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Alan Jackson seals his fate

Nobody move or the dipshit gets it.

Champagne corks must’ve been popping at the campaign offices of Mario Trujillo, Jackie Lacey and Carmen Trutanich when they received the news that the Alan Jackson for District Attorney campaign (recently noted for running one of the dumbest campaigns in recent memory) announced that it had received the endorsement of former California Governor Pete Wilson. As one campaign manager on a competing campaign put it, "Too bad for Alan Jackson. This poor guy can’t catch a break."

See, an analysis of Pete Wilson’s endorsement record, put out by someone close to a competing campaign for D.A., (that’s not yet a campaign) pointed out that every candidate Petey’s endorsed in the last fifteen years, has lost.  Take a look at Wilson's recent track record:

Dan Lungren – 1998 race for Governor – LOST

Bill Simon – 2002 race for Governor – LOST

Bill Jones – 2004 U.S. Senate Race - LOST

Rudy Giuliani – 2008 race for Repub Pres nomination – LOST

John McCain – 2008 race for President – LOST

*Meg Whitman – 2010 race for Governor - LOST

*Steve Cooley  - 2010 race for Attorney General - LOST

(*) denotes Petey was a Campaign co-chairman

Bottom line - A Pete Wilson endorsement is almost a guarantee a candidate will lose. Republicans in California call it “The curse of Pete Wilson.”

Where did this curse get started?  Well, back in 1994, Californians voted on Proposition 187, which banned illegal aliens from public services like health and education. That changed California politics forever. Republican governor Pete Wilson, who strongly supported the measure, became the symbol of what was--and still is--considered a vehemently anti-immigrant party. This, in a state where Hispanics are becoming a critical voting bloc, with more members joining their ranks every day.

Gaddi Vasquez, a Hispanic stalwart of the Orange County Republican Party, observed recently that “Pete Wilson had destroyed the Republican Party in California among Hispanic voters.”

Linda DiVall, a Republican pollster, remarked, "I don't know how any Republican thinks they can win in California when they’re associated with Pete Wilson. Most members of my party don't get it. They figure by throwing out a few sops they can overcome this hostility. Not even close.”

Take a look at Meg Whitman's recent campaign. True, she opened a few offices in Hispanic neighborhoods. But who was her campaign chairman? Pete Wilson. In some parts of the state, she might as well have been endorsed by Satan, while running for the papacy.

How can Republicans reverse this? “Well, one way would be to steer clear of Pete Wilson, for starters.”

Unfortunately, it looks like poor Alan Jackson is walking down the same path to loserdom as so many staunch Republicans before him. What’s next, a Sarah Palin endorsement? Let me hear your thoughts.

Mario Trujillo bitch slaps Steve Cooley

We don't need no stinkin' Cooley

Too bad Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mario Trujillo doesn’t read this blog.  It wasn’t but 2 weeks ago that we posted our information about Steve Cooley’s political smear machine inside the District Attorney’s office.  Foolishly, Mario walked right into the buzz saw.

Last week the aspiring politician sent out a fund raising email asking potential donors to send him their Christmas money for his sputtering campaign. In the process, attempting to demonstrate he’s a “reformer” he threw in some lines about how the “District Attonrey’s Office” is fucked up (we’re paraphrasing), “and only he has” the cajones to turn things around. (still paraphrasing)

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. Problem is, nobody was buying this crap.

See, Cooley and Mario Trujillo are part of the same management team, which has failed the citizens of LA County for over a decade. If Mario thought things were run so poorly, and reform is desperately needed, then what the hell has Mario been doing all these years?

The irony is Mario is a co-defendant with Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey in the anti-labor and anti-union lawsuits which were only partially settled against them, costing taxpayers at least $600,000 and probably millions more, not to mention the legal fees that taxpayers will have to pay for the private attorneys hired from the Jones Day law firm which will probably double that amount.

Mario hoped to raise money from a gullible and uninformed crowd by writing "I have seen how archaic and inefficient policies of the D.A.'s office have delayed justice for victims, wasted taxpayer money, and put our community at risk."

Does Mario’s "reform plan" include management personally paying for the damage they cause rather than “wasting taxpayer money” by sticking taxpayers with the bill? Then, to further embellish his dexterity at talking out of both sides of his mouth, Trujillo told the Met News, this fundraising e-mail was “not attacking the administration,”  and “in no way was it meant to be a criticism of my boss.” WTF?

