Visions from a Nightshade: Pics from LA's Goth Scene

While I play in the Political realm, I dance in the Gothic one.

There is some cool music and beautiful Muses.  Here are some of those pictures, with an adjoining song to dance to:

Corvus Corax -- Filli Neidhardi

Janeen and I

Jeffery and Denise  (lucky guy!)

When you come to the Monte Cristo, say Hi to Ruben. He takes care of your car. (Tip him good!)

 

Francine and I

Ash and I

Veronica and I (Right in the Dark rises!)

Welcome to the Pleasuredome!

Charly, of the band Many of Odd Nature (Sign them!) and I

My best friend Ron. Southern Gentleman and Class Act

My favorite Muse, Carrie and I.

Hel and me

Three toughest guys in the Monte Cristo: Jeff, Dan and Ron 

You never know who you'll see in the LA scene!

Viktor from Vegas at Bar Sin

Janeen and I at the Parking lot

If you come down to Ruin or Malediction, find me here.

America's Cold Civil War 2 (Or the Return of Catiline)

Motivational Poster Maker


Sequels suck.

Unless you count Empire Strikes back, G-dfather 2 and the Dark Knight. 

Among the partisans, something is going on.  I noted it back on the Crack on the Washington Monument post, I see it even more as we get closer to Election 2012.

Cicero Denounces Catiline by Cesare Maccari

It seems the Democrats and their Media Praetorian Guards are playing the role of Catiline, ready to destroy the Republic if their Champion does not win.

Who is Catiline and what was his role in the Roman Republic?

(c. 108-62 B.C.), a member of an ancient but impoverished patrician family of Rome, the prime mover in the conspiracy known by his name. He appears in history first as a supporter of Sulla, and during the proscription he was conspicuous for his greed and cruelty. He slew his inoffensive brother-in-law with his own hand, and tortured and mutilated the much-loved Marius Gratidianus. He was believed to have made away with his wife and his son to win the profligate and wealthy Aurelia Orestilla; it was even suspected that he had been guilty of an intrigue with the Vestal Fabia. In 77 he was quaestor, in 68 praetor, and in 67-66 governor of Africa.

And his conspiracy?

Depending on such accomplices and adherents, and knowing that the load of debt was everywhere great, and that the veterans of Sylla, having spent their money too liberally, and remembering their spoils and former victory, were longing for a civil war, Catiline formed the design of overthrowing the government. There was no army in Italy; Pompey was fighting in a distant part of the world; he himself had great hopes of obtaining the consulship; the senate was wholly off its guard; everything was quiet and tranquil, and all these circumstances were exceedingly favorable for Catiline. 

...

But most of the young men, and especially the sons of the nobility, favored the schemes of Catiline; they who had abundant means of living at ease, either splendidly or voluptuously, preferred uncertainties to certainties, war to peace. There were some, also, at that time, who believed that Marcus Licinius Crassus was not unacquainted with the conspiracy; because Cneius Pompey, whom he hated, was at the head of a large army, and he was willing that the power of anyone whomsoever should raise itself against Pompey’s influence; trusting, at the same time, that if the plot should succeed, he would easily place himself at the head of the conspirators. 

...
Catiline and Autronius, having concerted measures with this Piso, prepared to assassinate the consuls, Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus, in the Capitol, on the first of February, when they, having seized on the fasces, were to send Piso with an army to take possession of the two Spains. But their design being discovered, they postponed the assassination to the fifth of February; when they meditated the destruction, not of the consuls only, but of most of the senate. And had not Catiline, who was in front of the senate-house, been too hasty to give the signal to his associates, there would that day have been perpetrated the most atrocious outrage since the city of Rome was founded. But as the armed conspirators had not yet assembled in sufficient numbers, the want of force frustrated the design.

...
Of the first conspiracy enough has been said. 
-- Sallust, the Conspiracy of Catiline, Chapter 16 -19 

Let's start with President Obama's Praetorian Guard, Fareed Zakaria:

But our Constitution has been revised 27 times.  Some of these revisions have been enormous and important, such as the abolition of slavery. Then there are areas that have evolved. For example, the power of the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, is barely mentioned in the document. This grew as a fact over history.

But there are surely some issues that still need to be debated and fixed.

The electoral college, for example, is highly undemocratic, allowing for the possibility that someone could get elected as president even if he or she had a smaller share of the total national vote than his opponent.

The structure of the Senate is even more undemocratic, with Wisconsin's six million inhabitants getting the same representation in the Senate as California's 36 million people. That's not exactly one man, one vote.

And we are surely the only modern nation that could be paralyzed as we were in 2000 over an election dispute because we lack a simple national electoral system.

So, to defend President Obama and the Democrats, the cry went forth on June 20th, 2011: Change the Rules.

To keep going with the same trend (Change the Rules so Democrats can win!!!), we now have Peter Orzag, President Obama's  former OMB Chair (and shares the same birthday with yours truly by two years. Unlike him, I did not go to private school) wrote this:

"This is why I believe that we need to jettison the Civics 101 fairy tale about pure representative democracy and instead begin to build a new set of rules and institutions that would make legislative inertia less detrimental to our nation’s long-term health.

 ...

"What we need, then, are ways around our politicians. The first would be to expand automatic stabilizers—those tax and spending provisions that automatically expand when the economy weakens, thereby cushioning the blow, and automatically contract as the economy recovers, thereby helping to reduce the deficit. A progressive tax code is one such automatic stabilizer ...

