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Sex scandals that preceded Bob Filner
Even our beloved Founding Fathers had sex scandals
King Louis XVI is said to have given a chamber pot bearing the likeness of Benjamin Franklin to a noblewoman who had bedded the American diplomat.
The media are supposed to draw a line between news and entertainment. There is an exception: the sex scandal. As comedian Bill Maher says, “The only politics we understand is scandal, and the only scandal we understand is sex.”
William Eadie
A sex scandal is easy to understand — great for lazy reporters and their readers. “Sex is of endless fascination to most people,” says Bill Eadie of the San Diego State University School of Journalism and Media Studies.
Says K. Tim Wulfemeyer, also of the San Diego State journalism school, “Land deals, laundering money, stock manipulations, bid rigging, witness tampering, etc., are quite a bit different and not nearly as sexy.”
Example: everybody understood the fun and games of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. But few cared about Bill and Hillary’s recondite Arkansas land deals.
Tim Wulfemeyer
There have been sex scandals throughout recorded history. (Pompeii had its brothels, orgies, and sexually explicit art all over town.) In the United States, Watergate, although not a sex scandal, upped the sex obsession. “The Watergate investigation cemented the value of ‘investigative reporting,’” says Wulfemeyer. “Ratings/circulations increased, careers were made, enrollment in journalism schools increased dramatically. Behaviors/activities that had been overlooked, ignored, or winked at in the past were now the fodder for mainstream and tabloid journalism.” The proliferation of cable TV channels and celebrity/gossip media propelled the dirt digging.
Dean Nelson
Before Watergate, “There was a bubble around authority that does not exist now,” says Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University. These days, people do not believe their leaders are “more moral or virtuous than the rest of us.”
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Marilyn Monroe
Examples: Jack Kennedy entertained prostitutes in the White House. He also deflowered at least one virgin on a White House bed and allegedly dallied with Marilyn Monroe, among many other ladies. Lyndon Johnson wanted to outdo his predecessor; he bedded down secretaries who would be awarded with promotions. The press looked the other way.
But before Watergate, the press wasn’t always asleep. Consider our Founding Fathers. Alexander Hamilton, chief of staff to General George Washington and later the creator of the nation’s financial system, was done in by a sexual affair. He was married but had a long-running affair with a young lady. Her husband was a con man who extorted $1000 from Hamilton. Initially, the public was unaware, but Thomas Jefferson, who hated Hamilton, spread rumors about the affair. The press got the word, and Hamilton’s career was finished.
Jefferson appears to have been a hypocrite. As early as 1802, a Richmond, Virginia newspaper accused Jefferson of fathering a son out of wedlock with a young African-American slave, Sally Hemings. The same muckraker who exposed Hamilton would later shovel the dirt on the Jefferson/Hemings affair. And Jefferson reputedly had other alliances.
But of the Founding Fathers, the most notorious womanizer of all escaped scandal. His name: Benjamin Franklin. His aphorisms touted Puritan virtues such as chastity. His personal life was something else. He fathered an illegitimate child and lived with a woman to whom he was not married.
The United States was seeking France’s aid in the Revolutionary War. Franklin was dispatched to France to charm and sleep with the right women. He did — with such success that Louis XVI, envious of the American parvenu’s conquests, gave one lady a chamber pot with Franklin’s likeness at the bottom. Nonetheless, France joined our side in the war.
Other American presidents have been in the media spotlight. James Buchanan was said to be gay, Grover Cleveland fathered a child out of wedlock, and Warren Harding carried on more than one affair, and his indignant wife is rumored to have poisoned him.
But from the 1930s through the 1960s, the press wore blinders — a blessing to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Johnson. After Watergate, the lid was off.
Gary Hart
Fanne Fox
Gary Hart blew his chances for the presidency. Senator Bob Packwood seemed to skate past accusations that he abused women for sexual gratification, but then his diary showed him to be a chauvinist pig of the worst kind. He was forced to resign. Wilbur Mills, head of the House Ways and Means Committee, was infatuated with stripper Fanne Fox and was an alcoholic to boot. He resigned. In Congress, politicians were taking on young pages, both male and female. John Edwards, once a vice presidential candidate, ended his career by impregnating a woman while his wife was dying of cancer.
Former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt admitted to having repeated sex with a 14-year-old girl. His political career ended, but he didn’t go to the slammer because the statute of limitations had run out. Several political careers ended in male restrooms. Hookers did in New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and displaying photos of his genitals online forced Representative Anthony Weiner to leave Congress.
But some escaped contumely. Former representative Barney Frank had a highly publicized relationship with a male prostitute but went forward as a respected member of the House.
Says Nelson, “We give some people more of a pass than others for at least two reasons. One is that we simply like certain people more than others, and two is that sometimes we see ourselves in other people’s dramas.”
Bob Filner
Richard Nixon was disliked in Washington. Bob Filner was not liked in San Diego or Congress.
“The impact of scandals has a great deal to do with media persistence, the scope of and type of the alleged misbehavior, competing scandals, and other big newsworthy events,” says Wulfemeyer.
Some scandals never take root because nobody would believe them. According to the publication Zimbio, playmate Paula Parkinson boasted of her flings with prominent politicians. “Washington is basically a very horny city,” she declared.
