It's too bad they didn't call me after the campaign, because I had some choice comments for them. Words I had held back on and refrained from using during the campaign. They didn't bother to ask me, so I decided I will go the independent route and use what has become the REAL and most innovative media in this country... I will blog it myself!
Who could make a better comment on the race for Mayor? After all, I was one of the men running !
When I was being interviewed on the radio by Patt Morrison of KPCC, I called Villaraigosa "the most dangerous man in Southern California". I don't regret saying it, but I may have been inaccurate. He might not be number 1, but he's in the top 5. Patt Morrison stunned me for a moment when she asked if there was "anything the Mayor had done right ?". I have to admit I hadn't thought about the question a lot, but I quickly answered that I liked the Mayors strong support of Israel. However, I actually have doubts that the Mayors enthusiasm on the subject is genuine. When he was in the State legislature he represented a somewhat different area politically than he does now, and I am not convinced that Israel was ever high on his list of priorities. Me, on the other hand, I went to Israel long before I got involved in politics, and I even have an old photo of me with a full beard wearing an IDF t-shirt (and I'm not even Jewish) . I'm not sure I could say that Antonios support for Israel was ever legitimate and not politically motivated.
I'm not going to demonize the Mayor and call him "a traitor" like a certain candidate and some of his supporters continually did. Antonio Villaraigosa is a man like any other man. He has his good points and his bad points. He came from a very rough social background and overcame some physical ailments early in his life. He struggled in his pursuit of an education but eventually overcame that to became Mayor of Los Angeles. So I will give him a little credit for that. But allow me to repeat a quote of mine from the Sunland-Tujunga debates held by the Mayor Sam blog...
"I don't think the Mayor is smart. I don't think he is talented. But this man is crafty. He is a political animal. He is almost like an old-style mob boss."
That is how I see the Mayor. An untalented, but hard working overachiever.
A man who "worked" his union connections to eventually gain political control of a major city.
A man who knows the value of political favors and a man who knows how to collect from those in his debt.
However, I also see him as a man who could easily become a dictator if given half a chance. He has worked for organizations in the past like the ACLU, and the teachers unions, and the Democratic Party... all groups who say that they support freedom.....as long as you do exactly what THEY want you to do!
Most of my opposition to him has always been on a purely ideological basis.
His liberal policies of continually growing the government and finding new and creative ways to levy new taxes are ideologies that I find highly offensive. I feel that Antonio Villaraigosas "non-enforcement" policies towards illegal immigration only encourage more lawbreaking and make our City less safe for its citizens. His tireless support of illegal immigration often makes me question his loyalty to the United States. His membership in a racist organization called "MECHA" while a student in college says a great deal about his poor judgement and his lack of character. His choice to preside over a gay marriage ceremony (in order to gain political capital with the far left) offended me because, as a Catholic, our faith doesn't allow that, and he knows it. I will spare you the details about his personal life, but again, there he shows an almost pathological inability to be honest with anyone.
To many voters, he will always be known as the man who made the famous speech in 2006 where he said "We clean your toilets!!" These are not words I want any elected leader of mine saying at any time in his career. I want leaders I can be proud of...not ones that I am embarrassed of... (which is how I feel about the current Mayor).
In my opinion, Villariagosa is only Mayor for one reason.
James Hahn fired Bernard Parks.
The African-American community (and many Parks supporters) turned on Hahn in the election and voted for the guy who finished as runner-up in 2001. Little did they know they were voting in a man with Socialist ideologies. An illegal immigration appeaser who would end up doing more damage to the African-American community than they could ever have imagined.
Yet somehow, the 15% of the people in this city who voted on March 3rd saw fit to return him to the Mayors Office. The only part of this I understand is that most voters didn't have any idea of who the other candidates were. If any of the other candidates had raised a million dollars to spend on their campaign, this election would have been very different.
Villaraigosa may not yet be finished doing damage to citizens here. He seeks to be elected Governor in 2010.
Laugh if you want, but it is a prospect that should frighten L.A. voters. He actually has a shot at winning.
Several Bay area politicians are going to splinter the vote there, and Villaraigosa may be the only big name in Southern California to seek the job. He could take the Democratic Party nomination with a small plurality. After that, the voters of The Peoples Republic of California will do as they are told and put him in Sacramento.
God help us all.