"Beyond automatic stabilizers, we also need more backstop rules: events that take place if Congress doesn’t act.....

...

"I wish it were not necessary to devise processes to circumvent legislative gridlock, but polarization isn’t going away. John Adams may have been exaggerating when he pessimistically noted that democracies tend to commit suicide, yet, as we are seeing, certain aspects of representative government can end up posing serious problems. And so, we might be a healthier democracy if we were a slightly less democratic one."

-- Peter Orzag, The New Republic, "Too Much of a Good Thing,"

Read the words I highlighted.  Just because President Obama is losing does not mean the American Polity is.

And one final shot in the Coming Cold War from Cataline sympathisers:

Speaking to a Cary Rotary Club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress can focus on economic recovery and not the next election.

“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that,” Perdue said. “You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”

The comment — which came during a discussion of the economy — perked more than a few ears. It’s unclear whether Perdue, a Democrat, is serious — but her tone was level and she asked others to support her on the idea.

Please read those bolded words.  How different are these Democrats from the words of Catiline on the verge of his second conspiracy?

Who in the world, indeed, that has the feelings of a man, can endure that they should have a superfluity of riches, to squander in building over seas and leveling mountains, and that means should be wanting to us even for the necessaries of life, that they should join together two houses or more, and that we should not have a hearth to call our own? They, though they purchase pictures, statues, and embossed plate; though they pull down new buildings and erect others, and lavish and abase their wealth in every possible method, yet cannot, with the utmost efforts of caprice, exhaust it. But for us there is poverty at home, debts abroad; our present circumstances are bad, our prospects much worse; and what, in a word, have we left, but a miserable existence? 

 

Will you not, then awake to action? Behold that liberty, that liberty for which you have so often wished, with wealth, honor, and glory, are set before your eves. All these prizes fortune offers to the victorious. Let the enterprise itself, then, let the opportunity, let your poverty, your dangers, and the glorious spoils of war, animate you far more than my words. Use me either as your leader or your fellow-soldier; neither my heart nor my hand shall be wanting to you. These objects I hope to effect, in concert with you, in the character of consul; unless, indeed, my expectation deceives me, and you prefer to be slaves rather than masters-- Sallust, Conspiracy of Catiline, Chapter 20

How different was Catiline from the Occupy Wall Street mobs?  Not very.

And here is Cicero's words, standing up for the Republic, speaking to the people of Rome:

Wherefore, O citizens, since a supplication has been decreed at all the altars, celebrate those days with your wives and children; for many just and deserved honours have been often paid to the immortal gods, but juster ones never. For you have been snatched from a most cruel and miserable destruction, and you have been snatched from it without slaughter, without bloodshed, without an army, without a battle. You have conquered in the garb of peace, with me in the garb of peace for your only general and commander. 

[24] Remember, O citizens, all civil dissensions, and not only those which you have heard of but these also which you yourselves remember and have seen. Lucius Sulla crushed Publius Sulpicius⁵; he drove from the city Caius Marius the guardian of this city; and of many other brave men some he drove from the city, and some he murdered. Cnaeus Octavius the consul drove his colleague by force of arms out of the city; all this place was crowded with heaps of carcasses and flowed with the blood of citizens; afterwards Cinna and Marius got the upper hand; and then most illustrious men were put to death, and the spirits of the state were extinguished. Afterwards Sulla avenged the cruelty of this victory; it is needless to say with what a diminution of the citizens and with what disasters to the republic Marcus Lepidus disagreed with that most eminent and brave man Quintus, Catulus. His death did not cause as much grief to the republic as that of the others

[25]And these dissensions, O Romans, were such as concerned not the destruction of the republic, but only a change in the constitution. They did not wish that there should be no republic, but that they themselves should be the chief men in that which existed; nor did they desire that the city should be burnt, but that they themselves should flourish in it. And yet all those dissensions, none of which aimed at the destruction of the republic, were such that they were to be terminated not by a reconciliation and concord, but only by internecine war among the citizens. But in this war alone, the greatest and most cruel in the memory of man,—a war such as even the countries of the barbarians have never waged with their own tribes,—a war in which this law was laid down by Lentulus, and Catiline, and Cassius and Cethegus that every one, who could live in safety as long as the city remained in safety, should be considered as an enemy, in this war I have so managed matters, O Romans that you should all be preserved in safety; and though your enemies had thought that only such a number of the citizens would be left as had held out against an interminable massacre and only so much of the city as the flames could not devour, I have preserved both the city and the citizens unhurt and undiminished. 

(Cicero's Third Oration against Catiline)

Can the Democrats in their hatred against President Bush, former Governor Palin or any of the Wisconsin Protests say the "city and the citizens [are] unhurt and undiminished," 

That's why this post is called the Cold Civil War 2 -- the slings and arrows of attacks have gone in one direction for so long (after Elections, and always needing an Emmanuel Goldstein) from Left to Right, that many people are shocked that the Blogosphere and new partisans of the Right are standing up.

Here is how the Left looks upon the Right: (the missiles are pointing in that direction. Hmmm)

USSR fighting the West

Conservatives and Republicans have dealt with losses (close and otherwise) by continuing forward.  Democrats lose, and they want to change the rules.  Don't believe me?


The Republicans were the Minority in the House for 40 years (and the Presidency from FDR until Ike) -- even then, no Republican ever thought of changing the Rules.

