Again, from SoCal media today, Lt. Governor Candidate Janice Hahn campaign seems to be going down in "flames" this week in the Southern California media over ethics (actually I read the charge is not having ethics) or is clueless, and money changing hands and, well, there is even more. This is starting to appear to me like a bad movie script.
From Ron Kaye Blog (and he has been correct in these breaking matters earlier this week):
Now, I'm heartbroken. But because I'm not really housebroken, I'm going to come out and say it: Janice Hahn may be the dumbest person to ever hold office in Los Angeles - and if you know your LA history, that's pretty freaking scary.
Earlier this week, I got on her for trying to pull a fast one with her City Council/Lieutenant Governor's campaign web sites (insert link). Then I teased her for posing in a newspaper photo with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who isn't exactly the kind of guy you want endorsing you in a Democratic primary for statewide office.
But both of those are small kibble compared to the dumb-ass doozy detailed today in the Daily Breeze. (insert OurLA.org link) Get a load of the first three paragraphs of Art Marroquin's story:
"The president of a ship-building business donated at least $7,000 to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who was expected this month to mediate a dispute between the company and the Port of Los Angeles.
"Hahn was set to step in as an impartial arbitrator amid the ongoing debate between port officials and Long Beach-based Gambol Industries, which has tried since last spring to open a $50 million shipyard on Terminal Island.
"Gambol's president, Robert Stein, contributed $6,500 to Hahn's lieutenant governor campaign account last October and another $500 to her City Council officeholder's account last August, according to online state and city filing records."
Yes, you read it right! Janice took all this dough - and then figured nobody would blink if she decided the fate of this guy's $50 million (!!!) project. A call from a reporter inspired her to change her mind.
When this dog called her out publicly on the web site screw up, her staff politely explained it was just an innocent mistake: all this Internet stuff is just sooooo confusing.
.
I suppose ethics is way too confusing, too. Gosh, there are just soooooo many rules. And the appearance of a conflict being as bad as conflict, well, forget it. There are just soooooo many confusing words.
