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AN ANGRY ANGELENO - Or is it a Top Ten List? So much to write about, so little time...so I decided to do it this way:
Number 10: The Los Angeles Daily News (LADN) is Amateur Hour
LADN, part of the Southern California News Group (SCNG) is the 2nd Largest Paper in Los Angeles, which is SUPPOSED to be more conservative (they had Liz Chou as their City Hall Beat Reporter for a really long time, so NO, they're not) and more focused on the Valley half of the City of LA, “The Valley Paper” if you will.
So, last night, I go to the front of their website. I've had issues with their endorsements in the past. Some of them have been bad in the past. Their endorsements are hard to find, unlike the LA Times. Their endorsements have a hard paywall, while the LA Times has a soft paywall and makes the endorsements available elsewhere like Yahoo News...you know, to actually help the endorsed candidates win. The LADN endorsements are incomplete. A hierarchy of leadership, all of which apparently does not realize that ALL of the LA City Council Members, and there are 15 of them, vote on everything. SO, if we have staggered elections (which means we vote on half the City Council seats each time), and we're voting on the Even Numbered council seats this time, you need to endorse Seats 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14...that's SEVEN LA City Council seats that they should be endorsing, not just John Lee (who is running against yet another dangerous woman again) and Weaver (who is running against the notoriously dangerous Nithya Raman). Because you're the SECOND LARGEST newspaper in town, and your Editorial Board SHOULD be trying to save us from the status quo. Rome is burning and you guys are out to lunch.
Another thing about the LADN...they release their endorsements SO slowly and SO late compared to the LA Times.
I remember long ago, they even kept George Gascon on their endorsement page, long after we knew he was bad, like maybe A YEAR OR MORE AFTER the election. Is it that hard to create a new endorsement page for the new election or remove him from the current endorsement page? Is your endorsement page a single whiteboard that nobody, not even an intern, is attending to? So, back then, we almost got to another election, the endorsement page was easy to find, and a candidate from a PREVIOUS election, a candidate that people could not stand, was STILL on their endorsement page...THAT is how badly the LADN is run.
Let's not forget that they also employed Liz Chou, who could easily be mistaken for a homeless activist, and who was super soft on former Two Term Mayor Eric Garcetti (now thankfully in India where he can do no further damage), for SUCH a long time as their LA City Hall Reporter. I'm really surprised she didn't go to the LA Times when she left. Nika Soon-Shiong would LOVE Elizabeth Chou. Who's running the show at the LADN? Amateur Hour.
So why am I so mad? Last night, LADN finally made their endorsement page easy to find. I could read it because I'm a subscriber. The endorsement summary page was updated on February 13 at 12:08 PM. They do it in a really weird way...”Statewide” (which is just No on Prop 1 ) and then by County, Los Angeles going first. What?? I've had my vote-by-mail ballot for a LONG time by now. I would have voted more than a week ago by now, normally. So let's see what the LADN is providing me....
FIRST, the LADN is telling me to vote for LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin for the House of Representatives, you know, the US Congress. Really? That's what you lead with? Aren't we voting for a US Senator to replace the late Dianne Feinstein (actually, to replace the temporary replacement that Gavin Newsom picked), who stayed in office too long and was losing her mental capabilities and had her staffers whispering to her re what to say (kind of like our US President Biden)? You know, the race between Steve Garvey and Adam Schiff...and, yes, Adam Schiff is doing the Democratic Party a huge favor by framing it that way, boosting turnout in a Primary where nobody is excited about a declining Biden running for reelection with so much at stake. Unfortunately, Schiff's clever tactic (in a “jungle primary” where the top two advance and it's much easier for him to defeat a Republican in November with Garvey having ZERO chance of winning The Runoff) will boost Primary Election turnout, which will help get extremists like Nithya Raman and George Gascon reelected...G-d Help Us.
And Nick Melvoin? Really? And their link goes to a Pasadena Star News (sister SCNG paper) endorsement of Nick, which I can't read. Amateur Hour. So, I have to type in Nick Melvoin and LADN into google to get an endorsement that I can read. I'm jumping over to that Melvoin endorsement in order to see who he's running against, which is hard to find while I skim the endorsement...super unprofessional. I finally find Laura Friedman and Anthony Portantino mentioned near the end. Well, they're right to not pick Laura “Speed Camera” Friedman for the seat, a Special Interest politician who is so special, that now she's even pandering to The Bike Lobby...”squeaky wheel gets the grease”...and they're a small group of very loud anti-car people that are WAY TOO influential. I've been getting a lot of mailers from Laura. Where is she getting all that money? Did you notice the loud clothing choices...glasses and clothing...yes, Laura, we know you want to be the center of attention. When the speed cameras come to Los Angeles, and you get your speeding tickets, remember that Laura “Speed Camera” Friedman made that happen, supposedly in the name of safety. Which is a bunch of bull, and that's from me, a guy who gave up his car over a decade ago...and a Registered Democrat. But, you can be sure that TRAFFIC will get worse, the working poor will no longer be able to afford to drive, the government will make lots of speeding ticket money, LA Metro will bring you Congestion Pricing (google my previous writing on the subject), and many Angelenos will be forced to take the lousy Bus Service and Rail Cars full of homeless people.