My question: Why are the Democrats taking their cues from Catiline?

UPDATE 8:30PM PST: Welcome Insty Readers! Enjoy the Valley and hit the Tip Jar!  Thanks for visiting!

Doctor Who -- Power of Kroll

It's Saturday night.  While I am Gothing, you can watch Doctor Who!

This week's episode is called the Power of Kroll, the fifth part of the Key to Time series.

This story is what makes Who not just a children's program in the UK, but one for adults as well.  The question of local tribes vs a Methane refinery (maybe they should have gone with pigs from Bartertown) is something that occurs with environmentalists today.

Oh, and K-9's voice walks and talks here.  See if you can find him! 

Now, tonight at Ruin, it is the beginning of Right in the Dark.  If you want to see the birth of a new Republican group, be there (and also, if you want to be around pretty Muses and great tunes, do the same)

Here are some posts to look forward to this week:

A) The Long GOP majority -- I have time now to re-boot this;

B) If Democrats can't pass Appropriation Bills (since 2007!), why should they be re-elected?

C) How one bad person can define the Democrats (as it seems to happen on the Right -- turnabout is fair play folks!).

D) Is Civil War, part 2, coming in 2012? 

And now, enjoy The Power of Kroll!

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VNN: Final Odds and Ends from the Fall GOP Convention in LA

On the air from the City of Angels, the city of creatives and the city of Palm trees and beautiful women.

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.

Missing Persons, Walking in LA (live)


Here are some images and final thoughts from this cycle's convention:

My Gothy friend, Veronica on the Straw poll line. (Right in the Dark Rises!)

The Straw Poll line on or about 11:15AM

JSF telling President Lincoln "Be Excellent to Each Other, Dude!"

JSF with Once and Future Candidate Larry Andre

Julie Ann-Kavich, Gary Aminoff and I: He mentors the both of us.

Expensive food at LA Live; Two New Yorkers go with Pizza!

Susan Abato, Maureen Johnson and Gary Aminoff: Meeting Day

Once and Future candidate David Benning (Go David!)

It turns out that the Platform issue was pushed back to Burlingame (Spring Convention 2012).  I will discuss this more throughout the fall.

Two POTUS candidates came to LA, one cheated. The other candidate already established a foothold in California.

They were Rep. Michelle Bachmann, and Rep. Paul (the cheater).  And the foothold candidate? Gov. Perry of TX.

VNN signing off until Burlingame in February!

VNN: Re-do the CAGOP Straw Poll or How Ron Paul Cheats

On the Air from the City of Angels and across the Blogosphere!

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush. 

"What are you laughing at? To the Victor belong the spoils!" 

On Saturday, I met a guy at Lawry's while I had some Chili.  He had a tattoo on his head and all over his body; he is also a Joe F. and he was interested in the world that is LA GOP Politics (before going to the Merryweather fight next door).  After he told me some of the troubles within East L.A., I told him that in politics is that anybody, I mean anybody, can be involved and help their neighborhood by getting involved.  Republican Politics is about helping the individual against the mammon that is bureaucracy. I hope I helped point in a good direction.

However, every time Ron Paul and his Paulbots show up, it makes my job harder.  Especially when they cheat.

Let's roll back the clock to Saturday. 

The Straw poll is supposed be a truthful measure of what California Republicans are thinking about the announced candidates.

Rep. Paul shows up in the morning before the poll begins.  That's fine.  That's his right, however, I hope at some point the Libertarians within the party pick a young Governor who actually ran his or her state like a Libertarian. 

Unless the Paulbots are like Obamabots or Larouchites or Scientologists and maintain the cult of personality of Ron Paul.  Not healthy..

The Straw poll opened.

And then the cheating started.

First, here are a few reasons why Ron Paul has no standing with me:

1)  First, he attacked President Reagan (by quitting the GOP in 1987):

As a lifelong Republican, it saddens me to have to write this letter.

My parents believed in the Republican Party and its free enterprise,

philosophy, and that's the way I was brought up. At age 21, in 1956, 

I cast my first vote for Ike and the entire Republican slate.


Because of frustration with the direction in which the country was
going, I became a political activist and ran for the U.S. Congress in 1974.
Even with Watergate, my loyalty, optimism, and hope for the future were tied
to the Republican Party and its message of free enterprise, limited
government, and balanced budgets.


Eventually I was elected to the U.S. Congress four times as a
Republican.  This permitted me a first-hand look at the inter workings of the
U.S. Congress, seeing both the benefits and partisan frustrations that guide
its shaky proceedings.  I found that although representative government still
exists, special interest control of the legislative process clearly presents
a danger to our constitutional system of government.


In 1976 I was impressed with Ronald Reagan's program and was one of the
four members of Congress who endorsed his candidacy.  In 1980, unlike other
Republican office holders in Texas, I again supported our President in his
efforts.

Since 1981, however, I have gradually and steadily grown weary of the
Republican Party's efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. 
Since then Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing
deficits, and astoundingly a doubled national debt.  How is it that the party

of balanced budgets, with control of the White House and Senate, accumulated
red ink greater than all previous administrations put together?  Tip O'Neill,
although part of the problem, cannot alone be blamed.

...

Knowing this administration's record, I wasn't surprised by its Libyan
disinformation campaign, Israeli-Iranian arms-for-hostages swap, or illegal
funding of the Contras.  All this has contributed to my disenchantment with
the Republican Party, and helped me make up my mind.

