Dirty Tricks Promoting “MAGA” Steve Hilton for California Governor

A deceptive PAC is playing dirty tricks to promote “MAGA” Republican Steve Hilton for California governor. The people behind this PAC are either Democrats or the Hilton campaign.

Let me explain.

California has a “top two” electoral system. Every candidate, from every party, runs in a “free for all” June primary; the “top two” face off in the November general election.

About 45% of California voters are registered as Democratic vs. 25% Republican, 23% Independent, and 7% some third party. This means the “top two” candidates in November are often both Democrats.

But this year so many Democrats are running for governor, splitting their support, that the “top two” in recent polls have both been Republicans: Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco. Unless Democratic voters rally behind a single candidate – or unless Hilton or Bianco falls far behind the other – voters might be faced with only these two Republicans on the November ballot.

Enter the dirty trick.

These past few days, I received two mailers “attacking” Republican Steve Hilton. The charge? He’s too “MAGA.” He’s endorsed by Trump. But pay attention -- this mailer is really meant to encourage me to vote for Hilton.

How so? Because this mailer was sent to registered Republicans such as myself, by “Organizations Opposing Republican Candidates for Governor.”

Why would a PAC, sporting such a glaringly anti-Republican name, contact Republicans and warn them about Hilton being too “MAGA” – unless they want to drive Republicans into the Hilton camp?

That’s the dirty trick. This ostensibly anti-Hilton mailer is calculated to encourage Republicans to support Hilton.

Who sent it? If we ask cui bono, then it was either sent by Democrats (to rally Republicans behind Hilton and prevent Bianco from being the other “top two” candidate), or by the Hilton campaign itself. This latter scenario is not impossible. Hilton has a history of ugly politics, and he might yet think that he can win in November, should the Democratic candidate be so far left as to drive Independent voters into the Hilton camp.

No matter. I had already long ago decided to vote for Chad Bianco. Trump can’t sway me on that.

Neither can “Organizations Opposing Republican Candidates for Governor” convince me to vote for Hilton, however desperately they might want me to.

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Chad Bianco for California Governor

When selecting a candidate for public office, it's a good idea to look at past performance to help determine future results. And of all the candidates running in California's 2026 gubernatorial race, I'm most impressed with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's past performance.

In 2020, Sheriff Bianco publicly stated that he would refuse to enforce the COVID lock downs. That impresses me. He's a law enforcement officer who has proven his respect for both Constitutional rights and common sense.

An internet search will reveal many articles citing Bianco's refusal to enforce the lock downs, such as this one from The Blaze: Sheriff won't enforce lockdown order: 'I refuse to make criminals out of business owners' for exercising rights. 

You can learn about Sheriff Bianco's other policy positions at his campaign website.

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Save Santa Monica Airport

After lengthy court battles between the city of Santa Monica and the FAA, the Santa Monica Airport's lease is set to expire at the end of 2028. The city intends to turn the airport into either a park, a site for low-cost housing, or both.

But some people who want to save the airport have drafted a petition on Change.org.

According to the above petition: "During the Palisades Fire, this airport was our lifeline. It served as a staging ground for countless firefighting aircraft, helicopters, and ground support, saving lives and homes. Without it, our response time to future fires could be disastrously delayed."

The petition asks the city of Santa Monica to maintain the airport. But if the city refuses, there is one last ditch hope. The Trump Administration can use the federal government's power of eminent domain to condemn Santa Monica Airport -- so it can remain an airport.

The Trump administration should also condemn that portion of the airport runway that was already taken by the city in 2017, which is why jets can no longer use the airport.

Santa Monica -- and all the surrounding areas -- need the Santa Monica Airport to remain an airport.

Please sign the above petition. And as a backup measure, write to the Trump administration, requesting that they consider condemning the airport so that it can remain an airport.

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Reagan Is Not Responsible for the Mentally Ill Homeless Crisis

In the Santa Monica Daily Press (June 29, 2022), Charles Andrews resurrects a favorite progressive canard when he sneeringly writes, "Thank you Ronnie Raygun for emptying the asylums." But the 1960s progressive counter-culture and the state legislature had more to do with that.

In The Fresno Bee (Sept. 15, 2022), Tom Balch writes: "The emptying of California’s state mental hospitals resulted from the passage, in 1967, of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (named for the sponsors, two Democrats, one Republican).