Mike Feuer is also in that race. I don't like Mike Feuer. More on that another day. Portantino seems good. Even Mike Feuer would be better than Laura Friedman. Nick Melvoin would be better than Laura Friedman. Even Actor Ben Savage would be better than Laura Friedman. Who would be worse than Laura? Maybe Sepi Shyne (WeHo City Council). Who did the Times endorse. They endorsed the Extremist Progressive almost a month ago. They start early over at that paper because they want to actually influence the election to the greatest extent possible, unlike LADN.
But why does the Daily News THROW AWAY an endorsement on a guy that has NO chance? Did he book advertising? Are you guys friends with his parents? Endorsement SHOULD HAVE gone to Portantino or Feuer, candidates who actually have a chance of winning. What a concept!
Who's next in the LADN “LA County” Endorsement Smorgasbord? Kathryn Barger for LA County Supervisor. OK. And for the OTHER TWO seats (out of 5) in play? Nobody. But the LA Times endorsed for ALL THREE races. Apparently, the LADN doesn't want to actually effect change; they just want to pretend that they do.
Who's next? Imelda Padilla and John Lee for LA City Council in their respective council districts...they're both incumbents...good choices. But how about the OTHER FIVE city council seats in play? Didn't you guys endorse Weaver in the Weaver vs. Raman race? YOU DID. On February 5 (too late in my book), your Editorial Board endorsed Ethan Weaver, because the council district he's running for is partially in The Valley...Thank G-d. Then WHY is he not on this list?? As the late Bill Hurt exclaimed near the end of the movie “A History of Violence”: “HOW Do You f-ck THAT UP ?”
This level of incompetence has to be intentional. I graduated from law school decades ago, didn't become a lawyer, but I remember that Intent was “knew OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN”. How do you publish an endorsement list and LEAVE OUT your Ethan Weaver endorsement for the Nithya Raman Council District? This seems like sabotage and intentional behavior. I got my “Official Sample Ballot” from the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk almost a week AFTER I got my Vote-by-Mail ballot...now, that's INFORMATION that we're supposed to have BEFORE we vote, including Candidate Statements, NOT AFTER we vote. And I got a thick booklet from either LA County or the State...I would still have it if it didn't get soaked in the rains...that ALSO came AFTER I got my vote- by-mail ballot. It's a booklet that we always get for elections with INFORMATION about Ballot Measures (since the “Official Sample Ballot” doesn't have that)...probably candidates too. You know, where you get all the small print of the ballot measures, the FULL language, maybe opposing and supporting statements, not just a short misleading summary curated by a politician or a political loyalist. REPEATEDLY (because I remember it happening in past elections too) getting these booklets AFTER we've gotten our vote-by-mail ballots (and perhaps after we've already voted) is INTENTIONAL...somebody knew or should have known that this was VERY wrong! It should also be illegal and people should be held accountable at the highest levels. Intentionally keeping voters from getting information that they're supposed to be getting, ignorant, so that they rely on ballot summaries, mailers, and radio/TV commercials...and, of course, the HORRIBLE LA Times Endorsement List.
So, what are those ballot measures that are so important? On my ballot, they're State Measure 1 (the only reason I didn't mail in my ballot a week and a half ago; I haven't researched it yet) and Measure HLA, backed by “Streets for All”, or as I refer to them, “The Bike Lobby”, which would FORCE Los Angeles politicians to do all the extreme things that The Bike Lobby wants...so you can be sitting in your car stuck in EVEN MORE traffic while watching one guy in spandex ride by with a huge smile on his face. LADN thankfully has NO on Measure HLA. Unfortunately, they rolled that out only a week ago, AFTER some people had already voted. You know, if I was cynical or jaded, I would think that the LADN is INTENTIONALLY rolling out AS FEW candidate and measure endorsements AS LATE AS POSSIBLE (without attracting too much subscriber anger) in order to book as much advertising as possible from all sides. But, as you know, I'm not cynical and jaded. But why make it so hard to find the endorsements and have (what I refer to as) a hard paywall on them? Perhaps for the same reason.