I want to totally disassociate myself from the policies that have given
us unprecedented deficits, massive monetary inflation, indiscriminate
military spending, an irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy, zooming
foreign aid, the exaltation of international banking, and the attack on our
personal liberties and privacy.

After years of trying to work through the Republican Party both in and
out of government, I have reluctantly concluded that my efforts must be
carried on outside the Republican Party.  Republicans know that the
Democratic agenda is dangerous to our political and economic health.  Yet, in
the past six years Republicans have expanded its worst aspects and called
them our own.  The Republican Party has not reduced the size of government. 
It has become big government's best friend.

If Ronald Reagan couldn't or wouldn't balance the budget, which
Republican leader on the horizon can we possibly expect to do so?  There is
no credibility left for the Republican Party as a force to reduce the size of
government.  That is the message of the Reagan years.

I conclude that one must look to other avenues if a successful effort is
ever to be achieved in reversing America's direction.

I therefore resign my membership in the Republican Party and enclose my

membership card.

(Written by Rep. Paul in March 1987)

And then Rep. Paul ran against  President Reagan's successor, not in the Republican primary but as a Libertarian in the 1988 general Election.  How loyal is Rep Paul? Not very.

Here is Rep. Paul attacking President Reagan on MSNBC (12/2/10):



2) He stands with Code Pink when it comes Foreign Policy

Isolationism works great in a pre-industrialized, pre-technological world.  As everything interconnects, there are only two foreign policy choices: Wilsonianism, (or neo-conservatism) which supports creating Democracies Overseas or Nixonianism (or Kissingerism) which negotiates with Dictators at the expense of their peoples.

During the last administration, Code Pink opposed Iraq; As did Rep. Paul and his Paulbots.

Rep Paul opposing Iraq (and Wilsonianism) on the House Floor



Code Pink attacks Secretary Rice


And as a Jew, I cannot stand that the Rep. Paul and his Paulbots act like President Obama in throwing Israel under the bus:

(From my friend Pamela Geller)


The US House of Representatives is now considering a government spending bill to fund the US government through the remainder of the year. Imagine that: when the world is teetering on the brink of major meltdown, the notorious anti-Jewish state hater, Ron Paul, wants to cut Israel off at the neck. His son is cut from the same anti-semitic cloth. I am no fan of these two imposters. Considering the billions and billions we send to our enemies, Paul wants to start with Israel?

The bill includes $3 billion in security assistance for Israel in addition to funding for Israel’s “Iron Dome” rocket defense system. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) plans to offer an amendment that would eliminate Israel's security assistance. If this amendment were to prevail, Israel's aid would be stripped out of the bill.  

As a result, Israel would receive NO foreign aid for the remainder of fiscal year 2011.
The knave state is expected to save the world, bear the brunt of worldwide condemnation from cowards and quislings, and do it .....with no support. We will watch this vote and we will shame those who secretly support savages.

And here is more from Rep. Paul::
 
Paul: First off, [the Israelis are] under threat because we’re there. We’re a greater threat to them, and our polices, because they have assumed that we’ll [intervene] if they don’t do the right things for themselves.

Paul: I don’t know of anybody who can militarily threaten them. They have 300 nuclear weapons. Nobody’s gonna touch them. This notion that we have to support them over the Palestinians – we shouldn’t favor one over the other. It’s a very different problem over there. If you’re a Palestinian-American, you might not like [America's position on Israel]. I’m not saying you should support the Palestinian side or the Israeli side. I’m saying let them work it out.

So, Presidential candidate Ron Paul shares the same view of Israel as does President Obama (D-IL).  Thank you.

Now, let's hop in our TARDIS' to last Saturday:

After the Paul rally, the Straw poll opens at 9.  (If you have a State Party, keep this post in mind -- it can happen to you).

One of my friends forwarded me this email that s/he received from a Valerie.  Look at the bolded section:
----
"I'm not from Los Angeles, nor am I working with the official campaign there. I am just a volunteer  from
Indiana, working with Jun Dam and Grassroots for  Liberty.

"Long story short, about 70 straw poll tickets were inadvertently double booked. ..
"I wish Robert Vaughn would have just been upfront and told people that the tickets  were inadvertently double booked, instead of the suggestions of scams.  It sounds like there was way more turn-out than everyone anticipated, even accounting for the double booking, and things quickly got hectic."

And from someone I know on Facebook (Someone I thought was a friend -- long story):

Douglas Day you know they are paying people to come and vote for them in their straw polls?...that's why people like this are "winning",...a friend was paid $90 plus all entry fees expenses to go downtown today to vote for that idiot Ron Paul
----

If you have been reading the Valley for a while, you recognize Robert Vaughn from his lawsuit against RPLAC which I discussed here.  So, he has admittedly screwed up the CRP Conventions Straw Poll after trying to bring down RPLAC during Election 2010 -- how much can this guy get away with? 

I say, re-do the straw poll knowing that Rep. Paul's people cheated.  

The guy, Joe F., I told him the good things that the is within the Political world,. The Paulbots and Rep. Paul bring it dishonor.  

Re-do the CRP Straw Poll. 

My question: Why do Paul's people feel like they have to cheat to win?

VNN: The Rising Stars of Los Angeles Republican Politics

On the air from the City of Angels and worldwide!

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush. 

