It's a big news deal here that the mayor of L.A. (Antonio Villaraigosa) was caught fooling around with a reporter, Mirthala Salinas, of the Spanish language TV station Telemundo. In psychology we have a saying Past Behavior is the Best Predictor of Future Behavior . Hizzoner had fathered two kids by two different women before he got married and in 1994 admitted to having an affair (he and his wife patched things up just in time for him to run for mayor). So, it would be disingenuous for anyone to be shocked about this--he likes sleeping with women besides his wife. Of course, it doesn't have the same ironic appeal as a Republican getting caught with his pants down, apparently in multiple locations.
Now the chattering classes are wondering whether this will affect Villaraigosa's job performance or whether it will hurt his chances of getting re-elected mayor or getting elected governor in two years. Hm...what's the word I'm thinking of...oh, yeah....NO. Why? Because if he gets anything done in LA he'll be a hero and will get re-elected in a heartbeat. Also, there is no political group in the country that is better in stepping on their own dicks than the California Republican Party. This is because it's run by serious right-wingers (ignoring all the moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats in the state) who would rather be right than win. As a member of a a small 3rd party (Libertarians), I admire their integrity, but it's not a formula that gets people elected. Ahnahld basically fell in their laps and last go around got to run against a couple of putzes, but he'll be termed out. Assuming that Villaraigosa can make some friends in the Bay Area, they'll LOVE the opportunity to elect the first governor "of color". So, while I wouldn't say he's a lock, I wouldn't vote against him.
The other political news here is that Rocky Delgadillo, the LA district attorney, has an ongoing battle with candor and the truth (what is it with our elected Latino males?). Rocky's been covering up for his wife's poor driving of city cars, driving without insurance and having city employees perform personal errands for him. Oh, and after he got elected it turns out that he resume had some fiction in it (for instance, that he attended Harvard on a mythical football scholarship). Although they are both posturing for their next job, Delgadillo gets more heat for it than Villaraigosa (Delgadillo got pasted in the Democratic primary against 147 year old Jerry Brown last year). Quite frankly, the media's not as in love with Delgadillo as they are with Villaraigosa (see, sleeping with members of the press does work!), so that's why they are calling for him to resign. But, I would say that Villaraigosa's rope has gotten a little bit shorter.
In my mind it comes down to this: I don't care if Villaraigosa's fucking crack hos in the mayor's mansion as long as he's fixing the schools, covering potholes and building a train system. Clearly he has judgment problems, so I wouldn't want him making any really big decisions, so I'd prefer he doesn't run for governor. And Ms. Salinas should keep the trojans handy for protection purposes.
Delgadillo's got a lying problem. I have an issue with the city's top prosecutor playing fast and loose with the law. He should resign and go do the corporate lawyer thing.
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2 comments:
I agree, Villaraigosa needs to concentrate in LA and we should not worry about his sexual activity.
Villaraigosa has 3 big things on his plate: LAUSD reform, transportation and airport regionalization. If he makes significant progress on any of those he'll be fine and voters will brush aside his dalliances. But, he already pretty much got punted on LAUSD reform, so he's got his work cutout for him.
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