Filner discovered that mentality didn’t transfer well to San Diego.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Sex scandals that preceded Bob Filner
Even our beloved Founding Fathers had sex scandals
Sex scandals that preceded Bob Filner
Even our beloved Founding Fathers had sex scandals
King Louis XVI is said to have given a chamber pot bearing the likeness of Benjamin Franklin to a noblewoman who had bedded the American diplomat.
The media are supposed to draw a line between news and entertainment. There is an exception: the sex scandal. As comedian Bill Maher says, “The only politics we understand is scandal, and the only scandal we understand is sex.”
William Eadie
A sex scandal is easy to understand — great for lazy reporters and their readers. “Sex is of endless fascination to most people,” says Bill Eadie of the San Diego State University School of Journalism and Media Studies.
Says K. Tim Wulfemeyer, also of the San Diego State journalism school, “Land deals, laundering money, stock manipulations, bid rigging, witness tampering, etc., are quite a bit different and not nearly as sexy.”
Example: everybody understood the fun and games of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. But few cared about Bill and Hillary’s recondite Arkansas land deals.
Tim Wulfemeyer
There have been sex scandals throughout recorded history. (Pompeii had its brothels, orgies, and sexually explicit art all over town.) In the United States, Watergate, although not a sex scandal, upped the sex obsession. “The Watergate investigation cemented the value of ‘investigative reporting,’” says Wulfemeyer. “Ratings/circulations increased, careers were made, enrollment in journalism schools increased dramatically. Behaviors/activities that had been overlooked, ignored, or winked at in the past were now the fodder for mainstream and tabloid journalism.” The proliferation of cable TV channels and celebrity/gossip media propelled the dirt digging.
Dean Nelson
Before Watergate, “There was a bubble around authority that does not exist now,” says Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University. These days, people do not believe their leaders are “more moral or virtuous than the rest of us.”
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Marilyn Monroe
Examples: Jack Kennedy entertained prostitutes in the White House. He also deflowered at least one virgin on a White House bed and allegedly dallied with Marilyn Monroe, among many other ladies. Lyndon Johnson wanted to outdo his predecessor; he bedded down secretaries who would be awarded with promotions. The press looked the other way.
But before Watergate, the press wasn’t always asleep. Consider our Founding Fathers. Alexander Hamilton, chief of staff to General George Washington and later the creator of the nation’s financial system, was done in by a sexual affair. He was married but had a long-running affair with a young lady. Her husband was a con man who extorted $1000 from Hamilton. Initially, the public was unaware, but Thomas Jefferson, who hated Hamilton, spread rumors about the affair. The press got the word, and Hamilton’s career was finished.
Jefferson appears to have been a hypocrite. As early as 1802, a Richmond, Virginia newspaper accused Jefferson of fathering a son out of wedlock with a young African-American slave, Sally Hemings. The same muckraker who exposed Hamilton would later shovel the dirt on the Jefferson/Hemings affair. And Jefferson reputedly had other alliances.
But of the Founding Fathers, the most notorious womanizer of all escaped scandal. His name: Benjamin Franklin. His aphorisms touted Puritan virtues such as chastity. His personal life was something else. He fathered an illegitimate child and lived with a woman to whom he was not married.
The United States was seeking France’s aid in the Revolutionary War. Franklin was dispatched to France to charm and sleep with the right women. He did — with such success that Louis XVI, envious of the American parvenu’s conquests, gave one lady a chamber pot with Franklin’s likeness at the bottom. Nonetheless, France joined our side in the war.
Other American presidents have been in the media spotlight. James Buchanan was said to be gay, Grover Cleveland fathered a child out of wedlock, and Warren Harding carried on more than one affair, and his indignant wife is rumored to have poisoned him.
But from the 1930s through the 1960s, the press wore blinders — a blessing to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Johnson. After Watergate, the lid was off.
Gary Hart
Fanne Fox
Gary Hart blew his chances for the presidency. Senator Bob Packwood seemed to skate past accusations that he abused women for sexual gratification, but then his diary showed him to be a chauvinist pig of the worst kind. He was forced to resign. Wilbur Mills, head of the House Ways and Means Committee, was infatuated with stripper Fanne Fox and was an alcoholic to boot. He resigned. In Congress, politicians were taking on young pages, both male and female. John Edwards, once a vice presidential candidate, ended his career by impregnating a woman while his wife was dying of cancer.
Former Oregon governor Neil Goldschmidt admitted to having repeated sex with a 14-year-old girl. His political career ended, but he didn’t go to the slammer because the statute of limitations had run out. Several political careers ended in male restrooms. Hookers did in New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and displaying photos of his genitals online forced Representative Anthony Weiner to leave Congress.
But some escaped contumely. Former representative Barney Frank had a highly publicized relationship with a male prostitute but went forward as a respected member of the House.
Says Nelson, “We give some people more of a pass than others for at least two reasons. One is that we simply like certain people more than others, and two is that sometimes we see ourselves in other people’s dramas.”
Bob Filner
Richard Nixon was disliked in Washington. Bob Filner was not liked in San Diego or Congress.
“The impact of scandals has a great deal to do with media persistence, the scope of and type of the alleged misbehavior, competing scandals, and other big newsworthy events,” says Wulfemeyer.
