I don’t believe that you and I have ever met; nor do I know that you even know who I am. But as one father and husband to another, and as a Democrat and an Orange County political blogger, I want to offer you my apologies for the vicious action taken against you today on The Liberal OC blog by its owner, publisher, editor, and virtually sole author of original content, Dan Chmielewski. He is commonly called “Dan C” (among many other things, some of which you may now be calling him yourself) and I refer to him as such below.
Dan C has gratuitously publicized what I presume must be among the very worst moments of your life (let alone the rest of your family’s) as apparent retaliation (which he’ll likely insincerely and ineffectiively deny) for your sending a relatively banal attack mailer on Dan C’s favored Irvine City Council candidate, Melissa Fox, on a basis that (if I remember correctly) had questionable merit.
Despite Dan C’s ties to the Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, as well as a California Democratic Party official serving our portion of the state and many others, I do not believe that they could have read the gratuitous penultimate paragraph of his attack on you without something like the horror that I felt when doing so. It does not represent the best of our local party, or the average of our local party, or even anything above the grime at the very lowest level of our party. It was pure thuggery and I am ashamed by my institutional association with it.
I am trying to determine how I can write about it without calling additional attention to your family’s personal pain, and I don’t see how I can. So I am reproducing the end of his article below with the worst details blurred out and a link to his own piece (for those who absolutely must click, but wisely want to avoid the rest of the site) through an outside site that will deliver a personal message to Dan C when he checks his incoming referrals.
Dan Chmielewski tries his hand at inflicting significant collateral damage on family members for political gain.
I am apologizing to you on his behalf for three reasons:
(1) Because Dan C will never ever do so himself, unless ordered to by someone with influence over him, because frankly there seems to be something not right in his head that is tied to something definitely not right in his heart. I don’t know whether its a form of autism or full-blown sociopathy or mere garden-variety sadism, but he does not seem to understand that there are lines of decency that one does not cross. I do not believe that I can actually shame him with this post — I don’t get the sense that he feels shame — but at least I can let you know that others understand how terrible you must feel and sympathize with your pain.
(2) Because I want to distance Democrats, the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Orange County, and political bloggers in and around Orange County from his despicable actions.
(3) Because I want to reassure you of a few things, which I will now do.
The offending paragraph — coming out of nowhere — begins like this:
“Those wanting to vote for Cheema ought to be aware he’s concerned operatives will use” [the terrible tragedy caused by the negligence of a loved one of yours, of which you had no part, and which I will not detail here because its details are immaterial].
He then counsels you:
Dale ought to try promoting the positives about his experience and his campaign instead of going low.
About Greg Diamond
Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that.
Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too.
He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.)
His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)
I wish I knew how to insert a video here but if yo follow the link, yo will see where we were able to catch video of the Irvine Troll running amok through the blogosphere.
He thinks that he’s Sean Connery in The Untouchables:
“They show up with a knife; you bring a gun. They say that you were part of secret meetings with developers; you publicize a terrible tragedy from years ago that people would not have realized had anything to do with them and let them know that the person who did it was a close loved one.”
The pathetic thing is not that he’s seriously bent, but that people who benefit from that have put up with it for so long.
Dan C has a post up saying that I don’t speak for him. It’s true. If I did, I’d have to drool.
I was apologizing to Cheema on his behalf, something that one sometimes has to do for those who are non compos mentis.
He not only repeats the charge openly in his new post, rather than limiting it to a link, but says that I’m a bully for asking candidates to distance itself from it. Frankly, I think that inviting Melissa Fox in particular to do so is one of the nicest things I could do for her — but whether she’ll grab onto the life preserver is up to her.
Meanwhile, in other news, “OC Dem” and a mini-me of his come out slamming Josh Newman, saying that he hasn’t really helped veterans. I’ve hired someone from Josh’s referral list TWICE this year alone. I strongly encourage anyone looking for extremely competent skilled, semi-skilled, or even (overqualified for) unskilled labor contact him for referrals.
Dan C also responds to the “sociopathic/autistic” speculation with something along the lines of “I know you are but what am I?” Hard to argue with that!
To everyone’s credit, the party tried very hard not to flood the zone, but without success. (They say that we’re like herding cats, but we’re much more likely to scratch and bite.)
