Comments on: Could the City Attorney Keep an Eye On the LAPD?

By: larry

larry — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:41:19 +0000

I agree with mark, that “law and order” Democrats are their worst nightmare. As are those who mean what they say about protecting the environment, but are business-friendly at the same time. The leftwing/ most “progressive” faction of the Democratic party are easier for them to marginalize, but when someone makes a lot of sense and has the potential to unite people across both parties, as does Weiss — that poses the greatest danger to them. I will say that Rocky turned out to be one of those “law and order” Democrats facing up to the illegal immigrant aspect of the gang problem too, and even his worst critics applaud his community prosecutor program.

By: mark

mark — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:22:05 +0000

It’s not about politics, the NSA, CIA and FBI are taking over the city and Trutanich and his ex CIA people are deep deep deep into this conspiracy to destroy all our freedoms. Look what Bush senior did to the county – he was ‘ex’ CIA (ha!) and we’re letting this happen under our noses. MaLu and larry are right. There is a vendetta against Delgadillo and Weiss because they are environmentalist and they also know about security – that’s why Weiss is trying to get hired at the airport, to protect the environment, and the last thing DC wants is independent control at the airport. So wise up Celeste, there’s a conspiracy going on, and everyone’s fooled by the dirty tricks these republicans are running.

By: MaLu

MaLu — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:05:32 +0000

Sorry celeste but you haven’t scratched deeply enough beneath the surface, and haven’t looked and read and listened to the right places. Outside, way outside the liberal, sanitized media. They do have a particular vendetta against Rocky that goes beyond the rational and into deeply personal and ideological, to start. Just to start, they make very clear — they aim to use rightwing talk radio as they have in the past, as well as rightwing blogs nd media, to shape all future elections and policy and attack liberal Democrats on principle. Sure they have their charm offensives and pick up enough diverse people to camouflage their base, how else would they have gotten this far? It may not be “interesting” to you but it should be to all of us. With most people in L A having the political attention span and depth of gnats, they count on us not to.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:58:40 +0000

Hmmmmm, this was more interesting when it was about possible policy, but now it’s devolving into the pro and anti-Trutanich factions, which is likely going to get us no where.

By the way, the people I know thus far on Trutanich’s team are smart, sane, creative and not in the least reactionary—quite the opposite, in fact.

By: larry

larry — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:26:25 +0000

Also read the very elluminating comments to Paul Teetor’s July 1st L A Weekly’s (that notoriously anti-Democrat/Bratton paper, in most people’s minds) article, “City Atty Carmen Trutanich in the House.”

One Mort Allen, an elderly gentleman/ homeowner assn. activist/ RonKaye supporter who’s devoted most of his last 2 years to electing Trutanich, gives his blatantly sycophantic take on why this Trutanich/ Cooley/ Baca/ Zine/ Paul Weber-dominating PPL’s rightwing ex-CIA-FBI people’s sweep is good for LA. Instead of being reassuring it is, as rebutter “Los Ojos” points out, very scary. (This is a view commonly echoed by supporters/sycophants and family members in person, on blogs, etc.) Allen supports the contention of Trutanich’s whole family that they were ALL elected to “clean up” the Democratic mess and put them all in jail. (We get lots of weirdly irrelevant and cultish bio info here, too.) It’s a vendetta with messianic-righteous-Christian soldier rhetoric, with overtones of self-perceived aging John Waynes on Harleys, theatrically preying on people’s assumptions that all pols, especially Democrats, are corrupt and need this posse to “save us.”

Vindictive as this bunch is even in victory (start with your regular commenter David (Berger) on Trutanich’s staff, and as nasty and hypocritcal as their campaign was, the extent to which dozens of Trutanich’s all believe THEY were also elected and charged with a mission to seek and destroy whoever they see fit is perhaps the most outrageous thing to have ever happened not only in this city, but any city. While I don’t take any position on Rocky’s tenure or Mark’s opinion of him, he’s right that Trutanich ran the nastiest campaign in L A history but supporters like Baca (with the viciously anti-Weiss attack dog Zahniser on their side for some reason) chose to be blind to it because they were intent on winning whatever it took, to implement their sweep and Cooley’s agenda. It is clear that the vendetta this “old boy’s network” of reactionary Republicans and Trutanich’s clan and Kool-Aid drinkers like Allen (and misc. revenge-seekers along for the ride) have towards ALL Democrats is persecution not legit prosecution, and they MUST be stopped.