Some scandals never take root because nobody would believe them. According to the publication Zimbio, playmate Paula Parkinson boasted of her flings with prominent politicians. “Washington is basically a very horny city,” she declared.
Filner discovered that mentality didn’t transfer well to San Diego.
Comments
Don,
Did you forget Peck's Bad Boy, Woodrow Wilson?
Diogenes: This column only has a few selected incidents. Hundreds have been left out. But why don't you give us the inside scoop on Woodrow Wilson? Best, Don Baude
The term was used originally to describe a bad boy. The term was applied to Woodrow Wilson - who became enamored of fellow Professor Peck's wife at Princeton University - by students at the University who noticed the flirtations.
Subsequent correspondence to her by Wilson was retained by Ms. Peck to prove the alleged affair. The correspondence was the basis of a breach of promise to marry lawsuit threatened against (by then) president Wilson.
To make a long story short, Wilson, signed of on the Federal Reserve Act, led America to war based on the non-sinking of the British SS Sussex by German submarine in the English Channel, which later was admitted to never have happened, and the pushing through of Federal Income Tax with the 16th Amendment.
Somehow the story of blackmail and Monica's saving of the evidence, false flag operations as casus belli, explotation by an international cabal of bankers, and the instigation of an international police state serm to be accepted as a more accurate hostory of how things do operate.
Wilson's wife was sickly and died. Wilson promptly remarried, again raising eyebrows.
Wilson promised to keep us out of war, and then turned 180 degrees.
Following the money in 1912 is easier in retrospect. Taft would never sign the Federal Reserve Act. The Bull Moose Party ran Theodore Rosevelt to split the ticket between Taft and Roosevelt. Wilson, an unhealthy academic would never have gotten more than 42% of the votes.
The creation of the state of Isreal is credited to the support of America for the Allies, for which Britian pledges the land of Palestine to Israel pursuant to the London Agreement.
Eustace Mullins tells the story in the Secrets of the Federal Reserve, a book he authered and researched in the Library of Congress.
Diogenes: That is a great tale. About 60 years ago, historians rated Wilson as one of our better presidents. But his reputation faded. Best, Don Bauder
Washington's Horney But San Diego's Sleeping!
shirleyberan: San Diego fell for media that never asked any tough questions, got sucked in by Allred, reflected the Manchester political/corporate welfare bias (echoed by other media, particularly TV stations). The whole thing was a sorry spectacle that will be exposed in due course. Best, Don Bauder
Don: I fear that the absence of modern Republicans on your list will give them an inferiority complex. How about adding Ike and Summersby, Bush I and Fitzgerald, Nixon and Bebe, the inimitable Vitter, Henry Hyde, Bob Dole, Ronald Reagan, Rudy Giuliani, and Newt Gingrich, to name just a few who were rumored to be assaulted by Cupid's arrow outside the holy bonds of wedlock?
Yankeedoodle: Ike was in my original, but one of the editors had just finished reading a book that had concluded that there was not enough evidence on Ike and Summersby. So I dropped Ike.
Yes, I have heard the Bush I stories but there is not enough to include them. Gingrich is a slam dunk. Ditto Giuliani. I probably should have put Vitter in; his dalliances with prostitutes and his kinkiness are well known, but the voters of Louisiana don't seem to care.
The most interesting one is Nixon and Bebe Rebozo. Rebozo, of course, was strongly rumored to be gay. While he was president there were rumors of a sexual alliance between Nixon and Rebozo, but at this point I would simply count them as rumors.
Do you remember the column I did about a year ago showing that Nixon had money in a Mafia-tinged Swiss Bank, the Cosmos Bank? Rebozo was said to have set that up.
As I said, there are so many that could have been put in this column. Thanks for sending along some of them. Best, Don Bauder
Rebozo was living inside the Key Biscayne compound and drank and played in the pool with Nixon. Rebozo was mafia-connected and known to be bi-sexual.
The pair went back to the Fifties. Rebozo was there for Dick emotionally and financially, helping purchase San Clemente, and many other Nixon properties.
Diogenes: Rebozo was definitely mob-connected and helped Nixon keep up his relationships with mobsters. Yes, they had a long relationship. Whether it was sexual remains conjecture, however, at least from what I can learn. Best, Don Bauder
Don: I think they (Richard and Bebe) make quite a cute couple, myself:)
However, amusing as it is, I know it is normal for mammals to be sexual, so I don't think that behavior so fascinating. It is certainly not pertinent to good government. Appetites exist, but promoting the general welfare is the stuff of public life. Don't care about the private life.
Nixon himself believed that being gay was a security risk for those in government. He and J. Edgar Hoover had differences over issues but it was Alexander Haig, Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who commented derisively about the Bebe - Dick holding hands incidents.
Haig was explicit that he, not Gerry Ford, should take over following Watergate.
Few politicians today want to be revealed as being bisexual for some reason.
But it was the questionable financial dealings with Rebozo that needed to be hidden. It was the entirety of the relationship and other relationships of Rebozo that worried those around Nixon because he was subject to blackmail.
Diogenes: I have often wondered whether J. Edgar Hoover had knowledge about the alleged Nixon/Bebe relationship, and used that knowledge to keep getting named head of the FBI.
