Civic? Civilized? Politics Is a Nasty Business

Disgusted, repulsed, offended. On both a national level and a local level, politics is a filthy, nasty, ugly business. When all is said and done, it all comes down to money.

The windfall that enabled WeHo to go on a building and tree chopping frenzy was not a windfall. That money is made to sound like the tooth fairy on steroids dropped cash in our little city. This money was a bond issue that was sold and must be serviced and paid back.

No one inherited $125 million and gave it to WeHo - no strings attached.  We are not flush and in the black. We are delusional and in debt - 30-year debt. But debt is debt, and the bonds will have to be redeemed, which cannot be said for many of the locals.

The Aaron Brothers parking lot on Santa Monica Boulevard past Sweetzer was half empty as I went and returned from Beverly Hills earlier this week. Street parking was available. City lots were half filled. The robo park toy for City Hall is an idiot's fantasy writ large.

has no business putting his name on the atrocious county library on San Vicente. To imagine he does is the epitome of his own hubris and vanity and neediness. Sorry John - naming that library after you is in the same vein as the FBI building named after J. Edgar and the Washington D.C. airport being named after Reagan. Delusional thinking. If you want a library named after yourself, build your own with your own money and grow up.

is a lovely and cherished piece of property that speaks volumes about our heritage and the man who established his life on it and gave it to us. Where is his statue? Want to chop trees, start a Christmas tree business and add a parking lot? The ghastly and contested plans proposed are not exciting or modern. They are hideous. Leave this park alone.

. We have approximately 25 to 30 pharmacies in our little burgh. Do we need another one? Do we really? I was in a Walgreens the other day and was not impressed. I do agree about the donut shop though.

Commissions. Robert of Rules of Order fame must be rolling in his grave. Never has so much fol-de-rol been performed in the wasting of time since snake oil salesmen moved to the stump and ran for office.

Drunk shuttles and - Isn't anyone embarassed?

Sal Guariello's (not a cent of taxpayer will be spent - ha!) Don't ask, Don't Tell Memorial is an insult to the folks who wanted to serve but were not allowed due to bigotry. To folks who died in needless wars (Vietnam) and were passed and then forgotten with the rest. As sweet a chap as Sal seemed to be, watching him emulate Strom Thurmond was sad and disrespectful just like his monument. 

Countries, states, cities and towns with lifetime office holders are usually places you don't want to visit and/or don't trust. I cite Kim Il Jong, Robert Mugabe, Federalissimo Franco, The Perons, Fidel Castro and Idi Amin. And this is just a few.

John Duran pitched a fit. I wasn't there, but the video indicates he really went for it. A moment when both John and the 1st Amendment got a workout and I am not sure he was wrong.

The Digital Age brings us political and personal archaeology ops that were only a dream two decades ago, for better or worse. It is not going to disappear. We may have hit the point in time where dirty linen and nasty little secrets have become a thing of the past. Think about the old saw - you cannot unring the bell.

Guess for whom it tolls?