We know he’s a bilious sphincter, but’s hard to tell if Lil’ Clumski is as stupid as he pretends.
Here’s his latest offering, a hit on Jose Moreno on behalf of his darling Jordan Brandman:
“Jose Moreno announced LGBTQ endorsement; then why is he allowing IEs from an anti-Gay millionaire to benefit his campaign”
Now we all know that candidates can’t cooperate with IEs, so how can Moreno possibly disallow any activity on the part of Howie Ahmanson?
Of course the real issue is how come the LGBTQ people didn’t get behind the “openly gay” Brandman. Must anyone ask? The LGBTQ folks obviously prefer Moreno to an empty-suited, spoiled-rotten crony capitalist.
Then there’s this morsel: yesterday I got a Republican slate mailer that Brandman PAID to have his mug on, right next to his fellow klepto®, the odious Kringle®. So how’s that for a load of horse shit?
Henry tells me the Troll is criticising Dr Moreno for Howard Ahmansen doing an IE on his behalf. Is this true? Because I recall tales of the Troll defending Lou Correa for Ahmansen touting Lou Correa for the peoples map giving Lou full credit for that map.It must be opposite day under that bridge in Irvine.
. . .
I miss Chris Prevat.
Maybe he’ll come back one day.
I wish I knew how to insert a video here but if yo follow the link, yo will see where we were able to catch video of the Irvine Troll running amok through the blogosphere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqzgu00Amzc
My God.
Dan C went there?
How utterly irrelevant to the current election.
Are Fox supporters actually worried about Cheema? He’s an independent with little backing from the usual suspects.
First,
they’re “flooding the zone” by running Kahn, Farivar, and Ali. instead a unified slate. and now this.
or is Dan C just going off the rails again?
He thinks that he’s Sean Connery in The Untouchables:
The pathetic thing is not that he’s seriously bent, but that people who benefit from that have put up with it for so long.
Dan C has a post up saying that I don’t speak for him. It’s true. If I did, I’d have to drool.
I was apologizing to Cheema on his behalf, something that one sometimes has to do for those who are non compos mentis.
He not only repeats the charge openly in his new post, rather than limiting it to a link, but says that I’m a bully for asking candidates to distance itself from it. Frankly, I think that inviting Melissa Fox in particular to do so is one of the nicest things I could do for her — but whether she’ll grab onto the life preserver is up to her.
Meanwhile, in other news, “OC Dem” and a mini-me of his come out slamming Josh Newman, saying that he hasn’t really helped veterans. I’ve hired someone from Josh’s referral list TWICE this year alone. I strongly encourage anyone looking for extremely competent skilled, semi-skilled, or even (overqualified for) unskilled labor contact him for referrals.
Dan C also responds to the “sociopathic/autistic” speculation with something along the lines of “I know you are but what am I?” Hard to argue with that!
To everyone’s credit, the party tried very hard not to flood the zone, but without success. (They say that we’re like herding cats, but we’re much more likely to scratch and bite.)
We know he’s a bilious sphincter, but’s hard to tell if Lil’ Clumski is as stupid as he pretends.
Here’s his latest offering, a hit on Jose Moreno on behalf of his darling Jordan Brandman:
“Jose Moreno announced LGBTQ endorsement; then why is he allowing IEs from an anti-Gay millionaire to benefit his campaign”
Now we all know that candidates can’t cooperate with IEs, so how can Moreno possibly disallow any activity on the part of Howie Ahmanson?
Of course the real issue is how come the LGBTQ people didn’t get behind the “openly gay” Brandman. Must anyone ask? The LGBTQ folks obviously prefer Moreno to an empty-suited, spoiled-rotten crony capitalist.
Then there’s this morsel: yesterday I got a Republican slate mailer that Brandman PAID to have his mug on, right next to his fellow klepto®, the odious Kringle®. So how’s that for a load of horse shit?
It’s ripe.
Pretty ripe.
Henry tells me the Troll is criticising Dr Moreno for Howard Ahmansen doing an IE on his behalf. Is this true? Because I recall tales of the Troll defending Lou Correa for Ahmansen touting Lou Correa for the peoples map giving Lou full credit for that map.It must be opposite day under that bridge in Irvine.