He did that with Joe Kennedy. He had dirt -- even photos -- of JFK in some of his sexual relationships. He took it to Joe who knew the meaning. J. Edgar would be reappointed. Hoover used that power over other presidents. Best, Don Bauder
Don,
Any Democrat from Whittier could tell you tales of Tricky Dick.
Sure, Hoover had the goods. He would have been a fool not to have.
Mickey Cohen and many other mafia connections - where to start? Yet, Hoover was seen at the race track in Del Mar with some bad guys. Photos are published in magazines. There was the Hoffa connection and so many more....
There is a mafia wiki that explains much more. RFK as AG under JFK put hundreds behind bars. Teamsters voted for Nixon. Sinatra became a Republican.
Diogenes: Right on all points. Hoover had the goods on just about all the important people in Washington. As head of the FBI, he concentrated on finding communists under every bed and neglected organized crime, for the reasons you cite: he was personally mixed up with gangsters. Best, Don Bauder
Yankeedoodle: It is normal for mammals to be sexual until powerful people, often for their own economic reasons, want to remove a political enemy. Then the boom is lowered. Best, Don Bauder
Yankeedoodle: I am more interested in the big questions than the minutiae of private lives. But the world has become so complex that it's easier for journalists and their readers to focus on sex. Besides, sex scandals are the certain route to extinction, as plotted by enemies. Best, Don Bauder
Gary Hart may have slipped through. But the photograph of him on a yacht named "Monkey Business" with Donna Rice was just too hilarious to let slide.
Ponzi: Hart is a classic case. He told the media to tail him; they would be bored. They did tail him; the result was that famous photo. Best, Don Bauder
There is still no sex in the Filner scandal, honestly, like everyone else I assumed there would be after so much teasing in the media, and so much vague talk from those I once respected. No complaint alleges sex actually.
Psycholizard: Yes, that is one of the points of this column: there is still no known sexual intercourse in the Filner scandal. I question whether legally there is sexual harassment.
Sometimes nerdily, sometimes very unwisely, Filner asked for dates, kisses, etc. That was insensitive and stupid. But there is no evidence he refused to stop if he was told to do so.
The complaining women who were brought in by Allred and the sheriff's possibly illegal hotline were often conflicted, not credible, or publicity hounds out to see if they could collect some money -- and mostly not able to testify in court, since they were not working for the City when the actions allegedly took place.
This is not to excuse what Filner did. It is to point out that his acts pale by comparison with other acts in history, particularly recent history. He was lynched by a media that wanted him out for their own economic gratification, and reporters who were only too happy to compromise journalistic principles to please their bosses. Best, Don Bauder
Don - did Unions sell him out by giving him bad advice - to go ahead and admit you have a problem and go to 'rehab'. Was an admission of guilt that got him, wasn't it?
shirleyberan: I do not know who talked him into making a public admission that he had a monster inside of him. At first, I thought it was good strategy, but as events cascaded, I began to wonder. I am still wondering.
It may have been his aide, Tom Shepard, who talked him into the confession. I often wondered if Shepard was really loyal to Filner. I don't think labor unions were involved in that. Best, Don Bauder
It is standard operating damage-control procedure in political, industrial or corporate scandals or disasters to apologize generally, to take responsibility and to pledge reform.
To then have the apology held against you post facto, as in the case of Mayor Filner, is a mark of the relentless purpose of enemies bent on his eradication from the landscape. Filner was never going to be let off he hook, no matter what he said or pledged.
Honestly, I don't think it's fair to indict Tom Shepard who may have offered standard-issue good advice -- we don't really know what he did -- to a client to whom he was professionally committed and whom he never left in the lurch. (Contrast Shepard's behavior with the histrionic exit of venal chief of staff Vince Hall.)
monaghan: Mr. Hall never did have much ballast, which is possibly why, I surmise, he lost to Lori Saldaña.
Yankeedoodle: Agreed. Hall was not up to many tasks. Best, Don Bauder
monaghan: Vince Hall was one of Filner's bad appointments. Best, Don Bauder
The powers that got Filner were trying everything. Sooner or later they would have found a way to destroy him. From my distant perspective, Filner's girlfriend problems, combined with betrayal by untrustworthy individuals who had insinuated their way into his confidence, induced a nervous breakdown that normally could have been hidden from the public. He wasn't merely paranoid, in truth many he trusted had turned against him, many had been plotting against him for years secretly, they confess this. Any sane person in his situation would doubt their sanity and seek help.
Filner's apology seemed political suicide, but face it, he had been assassinated long before. I wish he had more fight in him, but he fought longer and harder than anyone for the underdog in this town. We didn't deserve him.
Psycholizard: His female problems -- whether or not they amounted to harassment -- were known before he was elected. The corporate welfare crowd knew this was the surest way to a fast ouster.
Having killed Filner, they are busy trying to kill the ideas that got him elected -- money for infrastructure and neighborhoods, not for unneeded downtown corporate welfare projects. They will probably succeed at that, too. Best, Don Bauder
MmmHmmm - says Tom Shepard is San Diego based Republican political consultant, go figure.
shirleyberan: Yes, Shepard taking on Filner's campaign raised some eyebrows. Best, Don Bauder
Todd Gloria is saying that the Filner administration was incompetent. I still wonder about the coup. I'd like to hear Filner's version.
