Red County/OC Blog editor Jubal/Matt Cunningham and I have been involved in a protracted discussion on his blog regarding Janet Nguyen and Van Tran, amongst others. My contention is that Cunningham pretends to be fair and even handed, but in truth he picks on people he doesn’t like and ignores the acts of his friends in the O.C. GOP machine.
That is certainly his right – but he often insinuates that what I do is somehow worse than what he does. Cunningham may be more nuanced…but his sin is omission, and that is just as effective as anything I write about the politicians I don’t like (and that list is a long one).
Apparently I wrote that Cunningham was a hypocrite recently, and he deleted my post and then threatened to ban me from his blog. That is his right – but isn’t it hypocritical for Cunningham to rip Janet Nguyen for 53 days while he has TOTALLY IGNORED a far more serious crime – because it involves his friend, Orange Councilman Denis Bilodeau.
Nguyen did not file a campaign report on time because she and her legal advisers had questions about it. Bilodeau, on the other hand, was caught stealing a campaign sign last year that belonged to his opponent, Carol Rudat. (See the picture above). But don’t take my word for it.
Here’s what O.C. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas had to say about the Bilodeau matter in a press release dated November 6, 2006, “Orange County Water District board of directors member Denis Robert Bilodeau, 38, Orange, was charged with misdemeanor petty theft and malicious mischief or vandalism. The maximum sentence for this case is six months in jail.”
Rackauckas has included an item regarding Bilodeau’s upcoming trial, which begins on June 12, in his latest case management list. I have included a reproduction of the part that mentions Bilodeau above.
Nguyen faces perhaps a fine for her late report. Bilodeau is looking at six months in jail. Why isn’t Red County/OC Blog reporting on his trial? Why did they make such a big deal about Nguyen, comparatively speaking?
It has been 215 days since Rackauckas first put out a press release about the charges against Bilodeau. And we are still waiting for Cunningham to mention this case on his blog.
If you get tired of waiting for Red County/OC Blog to write about Bilodeau, you can read more about Bilodeau’s shenanigans at the Denis Bilodeau Exposed website.
UPDATE:
As of today, Tuesday, June 12, there has still been no mention of this story on Red County/OC Blog. That brings us to 217 days without mention of this story!
C’mon Art you know it is only “hypocrisy” when you or I are involved in the conversation. Just as it is only “hatefilled” and “angry” when we say something about someone. However others are free to do as they wish and say what they like about us and they are being truthful and honest and just expressing themselves. We are surrounded by hypocrites buddy, they just don’t know it or refuse to admit it. Jubal is just one of many.
“hatefilled” and “angry”…… #1?
These are the words used by OJ socialists only.
“However others are free to do as they wish”……. #1?
Others are simply censured by OJ socialists.
So what is new Sean?
Stanley,
We censure you because you can’t help but use F words in most of your posts. When you can learn to control yourself you may post here at will. However, you are not a young man. If you have not learned self control yet, it is not likely that you ever will. Indeed, your last days will likely be lonely and sad, and most of all alone. Such is the fate of foul curmudgeons.
Deflect, deflect, deflect — keep it up, Art! It’s what you do best!
Rackauckas has included an item regarding Bilodeau’s upcoming trial, which begins on June 12,
BTW, you claimed on my blog that the trial was in March. And par for the course, you only fact-check your claim after the fact.
Be honest, Art. There’s nothing Janet could do that would prompt you to criticize her. And since you can’t mount an honest defense of the donor disclosure, you try to change the subject to Denis Bilodeau. It’s like arguing with a 9-year old.
Apparently I wrote that Cunningham was a hypocrite recently, and he deleted my post and then threatened to ban me from his blog.
“Apparently”? Art — do you not even know what you do anymore?
I deleted that post AND my response to it the warned you to cease making personal attacks or you’d be banned just like anyone else who broke the rules.
Don’t make it seem like you were singled out. You have this habit of lying via half-truths.
Sean:
You need to ramp up the hyperbole to your usual DefCon4 level. Throw in a “We will not be silenced!!!!!” or “They cannot stop us from exposing the truth!!!!!!!” to make it a bona fide, over-the-top Sean Mill comment.
