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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Pogo was right that “We are the enemy.” By “we” Pogo meant the public in general and not just the polluters. Applying Pogo’s insight to 2023 Wokeism, we may say, “We, the non-extremists, are the enemy.” While the nation is polarized, blaming either the Alt Right or the Wokers for our woes, the reality is that We Non-Extremists are upwards of 85% of the population. If we, the 85%+ non-extremists, reject the absurd claims of the DEM and GOP extremes, we’d have a centrist nation.
Who Released the Audio Tape to the General Public?
Here’s what we glean from Pravda West and its ilk. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor installed a recording system, and without obtaining consent, it secretly recorded meetings. In California, secret recordings are unlawful. The penalty may be as great as $10,000.00 and prison time. Penal Code § 632
While making the recording is criminal, releasing it to the media is not a crime, but the situation is more complex. Penalties generally take into account the harm a violation caused. A drunk who runs a red light and causes no accident gets a traffic ticket. If the drunk kills three pedestrians, he may be convicted of manslaughter. Thus, when the Mayor’s office and the LAPD investigated who made the illegal recording, a proper investigation would include who released the recording to the public. Nothing has caused more public furor and more hypocrisy at Los Angeles City Council than the releasing of the audio tape of the three councilmembers: Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de Leon.
There is the recondite legal issue whether the person who released the audio tape could or should be identified as an accessory under Penal Code § 632. The leaker knew its contents. If the tape was made for political dirty tricks, then the tape could be one step in a larger criminal activity. Was this secret taping like the Watergate break-in to obtain damaging information? The LAPD needed to ascertain the leaker’s identity, role, and motive. If the leaker acted for his own personal gain, the leak would be similar to his knowingly buying stolen goods.
Persons of Interest
Like the game of Clue, initially everyone in the house is a person of interest. That includes Federation President Ron Herrera who called the October 2021 meeting, but his leaking would have been intentional political suicide. None of the councilmembers knew about the audio tape; thus, they aren’t the leaker. That leaves three persons of interest.
Hugo Soto-Martinez: When the tape was released, he was candidate for council district 13. Due to his association with the Labor Federation, he probably had access to the tapes plus he had career motives. As leader of the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, he had allegedly become hostile to the traditional Democrats like council president Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de Leon. We have the additional clue that the leaker made the statement his name was Martinez. Oct 13, 2022, LAMag, Is Hugo Soto-Martinez the Man Who Sprung the City Hall Leaks?, by Jason McGahan
Rick Caruso: As king of the LA developers, Caruso has close ties to LA labor. Caruso was promising billions of dollars in new construction which would greatly benefit Labor unions. The two huge players in Los Angeles insane densification mania are labor (e.g., Soto-Martinez) and developers (e.g., Caruso). Caruso was trailing mayoral candidate Congresswoman Karen Bass, leader of the Congressional Black Caucus. A racial brouhaha between Blacks and Hispanics might be a game changer. Also, Caruso had the funds and media contacts to make certain that if the tape were leaked to a renegade media like KNOCK LA, it would be picked up by LA Main Street media.
Unknown Person of Interest: Until Karen Bass, Soto-Martinez and the LAPD tell us the facts, the leaker may be an unknown person.
The idea that movers and shakers do not know the leaker’s identity is too absurd to entertain. The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew could find out who installed the recording system and who knew about the tape and then who released it first to Reddit and then gave it to KNOCK LA.
Leak Was Wildly Successful
The unanswered question is, “Why was the reaction so extreme?” Although nothing unusual or inappropriate was said, people went totally bonkers with everyone instantly out doing each other with the utter condemnation of the alleged anti-Black racism. The tape showed, however, that all three councilmembers supported Black Heather Hutt as replacement during Mark Ridley-Thomas’ (MRT) trial. The only person with whom Nury conspired was with Danny Bakewell, publisher of LA’s leading Black newspaper, The Sentinel. Nury’s advised how to resolve a dispute between two Black councilmembers so that both would be winners.
Nury’s Heresy Was That Blacks Are Not Innately Inferior
According to Nury and other sane people, Black children including those adopted by White councilmembers, may be held to the same standards as other children. Let’s remember that Karen Bass had been on the Martin Luther Day parade float with Nury Martinez along Councilmember Current Price’s wife. None has disputed Nury’s story! Nury referred to the child as “este niño” and not “this monkey” as some media incessantly and falsely asserts to this day.
Nury completely negated the falsehood that she thought este niño’s race caused his misbehavior, when she colorfully said to the gaggle of other Mexicans, if este niño who was acting like a little monkey were her child, she would have taken him around the corner and boxed his ears – to use the Anglo phrase.
Nury Martinez [00:34:49] “They're raising him like a little white kid which I was like this kid needs a beatdown. Like, Let me, let me take him around the corner and then I'll bring him back.” (Read complete narrative 2021-10-21 Transcript.pdf)
Mexicans do not generally believe in the Spare the Rod ‘N Spoil the Child. What drove wokers bonkers was Nury’s premise was the Black children like Mexican children can live up to societal expectations. Only a hysterical ninny would claim she was threatening to beat up a toddler.
Nury’s belief that all children can learn proper behavior in public transgresses the core woker belief that Blacks have been so damaged by slavery that it is racist to believe that Blacks can live up to society’s standards. If one accepts Nury’s premise, then the basis for reparations vanishes. The basis for defund the police vanishes. The entire woker premises that Blacks are forever doomed to the victim role vanishes. Wokers cannot cast Blacks as eternal victims without seeing them as inferior to all other groups.
As with all heretics, Nury was excommunicated, not because of her blasphemy, but because we, non-extremists, did not stand up for truth, justice and the American way.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of CityWatchLA. You may email him at [email protected])