I hear that he is back with his fiancee'.
Diogenes: People were saying that Filner was micromanaging and losing his temper frequently. He also hired some aides that were not competent. Best, Don Bauder
Don,
Losing his temper goes back to the TSA screener incident. I never knew Filner in the old days. Some say this goes way back. He will have fun with Gloria Allred. We get to have a special election.
What good is a sex scandal with no sex? Could we set up a hotline for those who took Filner up on his proposals? Anyone?
Diogenes: How true -- what fun is a sex scandal without sex? Reminds me of the line in Marat/Sade: "What's the point of a revolution without general copulation?" Best, Don Bauder
Zero tolerance of "hostile atmosphere" in San Diego?
Depending upon how that word is defined, that could apply to some women who work for the City. Glaring is defined as being hostile.
A friend of mine collected a million dollars when his boss fired him after he terminated an affair with her.
Diogenes: If she had been mayor San Diego, that would have made one helluva story. Best, Don Bauder
Don: That may be true, to some extent, but in his absence they can say anything. Office workers are notorious for resisting change and resenting the outsider. To them, getting involved in the JIB struggle was micromanaging...he reached right into the cookie jar and dragged their hands out. How dare he? I agree that what is constant over time are reports of his combative style, so I accept that as true. It does take time to get your sea legs in a new job and find out who does what and who is good and not so good, so some poor choices in employees doesn't seem that unusual. After all, he was voted in not because everyone thought City Hall was a model of efficiency and rectitude. Quite the opposite.
Yankeedoodle: Filner took a combative position: rein in corporate welfare and steer the money toward the rundown infrastructure, neighborhoods, etc. So his style had to be somewhat combative. Probably he went too far.
The truth remains. The man was hounded out of office without due process because he was doing what he was elected to do: rein in the downtown corporate welfare medicants, who will stop at nothing to get their sticky fingers on government subsidies. Best, Don Bauder
Note: The word is mendicants -- mea culpa. Best, Don Bauder
Diogenes: I daresay we will hear from Filner during the trial. I'd be careful at this point about what I was saying, if I were he, even with the barn door supposedly already shut and the cows gone. Can't be too careful. I am glad if he is back with his fiancé.
Yankeedoodle: If he is back with his fiance, he must not have heard what she said about him while she was sitting next to Ms. Allred. I doubt that they are back together. Best, Don Bauder
Don: Diogenes wrote, at 6:28 PM, that he had heard Filner was reunited with his betrothed. Stranger things have happened, but true, it could be just a rumor.
Okay, 'twas a rumor. Googled it. It's nice to get along. Too bad can't even have dinner in SF without news orgs there.
Yankeedoodle: It's not nice to get along with an enemy who has helped scoundrels hound you out of office without due process. Best, Don Bauder
Don: You know that personal lives are complex and that he probably does not consider her an enemy. But, maybe he does, who knows?
Yankeedoodle: Filner called her his fiance, but she didn't live in San Diego. I have heard the relationship was a rather odd one. It also may have made one lady of power, with whom Filner is rumored to have had a flirtation, very jealous and vindictive. Best, Don Bauder
This should be the quote of the summer season 2013.
I am reminded of a second-grade boy I heard about recently whom I could not help but admire. He'd had a bad morning on the playground getting fouled in soccer. He returned to class, still upset, to be upbraided by a goody-two-shoes observer, who told him to "get over it." The little boy took a deep breath, said "You will be sorry for saying that to me," and shoved the moralizer into the wall. In the end, everybody got in trouble -- the soccer fouler, two-shoes and my hero. But the little boy had stood up for himself and dealt his own rough justice.
monaghan: I have a friend who was beaten up in first grade. His mother told him to turn the other cheek. His father pulled him aside and told him to pay no attention to his mother. The next day, he went back and beat the stuffing out of the other boy. Best, Don Bauder
Yankeedoodle: There was a picture of him with his ex-fiance somewhere in the Bay Area. But was it a recent picture? Or was it photoshopped? Best, Don Bauder
Unless there's evidence not yet presented, I'm not sure there's enough for a trial. Ms. McCormack J. should have registered her complaints at some point, apparently she didn't. As of yet, she hasn't even signed Allred's lawsuit. The more I smell the worse it stinks.
Psycholizard: I don't believe McCormack Jackson went to HR about Filner while the alleged events were allegedly occurring. If she didn't, I think that will hurt her case -- if there is a trial in a non-hysterical environment. Best, Don Bauder
Don - mendicants are beggars - these guys are thieves! Does the public even realize the trade off - a stadium, more tourism and convention attention - in exchange for everything else that could progress?! I love how the new stadium is being shoved in our faces as soon as Filner died.
shirleyberan: Alas, the public does not realize that the corporate welfare mendicants are thieves. Best, Don Bauder
Sorry Folks - But Mike Aguirre needs a speech writer and a promo-publicity crew! 33 mayoral applicants and counting. Doesn't look good Don.
Shirley:
I think Don should volunteer for the former, although he probably wouldn't travel out here for the November election, as the aspens are probably just starting to turn in Colorado...that crisp autumnal air should inspire him to excellent speech-writing heights!
