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So, I have SOMEHOW morphed, despite myself, into the de facto leader of the Anaheim Democratic Club (which is meeting tomorrow – Saturday Oct 6, 12:15pm, at West Anaheim’s Haskett Branch Library – EVERYBODY is invited.)
This means I have new severe strictures placed upon me – when I am wearing the hat of the Anaheim Democratic Club. I can’t speak well of a Republican candidate – even one in an R-R race (*cough*Todd*) who is night-and-day better than the Republican he’s running against (*cough*Tony*). When there’s a DPOC-endorsed Democrat in the race, who I think sucks, I cannot speak ill of them, or well of their opponent(s), be they Republicans, independents, Greens, Libertarians, or even better Democrats! Hell, as far as I know I’ll even get my ass kicked for expressing a different opinion on an initiative than the official Party position, whatever that might be.
But all these strictures only apply when I’m wearing the “Anaheim Democratic Club hat.” And the days and nights are long, and I will not always be wearing that hat. Here’s my October newsletter to the Club:
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Hello Anaheim Democrats!
What a crazy time we’re living in, aren’t we? The worst President in US history, allied with a majority Party that mostly despises him but uses him because he’s invaluable to their overarching decades-long project of enriching the rich, impoverishing the poor, strengthening the strong and killing off the weak.
The nation’s eyes are focused on Orange County which, it is hoped, could provide FOUR red-to-blue seats that will enable Congress to drag the nation back to goodness, light and humanity. We don’t need to worry about our own Congressman, Lou Correa – he’s completely safe (and could afford to take more chances than he does.) And it’s looking good in the rest of the County for Harley Rouda, Katie Porter, and Mike Levin to beat their respective Trump enablers.
Medrano.
But right here just a couple of miles north and west (Fullerton, Buena Park etc.) we have the closest of our races, that of worthy Gil Cisneros against the horrific Young Kim. Young Kim’s campaign has been attacking Gil with nonstop grotesque, false ads, based on a misunderstanding he had with a young female politician which is now cleared up, but which the Republicans have exaggerated into a horror story. If some of us want to travel a few miles (across the 91 or Beach) and volunteer to help someone who deserves to be in Congress, that might be the best way you could fight Trump.
Gil’s political director Martin Medrano will be at our meeting Saturday (left) to sign you right up. Let’s get Gil on the Hill!
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Who else is coming to our meeting? So glad you asked – we will have Monika Broome over explaining to us the 12 initiatives that will be on our ballot this November. Actually 11 because the one for dividing California into three parts got thrown off. Some of these 11 are more interesting or important than others. I think the one we have to fight hardest for, as it’s not only most important but the rich liars are fighting against it the hardest, is PROP 10 for Rent Control.
So it was good to see a big group of folks out walking recently for both Prop 10 and our best Council member in history, Dr Jose Moreno. 
That is a natural fit – the councilman who has done the most for housing and the homeless, along with the initiative that will allow towns like Anaheim to finally introduce rent control before out-of-control rent hikes add even more to our homeless population.
If you are walking and campaigning for the good Doctor or ANY OTHER of our Democratic-endorsed candidates, you are officially NOT wasting your time! Or, as Tom Paine would put it, “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
What about the Anaheim measures J, K, and L? Well, we all know that we’re in favor of L – a living wage of $15 and rising for the hard-working folks who labor for our resort industry – Disney, Wincome, and the Gardenwalk hotels – companies that have received hundreds of millions in subsidies from us Anaheim taxpayers.
Except it’s getting very complicated and confusing. What companies will L end up applying to? Disney has just recently thrown a spanner in the works by suddenly giving a decent raise to a large FRACTION of their workforce, while giving up their most recent subsidies – the July 2016 one for the hotel they’re building, as well as the 40-year moratorium on Anaheim ever charging a gate tax at Disneyland. On their own, those gestures are surprising and appreciated. But are they really just trying to shield themselves from having to pay the Measure L Living Wage? Is it really so burdensome to pay a living wage that you would give up all those other perks? On the other hand, we have been reminded of a huge 1996 subsidy that Disney is STILL enjoying. It’ll come down to lawyers and judges to argue and decide, when L passes, if it applies to Disney or not.
And then to make things even more confusing, there is J and K. All we get in the mail is pro-J and K literature from Hong Kong-based hoteliers The Wincome Group, proclaiming dishonestly, “J and K ask you a simple question – do you want better newer hotels in Anaheim or older worse ones?” Of course that’s not the question and it’s NOT simple – the real question is do we approve the subsidy ($400 million plus) that the 2016 council tried to give Wincome Group for these two hotels? And to make it more complicated, I would assume if we vote NO on J and K, and Wincome doesn’t get its subsidies, then whether they build those two hotels or not, they will ALSO not be covered by Measure L. Which kind of sheds light on why nobody is out there advertising AGAINST J & K.
