Congressman Darrell Issa is resorting to increasingly desperate measures to counter nationally publicized weekly protests outside his Vista offices, according to emails obtained by the San Diego Free Press.

This week Issa called in ‘the troops,’ summoned from a veterans association armed with some red-baiting slogans. News crews from Fox and KUSI were called to the scene in hopes of gaining coverage of a counterprotest coordinated with the North County Congressman.

The opposition rally, organized by emails sent out by a local affiliate of the California Military Officers Association (CALMOAA), drew all of 18 people who stood across the street from the over 400 anti-Issa/Trump protesters.

Issa dashed across the street from his office to grant a TV interview, making sure to mention actress Jane Fonda’s contribution to a Political Action Committee –organized separately from the weekly protests– opposing his candidacy.

On the way back to his offices, constituent Valerie McCourtney attempted to ask the Congressman about his position on reviving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program only to be threatened by Issa with arrest for trespassing.

@DarrellIssa wouldn’t talk to me today b/c, as he stated: “I don’t have to talk to you, you’re a Democrat.” Here’s #Issa trying to prevent a constituent from videotaping. Minutes earlier he took photos of me while threatening to have me arrested for trespassing in the parking lot pic.twitter.com/v2UHPspFRO

— Valarie McCourtney (@speechwithease) January 2, 2018

Issa’s office apparently coordinated the attempted counterprotest with Ret. LtCol. Dave Yorck, President of the California Military Officers Association thru Kathy Prescott-Loeffler, a former chief of staff for the Congressmen.

Email replicated with personal info redacted

Fri, 29 Dec 08:46:32 PM PST
From: Christian Yorck
To: Mike Neal
CC: kpstrategy@xxxxx.xxx

Subject: Let our Veteran’s Voices be Heard.docx

General Michael I. neal & CALMOAA Leaders

I spoke to Kathy Prescott this afternoon.

Congressman Issa Office said your friend John Dadian can help with PR or video. (Hanoi Jane)”

Happy New Year 2018

Dadian is a PR guy often tapped for the Republican point of view by local TV stations.

Ongoing protests aimed at ending Republican Darrel Issa’s tenure in the 49th Congressional District have served as an inspiration for grassroots organizing around the country.

They recently celebrated the first anniversary of the weekly gatherings:

Issa’s Vista office is the location of largest, most sustained weekly congressional protests in the nation. A core volunteer group of thirty oversees an average weekly attendance of close to 400 people. They show up at 10am and disperse one hour later.

This core group meets regularly, selecting a weekly theme and providing relevant props and follow up information, like policy postcards to be mailed to the congressman. Every attendee is signed in, providing a reliable method for head counts and a means for continuing communication.

Polling in Issa’s district now shows him trailing any generic Democratic candidate by 10 points, and the Congressman has resorted to increasingly desperate measures to counter the constant drum of criticism embodied in the hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside his Vista offices every Tuesday morning.

Earlier in 2017, Issa office lobbied local officials to impose restrictions on protest permits, including moving the group to a location away from his offices and holding the principal organizer personally responsible for any associated police costs. Intervention by the American Civil Liberties Union quashed that ploy.

In October, the appearance of an inflatable chicken with Trumpian coif, reportedly led to a phone call from an irate Issa to San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore. A rash of traffic enforcement tickets followed shortly thereafter, aimed at vehicles being driven or parked by protestors.

Now the North County Republican is playing the Jane-Fonda-Commie-Traitor-Card, hoping to conflate the weekly protests with the on-the-ground campaign organized by a PAC.

Flip the 49th PAC, which has been on the receiving end of publicity recently because of financial support by various celebrities, is a separate organization formed in May focused on separate voter canvassing and GOTV efforts. And yes, as Issa’s spokespeople are quick to point out, there is overlap between the groups in terms of participants. My guess is the Congressman was shocked to discover protesters could walk and chew gum at the same time.

***

In ways large and small, California is becoming a focal point for active resistance to the Trump administration’s schemes to loot the remaining assets what of the middle class and Make America White Again.

In Sacramento this week, Democrats are moving to blunt the effects of Trump’s #taxscam.

State Senate leader Kevin de León is preparing legislation, dubbed the “Protect California Taxpayers Act,” allowing California taxpayers make charitable donations to a state government fund – the “California Excellence Fund” – in exchange for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. The contributions could then be deducted on federal tax returns, bypassing the new limit on state and local income tax deductions.

State Senate Democrats, having lost their supermajority due to resignations, will need Republican support to pass the two-thirds threshold moving the legislation as an urgency measure, allowing it to take effect this year.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan told Fox News he will “significantly increase” the agency’s enforcement presence in California.

“California better hold on tight,” Homan said. “They’re about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers in the state of California.”

He went on to say state laws limiting local law enforcement officials’ ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities should lead the Department of Justice to file charges against sanctuary cities, withhold their funding and “hold these politicians personally accountable.”

According to the Associated Press, vandals placed fake signs along highways leading into California from Arizona and Nevada on January 1. Motorists were welcomed to an “official sanctuary state,” home to “felons” and gang members, an apparent reference to the latest nativist boogeyman, MS-13 street gang. The story notes a similar sign was erected in Malibu last year, shortly after the city adopted sanctuary city policies.

The California Values Act, also known as SB 54, went in to effect on Monday, limiting who state and local law enforcement agencies can detain following requests from federal immigration officials.

Then there’s this….

Happy New Year – the president is taking credit for the lack of fatal air crashes in 2017. We know you have a choice of carriers; thanks for flying Air Chutzpah https://t.co/bG9DG1X6kw

— Doug Sovern (@SovernNation) January 2, 2018

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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