We all know that Jubal will not mention anything about Bilodeau on his blog…it is better to rip on an asian woman.
Poster 7,
Unless of course the Asian woman is Van Tran’s indicted wife.
Jubal,
I don’t save the copy that I post on your site. Once you deleted the offending comment I had no way to know what exactly it contained.
And I am not trying to make it look like I was singled out.
The point I am making here, which you are dodging, is that you ignored Bilodeau’s case and went after Janet.
Even Total Buzz has mentioned the Bilodeau case. But not Red County/OC Blog.
You are always insinuating that your site is a legitimate one and mine is not. But leaving out the Bilodeau case is a MAJOR omission. It calls into question the integrity of your site.
As does your unending attack on Janet Nguyen.
Note to our readers,
Jubal/Matt Cunningham emailed me the comment he deleted from his site:
“Carona, Norby and Rackauckas have all routinely violated Tin Cup. Where is your anger at them? Oh, that’s right – you’re a hypocrite.”
He said this post constituted a personal attack on him. I apologized later for calling him a hypocrite, but isn’t it hypocritical to attack Janet Nguyen without mercy when O.C. GOP machine stalwarts like Sheriff Mike Carona, D.A. Tony Rackauckas, and Supervisor Chris Norby have all violated Tin Cup – and we we were never subjected to massive coverage about those violations on Red County/OC Blog?
Again, this is typical of Red County/OC Blog. They simply do not report on stories that hurt members of the O.C. GOP machine that are their friends. Then they hammer those they dislike. But they rip my blog for being less professional than theirs…
We are what we are. We don’t pretend to be CNN. We’re the Little Engine that could. And now we all know that you can’t count on Red County/OC Blog to tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They will tell you what they want you to know – what their GOP masters allow them to.
Carona’s TinCup Violation was reimbursements to himself that he did not fully allocate out on the forms, Norby’s violation was failure to report occupation and employer information for some donors….I am not aware of ANY Rackauckas violations.
The difference is Carona and Norby both reported, within the law’s timeframes. Carona failed to file what he spent his $ on to be reimbursed from his campaign and Norby failed to file some donors information. At least they were filed in the first place and were not with held from the public/voters.
Flowerszzz,
No. The difference is that Carona and Norby knew what the law was. And got it wrong anyway. Janet and her lawyers had a legitimate question about the report she needed to file. The filed it once they cleared up the questions they had.
In the meantime Red County and Total Buzz beat up on Janet – even though they had not previously beaten up on Carona and Norby. And even though Red County has utterly ignored the bigger story regarding Bilodeau.
And you wont’ read about Van Tran’s wife’s indictment at Red County either. She pretended to be a lawyer and got caught. Wouldn’t you say that is a lot more serious than a late filing?
Mr. Pedroza,
Janet Nguyen could have prevented criticism if she would have been a bit more vocal as to her reasons why she was delaying reporting. You have to admit that as time dragged on it started to look fishy.
Art while I agree that Mrs. Tran’s violatin is more serious – that is not Van Tran that is his wife. You have nothing on Van himself.
Yes the other 2 know tincup however, their issues had NOTHING to do with tincup they were omissions that would have been required regardless if tincup was there or not.
Same as Janet however they are quoted in the paper as saying that they told the contributors that these donations were not reportable PERIOD which is NOT TRUE and does not follow the law – tincup of otherwise.
Additionally, would it not have been prudent for her or her attorney’s to say “Hey, we are having some questions looked over to be sure we have to do this”? rather then looking like they were ignoring the law?
You want to hold Norby and Carona accountable for their violations HOWEVER not Janet? Norby nor Carona withheld, and both made their amendments within the time alotment. Why does Janet not have to be held to the same standard?
You are as guilty as you accuse Jubal of being.
Flowerszzz,
I agree that Janet’s staff and legal advisers could have handled this mess a lot better. I am sure they will improve as time goes by. Hiring Matt Harper will certainly help them. He is a very savvy political player.
All of the Tin Cup violators should be duly noted – but none of those violations are earth shaking.
This whole story about Janet’s late report was, in the words of the Bard, “much ado about nothing.”
As for Van Tran, it is true that he has not yet been caught doing anything illegal. With his sugar daddy Mike Schroeder covering for him at the D.A.’s office and the Sheriff’s office it is not likely that any charges will ever be filed here.
