Mike Levin Is A Moral Hazard – guest post by Noel Breen

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(Cross-posted from Noel Breen’s blog)

MORAL HAZARD.

I am looking forward to this being the last time I’ll ever write about Mike Levin. Though easily dismissed by his trolls and enablers as blind support for an opponent, my issue with Mendacious Mike is the moral hazard his campaign represents. The fact that people I care for are a member of the “Levin Eleven.” is only part of the story. I’m interested in seeing him go down because I have objected to the way he played the game. Unlike the army of keyboard warriors out there in the 49th Congressional District, I first brought it up when he spoke at my local Democratic Club in early 2017.

My defense of his opponents has always been driven by the fact that each has been the subject of a dirty whisper campaign that is vile and unethical. It’s no accident that Levin’s campaign plateaued after he tried to throw out eleven progressive delegates in San Diego County.  It’s no accident that the two Democratic campaigns who have not gone negative are running one and two. Addressing ethics and concepts of decency matters little to his corporate Democratic supporters, for support of Mike Levin requires the suspension of these values.

Most believe that there are things that matter more than robotic loyalty to a candidate. I actually dealt with a school board member yesterday who supports a guy who lets his bratty young supporters muscle 15-year-olds. The bullying should cause us to question his fitness for office, but in addition, her tolerance of bullying should cause us to question the school board member’s fitness too. In all the appeals to strategic voting and who can raise $$$, the Levinites never seem to address the core issue. His campaign has made our collective skin crawl at least for those of us who are paying close attention.  Each day in our mailboxes we have Levin’s swill, much of it from strange sounding groups like “Californians for Personal Hygiene and Cute Pets.”

This mailer came from “Neighbors for a Better Congress”. It is a sham committee. Its website is http://www.neighborsbettercongress.com. It’s registered at 515 S. Figueroa St., Ste. 1110 Los Angeles, CA 90071.

Its website trumpets the discredited push poll funded by the “Fight Back California PAC”, funded by major Mike Levin donor Ellen Tauscher. That’s the one that Mike Levin trumpets as showing he was running second to Rocky Chavez, after giving defamatory descriptions of his opponents. Here are the real numbers:

Looking at the donor and expenditures filings list we see the key to understanding the anatomy of “Neighbors for a Better Congress”. It’s inextricably linked to Mike Levin’s campaign.

One of the featured donors is the Oceanside Firefighters Association. One must ask how the firefighters like their dues money going to fund hit pieces on behalf of a trailing candidate? Another name on this list is Glen Dake who is a prolific donor to several Democrats including Michael Ted Levin. His FEC report is linked here. His company is GDML Holdings, a landscape architectural firm. The website is http://dakeluna.com/DakeLuna/home.html. One question to ask is if a firm that works with a union like the Carpenters Union could be doing some trade for reporting purposes with a firm of this nature, as a search of the firm’s profile shows estimated annual receipts of $200,000.

The final donor is Real Estate Developer Michael Ray of Laguna Beach, whose musings are linked here. The article linked here speaks of the history of Sanderson Ray, which is the holding company for Michael and his brother Walker Ray. One interesting passage from this hagiography to “Walkie Ray” follows.: “Their company, Sanderson J. Ray Development, owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of commercial space, mostly in Orange County. “We’ve kind of lived off the droppings of the Irvine Co.,” Walkie Ray said.”

Another indirect beneficiary of the “droppings of the Irvine Company” is Michael Ted’s wife, Christine Parker Levin, who was employed by the Irvine Company as a Director of Revenue Management and Property Manager until mid 2016.

MORE DROPPINGS

An interesting exercise is to compare the stylistic similarities, right down to font and Pan tone selection of the “Neighbors for a Better Congress” attack on Sara Jacobs above, and the Levin campaign’s pieces on Doug Applegate. As noted above, we have already established the existence of this PAC as an advocate for Mike Levin.

The most recent attack piece from the moribund Levin Campaign again utilizes the unique graphic signature of Levinism:

FINAL THOUGHTS

I cannot say much more than what we’ve seen. Everyday we travel to our mailboxes, and retrieve junk mail. Nothing seems new here at first glance, but it’s the blatant nature of the poison that offends. Sara Jacobs is a good and decent woman, who is not telling people she is an “Environmental Attorney” while working for a company tied to Exxon. I do not care if Mike Levin wants to trash her for family wealth or whatever poison he has yet to be emit. Sara Jacobs has been in the arena, spreading a message of engagement and empowerment for both her generation and young women. I remember the old story I heard about when JFK ran at age 29. Some old “crusty” worker yelled out to him, “I heard you never worked a day in your life.” He paused and said, “You haven’t missed a god damned thing.” The Kennedy family also used to say to their kids, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Sara gets that concept and is embarking upon a career in public service as a response. Mike Levin is not in her league.

What Mike Levin has done to Doug Applegate is nothing short of trying to destroy a man and his children, because he feels entitled to a House seat. Doug Applegate served this country in a war zone, when he could have avoided Iraq altogether. The only reason the seat interested Mike Levin to begin with, is that Colonel Applegate almost knocked off the richest guy in Congress when nobody else ever came close. Applegate’s ex-wife has stated repeatedly that it would be absurd to use his old divorce filings against him, and that she supports his campaign. He may be flawed as all human beings are, but what we have seen in Mike Levin’s campaign is an attempt to destroy this man as a human being. And to stain his children for life. And the last time I checked, neither Doug Applegate or Sara Jacobs has said a single petty, cruel, or vicious thing about anybody in this campaign. That alone better qualifies them both for Congress, and the right to associate with decent human beings. All you need to do is check your mailbox, to agree.

Mike Levin in contrast, is a figure with such hatred in his soul, such ambitious amorality, that he is why Plato said that those who want power too badly should never be let near the corridors. And as far as that disclaimer, that this work product was “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee, just check the FEC filing above. Mike Levin is a moral hazard, and most assuredly is responsible.

MANY BLESSINGS

NOEL


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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.