Cooley spokesperson Sandi Gibbons was correct, when she called Trujillo’s two-faced comments "disappointing"?! One high-ranking official in the D.A.’s office has told the Dragnet, “It’s a shame Mario’s feeble campaign has resorted so quickly to throwing his colleagues under the bus. But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Mario’s role in Cooley’s union busting tactics included snitching on his colleagues who merely wanted labor representation in the D.A.'s office.  It’s obvious he’s now trying to distance himself from his co-horts, Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey.”  Question is, will the Latino and legal communities back a disloyal snitch?  Probably not. What’s your opinion?

Is D.A. wannabe Alan Jackson another Herman Cain?

"I think I just shot somebody"

The chatter among Los Angeles political observers lately is that Phil Spector prosecutor and District Attorney hopeful Alan Jackson is on his way to running one of the dumbest campaigns in recent memory.

On Saturday December 3, 2011, the L.A. Daily News reported that Jackson was put on notice that he had infringed the intellectual property of Miami photographer Scott Redinger-Lebolt, when he used a photograph owned by Redinger-Lebolt of Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, without the photographer's permission.

After he was caught red-handed, Jackson took a page out of the Herman Cain playbook by employing Cain's strategy to blame everyone but himself. As one keen political observer noted, (not connected to any campaign for D.A.), "Rather than (Cain) take responsibility for carrying on numerous affairs, his camp tried to divert attention by blaming fellow Republican Presidential candidate, Texas Governor Rick Perry.  It didn't work for Herman Cain and it won't work for Alan Jackson."

What makes this story peculiar is that it appears the Daily News was tipped off to this potentially tortuous conduct by none other than Jackson's chipper campaign manager, John Thomas, a young, staunch Republican campaign operative who's track record includes quarterbacking former right-wing radio host Kevin James floundering campaign for L.A. Mayor, and Sunder Ramani's ill-fated campaign for a Los Angeles based Assembly seat.

Essentially, Jackson's campaign was highlighting the he was flagrantly misappropriating intellectual property while infringing the rights of a struggling artist trying to make a living. To add insult to injury, other photographers, not related to Redinger-Lebolt or his lawyer, famed Pasadena copyright litigation specialist, Nicholas Connon, are now claiming that Jackson stole their copyrighted work as well.

Attorneys for Warner Brothers Pictures, the owner of "The Hangover" property are also said to be exploring their legal options against Jackson. One high-ranking motion picture executive at Warner Brothers noted, "It's astounding that someone seeking a top law enforcement office in Los Angeles County would attempt to build their campaign on ripping-off copyrighted content from creative artists and businesses who make their living licensing such works."

Jackson has reportedly only raised an anemic $218,000 so far, less than half of what Trutanich has raised for his exploratory committee.  What has political veterans shaking their heads is that Jackson seems to have foolishly wasted most of those funds on innocuous video clips, built on the apparently unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.

The way this is going, Jackson could find himself spending his remaining dwindling campaign resources fighting numerous lawsuits for copyright infringement which carry a penalty of $150,000 per each willful copyright violation.

What's troubling here is that Alan Jackson seems to have a pattern of playing fast and loose with the law.  On August 10, 2010, Jackson was reprimanded by Department 35 Judge Craig Richman after attempting an unethical end-run around the court in a search warrant matter. Judge Richman stated in open court, "I have never, in my entire legal career - and certainly in my judicial career -- felt so slimed by, frankly, the very office I grew up in. I was raised to believe the District Attorney's office stands for truth and Justice and the Constitution and should not be afraid of the truth. I am beginning to wonder if that was ever the case, or it's just changed since I left the D.A.'s office." At the hearing, Jackson tried to blame colleagues and underlings for what was obviously his own sleazy tactics. The Judge wasn't buying it.

"Bragging about stealing other people's work is not considered an intelligent way to launch a campaign." One observer noted, "Who starts a campaign by shooting themselves in the foot, while blowing all their campaign donations, and then try to blame others for these rookie mistakes?"

It raises questions about whether Jackson is suitable to lead the largest prosecutorial office in the country. A source close to the Jackson campaign commented, "He obviously got caught red-handed and thought the best way to divert attention away from this blunder was to falsely accuse others. If he thought he was innocent, he would've intelligently responded to the photographer's inquiry with points and authorities. Talk about consciousness of guilt. Maybe this guy is not ready for prime-time."