However, the Democrats have no love for Van Tran. He is a threat to their hold on central O.C. They hold the CA state attorney general’s office and soon (next year) will likely take the White House. Then the U.S. Attorneys and the FBI will be unleashed on Tran’s operation as well.
It is only a matter of time before something comes up to the surface. And when it does we will be here to report it.
LOL Art – I am quite sure you will…you only report bad news on the people you don’t like (just as you accuse Jubal)….and glaze over those you do….but hey that is to be expected. I seriously doubt the Dems will take the White house if Shrillary or Obama wins the primary.
I will disagree that some of the violations are not earthshaking however…..I think omitting occupation and employer information is minor yes, however telling your donors to give to your attorney and that there are no contributions amounts nor will it be reportable is a pretty blatant and serious violation. Not to mention the fact that she claims that she never saw the $ nor heard of who gave and how much, when it was mailed directly to her campaign office is suspect to me. Seems to me that she has Larry, Curly and Mo advising her.
All I am saying is that if you blew it, you blew it…take some responsibility and quit shifting the blame to someone else. That is the sign of a person with integrity.
Flowerszzz,
The difference is I never said that we don’t pick on politicos we don’t like. We are what we are…and quite frankly this blog would be pretty boring without the occasional chisme.
Remember that my position is that while we sometimes break news, we are a political commentary blog…and I do try to be entertaining as well.
Give Janet a chance. She deserves it. She got elected in a very tough race and now her constituents need her to work for them. All of these distractions take away from that.
I don’t know if Janet has a bunch of Stooges advising her, but I do know that Matt Harper is now working for her. He knows what he is doing! Hiring him was a great move by Supervisor Nguyen.
As for the shifting of blame, we have been doing that ever since Adam told God that “she made me do it!” Welcome to the human condition…
Here is a little Tidbit about Dennis Billedeou I bet you didnt know. he conducted and wrote the bogus parking study that is allowing Steve Sheldon to buy up a parking lot in Garden grove which is publicly owned for robber baron prices and stick a huge condo development on it forver taking away the parking for maion street merchats which they paid for out of their own pockets. Hows that for reverse eminnet domain. Private to private condemnation and blightin of a public resource and giving it away to one guy without a public bid.
Jubal is friends with some guy that tears down political signs of an opponent.
Then lies to a police officer when ask about his wherabouts that night.
Then tries to run back inside his house when questioned by police. Everybody, knows had this guy been some minority that cop would have tackled this fleeing crybaby at his doorstep with the old knee to back prssure so that he could restrain this combative suspects.
On top of this he tried to shut the door on the cops face but the cop stopped it closing by jamming his foot before it closed. This is another act that would have resulted in a “football”rush on the door and violent body slam of the “fleeing suspect”
But they knew he was running for city council. Of course he tried to let the police officer know who he was by calling the officer his name. Isn’t their something against opublic officals using their position to thwart a police investigation.
So we have someone who did all these things and he’s friends with Jubal.
I of the mindset that a man doesn’t run behind some public status to get a pass, should respect the law and lead by example, should admit to any wrongdoing no matter who petty it is.
REal men don’t act like Bilodeau and real men don’t support someone like Bilodeau. That’s you Jubal.
Note to our readers,
Check out this link at the Greater Orange News Service. They too are covering the Bilodeau trial.
rt – She created all of these distractions herself.
Art P.
You had your post deleted because you called Jubal a hypocrite.The reason for the ban has because Jubal claimed it was a personal attack. In post #5 Jubal calls you a liar. He writes – ” You have a habit of lying via half truths”.Using his logic of personal attacks.Calling you a liar, would be a personal attack.He just reinforced your hypocricy claim.You did not delete his personal attack on you. You are the better man. Keep up the good work and congradulations on the blog ranking.
Boy does it show that JUBAL’s parent’s did not teach him to “Not Fight With Girls”. Or in Janet’s case, “Pick on Girls”. He needs to move on with is obvious less than fulfilled life.
Is there any truth to the rumor that T Rack is pursuing this case against Dildeau because he refused to endorse Corona for Sheriff?