Yankeedoodle: The aspens and cottonwoods should be turning shortly. Best, Don Bauder
shirleyberan: He seemed to get good -- and believe it or not fair -- press coverage from his announcement. I don't expect that to last. Best, Don Bauder
Don: Do you know when Aguirre is going to accept volunteers? Do not see a mechanism at this time. Maybe they are not useful at this stage.
Yankeedoodle: Don't know the answer to that. Best, Don Bauder
Yankeedoodle - Excellent Idea for Don - he can do it while he waits for Trick or Treats.
shirleyberan: Trick or treaters don't come here. Best, Don Bauder
Yankee - Only a few people showed up for Aguirre announcing his running. He brought his Bassett hound. He needs bigger backers or he's not funded and I can't help that.
shirleyberan: His problem will be raising money. The corporate welfare crowd hates him. Labor doesn't like his prior stance on the pension issue. Best, Don Bauder
Aguirre didn't get the word out, I didn't know he was holding an event. Fact is, this City is like Egypt, the media is tightly controlled. We can beat Stadiumcon and the higher taxes and busted pipes it means for the City, if we use social media and protests. The hot language of Michael Aguirre is not bad for this, but he needs to move quickly.
Psycholizard: You are so right. The mainstream media are completely under the thumbs of the corporate welfare crowd. Best, Don Bauder
Lizard - David Alvarez has a good résumé and good backing. I want to support a Democrat (not the fake one and not a weak one) with the best chance of defeating Faulcon and Fletch!
Shirley: Who knows what the chances are, really? I do know that Aguirre did a bang-up job before, I volunteered for him and thought he had a great personality, he is really smart and honest. I do not know the other fellow. It seems that people do like Coons or Alvarez or Aguirre, et al., but I do not know if predictions of electability are objective or if they reflect merely the preference of the supporter who thinks that she or he is being objective. So I am going with the guy I like. If I can figure out how:)
shirleyberan: But Alvarez has little experience. Best, Don Bauder
Can't find, who is Coons?
shirleyberan: Coons heads SOHO, an organization devoted to historic preservation. He lacks experience and name identification. Best, Don Bauder
Alvarez has some disquieting votes on record for the Balboa Park freeway ramp atrocity. and the Sunroad land giveaway. He may also support Stadiumcon, for me that's a deal breaker when combined with his sadistic and cowardly votes on the Filner matter. I vote Democratic, but we have to fight theft. Alvarez seems to be one of the crooks in on the scheme to drop a cool billion on the stupidest piece of architecture ever proposed in this city.
Bruce Coons is the lawyer and leader of Save Our Heritage who won the court case to stop the Balboa Park on ramp. He's a hero, but he's got only 60 days to make a name for himself.
Psycholizard: If Alvarez makes a sound like he might favor a Chargers stadium, thumb him down. Best, Don Bauder
Thank -you Psycholizard - Good points - I really am scared for my home town.
Shirley: Don't be scared. It's always been like this until Filner was elected, from my point of view. Just imagine you are visiting this town, as in a film.
Yankeedoodle: And realistically, it looks like it will be that way again. Filner was forced out of office; the representatives of several government agencies ganged up on him and told him he would go broke unless he resigned. Public does not understand how governments collude and force someone out of office. Best, Don Bauder
Don: the pithy truth of it all!
Yankeedoodle: Goldsmith is now saying he was ready to oust Filner on the advice of some psychologist who had never seen the mayor. Yet Filner's office is denying all of McCormack Jackson's charges.
Repeat: this is a classic case of government out of control. Filner was forced to resign because he was threatened with action by several branches of government and told he would go broke defending himself. The truth will come out. Best, Don Bauder
shirleyberan: You should be scared. Despite the overwhelming evidence of a huge glut of convention center space around the nation, with prices being slashed 50% and more, the corporate welfarists unanimously want to expand the existing center. Greed kills. Best, Don Bauder
Coons or Aguirre have integrity; the rest of the Democrats are controlled by developers, Qualcom (Jacobs), or pro-development unions.
Following the money through campaign contributions or "who benefits" reveals the "why" Filner had to be accused in this scandal. Likewise, who would be a compromised Democratic candidate in the Democratic mayoral special election can also be determined.
Those candidates that have little name recognition have a disadvantage. Coons, therefore, has little time to get his message and face out there. Aguirre has negatives created by the U-T from his time in office as City Attorney. Neither Coons nor Aguirre have a big war chest.
The Democratic party will be forced to back whomever the unions endorse. From the above analysis, it looks like the compromised Fletcher would emerge. Possibly the compromised Alvarez could emerge but he has low name-recognition.
Diogenes: The one good thing about the U-T is that it is held in such well-deserved contempt that a candidate can run against it. Filner did. Of course, then the U-T and corporate welfarists got Filner. The U-T does not have credibility and a smart candidate will take that into account. Best, Don Bauder
O B Rag says people like Saldana - 200 people poll put her on top yesterday - I know it's only 200 but lots of Democrats - then Aguirre and Coons.