What's the difference between a hard paywall and a soft paywall? So, the LA Times has a soft paywall. If you clear your history, cookies, and cache on your internet browser, you can read almost all their content for free. What you do is you just keep a second internet browser open just for the LA Times.After each article, you clear the history, cookies, cache, etc. That way, you don't mess up your other Non-Times tabs and windows. Besides having a soft paywall, the Times also licenses out most of their content to Yahoo News, the popular NewsBreak App, and others. So, while this business approach cuts into subscriber growth dramatically (I'm talking to you now, LA Times Guild), actually cannibalizing subscribers, it dramatically increases revenue from outside sources, readership, and influence. Now I'm referring to the infamous extremist progressive activist Nika Soon-Shiong, daughter of the LA Times owner, who has been known to meddle with the paper. Her favored candidates (including Erin Darling, a progressive Mike Bonin Clone, who thankfully lost, and Lindsey Horvath, her buddy from WeHo, who unfortunately won) were picked by the Times for the last big election cycle and here we go again with the likes of George Gascon, Nithya Raman, Laura Friedman, and Serena Oberstein.
Getting back to the infamous LADN endorsements for LA County, they also have Dan Chang for School Board and NO on Measure RW for Long Beach, the 2nd biggest city in LA County. And that's it !
What? No endorsement for State Assembly? I've gotta vote on that. How about Los Angeles County District Attorney ?? It's not here. Are you serious? Judges? Of course not. This is the LADN, after all. US Senator? Nope. US President? Of course not.
What a dereliction of duty to their subscribers, including me! And the LADN is SENDING their subscribers to the LA Times endorsement list (which is easy to get) for some Really Bad Advice! No wonder Los Angeles is in such a sorry state. I've been blaming the LA Times, but this behavior by the LADN really needs to be called out. As the Times states “Every registered voter will be mailed a ballot in EARLY February...” and, guess what? They can actually vote that ballot right away! I usually mail it back the Next Business Day! Apparently the LADN didn't get the memo about all of this. So, how does the Times have their progressive endorsements set up? First, LA City Ballot Measure, then LA City Council races, ALL SEVEN of them! You know, LADN (and SCNG) leadership team, people outside the San Fernando Valley ALSO read your paper, unless your goal is to exclude them and lose them as subscribers...is that your goal?
When did the Times publish their Nithya Raman endorsement? You know, the woman who, based on very recent comments at a candidate debate, seems to think it's OK to have homeless encampments next to our schools, which LAMC 41.18 is designed to prevent (but, unfortunately, enforcement of that sensible rule usually requires support from the council office in communications with LAPD). Maybe a homeless person will rob a child at knife or gunpoint, maybe a child will pick up some fentanyl and overdose, maybe a homeless person will punch a child in the face and give them brain damage, maybe the homeless will start a fire and burn the school down. Let's find out, courtesy of YOUR council member Nithya Raman! You know, the one who blamed Toyota for Prius Catalytic Converter thefts...yes, really...it made NATIONAL headlines. Times published that Raman endorsement on JANUARY 25, well in advance of our receiving our VBM (vote by mail) ballots. Take note, LADN, this is the proper timing to release endorsements! NOT AFTER people have already voted!
The Times endorsed Eddie Anderson for Council District 10 (CD10). Who? Gotta wonder if Nika set up a sleeping bag in the El Segundo Offices of the LA Times Editorial Board for Election Season. I thought this race was essentially incumbent Heather Hutt vs Grace Yoo. The CD10 race is a very important competitive race that the LADN SHOULD have endorsed a candidate for because whoever wins will vote on LOTS of San Fernando Valley Items, as well as Citywide Items. While I don't support how Hutt came to power...she was handed a vacancy that Yoo should have gotten, since Yoo came in 2nd to the ousted criminal MRT (that's Mark Ridley-Thomas, Mayor Karen Bass' former political buddy) in an actual election. Yoo has done good things in the past like fighting for all of Koreatown to be in only one council district...I believe it finally is now. Also, supporting Measure S. I was a fan of Yoo's in the past even though our views on homelessness did not align; I'm not a single issue voter. But now she seems to be pandering for an LA Times endorsement with being in favor of Road Diets (what “The Bike Lobby” wants) that will make traffic and parking problems worse and, most recently, tearing down the security gates that have long protected a hood in CD10. I don't think most Koreans in CD10 would support any of these progressive views, and that's her base! Heather Hutt has been surprisingly good, shockingly good, reminding me of the late Council Member Tom LaBonge. You win elections by taking care of your Residents and what they want, you protect your Residents. I've noticed on several major issues in the news, Hutt has been on the right side of things: homelessness, crime, protecting small businesses, etc. But the LADN can't be bothered to endorse her.
Unbelievable. You know, this council member gets to vote on the Police Budget, they get to vote on whether LAMC 41.18 will be enforced or whether new no camping zones will be created, they get to vote on San Fernando Valley development projects...apparently LADN and SCNG higher-ups did not get the memo on basic Civics 101 in Los Angeles.