Don’t you love how Art claims ignorance when someone raises a topic he doesn’t want to discuss, but when it comes to slamming someone he doesn’t like, he’s all of a sudden Mr. In The Know.
And Artie, i don’t think you and your little yes-minions here in the comments thought this Bilodeau thing through very well.
You realize you look like a shill because your giving Janet a pass on violating TIN CUP when everyone else is calling her to account for it. So you try to justify if by saying Cunningham is giving Bilodeau a pass for tearing down a campaign sign.
In other words, your comparing your giving Janet a pass to Cunningham giving Bilodeau a pass. And in case you still don’t understand, your admitting your giving Janet a pass.
You have no credibility, and these anonymous kooks who worship you here have zero credibility by association.
Hey Art Lomeli! Just a thought for your teeny-weeny brain: Art is a liar. Cunningham isn’t a hypocrite.
Disagree with Cunningham, and he’ll argue with you, even after he should just give it up.
But disagree with Art, and he’ll just call you names.
That might be part of the reason way more people read his blog, and the nuts and kooks and morbidly curious (like me) are the only ones who read this rag.
pedrozabot (Whitacre),
If you insulted Jubal on his blog the way you rip me on mine he would ban you from his blog. So no, he is not close to being as tolerant as I am of disagreements.
BTW, speaking of calling names, you appear to be unable to make an argument without calling me names. Does that somehow help to stoke your insecure ego? Your barbs don’t bother me. They just underscore your inability to argue intelligently.
pedrozabot,
Give me a break – Janet’s late filing does not even begin to compare to the Bilodeau matter. And no, I did not give her a free pass. I just declined to participate in the blog lynching that was led by Martin Wisckol.
I have been very consistent about this. A late filing of a report – particularly when the filer has legitimate legal questions about it – is not worth wasting space on.
http://orange-politicos.blogspot.com/
It’s a waste of the taxpayers money to try this case. Bilodeau should be pleading out, pay a fine, admit his mental meltdown, and move on. I agree with Jubal and Mike Lawson’s posts that urged Janet to come clean and post the names. WHen she did, as Wiskol mentioned, the issue fizzled. I think the same thing would happen with Bilodeau. This would fizzle. Signs get torn down frequently, the world moves on and COGS makes more money.
Jubal is a friend of Bilodeau. I think a friend would post this advice -“Plead and move on”. I suspect Jubal has talked to Bilodeau who told him he is going to win the trial because there was no ID on the sign. And Jubal is deferring to Bilodeau rolling the dice. I think its a big mistake. If Bilodeau wins, it will be on a technicality and will give a green light to those that tear down signs. Everyone will know he did it and skated on a technicality. If he loses, the judge will be p.o’d he didn’t plead and may make him serve time—even though he’d probably be able to stay at the Santa Ana Hilton Facility.
Speaking of the Judge, will Judge Kim Menninger handle the trial or assign it out? She’s a former Deputy DA who got the endorsement of Carona,Rackauckas and Todd Spitzer in beating former Congressman Bill Dannemeyer’s son to get elected. If she handles the case will she be a bleeding heart conservative judge or a law and order liberal? (switch the roles if this was a Democratic councilmember).
Hey Pedrozabot! here is a thought for YOUR teeny – weeny brain.Based on his personal attack logic and his posts,Jubal is a hypocrite.Your mechanical robot brain is not programmed to understand this.It is only programmed to attack Pedroza and his little yes-minions.
You write in post #26 “you disagree with Art ,and he will just call you names”.Aren’t you the kettel calling the pot black.How hypocritical of you!
Partisan politics and personal dislikes is what drives political blog threads.Meanwhile the residents best interests are overlooked.
Bladerunner,
I agree. Bilodeau should have copped a plea. And if Jubal thought he was innocent he should have said so rather than ignore the story.
I think it is inexcusable to steal signs – and stupid for a candidate to do this. It speaks ill of Bilodeau’s ability to think things through.
Bilodeau did not take down his opponenets sign….he took one down that said Dump Bilodeau – you can see in the video he left his opponents sign alone. I am willing to lay odds 10 to 1, that if you Art saw a sign that said Dump Pedroze….you would be very tempted to remove it as well. Was it dumb, yes.