There are many reasons to invest in Los Angeles candidates and activists.  Election 2010 showed that the wall of Democrats can be atacked, now in Election 2012, it can be taken.

The names I am putting forth here were all nominated by someone and are reasons you should invest in LA for the next few cycles.

And please support the Valley's Tip Jar!

First, lets give credit to those who have brought Los Angeles to a fighting stance:

I) Jane Barnett -- Chairwoman and the woman who put RPLAC on Fighting stance;

II) Shawn Steel -- National Committeeman who sees potential in all of our activists, great or small;

III) Gary Aminoff -- Brought the San Fernando Valley into play;

IV) Maureen Johnson & Robert Pederson -- The Westside Instigator and the leader of the Westside GOP.  They fight in a place that has been ignored by many years.  Don't ignore them.

V) Susan Abato -- Valley Instigator and campaign consultant Maximus.  Have her on your side if you want to win a campaign.

Now the rising tide of youth.  If you see them, treat them to some food or drink!

A)  Julie-Anne Kavich: Yankee fan, part of the CYRF's and co-chair of the Westside GOP's

B) Drew Mercy and Sharon Runner: Holding down the fort in the Antelope Valley Central Committees.

(Nominated by Matt Kauble)

C) Samantha Fugitt --  LA Activist who works hard with the CYRF's.

(Nominated by JSF)

D) Merlin Froyd -- Candidate for Congress 2010 and Vice Chair of the SFVRC.  He has a long political future ahead of him.

E) Justin Smith -- Navy Vet and activist in the San Fernando Valley.

(Nominated by Matt Kauble)


F) Joseph Fein -- Blogger at Valley of the Shadow; Actiive in the LA Basin; On the 42nd AD (soon to be 50th) Central Committee and soon to be building an LA GOP Goth group called: Right in the Dark.  Say "Hi" to the guy if you see him.


(Nominated by Val Cymbal)




G) Lillian Cavalieri -- Rising member of the 42nd (AKA 50th AD);  Keep an eye on her.

(Nominated by JSF)

H) Devon Corimer -- Youth outreach and supporter of the Southern California Republican Woman's Federation.

I) Suzette Martinez -- Works with Congressman "Buck" McKeon and is active with the GOP Hispanic Groups.  She is the point person to reaching out to that communitty.

(nominated by Lynn Hauter)

J) Ryan Panzerello -- former Political director who is working with the Kevin James campaign; He backed the Southland Fundraiser so always gets a shout out from the Valley!

K) Adam Abrahms -- LA Representative to the CAGOP; He helped win the case against the "false" RPLAC group and is a Management side union lawyer

L) Felicia Tweedy -- Country girl from the city; She is active around the whole LA Basin and works with multiple candidates and supporters. 

(Nominated by JSF)


OK, support these people and hit the Tip Jar!

Valley News Network: Homework for 2012

On the Air from Los Angeles, City of dreamers and Muses.

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush. 

In some of the backroom stories I'm hearing, this is becoming a major factor in drawing candidates.  Even though many good candidates are scared of the New Lines, (I will be meeting some good ones this weekend) this is also a factor:

(h/t LA Times)

Durkee, head of Durkee & Associates, was arrested by the FBI on Sept. 2. A federal affidavit said she admitted misappropriating clients' funds for years and filing false federal campaign forms.

Durkee, who has not entered a plea on federal mail fraud charges, was released Friday on $200,000 bond.

Feinstein said Monday that Durkee had struck her campaign in addition to Sanchez's. According to her staff, Feinstein said she "was wiped out, too, but we don't know how much."

Durkee managed Feinstein's campaign finances in 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2006, and during her failed 1990 gubernatorial campaign.

Feinstein and other lawmakers have said Durkee's alleged actions came as a surprise, but investigators had been reviewing her work for years. When the FBI launched its investigation in January, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the state Fair Political Practices Commission were already investigating Durkee. During the last decade, she had amassed $185,860 in fines from the Fair Political Practices Commission in eight separate cases.


But a Feinstein campaign spokesman said Monday that Durkee's work never drew suspicion. Durkee was the protege of another longtime Democratic campaign treasurer, Jules Glazer. Glazer — accountant to Gov. Gray Davis and to Gov. Jerry Brown's early campaigns, among other prominent politicians — had managed Feinstein's campaign accounts with Durkee. When he retired, Durkee took over, said Bill Carrick, Feinstein's chief campaign consultant.

Now look at which campaigns were affected:

(ht Washington Post)

Prosecutors say that Durkee, who was arrested Sept. 2, took $677,000 out of the account of a state assemblyman and transferred money into accounts held by Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Susan A. Davis.
...
Durkee serves as treasurer for 87 federal campaign committees, including that of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), records show. The committees together held $6.6 million.


Durkee also worked for more than 100 state-level campaigns in California and many nonprofit groups. The organizations include the Latino Diabetes Association and the Poker Voters of America.


In all, Durkee had control of more than 400 bank accounts, according to the complaint filed Sept. 2 in federal court in Sacramento.


Unraveling the transfers between accounts will be complicated. The complaint alleges that Durkee was able to keep the subterfuge secret for years by shifting money among account


Now then, after you hit my Tip jar (to help me through this weekend in Downtown LA).....

Are you ready to support the Rise of the Right on the Left Coast? Start where there are Palm trees and beautiful woman, Los Angeles.  I even know some candidates.  

Valley Network News: And the Crowd is waking up!

On the air from Downtown, LA -- the City of Angels!


"Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his own house, and inside every house, a happy, all-American family. You can have all this, and who knows... you could even be discovered, become a movie star... or at least see one. Life is good in Los Angeles... it's paradise on Earth." 

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush.

Both quotes from the movie: LA Confidential

Its hard to find wi-fi connections, but VNN will broadcast one way or another to tell you all the news and views of  the biggest Statewide group of Republicans. 

Things I've noticed:

Governor Perry's people have established a beachhead here.  Where are the other candidates (excepting the Paulites)?

The Great Susan Abato, next to the Perry signs

2) The Media department is busy:

Mark Standriff, Communications Chair, working hard

3) Between Prop 14 and the new lines, there is a potential to win, but everyone is still unsure.  I think we can win.  For the umpteenth time: FIGHT IN LOS ANGELES! Send Money and support! 

Some more images:

Kevin James (Radio Host), running for Mayor and Yours Truly

Either I'm in the TARDIS or LA.

Beautiful women selling Patriotic Stuff -- Ain't politics grand?

Please hit the Tip Jar.  More news on the way!

Valley News Network Returns: Off to Downtown LA!

Welcome back the Valley News Network!

The Dawn, Downtown LA

 On the air from the City of Angels, the City of Creatives and City of Palm trees and Beautiful Women!

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush

Before I go downtown to the CAGOP Fall Convention, here is a song!

Benny Goodman, Hooray for Hollywood

Don't forget to hit the Tip jar this weekend!

See you there!

Brian Williams, Richard Wolffe and Fareed Zakaria: President Obama's Praetorian Guard

Augustus Caesar, as a way of consolidating power and protecting himself,  created the Praetorian Guard. They grew from a Secret Service type organization to eventually descend to sell the power of Rome to the highest bidder. It wasn't until the Reforms of Constantine, that the Praetorian Guard lost power.

Macro (John Rhys-Davies) arrests Sejanus (Patrick Stewart); Both Men, Praetorians


Modern media, from the rise of JFK to the Third Year of the Obama Administration are working to protect the Democratic Administrations from critics and criticism. I have a saying:  

There are no Woodward and Bernsteins during Democratic Party Administrations.

These next characters prove that point.

These three (plus one), Richard Wolffe, Brian Williams and Fareed Zakaria (and of course, Andrew Sullivan) have no understanding of America's two party system. When the media acts like partisans (Hello MSNBC!), we partisans treat them as such.

When has Richard Wolffe ever investigated a Democratic Administration rather then defend it?


Why has Fareed Zakaria despised of the American Government and Constitution when it has worked for Presidents of both parties before President Obama?


Why can't Brian Williams articulate the differences within the Republican Party without depending on Democratic partisans to help?

And why does Andrew Sullivan hate dissent?

The media are the new Praetorians.
Every Democrat in office is JFK reborn, Camelot finally realized.
Every Republican President is Nixon redux -- even when the Republican president takes the Democratic parties foreign policy position (i.e. Bush fils).

The Modern Praetorians continue to destroy Republican Legislators on trumped up scandals, Republican Presidents for speaking to their partisans and Republican candidates for being human with flaws. 

I hope one day the Breitbart crowd (and local partisans who live near these gentlemen) live next door and publish their flaws.

Camelot was a dream, politicians are humans and the Fourth estate is supposed to question everyone in power.

Can anyone remember these gentlemen breaking a scandal when a Democrat is in power?   Are all Democrats saints? Hint: No one is.  We humans are flawed and hypocritical.  If you defend one politicians hypocrisies (Obama not going to Congress for the War Powers Act), I expect the same when a Republican President does it.

That will never happen as long as these gentlemen continue to protect Democratic Presidents. 

Pertinax, killed by Paretorians in 193 AD

In 193 AD, the Praetorians killed Pertinax for his Fiscal Conservatism (sound familiar tea partiers?); Then the Praetorians sold the Caesership to Didus Julianus.  His reign was two months longer then Pertinax. 

Didius Julianus, made Caesar by the Praetorians.

And that was the beginning of the Year of the Five Emperors. 

If the media overrules the public, that is our future. 

To paraphrase Alan Moore, Who watches the watchmen?

Hint, not the Columbia Journalism Review.  It is run by a former Nation magazine editor so there are  no problems with American media as Praetorian for a Democratic President. In fact, Victor Navasky still fund raises for the Nation.  Where are the cries of "Conflict of Interest?" 

Dead as Pertinax.  

The role of the Fourth estate is not play Macro or Sejanus, but to question everyone, Democrat or Republican in power.  If the words do not match the actions, question them. Investigate. 

I am willing to say that the Fourth estate (as played by Sullivan, Williams, Wolffe, and Zakaria) are willing to bow down before any Democratic Caesar.  In fact, the Fourth estate stopped existing after 2008 so much in thrall they were to Caesar...I mean President Obama. 

What do Republican want with the Fourth Estate?  Stop wishing for Camelot or Watergate; Stop playing Praetorian and treat all candidates the same.  

And also, apologize to Former Governor Palin and the tea parties for treating them both as dirt for opposing Caesar...I mean President Obama. 

And final hint for those four men: I have been at the High Levels within the GOP (local and National). WE DON'T GIVE A F*** ABOUT ANYTHING BUT HIS POLICIES!!!!!  

Any reporter that hung around and knew Republican activists outside the Beltway would know that. 