"This bill, known as LPS, was advanced in response to pressure from mental health professionals, lawyers, patient’s rights advocates, and the ACLU. When fully implemented in 1972, LPS effectively ended involuntary civil confinement of mental patients in California.

"The Democrat-controlled Legislature passed LPS with overwhelming majorities; the vote was 77-1 in the Assembly, and the margin was similar in the Senate. Gov. Reagan signed the bill."

The bill was passed by veto-proof majorities, so Reagan had no legal authority to stop it. Had he tried to do so anyway, progressives would have denounced him as "a threat to democracy."

As for the milieu, well, it was the Sixties, and there was "something in the air" back then. In 1961, Thomas Szasz's well-received book, The Myth of Mental Illness, challenged the authority and expertise of the psychiatric profession.

A year later, Ken Kesey's best-selling novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, portrayed forced institutionalization as inhumane. In 1963, Dale Wasserman adapted the novel into a play. The 1975 film version won five Academy Awards. The tale of a sane person involuntarily committed to a "snake pit" asylum was a staple of horror, exploitation, and TV movies throughout that period.

Governor Reagan was but a small cog in a progressive, counter-cultural zeitgeist that, along with the ACLU, was combating forced institutionalization. Andrews has waxed nostalgic for those liberating times, so he should just kick back and enjoy its fruits. 

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Santa Monica Starbucks Ends Seating Due to Coronavirus

The Santa Monica Starbucks on the corner of Wilshire and 26th Street opens at 4 a.m., and normally has plenty of customers by 5 a.m. But not since Sunday.

I entered on Sunday, March 15th, shortly after 5 a.m., and saw that all the seats and tables had been stacked against a wall. It's "take-out orders only" for the immediate future. The reason, obviously, is the COVID-19 Coronavirus. "Take out orders only" is Starbucks way of encouraging "social distancing" to stem the spread of the virus.

These photos were taken March 15, at 5:18 a.m.:

 

And it isn't just that Sunday is a slow morning. The following three mornings -- Monday through Wednesday -- there were even fewer customers. Instead of three customers, it was only me.

I expect that many people aren't coming in for "take out orders" because sitting for a spell was always part of the pleasure of going to a Starbucks. It's why you paid such high prices for a cup of coffee. The ambiance.

The bathroom is also closed to the public.

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SAG-AFTRA Can't Say "Christmas"

Add SAG-AFTRA to the list of organizations that can't say "Christmas." The Fall/Winter 2018 issue of SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles (the newsletter of the actors union's Los Angeles local) has a "Calendar of Events" on page 7 that states:

Monday, Dec. 24 -- Office closed for holiday

Tuesday, Dec. 25 -- Office closed for holiday

Monday, Dec. 31 -- Office closed for New Year's Eve

Tuesday, Jan. 1 -- Office closed for New Year's Day

Now, which holiday do you suppose the office is closed for on Decembers 24 and 25. There's only one that fall on those dates. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So why not say it?

It's not like the newsletter was referring to the "holiday season." It was referring to two specific days that contain only Christmas.

And it's not like the newsletter is averse to mentioning other holidays. New Year's Day is specifically named.

The only reasons for SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles's newsletter to refrain from writing "Christmas" is that union leaders themselves find the word offensive -- or they fear that the word might offend non-Christian readers.

This is no oversight or trivial thing. The newsletter's editors certainly thought it was important to avoid writing "Christmas." They made a conscious decision to mention one holiday by name -- "New Year's Day" -- while simultaneously avoiding the name of another holiday -- "Christmas."

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Sacramento Bill Promotes Diversity in Hollywood -- But Only "Below the Line"

Sophia Bollag of the AP reports that the California legislature is making diversity hiring a condition for tax credits to the film industry. Unfortunately, this only applies to "below the line" workers.

 

Bollag writes [June 19, 2018]:

"The film commission assigns credits based on a production's 'below the line' jobs, including set builders, makeup artists and extras -- not the highest profile workers, such as starring actors and directors. Applicants who receive the tax credit would help fund a program to train people from underrepresented communities to do 'below the line' jobs on film sets."

That's commendable as far as it goes. But diversity in the workplace will always depend upon the kindness of employers until the gatekeepers to jobs -- producers, studio executives, talent agents, casting directors -- also more accurately reflect our nation's racial, religious, ethnic and gender makeup. Diversity among "below the line" workers is nice. Diversity among decision makers is better.

 

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