Shirley: I recall she is pretty green, and so is OB. But they go for lots of liberals as well, there. I hope the next week or two will see some movement on the part of all the contenders, as they gear up for the two-month run.
shirleyberan: I did not see that in the O.B. Rag. Best, Don Bauder
The Rag ran a poll and Lori Saldana came in first. Supporters are circulating petitions to "Draft Lori," but she herself has not committed to running. Mighty late in the game to be hemming and hawing.
monaghan: Last I heard, she was in. Maybe not. Best, Don Bauder
Don - CH10TV - Jan Goldsmith to defend Filner against accuser #1. Really?!
shirleyberan: Yes, the city attorney's office, which is defending Filner, is denying everything. (See post by Dorian Hargrove a couple of days ago.) Makes Goldsmith look rather silly, doesn't it? (However, defense can be expected to deny all accusations.) Best, Don Bauder
Don: Irony of ironies!
Yankeedoodle: Not an irony. Classic lynching. With Goldsmith's help, the U.S. Attorney cooked up phony charges that it claimed were criminal; the city attorney's office and A.G.'s office rattled sabers; Allred and her parade of accusers lined up.
Armed with all this, Goldsmith and his henchmen and henchwomen told Filner that if he resigned by Friday, his costs would be paid by government. If he didn't, he would go broke defending himself on several fronts. He resigned. Who wouldn't? This is government by terror. Best, Don Bauder
Don: I do maintain that it is situational irony that, even though the deal involved covering the defense fees, it is Goldsmith defending him. Therein lies the irony...the attacker becomes the defender on each and every allegation. From OED : A condition of affairs or events of a character opposite to what was, or might naturally be, expected; a contradictory outcome of events as if in mockery of the promise and fitness of things. (In French ironie du sort.)[8]
Yankeedoodle: It is more than irony. It is rank hypocrisy. When he was slamming Filner on TV, Goldsmith thought he could be mayor.
But he has skeletons aplenty in his closet -- many revealed by the Reader. So he dropped out early. Now his office is denying what Goldsmith earlier vowed was true. Typical government hypocrisy and lying -- or irony, if you like. Best, Don Bauder
This gets us back to the prejudicial pre-trial statements by City Attorney Goldsmith that Filner was a psychopath. Now the taxpayers will pick up the tab. The corporate welfare queens downtown rid themselves of Robin Hood.
No more poaching for the plebs.
Goldsmith has a conflict with the people. Filner doesn't mind. He won't have to pay. Such are the backroom deals.
Diogenes: Yes, the corporate welfare queens got rid of the person trying to take away their downtown subsidies, and the queens passed the costs of the ouster on to taxpayers.
Goldsmith said on TV that Filner had socopathic characteristics. He didn't say he was an out and out sociopath. Best, Don Bauder
Alvarez no longer supports the Balboa Park on ramp, if he will follow the Filner line, and refuse taxpayer money for Stadiumcon, I will consider supporting him. I like our current Stadium, and I'm certain no one would pay money out of their own pocket for something so stupid as a retractable roofed stadium in San Diego.
Lori Saldana has also filed papers to run, I like her energy, and supported her for Congress. I don't know her stand on City issues. She hasn't voted with the Kleptocrats like Alvarez.
Psycholizard: But I saw Alvarez on UTube defending corporate welfare -- believe it was convention center expansion. I would rethink support of him, if I were you. Best, Don Bauder
At this moment, Lori Saldana has not filed papers. Supporters are circulating petitions for signatures that would allow her to file without having to pay fees, if she in should decide to be a candidate. She has not made any such decision at this point.
monaghan: The last I heard, she is entering the race. But that could be out of date already. Best, Don Bauder
monaghan: Now she is out of the race. Best, Don Bauder
Personally I wouldn't want to have to drag someone into it.
shirleyberan: Yes, the candidate dragged into the race will be going into a besmirch machine. Best, Don Bauder
I can't like Alvarez after his votes over the last year, I don't know his position on Stadiumcon, which is a deciding issue for me. I'm more open minded about Convention Center proposals generally, Stadiumcon is an elephant grafted to a giraffe, and all proposals so far seem stupid and ugly, but if it were a cluster of theaters designed for arts festivals, or anything that would serve our community with some new, not just bigger, feature. I would consider the proposal and the cost and benefit. There's no benefit to Stadiumcon.
Psycholizard: You can bet on two things. With convention centers so overbuilt nationally, an expanded center will get little activity. But you can be certain the convention center will cook the books to cover up the absence of renters. Best, Don Bauder
psycholizard: I concur.
Yankeedoodle: Yes, but Psycholizard says he is open-minded about convention centers. Best, Don Bauder
Don: Yes, but psycholizard can look at a building idea and see an elephant grafted to a giraffe. I had no choice but to concur.
Yankeedoodle: No choice? Pretty soon, you will be recruited by a downtown law firm to stand on the corner and beg for taxpayer money. Best, Don Bauder
Don: I would find it most amusing to do that for a downtown law firm, as long as a salary was included, which was not tied to the monetary results of my sidewalk RFF (request for funding).
Yankeedoodle: The law firms do the dirty work for the corporate welfare crowd. Best, Don Bauder
Don: I daresay some do, some don't. I, of course, with my x-ray vision, would work only for the good guys.