Then the LA Times lists their LA County Endorsements: LA County DA, ALL THREE LA County Supervisor seats. The LADN couldn't be bothered with that. They (LADN and SCNG leadership) apparently didn't get the memo that when the County Supes vote, all 5 of them vote on each agenda item, not just one of them. Why not just let Susan Shelley do these endorsements by herself? Most of them would be right on the money and she could get it all done in one weekend. Then the LA Times tells us who to vote for for FOUR (I know, that's a lot of fours) LAUSD Board seats...the LADN could only muster one. Somebody needs to tell SCNG that these folks vote as a group, not individually!
Then the Times does JUDGES. And since Public DEFENDERS (those are the ones that Defend CRIMINALS) are running for SO MANY judicial seats, I can only imagine who the Times picked. Nika Soon-Shiong supported cutting funding for law enforcement during her time on the West Hollywood (WeHo) Public Safety Commission. (Lindsey Horvath put her on that Commission and agreed with Nika and then the LA Times miraculously endorsed Horvath for County Supervisor without mentioning the Nika WeHo connection). The LA Times also doesn't use the word looting because supposedly somebody (Nika?) finds it to be a racist word. Really? And how many times during the last few years have you seen an LA Times Headline mention that the perpetrator of a crime was homeless? Never? Why ARE so many Public DEFENDERS running to be JUDGES ? In the past, they would have ZERO chance of winning. So what changed? The LA Times changed. Those Times endorsements, released early, for free, to young Democrats who don't have the knowledge or time to research are so effective at influencing the election outcomes, it's scary. Los Angeles is burning to the ground and the LA Times is pouring fuel on the fire. All the Millionaires in LA should ban Patrick Soon-Shiong and his daughter from their cocktail parties and other social gatherings, so that he gets the message that destroying Los Angeles has consequences. He owns very expensive homes in Orange County (or at least he did the last time I checked), so he can always escape if it gets really bad. He's a Billionaire. He'll be fine. How are YOU doing?
Then The Times does Prop 1. Then a “US House and Senate” section. Telling us who to vote for for US Senate and THREE US House seats. Looks like the Times hasn't endorsed for US President yet.
Speaking of US President, I'll explain my headline at the very beginning of this column. You really do have a choice here in California besides the two old white men who are losing their minds, Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Don't let the MSM and the Leadership of The Two Parties tell you otherwise. On the Democratic side, Dean Phillips, a member of the US Congress is running. But not in Florida, where the Democratic Party kept him off the ballot. Actually, they canceled the Democratic Primary there.
Really! There's a video below to let you know a little about him, since the liberal media is not helping.
On the Republican side, Nikki Haley is running. She got 43 percent of the vote in New Hampshire (aka NH, which I just realized has the same initials as Nikki Haley) AFTER Ron DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump. That's huge! And it's NOT winner takes all in these States. She got 9 NH delegates and Trump got 12. And the MSM tries to get you to forget that she was GOVERNOR of South Carolina (aka SC) for TWO terms. That State hasn't had its Republican Primary yet. But the voter turnout was VERY low in the SC Democratic Primary, and the reason for that is likely Democratic voters that are gonna vote for Haley in the Republican Primary to try to stop the Trump nomination. They're allowed to do that in SC ! But the MSM is trying to force her out of the race NOW, before she builds momentum, because they know that if it's her versus Biden, she will trounce him. Similarly, if it's Phillips vs Trump, Phillips would trounce Trump, unlike Biden, who might even lost to Trump. So why don't we have a Debate between the two candidates many of us are actually excited about: Nikki Haley vs Dean Phillips. Great video of Nikki Haley speaking at the United Nations below (at the time, she was representing the United States at the UN during the Trump Administration). Very Presidential. Would be the First Woman President !
Well, we're out of time for today. You'll have to check my next column for Hot Takes or Top Ten List Items 9 through 1. Have a nice weekend and remember to vote by mail ASAP (just mail it INSIDE a US Post Office to be on the safe side)...and remember that if the Times tells you to vote for somebody, that's usually who you should NOT vote for...similarly if they tell you to vote a certain way on a ballot measure, you should probably vote THE OPPOSITE. And remember that Public DEFENDERS protect criminals and Deputy District Attorneys PROSECUTE criminals and put them in jail. If you're upset about 24/7 crime in your hood, as I am, consider that distinction when you're voting for judges.
(“The Angry Angeleno” is Yuval Kremer. Yuval is a Registered Democrat; a Cali-Camp, Harvard-Westlake (pre-merger), USC, and Loyola Law School Alum; and a former ballot candidate for Mayor of LA (failing to prevent Mayor Garcetti's reelection) and LA County Supervisor (ran against Sheila Kuehl, Katy Yaroslavsky's former boss). The opinions expressed by Yuval are his and his alone (not those of CityWatchLA), but will likely be yours soon!)