My question: What do these Gentlemen get by bowing before Caesar Obama?

Forest Hills is the Senator Wofford of the Obama Administration

NY-9 or my old hometown of Forest Hills and Rego Park.



This is a Bellweather on the way to Election 2012.  Why?

NY-9 has been represented by Democrats since 1923!  1923! Where were you in 1923?

The Queens County Machine is dying;  if possible, it is time for the Democratic youth to step up and rebel.  How much longer will those three generations back run things?  (Don't believe look at the ages of Democratic Chairmen in the House -- the Senate, the Democratic Chairman are older).

Between a jobs speech with no bill (It would have been much better if President Obama would have said "Sign THIS Bill,"  Again, we have to guess whats in it) and unemployment rates stagnant, 2012 is soon to be a replay of 1992.  

Senator Wofford (D-PA)

So, who was Senator Wofford?  The year before President Clinton and the Democrats won a large population in the Congress, the Pennsylvania Senate race of 1991 was looked upon as a bell weather.

Ironically enough, Wofford lost his seat to Senator Santorum in the Republican Revival of 1994. 

History repeats for those who forget.  And all that is left is to choose a champion against President Obama for 2012.  

My question: Who will win the Presidency and how many seats will Republicans win in the House and Senate in 2012?

Open Letter to Chairman John Deasy, LAUSD: Part 2

Dear Chairman Deasy:

Again, I heard my Mom upset on the phone and again, I'm reaching out to you. I write, again, to see if your actions will match your words. 

Last time, you tried to blame the personnel commission on the CSEA, my Mom's union.  The truth is, the union has no control over the personnel commission.  


I have contact Espie Medellin, CSEA Chair for Los Angeles,  in regards to helping my Mom --it falls to you and you alone to help her. Don't be a bureaucrat, be a leader and help my Mom. 

You are hiring many, many chiefs and spreading the Indians around the basin with no rhyme or reason.  My Mom has no vehicle, and getting to San Pedro is an insane trip with or without a car.  Driving down Wilshire, 6th Street and Olympic, there are many schools where my Mom can work (and she works very hard). 

You have the power to fix this, so make my Mom's job easier.

Keep her close and keep her full time.

Also, you are getting rid of Office technicians.  The teachers have to teach; the students have to learn -- do you want the teachers to do Administration work too?  If so, my candidates will loooove to campaign against that.  And you.

I don''t threaten, I just publicize the truth as I see it, to my friends and allies.

This weekend is the CRP Fall Convention.  There will be many candidates and politicos in town and I can tell them the tale of the unresponsive bureaucrat named Chairman John Deasy and how he treats the secretarial staff, or the story I tell is how Dr. Deasy is willing to work across party lines to make things right (Hint: dropping Meg Whitman's name does not help your cause with me). 

So, again I ask, please help my Mom.  Keep her close and full time.  And keep the office staff secure. 

The ball is in your court.

Do you stand up and help? Or do you play the bureaucrat and say "No," 

Let us hope you don't treat your family the way you are treating mine.

Sincerely,

JSF

9/11 -- Ten Years On....

The NY Attacks seen from Midtown

One week before 9/11, my Dad took American Airlines Flight 11 back from seeing a Jimmy Buffett concert for his 53rd Birthday.


Jimmy Buffett, One Particular Harbor


Wind the clocks back to 1993: I was at a hospital at SUNY - Stonybrook because of a uncooked egg.  And while I was laying up in the hospital, the first major terrorist attack struck on American soil.  It would not be the last. 


Documentary on 1993 WTC Bombing (45 Mins)



And during the 90's, there were many more attacks:

1998: Two Embassy attacks in Africa (American embassies)

2000: USS Cole

And the country that is the canary in the col mine when it comes to terrorism, Israel, was under fire from Suicide attacks (funded by Saddam Hussain):

I am willing to forgive that before 9/11/01, NO ONE was ready for the attacks.   Anyone who tries to go partisan here, loses.  President Clinton did not know, neither did President Bush fils.  One of the best images of that horrible day:

Congress sings "G-d Bless America," (East Front)



[Warning - HERE THERE BE DRAGONS -- Partisan Political Rant]

That unity was destroyed by the (still festering) anger at President Bush over the 2000 Election Overtime.  The Hatred grew so large that it became a movie, multiple leaks against whatever plans were done to stop terrorism, and another movie talking about assassinating the last President.

For 8 years, I heard from the Left that the "War on Terror," needed quotes.  Wilsonianism in foreign policy, normally a Democratic Party platform, was thrown over the side when Bush fils took it up.  The hatred is still going today, look at Krugman's article. 

That's why the public doesn't cheer the Obama administration foreign policy wins.  They spent years decrying what they are doing now.

[Partisan Political rant over] 

How did 9/11 change me?

I was always a believer in Thomas Friedman's McDonalds Foreign policy theory.  I believed it when I was a Democrat and as a Republican.  Free peoples mean less terrorists See the lesson of Lenin and the Tsars in 1917 and beyond.

What I was hoping during the last Administration would be civility and "Foreign Policy stops at the waters edge,"  I am much more cynical and disillusioned about my old party. Why are Democrats surprised today because no one forgot yesterday?  

When the people are unfree, terrorism comes calling.  

When the people are free, their wallets are larger,

    and the Artists start singing. 

-- JSF 

OK, I'm done.  Say a prayer for the lost and those who rose from the ashes. 