These hotel subsidies were bad for the people to begin with, a robbery of Anaheim taxpayers and residents, and so many of us are voting no on J & K, yes on L, and THEN we’ll see who L will actually cover. But maybe our Saturday guest from UNITE-HERE, the celebrated Ada Briceno, can help us sort it all out, and let us know if the unions (which originally also put J & K on the ballot) have a position on them any more!
IN ANY CASE – please come to this Saturday’s meeting, 12:15 at West Anaheim’s Haskett Branch Library (on Broadway near Magnolia) and hear Gil Cisneros’ Political Director, Monika Of the Initiatives, and UNITE-HERE’s Ada #1 … and have a lively discussion as always! See you there, and keep up the struggle!
This should slightly cheer up any of you who may be experiencing Kavanaugh Blues:
*Our KAV MAN Disappointment? Yeah, as Kevin Klein said in Fish Called Wanda:
“Disappointing”. Time To Fix America Again! Hey, we didn’t deserve Obama and eight years of peace and quiet, future tech, marvelous advances in healthcare and vehicles
technology. We didn’t deserve the future of Nano Medicine and long life. We didn’t deserve the peace and serenity of our world….working together for the common good.
No, we needed some serious divisive upsets. We believe we just have too many bored
old people. They have no vision, are worried about the future and the fact hybrid cars can now go 450 miles without a recharge. Scary stuff that they might live to be 120 and have to come up with enough cash to make it that long, while holding off the pernicious kids that want their silverware and plates. Supposedly, the KAV MAN thing is about Abortion? Really? We need the KAV MAN to go to his AA Meetings and do the right thing…..and not take showers with his daughters….for starters. We will be redundant here and mention again: “The Merry Minuette” by the Kingston Trio. Alexa that! That
and “Drinkin Problem” by Midland….and that should put this whole issue to bed. The Three Million bucks that Susan Collins had collected AGAINST HER re-election in 2020 last night is a classic (Against an unknown opponent no less!). Also, we wouldn’t vote Jeff Flake for Phoenix Sewer Inspector…..sad and certainly marks the end of his political career forever! Joe Manchin? That DINO has to go….as well. You look under Political “Ladies of the Evening” and you will find his picture right next to Kevin McCarthy’s. Pretty sad. Ah, but we just have to FIX America AGAIN! Guess we need to start by just voting against anyone that supports The Trumpster….eh?
I (not unlike Bret Kavanaugh !) am not ashamed to admit I like beer (as well as RW !) so have frequently heard or said ” Well, you can’t buy beer, you can only rent it ! “. Apparently now, that will be said about Contemporary Art ! —
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-06/fcking-historical-watch-banksy-painting-self-destruct-sothebys-auction
Historical ? Or hysterical ? LOL. Or Both ?
Both. I wonder who will take the loss? Sotheby’s, I imagine.
Vern,when you have the time, could you please display these links regarding San Onofre?
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/serious-near-miss-with-49-tons-of-nuclear-waste#facebook-share
Well, while we’re waiting to see if Dan prints this, here is my response to http://www.theliberaloc.com/2018/10/09/vanderbilt-anaheims-district-2s-true-carpetbagger/#comments
Hi Dan. I know you have me blocked from this blog, but it really looks like you need a little help here.
First and most importantly, you have to stop using that cliché “over/under.” It does not mean what you think it means. It is a gambling term. You could look it up.
It’s easy to fall into believing the your own BS and that of your circle of friends, when it’s repeated enough. In this case I’m referring to the belief that I make very little money and live in my mother’s basement or something. Actually I’ve had a lot of musical work lately, I perform nearly every day, and I just recently made $2000 for writing one short song (for Taormina’s “Life Rebuilding Center.”) So it wasn’t so hard for me to come up with $788, to make some signs I really believe in.
It’s true that I have been talked into leading the Anaheim Democratic Club (yes, leading – Chairwoman Jeanette will be moving in a couple months.) But when I accepted the post I most definitely did not give up my freedom of speech 24-7. You may have noticed the signs do NOT read, at the bottom, “Paid for by the Anaheim Democratic Club.”
