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Citizens Group Asks: “Who ya’ Gonna Call When the Sheriff and District Attorney Break the Law?”

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A protest against the visual pollution and littering throughout the region associated with the run-up to the June 5 primary is set for Thursday (5/17) at 11am.

Event organizers are asking people to meet at the intersection of Midway Drive and Rosecrans Street, a busy intersection cluttered with campaign signs paid for by Independent Expenditure committees in support of Sheriff Bill Gore and interim District Attorney Summer Stephan.  I suspect, given the location and the timing, attendance will be limited. The symbolism of the protest will be huge, reflecting the concerns of people wanting to see our criminal justice system reformed.

The group will be rallying in front of the local offices of Déjà Vu, a strip club company with 132 locations in 41 states. Campaign signs for Gore and Stephan are prominently displayed on locations around the property. It will be an interesting juxtaposition, given the appointed DA’s reputation based on fighting human trafficking and the reputation of the adult entertainment industry as a facilitator in such activities.   [Read more…]

Mid-May Edition, Hinky Political Ads: Some Naughty, Some Pushing Back, Some Nice

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I voted over the weekend, which means the campaigns that are using money smartly will soon not see me as a target for mailings and phone calls. Which should mean the big pile of glossy dead trees will stop growing.

Let’s take a look at a few of this week’s offerings. I live in North Park, so what I get in the mail won’t match what somebody living in another part of the county will see.

First off, the Democratic Party is spending big bucks to counter the three-way smear-fest aimed at Nathan Fletcher. They’re mailing, they’re emailing, and they’re Facebooking.   [Read more…]

Clouds Gather Over District Attorney Candidate Summer Stephan’s Campaign

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Debate dodging, a suggestion of pay-to-play among her supporters, and the hint of a visit to a Thai whorehouse add up to bad news for “Law Enforcement’s Choice” for County District Attorney Summer Stephan.  

The interim appointed DA has backed out of speaking with voters tonight at the City of Hope International Church in Lincoln Park at a forum that was supposed to feature both candidates for San Diego County District Attorney.

Organized by the Mid-City CAN (Community Advocacy Network) and San Diego Organizing Project, the event has been advertised for weeks on Facebook, drawing interest or commitments from over 500 people.   [Read more…]

Lori Saldaña, Mickey Kasparian, and the Lincoln Club: Revenge Served Three Ways

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It’s dirty tricks time folks, and it should surprise nobody that San Diego’s Lincoln Club is funding it. These are the rich guys downtown who’d be really happy if America’s Finest City turned into a little Trumpian fiefdom. All that voting, tree hugging, and social justice stuff simply get in the way of their personal greed.

Today’s ratf*cking comes at the expense of District 4 Supervisor candidate Nathan Fletcher, who is (mis)characterized in a mailer as a pro-NRA kind of guy. This KPBS article explains why the accusation doesn’t hold water.

This just happens to be the same message Mickey Kasparian’s rump labor PAC is sending to voters. And it’s the same messaging Supervisorial candidate Lori Saldaña was pushing in social media.   [Read more…]

When We Vote, We Win. Just Show Up & Vote. | Progressive Activist Calendar May 11- 21, 2018

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At an election rally in Indiana, this week supporters of the President were chanting “lock her up” as he went on stage, referring to his opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton. The pre-midterm event also including a suggestion from the stage that extending Trump’s presidency beyond two terms was a viable option.

Our environment is being fouled, the rule of law is being degraded, personal greed has replaced service to the nation, extremists and bigotry are venerated, and increasing oppression by race, gender, and class are the order of the day.  And, oh yeah, how’s that $1.50 a week in increased income from ‘tax reform’ doing when it comes to escalating insurance premiums (Trumpcare) and soaring gas prices (backing out of the Iran deal)?

Think the gas tax was bad? Just wait until you see what instability in the Middle East does to prices at the pump. Donald Trump’s name won’t be on the primary election ballot, but the names of his enablers will be.    [Read more…]

Summer Stephan’s Racist and Anti-Semitic Crusade for the Office of San Diego County District Attorney

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Any discussion about the criminal justice system needs to start and end with an acknowledgment of the role racism plays in the United States. The electoral contest for County District attorney in San Diego is no exception.

Now that billionaire George Soros is being accused of fomenting anarchy by supporting an anti-establishment candidate, this discussion needs to be expanded to include the stereotype of the rich Jew as an evil “other.”  She doesn’t even have to use the word “Jew”, wink, wink. 