Yankeedoodle: You will need x-ray vision for your assignment of finding those good guys. Best, Don Bauder
I also concur. We have Aguirre or Coons apparently.
shirleyberan: Saldana would add to the list of progressives. Best, Don Bauder
My sense is that Aguirre is the more recognizable. I'd like to see some of that anger I've read about him. I think he has toned it down, way down, to try to be more appealing and appear level headed. Alert the masses and the media! And Aguirre!! So what if he argued with Jerry Sanders - Good for him!
shirleyberan: Yes, Aguirre has more name recognition. Best, Don Buder
shirleyberan: More people should have argued with Jerry Sanders. He was a bad mayor. He now heads the Chamber of Commerce. He was beholden to it when he was mayor. Best, Don Bauder
If I were Aguirre, I would wear my readiness to fight as a badge of honor, he can only reinvent himself so much. He should make clear that he intends to clean up the crookedness in the City. He's got to attack. Alvarez and Faulconer voted for a series of crooked schemes, they should be attacked for it. Fletcher must be denounced as a jellyfish floating on the tide of money pouring into Irwin Jacobs' bizarre schemes.
I wish Aguirre had what it takes, but this vague talk about infrastructure isn't going to win. He must play to this strengths, to the theme that made him City Attorney. He's the honest guy fighting crooks, the City Government has reached a new low in sleaziness, the present council has betrayed the people who elected it. I could go on and on, but I'm preaching to the Choir, let's turn the Hymnal to number 2013, and sing: Onward honest soldiers marching as to war.........
Psycholizard: I would like to see Aguirre fighting crooks, too. He may figure that the mainstream media will lay off him if he doesn't mention the downtown crooks. Best, Don Bauder
If everything is great, if the most incredibly sleazy episode in memory is OK with everyone, why not let the downtown crowd keep running things. But we've been told first of open sex in City offices, then we're told it didn't happen. We've been told that the Mayor did crime for Sunroad to steal parkland, then we're told the vote for the giveaway, which involved dozens, was perfectly fine. The're trying to say that the sleaze in San Diego politics starts and ends with Filner, if Michael Aguirre will let them get away with that, he's another crook. I believe in him, but if he can't jab anymore, he's got to leave the ring.
Psycholizard: There Will Be Jabbing. (Also, huzzah for putting in a plug for Handel, elsewhere.)
Yankeedoodle: Here's another Handel fan. We have CDs of at least 20 Handel operas and oratorios, along with much orchestral music. Sometimes we travel long distances to see a Handel opera or oratorio performed as an opera. Best, Don Bauder
Don: Do you go to singalong Messiah at Christmas time?
Psycholizard: The downtown corporate welfare crowd has won, it appears to me. Brace yourself for a convention center expansion that is a complete waste of funds because the market is supersaturated, and a Chargers football stadium for which taxpayers will pick up 80% of the tab. Best, Don Bauder
The statements by Mike Aguirre and Bruce Coons in the UT were shockingly weak. How can we we persuade these decent men to aim their cannons at the towers of greed and fire away. They are outsiders, they must establish the depravity of the insiders, then the enormity of the danger, then the proposed reforms. If they can't show that the insiders are causing the problems, profiting from the problems, that insiders are the problem, then no one has any reason to turn to outsiders.
Psycholizard: Aguirre is being gentler this time around. However, his program is sound: the money should go first to infrastructure, particularly water, neighborhoods, services. He wants to see electricity rates go down as rooftop solar booms. Best, Don Bauder
Tres logical, Psycholizard. I did not read the U-T. I keep waiting for some info about Aguirre's schedule. Hard to show support when you don't know what the apparatus is yet.
Yankeedoodle: Aguirre's apparatus should be set up soon. Best, Don Bauder
Don: Thanks.
Yankeedoodle: Here's the address for volunteers: http://mikeformayor.org/volunteer. Best, Don Bauder
Don: And away we go! Thanks again.
He better hurry. The guy came up on my porch last week to ask if I was gonna vote for Fletcher. I didn't even let him speak cause I saw his paper with a big Fletcher in print he was holding. I said I've been following things and I know what I'm gonna do. I hear somebody has to get 50%of votes or there will be a runoff election.
shirleyberan: Yes, if anybody gets 50%, there is no runoff. That winner is mayor. The downtown corporate welfare crowd will throw money like mad behind Faulconer to get him elected on only one ballot. Best, Don Bauder
Why is Aguirre lauding Jan Goldsmith today, on his website?
PacificBeachgirl: I don't know about it. I do know that Aguirre has praised Goldsmith for some things. Goldsmith has not reciprocated. Goldsmith has admitted that he started plotting to oust Filner in January. This is very important and will become more important as time goes on. Best, Don Bauder
So true.
Excellent article, and gets to the point, but San Diego is equally as horny as Washington, and I would like to be more specific, but one does not kiss and tell.
"Slick Willy" Clinton should never have been subject to impeachment over the Monica affair. But he definitely should have resigned after his reprehensible behavior with a young intern was exposed. Also, the campaign ticket should have been Gore/Clinton, and there wouldn't have been a sex scandal. But Clinton had his apologists then, just like Filner still has now. Go figure. Both told lies, and let down their supporters. Birds of a feather in many ways.