The Fields of Athenry

Something special happened the other day when I was watching the 2012 European Championship.

The Irish team was getting pounded by Spain. The score was 4-0 in the final ten minutes of regulation and Ireland had absolutely no chance to win against the talented Spaniards, who announcers agreed was one of the best teams of all time, having won the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup back to back.

The Spanish had actually let their foot off the gas pedal and were killing the clock for the last few minutes of the game. Irish fans who had traveled to Poland and the Ukraine to watch these games knew their team was finished -- they were beaten, eliminated from the Euro 2012 Championship early in the tournament, and they were going home.

Then, suddenly, these Irish fans perked up and started cheering. No, they started screaming.

They were belting out some song. I didn't know the lyrics or what it was all about.

As the last few minutes of time ran out, the song got louder and louder. Some stunned announcers (video above) simply stopped commentating about the game and let the scene play itself out.

I even backed up the DVR to take these photos (above).

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Their team was getting destroyed by Spain, yet they had so much love in their hearts. So much joy and appreciation for their team even trying to beat these magnificent Spaniards. I'm not even Irish, but I suddenly liked these people a lot.

It was surreal. Even the Spanish fans cheered them on.

I later learned that the song is called "The Fields of Athenry" and it has become kind of an unofficial national anthem in Ireland. It's not a happy song. It's about suffering, starvation, and incarceration. But the Irish, as is their style, have taken this song to be their own personal anthem.

Five years from now, I won't remember the score of this game. But watching those Irish fans celebrate so joyously in the face of such a crushing defeat....well, I'll remember that for the rest of my life.

*********************

The Fields of Athenry

Pete St. John

By a lonely prison wall

I heard a young girl calling

Micheal they are taking you away

For you stole Trevelyn's corn

So the young might see the morn.

Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.

Low lie the Fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly.

Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry.

By a lonely prison wall

I heard a young man calling

Nothing matter Mary when your free,

Against the Famine and the Crown

I rebelled they ran me down

Now you must raise our child with dignity.

Low lie the Fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly.

Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry.

By a lonely harbor wall

She watched the last star falling

As that prison ship sailed out against the sky

Sure she'll wait and hope and pray

For her love in Botany Bay

It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry.

Low lie the Fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly.

Our love was on the wing we had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athenry.

Fiscal Emergency?

It appears that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his henchmen on the City Council have decide that Los Angeles is really, really in trouble this time.

Kind of like Dean Wormers "double secret probation" in the film "Animal House".

The Mayor and the council are declaring a fiscal emergency.

Emergency? They should call it a catastrophe!

The pension fund has a hole of about 20 billion dollars.

The only positive news here is that citizens are free to leave.

And much like the case of Detroit, Michigan....when their local government fails them, they can -- and will -- leave.

Los Angeles faces a massive population exodus in the near future over this criminal mismanagement.

Congrats to the Kings!

I've been out and about today and I couldn't help noticing all the fans with Kings jerseys swarming towards Red Line subway stations to head downtown for the parade.

Congrats to the Kings. Their unpredicted run to the Stanley Cup brought great joy to long-time fans.

I'll be honest, I wasn't that big of a Kings fan before they made the finals, but I am a fan now.

I watched most of the Finals games with friends at sports bars.

Good times.

The Rehabilitation of Carmen Trutanich

Yesterday, I met with local writer Joseph Mailander to do my first interview as the Republican Nominee for Congress from the 28th District. The interview had a lot of depth to it, and went on for quite some time. We touched on a variety of subjects, including the recent defeat of Carmen Trutanich in the District Attorney election.

I mentioned to Mailander my shock at the result. I told him that never in a million years could I have imagined a situation where I would still be in the November election, and Nuch would be out! We briefly covered some of the reasons. I explained to Mailander that I had nothing against Alan Jackson -- and I suspect I would agree with him more closely on ideological matters -- but my support for Carmen Trutanich was based on a personal friendship that evolved on the campaign trail for City Elections back in 2008-9.

It is difficult for some people to remember now, but Nuch was practically a hero in that election. Jack Weiss was widely despised by many of his own voters in the 5th Council District. Neighborhood activists were desperate for a good guy to take out the black-hearted Weiss.

If you look at the above video, it is from one of Ron Kayes SLAP meetings in 2008. A politically-driven community activist get-together that had a large influence on the 2009 election. It was small meetings like this that let the voters get to know these candidates on an up-close and personal basis. And it helped mobilize public opinion against Measure B, a solar-energy scam which went down to defeat at the polls.

The very same Ron Kaye who eventually became a big critic and detractor of Carmen Trutanich can't say enough good things about him back in this 2008 video. The irony that Ron Kaye is listed in many media sources as one of the contributing factors to his defeat should not be lost on Carmen Trutanich.

Mailander seemed pleased that Trutanich was out. He asked me if I thought Nuch could recover. I said he could, as long as he followed a better path. Politics is filled with second acts and recoveries from near-death experiences. Yes, Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich can recover and be re-elected as City Attorney.... if he follows better advice. He needs to rehabilitate his political image. I will give him the following consulting advice for free.