By: mark

mark — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:41:09 +0000

It’s interesting Celeste, because unless we stay on top of it, the republican guard will take over this city. It’s a disgrace that so many people were fooled by all the attack ads and mailers that were sent out to destroy Jack Weiss and Rocky Delgadillo. I don’t think there’s ever been a dirtier campaign in history, and I hope that Jack gets the job at LAX to prove that environmental and minority concerns are still valued by intelligent voters. I will be voting for Rocky as our Attorney General because we need someone in Sacramento to protect all that we’ve worked for. Don’t be fooled again by the FBI/CIA agents who are trying to take over our city and our state. We know what Trutanich/Cooley/Baca and the rest of them are doing, and they need to be stopped.

By: Celeste Fremon

Celeste Fremon — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:08:56 +0000

Interesting thread, guys. (“Guys” being a non-gender specific form of address in this case.)

By: larry

larry — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:59:52 +0000

Something else that corroborates my (and mark’s) realization of the obvious: how this is designed to be a slap at Bratton but disguised behind “cost saving” rhetoric that falls apart with the first little poke, like a house of pickup sticks.

Kevin Roderick on KCRW, April 27th, on why the PPL is wrong to want to elect the police Chief:

“Making the L A Police Chief an elected position. The idea’s being floated by the LAPPL. They’re the union that represents the rank and file officers, and would love to have a chief its members could intimidate and control. A chief less like William Bratton, in particular…a union with money, like the Police League could buy its way to tremendous influence (like they just DID, spending $750,000 to elect Trutanich and hammer Weiss).”

“…That (electing the chief) would be better, the League (i.e., its head, suburban Republican Paul Weber and his clique, incl. BFF’s Dennis Zine, Steve Cooley) argues, than leaving the hiring of the Chief solely to the police commission, which answers only to the mayor.

“Editorial writers have called the league’s position cynical and corrupt. I have to agree.

“If anything, the League has too much political clout. Too often it uses its power to obstruct reforms that are making the LAPD a more professional, and more respected, department…

“Its leaders prefer rhetoric that dishes up the old, discredited, less professional LAPD culture embodied by Chiefs like Daryl Gates…

“You get the sense that the old boy’s network is still out there, seething and waiting to take back control.”

Well, with the election of Trutanich they just did, to a significant degree. That “old boy’s network” of old white guys tending to the corpulent and suburban Republican, from Trutanich himself to DA Steve Cooley, Zine, the guys Mark listed, Baca, the judges he lined up at his inauguration, the largely retired old guys he recruited for his tv ads and “testimonials” who knew him 25+ years ago when he did work on the public’s side in the DA’s office, the rightwing radio talk show hosts like Kevin James/ Doug McIntyre, his campaign transition team: ALL of them.

(Sure he’s got some token ethnics and liberals, like Bratton-battling Jan Perry and Prrks, whose disastrous tenure created a need for the Consent Decree in the first place. And even Bill Rosendahl has been lately trying to prove his “mettle” by stymying Bratton and backtracking on promises to use the tripled trash fees for cops — the 1000 goal promised — and swiping it into the mismanaged General Fund, along with a majority of the Budget Committee. Including Parks. And Janice Hahn who Trutanich had long been recruiting “For payback to your brother,” as neontommy.com overheard him say on his cellphone in so many words. And anyone who wants to jockey for position vs. the mayor. But they all just play into his/Cooley’s/Zine’s et al’s last gasp of the “old boy’s network” not too happy with the multi-cultural, 21st century, more professional direction Bratton & Co. have taken the LAPD in. Above all, they hate his independence and refusal to kiss their collective old, white, reactionary Republican behinds.)

By: Janet

Janet — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:50:51 +0000

I’m constantly amazed how things are taken out of context. Read the Daily News story correctly and it states this:
“”"”Among other changes he plans is creating a separate investigation bureau that could have as many as 200 people assisting the attorneys. He said the Los Angeles Police Department provides a team of 85 people to work with the City Attorney’s office. But that raises questions about independence and conflict of interest if his office has to investigate the LAPD, he said.”"”"

Trutanich doesn’t want to waste more millions on a consent decree and that’s it.

By: mark

mark — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:53:12 +0000

larry – right on. they must be related. The whole deal with Trutanich is a set up by the DA and FBI to attack LAPD and Bratton. Most of the Trutanich people are plants from Washington (ex FBI/CIA).