election
@LATimes Here’s Your Headline For Tomorrow #JoeTakesOnTheNews
@LATimes Let’s Tell It Like It Is About The Boys Club That Hates Women
@LATimes When Will Your Newspaper Do Any Investigative Reporting On Drunk Judge Train Puller? #JoeTakesOnTheNews
@LATimes Your Timid Tentative Headline Now Fixed To Reflect Reality #JoeTakesOnTheNews
Hey @LATimes, He’s Been Duncan More Than His Doughnuts #JoeTakesOnTheNews
Al Muratsuchi Votes To Kill Community Choice Then Finds Out He Was Duped & Calls Me To Apologize
This political primary season just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Imagine my surprise on Friday afternoon when my cell phone rang and it was Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi on the line calling to tell me he had made a big mistake and that he was sorry.
He wanted me to know that he really regretted his YES vote two days earlier for AB 2145, the CAA Killer bill, which – Surprise! – was written by the big utilities to try and kill Community Choice Aggregation.
Al said he had been lied to about what the bill really says and does and that he didn’t really know anything about CCAs until a few weeks ago. He again said he was sorry, that he had dropped the ball on this one and that he was now going to lobby State Senator Ted Lieu to make sure the State Senate didn’t make the same mistake. What could I say? Al sounded sincere and remorseful…
The Curious Case of Buying A New State Senator From The South Bay
Candidate Ben Allen, running as a democrat, gets $300,000 from the right wing guy who wanted Henry Waxman out of office – Bill Bloomfield – and then Ben tells me he feels “weird” about it.
But not weird enough to make a public statement about the money, where it came from and what Bill Bloomfield wants in return for his three hundred thousand bucks. Ben would have to be a lot more weirded out than this is making him feel.
I’m guessing Bloomfield thinks he’s buying a Ben Allen who would NOT be Waxman-like on the issues. I’m guessing he feels like Ben Allen would be the best representative of folks who consider themselves Republicans.
Ben would protest that, but money talks and that $300k is speaking much louder than any of the weak rationalizations and justifications Ben is now making.
You want to show what you’re really made of, Ben? Publicly turn down that money and tell the guy trying to give it to you that you cannot be bought and you will not allow him to define you and that you know what he’s trying to pull – just like all the rest of us know.
Yes indeed, it is these moments in the spotlight that define character – if you ask the Greenius – and if there’s one thing this race has, it’s plenty of characters.
Now I don’t know much about politics and I’ll be the first to admit that I think both political parties have failed us miserably and have outlived their time. Are they the lessor of two evils or the evil of two lessors?
Continue reading ➞ The Curious Case of Buying A New State Senator From The South Bay
Wendy Greuel Our Best Bet To Get To 100% Renewable Energy In Time
To those of you who know me best and have been reading Creative Greenius since we started publishing in October 2007 it seems pretty silly that any candidate for elected office would seek my endorsement or think that it would do more good than harm.
And you would think that would be especially true for anyone running to become our United States representative from this 33rd Congressional District – the person who will be following the great Henry Waxman in that position.
But in fact, both Wendy Greuel and Marianne Williamson have each reached out to me and I have taken their asks seriously and with more thoughtfulness than usual given the crossroads we find ourselves at climate wise. Without Henry Waxman as our Representative we lose a giant.
I’ve spent time talking with Marianne Williamson’s policy advisor over the last couple of weeks and just this Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting with Marianne one-on-one for about 90 minutes at my own spiritual sanctuary, our beloved South Coast Botanic Garden on a spectacular summer-like morning.
Continue reading ➞ Wendy Greuel Our Best Bet To Get To 100% Renewable Energy In Time
Hey Ted, Here’s My Card
My California State Senator, Ted Lieu, doesn’t know who I am because I have never made a strong enough impression on him during the many times we have talked over the 21 years I’ve lived in Torrance. Because of that Ted cannot remember my name and always asks for my card when I shake his hand and say hello. It pains a sensitive soul like myself to know I have made myself so forgettable and non-noteworthy, but all of us must live in the shadows of those who loom so much larger than ourselves.
I understand that it’s hard for Ted because he has met so many thousands and thousands of far more vivid people than me in the thousands and thousands of campaign events and fundraisers Ted has spent his time at during his decades running for and holding different offices as he moves his way up the rungs of political office. It no doubt makes it harder still because I have never given Ted any money even though he has mailed me two decades worth of requests for campaign donations. And it was my fault for not having a card with me earlier this week when I was part of State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi’s press conference in Hermosa Beach.
So to help Ted out, I just received this big oversized card with my name on it that might help him remember me the next time we run into each other – but because I still won’t be sending Ted any money or voting for him in his run for the great Henry Waxman’s seat, I’m not counting on this either.
Creative Greenius 