President Bush Bullhorn Speech


President Obama at Ground Zero 9/11/11






 

The 2,996: Cmdr. Dan Frederic Shanower

In honor of September 11, the Valley stops Politicking to remember those who have passed:

2006: Donna Marie Rothernberg;

2009: Patrick O'Keefe 

And this year, the Valley honors Cmdr. Dan Frederic Shanower

He worked at the Pentagon on the morning of 9/11 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Commander Shanower of Naperville, IL was working in Navel Intellegence the day he died.

Here is what the Washington Post wrote about this hero:


Navy Cmdr. Daniel F. Shanower had been posted around the world in his 15 years as a naval officer, but he was happy with his transfer to the staff of the Navy Command Center just more than a year ago, said his brother Jonathan Shanower, a lawyer in Naperville, Ill.

"He loved being in Washington," Shanower said. "He had spent some time there as a student at American University in the 1980s, and he loved politics."


Daniel Shanower, 40, was a lanky man with an easy smile who liked to spend his weekends hanging out at a Xando coffeehouse, his neighbors in Vienna said. On hot days, he was often seen behind his condominium complex washing his Lexus.


Jonathan Shanower said his brother was a very private person and revealed little about his personal life or much about his work, which had taken him to Japan, the Philippines and, for several tours, the aircraft carrier USS Midway.


"We didn't talk business," Shanower said. "Family was important."


Shanower grew up in Naperville, one of five siblings and the son of a schoolteacher, Patricia, and a retired college professor, Donald.


He went to Naperville Central High School, where he graduated in 1979, and then on to a private liberal arts institution, Carroll College in Wisconsin, where he graduated with a communications degree in 1983.

He applied and was accepted into naval officer training in Pensacola, Fla., shortly thereafter, his brother said. Shanower lived quietly in a town house community and was studying to receive his master's degree at Georgetown University, his brother said.

There is an award given by Naval Intelligence in his honor:

The Chief of Naval Operations Commander Dan F. Shanower Intelligence Specialist of the Year Award was established in 1995 and endowed by the family of CDR Shanower in 2002.  The award recognizes leadership, performance of duty, special accomplishments, and overall contribution to command efficiency, morale, and welfare of the command to which the individual is assigned. Four awards are given annually: both a junior (E1-E4) award and a senior (E5-E6) award to Intelligence Specialists assigned to an afloat/operational command and a junior and senior award to Intelligence Specialists assigned to a shore-based command. The award consists of a Certificate of Recognition, a $250 cash award, and a 1-year membership in the Naval Intelligence Professionals.

10 years later, we honor the fallen and wish them G-dspeed.

I am lucky to have honored Cmdr. Shanower this year. 


Never forget the fallen

Why 30 Bloggers are Worth More for the CAGOP then One MSNBC

(Or why Politicians should listen to RS McCain)

Last night, I was at the RPLAC meeting, prepping for the CAGOP Convention.  As a delegate, I am active in supporting my State Party (And I am active within RPLAC Communications committee as well), and as New media, I promote our leaders, candidates and ideas.

The Taking of Jericho by James Tissot

This past week, when MSNBC was at the Reagan Museum, they had no understanding of the our Presidential candidates or the audience.  If a few Bloggers who are active within the Party are excluded for MSNBC, then what message is getting out?

My friend, Robert McCain, is a Blogger (and former reporter) who understands the importance of Party structure and Blogger activism -- heck, it was part of the Southland Fundraiser.  California, and by default, Los Angeles, is the future.  The future of the Republican Party and the nation, if the CAGOP wants to succeed in getting the message out, is to let in the Bloggers.

He has met many candidates and gone to many districts.  RS echoes Sun Tzu when he (and I) wishes that State parties would not move like a Luxury Liner but a Catamaran.  Here in the Southland, we cannot wait for Sacramento.

However, I am very interested in making sure the CAGOP fights and wins in Election 2012 and beyond.  Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play today.

I am prepped and ready to start my internship in the Magnolia office to help shape the message.  At the convention, I would be promoting the Los Angeles crews and the major points that regular media do not understand.  My question to the CAGOP Communications shop: Will MSNBC ever promote our people? I don't trust them and neither should our media department. 

As new media, we can shape the conversation (see Memorandum if done right) that the Old media has ignored.  I have already explained why Fox news and Rush Limbaugh get their ratings from the ignored and attacked Politicos of the Right, why should we invite those same people who can't even name our County Leaders by their first name?

The Bloggers

The Bloggers on the Right are there as Defence AND Offence (if used correctly). On the chessboard of the Political realm, we Bloggers are the Knights on the board.  We can move quickly, think around corners and hide in plain sight.  A few sympathetic Bloggers in the Media Room can hear what reporters say to themselves.  Alliances can be built and knowing what the "Narrative," is will allow the sympathetic Blogger to tell the "Correct" story.

But it requires the CAGOP to stand up for their allies.  Politics is the Oldest Game -- one of the first rules is "Back your Allies,"  Another is "Get your message out," 

MSNBC will take up space in the media room at the CAGOP convention.  Kick them out and put in the 30 Bloggers who support the CAGOP's goals.  Thank me later.  And if MSNBC has any problem, I'll take them on.

Mr. Chairman, I am ready to fight.  I am ready to do it from the Media Room and the Magnolia office.  Words are my weapons.

My question:  Why have the Establishment not used the Power of the Blogosphere to fight in Elections? The CAGOP can go first....