STEP 1: FIRE JOHN SHALLMAN

Sorry, Nuch, but John Shallman needs to go. He gives bad advice, takes way too much money, and loses elections for people. Why he is even considered a good consultant is beyond me. He got lucky with the first Nuch campaign in 2009 because Jack Weiss was so hated by his own voters. He also got lucky with Wendy Greuel because she ran against underfunded opponents that were not well known. The next Titanic-like campaign of Shallmans was his sinking of the U.S.S. Christine Essel in the city special election for Council District 2.

Shallman somehow got Essel to blow over one million dollars on a City Council race ...and lose! Essel is a charming lady with a sparkling personality. She was a hundred times better than The Dark Lord, Paul Krekorian. If Essel had spent her time calling voters instead of donors, she wouldn't have lost that election by a few thousand votes. Christine Essel should have been knocking on doors and knocking voters out with her charm. Instead, Shallman had her chained to a desk, calling people from outside the district and asking for big money donations.

Shallman then went on an idiotic tirade of sending 157 mailers to each voting household. Shallman doesn't understand that there is a pain threshold with political campaigning that starts to produce diminishing results. If voters weren't voting for Christine Essel after the 10th mailer, they sure as hell weren't voting for her after the 100th mailer.

(Memo to Wendy Greuel: You need to dump Shallman, too. You will not be lucky enough to run against Nick and Suzy in 2013. You will face heavy hitters like Eric Garcetti and maybe Zev Yaroslavsky. Shallman will bankrupt you, and make sure that you lose)

STEP 2: A LISTENING TOUR

Nuch needs to go on a "listening tour" -- as Hillary Clinton likes to call it. He needs to start going back to these small local meetings with only 50 people in the room. He needs to address where he went wrong. He needs to ask for criticism, and let voters yell at him a little bit...to address their frustrations. He needs to be humble.

More than anything ...he needs to show up! I heard from Mailander that Nuch had skipped many of these small local events and forums during the election! This was news to me! This was a multi-candidate race in a low-turnout election. What type of idiot would advise their candidate to offend voters and pull a no-show?

Oh, yeah ...John Shallman. That's right. I forgot.

For those of you out there celebrating Nuchs defeat in the DA race, he only fell behind Alan Jackson by a 1% margin. If he had shown up at some of these forums, the lack of respect for the voters he showed would not have been a factor in the election. That 1% suddenly looks very troubling to me when I hear about these events. It is much more difficult for your opponents to call you "a liar", "a cheat", and "an animal" if they have to be in the same room as you.

It was an unbelievable tactical error to not show up. It offended voters.

STEP 3: BRING BACK THE OLD NUCH

Yeah... the rising rock star that beat Jack Weiss. He is still in there somewhere, and he can come back out again. After a few months of mea culpas to the local community members, Nuch needs to bring back out the old Rock Star Nuch. The guy who people couldn't wait to vote for back in 2009. Remind voters of who he is and how hard he is fighting for this city. Show them the results he has achieved. Make a big splash in the media.

(I'm personally rooting for an arrest of Jan Perry, Tony Cardenas, or Richard Alarcon.... but first things first)

Remind voters of why they picked you in 2009. Some of the voting constituencies are probably not recoverable. The marijuana crowd only wants to bury the hatchet if they can plant it in Nuchs back. But that is the price tag of being in law enforcement. You ruffle a few feathers.

Nuch has no reason to fear Mike Feuer.

Hell, Mike Feuer lost to Rocky Delgadillo.

Nuch can recover from this loss and be re-elected, but he needs to make an effort to rehabilitate himself, politically. It won't be easy, but it can be done.

I'd be happy to help him out.

25 years ago today: Reagan at The Berlin Wall

Some of you might remember this special moment in history.

President Reagan went to Berlin and told the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall.

It is not the might of our armies that makes us a great nation.

It is our morality.

Manny Aldana for City Council!

I received an email early this morning letting me know that my friend Manny Aldana will be running for Los Angeles City Council in District 9 in the City election in March 2013.

I'm happy to support Manny in this run for City office.

Manny supported me when I launched a recall attempt on Antonio Villaraigosa. By supporting me, he knew he was burning certain bridges and making enemies of certain elected officials.

Manny has character, and is not afraid to lead by example.

The South Central area of Los Angeles would be lucky to have him as their Council Member.

Bye Bye Betsy!

I firmly believe that Betsy Butler is going to lose her November election for State Assembly.

I have several reasons for believing this.

1) Butler annoyed voters with too much mailing in her campaign. As a result, she only pulled in about 25% of the vote in the primary. She also pulled the "plastic baby bottle" stunt, which was just outright weirdness.

2) Her opponent, Mayor Richard Bloom of Santa Monica, has a powerful support base of voters built in.

3) Bloom also stayed out of the Betsy Butler/Torie Osborn dustup, which led to some hurt feelings in the Osborn camp.

4) I believe most Osborn voters will tend to go to Bloom, out of animosity towards Butler.

5) Bradley Torgan has a decent crowd of supporters, and I believe somewhat over 50% of them will go to Bloom, giving him the numbers he needs.