, shifty, impenetrable... Instead I met a pretty genuine and sincere man, if somewhat misguided and a little bit tired, but good. He just came across as a pretty good person.

 

My questions hadn't been pre-established, so he was unprepared, my questions weren't those that professional journalists typically ask, so his responses were unrehearsed.

 

Sometimes in life it's about forests, not trees, it's about a general big picture that can quibble details later. Ideas, agendas, worldviews. Those are the profound questions facing L.A., and indeed the republic and the world.

 

Under threat of litigation by the ACLU, the County of Los Angeles' Board of Supervisors removed a tiny cross representing the area's missionary past that, since 1957, had been on the county's official seal.

 

Is this a little issue, or a big issue? Depends on your worldview, I suppose.

 

Since area polls quickly showed that upwards of 92% of county residents wanted the seal to remain unchanged, the supervisors decided it wasn't appropriate to put it to a vote of the people -- imagine the arrogance that one even likened it to 'what leads to segregated lunch counters.' The peasants are circulating a petition.

 

Why is this important to an opinion on the mayoral race? Because sometimes seemingly little issues have major consequences, especially if the ideas behind them are known for such things.

 

For what it's worth, Mayor Hahn's father is the one who put the cross on the seal, Mayor Hahn believes it should remain there, too, and Mayor Hahn believes that our historical roots are important and that erasing them is dangerous.

 

No one at his opponent's offices -- and I called four of them -- could give me candidate Villaraigosa's stand on the issue. But he was once the president of the local ACLU.

 

Enough said?

[AnnaZ]

Election's Tuesday.

[Bullish]

I couldn't help but notice that former LA mayor Richard Riordan (Rino) has endorsed Villaraigosa.

I'm a Calif native. I live in LA county (not LA city, thankfully)

It's astonishing how brain dead the Calif Republicans are these days, it's only surpassed by the sheer idiocy of the dems here.

It looks like Senor'(mencha) Mexican mafia ganglover is going to be elected. (sigh)

[AnnaZ]

It boggles my mind!

[Simmy2.5]

Well, the only thing I can say is, I'm glad I don't call Los Angeles home.

Still, having Villaraigosa as Mayor will still be disappointing to say the least even to this NorCal resident. And it's even worse that, if Hahn somehow miraculously wins Tuesday, it'll simply be the same ole same ole (while Villaraigosa will probably be worse, the city under Hahn hasn't exactly been great either).

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

This is basically Satan's last stand in L.A., before the "anointed ones" crush all opposition to pure, unadulterated Christianity, untainted by sin, and man's fallen condition.

Sound impossible? God likes to operate in the impossible. And when your talking to many of your resurrected family members, all the way back to Adam, you will begin to accept the impossible as normal. Impossible does not exist in God's dictionary.

[calcowgirl]

Good piece, AnnaZ. Depressing, but good.
I'm in the county, but not the city, so I can't vote.
I will be watching, however.

[Tony in Hawaii]

Help us, Obi-Hahn, you're our only hope!

I may have to sit this one out. Or buy a BIG clothespin for my nose.

[Feiny]

Heck, I can't even vote. Santa Monicans have our own mayor.....the city council takes turns being mayor...isn't that special?

[StoneColdGOP]

Not living in L.A., I am spared the choice Tuesday. Still, I'd have to go with Hahn if needed. Lesser of two indeed!

[newzjunkey]

Hahn is toast. Tony Villar, now called Antonio Villaraigosa, would win even if he were dead.

[RichInOC]

This is less a choice between two evils than it is a choice between Dumb and Dumber.

[AnnaZ]

I'll ping you when the article's corresponding video is available online.

[AnnaZ]

 Good piece, AnnaZ. Depressing, but good.

Thanks, I think. LOL.

I'm in the county, but not the city, so I can't vote.

I'm a resident, but a lousy immigrant, so I can't either. All I can do is holler.

I will be watching, however.

I'll pop the corn.

[Syncro]

Grate analysis Anna.

I think you have sealed you fate, you just can't leave California!

Don't make me start a petition...

yzyz

[Cinnamon Girl]

I still can't figure out who to vote for. They both stink so bad. I'm so confused.

[nunya bidness]

Let's hope you can read the returns on a stolen LA Times.

[AnnaZ]

Let's hope you can read the returns on a stolen LA Times.

: |

[AnnaZ]

I think you have sealed you fate, you just can't leave California!

Interesting... my conclusion was precisely the opposite.

[Fledermaus]

No offense, but does the mayor of LA really mean more than warm spit? Answer: NO.

[Syncro]

Well yea...

I guess I should have said I appreciated the in-depth insight of the piece and your ability to express the reality of the situation so well so as to give me (a foreigner to LA politics) such a good understanding of the situation.

Thanks

California will suffer a loss with your leaving.

Oh and I love Hebrews 11:1.

I quoted it many times through the glass and could actually explain it to various incarcerationites in our County Greybar.