I don’t believe appointed incumbent DA Summer Stephan and her backers in the law enforcement establishment think of themselves as racists or antisemites. I’m sure they’ll tell you some of their best friends are people of color. I’m sure our interim DA means well when she speaks of dealing with implicit bias. I’m sure she’s horrified by reading accounts of the Holocaust.   [Read more…]

Duncan’s Daddy to the Rescue in East County Congressional Race

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San Diego Congressman Duncan Duane Hunter is, once again, the subject of a feature news story in Politico. He’s facing legal problems, a spate of scandalous sounding stories in the local press, and spending more money on lawyers than getting re-elected. Now Papa Hunter is tamping down and inter-party competition.

The last time Hunter made the national news we learned about all the local Republicans circling round his not-yet-politically-dead corpse. The time before we learned about his “freewheeling Washington lifestyle,” with hints of an extramarital affair and hefty bar tabs in all the right places around town.

The Republican Congressman faces allegations of misusing campaign funds as a locally empaneled grand jury heard testimony from Hunter’s parents, former aides, and a female lobbyist. Although he has the repaid campaign more than $60,000, federal prosecutors are interested in tens of thousands of additional charges.   [Read more…]

Hinky Political Ads, San Diego 2018 Primary Edition | Gun Toting, Tree Hugging & Fighting Trump

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Tis the season for misleading and attack political advertising. I’ll be doing an irregular showcase featuring the campaigns and “Independent” committees willing to sling mud, spin tall tales, make unkeepable promises, or engage in fear-mongering.

Today we’ll start with ads from the Working Families Council in support of Lori Saldaña for supervisor, simply because those were the first to land in my mailbox. Feel free to send me ads you think are hinky via the email address at the bottom of the page.

This will be a non-partisan endeavor, mostly because I can’t stand being talked down to, regardless of political party. “They all do it” is a tired excuse from people who fundamentally don’t believe in Democracy but are not honest enough to say so.   [Read more…]

Crib Sheet | Progressive Voter Guide | June 2018

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Here’s a quick and easy way to vote in the June 5, 2018, primary election.

Many San Diego County races, including District Attorney, Sheriff, and Assessor will be decided in this election since any candidate getting better than 50% gets a pass on the November election.

City and State races, on the other hand, allow the top two finishers to go on to November. We’re told there will be a ballot measure in November to bring the county into sync with the rest of California.

Not every candidate listed here will appear on your ballot. If you don’t live in a district, you don’t get to vote on their candidates.   [Read more…]

The UC Strike Is About More Than a Paycheck

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Good reporting on organized labor is hard to come by these days. The mainstream media all-too-often seems bound by the ‘everybody knows’ perspective about unions being an anachronism, interested only in getting higher wages on the next contract.

Coverage of this week’s limited strike throughout the UC system is no exception. I’ve noticed the focus on medical facilities in reporting, with an emphasis on questions concerning patient care, with the back and forth about demands for higher pay framing almost every story I’ve read.

There is a much bigger story here to be told; this work stoppage is reflective of growing realization about social and economic injustice going beyond the confines of the workplace. I’m going to do my best to cut through the haze and go beyond the bread and butter demands.   [Read more…]

US Senate, Local House of Representatives Seats & Ballot Measures | Progressive Voter Guide, June 2018

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Today: US Senate, Local House of Representatives & Ballot Measures

Already Published:

Progressive Voter Guide for County of San Diego Elected Offices

San Diego City Council Progressive Voter Guide

California Statewide Offices & Local Legislative Seats

The San Diego Free Press and OB Rag are pleased to present part four of our 2018 Primary Election Progressive Voter Guide. As usual, we tried not to let perfect be the enemy of good in our decision making. This year we’re breaking it into parts to make it more digestible.   [Read more…]

Workers Suffer While the UFCW Plays Politics | Progressive Activist Calendar May 4 – 14, 2018

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The Union-Tribune and Times of San Diego have both posted stories about a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit filed on Thursday.  A San Carlos Albertsons is alleged to have created a hostile work environment and harassed Hispanic employees by forbidding them from speaking Spanish on the premises, even to each other on break or to Spanish-speaking customers.

From the Times of San Diego:

Beginning in late 2012, the Albertsons store on Lake Murray Boulevard near Navajo Road prohibited employees from speaking Spanish around non-Spanish speakers, including when they spoke to Spanish-speaking customers and during breaks, the suit said.   [Read more…]

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