When Jordan managed to get the DPOC endorsement, by making a list of promises to Jeff and Greg, I was pretty skeptical, but resolved to give him a chance. But every time I would ask him a perfectly reasonable question (I think, “What do you think Disney is really up to?”) he would just grin and repeat “It’s SO GOOD TO SEE YOU, VERN!” And I tried to get him to speak at council, in public, “so we can see what you really believe,” and he refused, saying he prefers to “speak to voters one on one.” On top of that he told everybody Disney is not supporting him now, and we’ve just discovered nearly $200K coming to him, from Disney, thru SOAR – his line now is “*I* can’t control what Disney does with their money!” So no, I don’t trust him.
He tried to tell me last night that my signs are illegal, that I need to file with the FPPC. He probably knew that wasn’t true. As I spent well under $1000, I don’t have to do that. So then he changed his tune to “You’re a bad Democrat, Vern, I’m the endorsed candidate!” (Said the guy who endorses Republicans for breakfast.)
It’s hilarious that you think the UNIONS (that must be UNITE HERE – Local 11) paid me for these signs. At least Gabriel’s a little closer to the truth. I purposely designed them, WITH Bushala, in Bushala’s trademark style, which has been 100% successful so far, and got a ride with Bushala to Bushala’s printer. He’s laughing his head off that you think the unions did that.
If Jordan OR Harry OR Mitch wins, our town is in a world of S**T. I am doing my best here to protect our people’s majority from the greedy special interests. R vs D has nothing to do with Anaheim, and I could use some thanks for all the work I’m doing.
“Vanderbilt is the real carpetbagger,” decrees the King of Whataboutism. You would never in a million years understand the sacrifice Vanderbilt made moving to district 2, and announcing it from the dais, on the day that Jordan was trying to undermine the People’s Map and delay district elections indefinitely … on the PRETEXT that James, living in district 3, was a LATINO (because his mom’s Chilean or something) and so the Latino District 3 already has a latino rep, and so district 3 doesn’t need to go till 2018. James turned all that upside down by moving (to a family place in district 2.) He HAD no other reason to move. Anaheim owes James big time for doing that. But somehow Jordan, who actually DID carpetbag, and did it at the last minute, is LESS of a carpetbagger than James because … Dan says so.
I hope I helped clear up a few things here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to run – I’m on KNX right now, explaining how Disney is once again funneling hundreds of thousands (eventually over a million) through front groups like SOAR and the Chamber to candidates like Jordan and to defeating the Living Wage. I’m sure you probably have something real important to do too. Bye now.
Vern Nelson, Anaheim Voters Against Kleptocracy.
OK he printed it. let the games begin!
I had forgotten about Vanderbilt announcing his move from the podium to keep Jordan from successfully squashing Latino self-representation. It really turned the tide there.
As a DPOC member, I’m not supposed to say anything bad about an endorsed candidate, nor anything good about his or her opponent. So I’ll just say that people who opposed actual Latino representation in District 3 starting until this December should thank Jordan for trying and should condemn Vanderbilt for pulling the rug out from under Jordan as he continued to pursue the vendetta against Dr. Jose Moreno that seems to fuel most of his political antics. No, not “antics” — um, machinations? NO! “CALCULATIONS”! (That’s OK to say, right?)
Just attended the most REMARKABLE event! (Thanks to district 2 candidate Duane Roberts or none of us would have known.)
The anti-living wage forces, in the depths of desperation, decided to have a press conference at Maxwell Park, ground zero in the faceoff between homeless folks thrown off the riverbed and NIMBY homeowners… to try and make the difficult case that A LIVING WAGE WILL LEAD TO MORE HOMELESSNESS. They brought along their pudgy old union turncoats too (Medrano etc.)
Good thing we advocates, anti-kleptos, UNITE HERERS, and actual smart homeless people from the park, found out about it – it should make for some good TV now!
I believe that was worth its own story. (Jeez Louise the desperation…)
Shit, I did appreciate not being on moderation on Matt’s blog. But I guess stakes are getting high these last four weeks, and that’s no longer the case.
I tried to post this on his latest scare story:
Disney will be back at the table next year to work out a new deal for building a hotel there, be it 3 or 4 diamond. Nothing else makes sense.
They will either be negotiating with a Council they paid for, or a Council they’ll have to respect. It’s obvious what they’d prefer – they’ve funneled nearly a million so far (mostly through SOAR) to elect Sidhu, Brandman, Caldwell, and O’Neil.
Stay tuned, and think before you vote, Anaheim!
I was banned years ago even though I never broke any of Jerb’s simpleton bowdlerizing rules, and even though his gaggle of Pringle/Chamber commenters regularly exude libels against honorable people.
I wonder how a decent person can reconcile these facts. And then I realize there are people who will do or say anything for a buck. In OC they’re called “public affairs professionals.”
I consider my permanent ban a fun accomplishment.
Guy doesn’t handle losing well.