Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

“For the past 10 years I’ve published a daily newspaper in Nevada County, which is just north of Sacramento, home of most dysfunctional Legislature on the planet. That bunch makes the Greek government look like fiscal geniuses,” the former editor/publisher of The Union wrote in his “introduction” to readers at the (Roseburg, Ore.) News-Review (another Swift newspaper where he was transfered), adding “You know those Californians. They are always screwing things up.” It was titled, “Made the move, blew up the drawbridge.”

But as it turns out, legislators in this ex-California publisher’s new home (rural Douglas County, Ore.) are not only “screwing things up,” they’re doing it in the Golden State — and making headlines all the way to the UK. It’s LOL! squared (or even cubed).

The (Portland) Oregonian broke this story that the Roseburg News-Review newspaper followed this week: “Two Douglas County legislators were among seven Republican lawmakers who went to a topless bar during a California vacation last January, a trip that (led to one GOP leader’s resignation) …”

The rest is behind a “paywall” but the Portland Oregonian provides the scoop in the article “Night in topless bar becomes embarassment for Oregon lawmakers.”

“With Republicans still reeling from the sex scandal involving Rep. Matt Wingard and a young female staffer, former House Republican Leader Kevin Cameron confirmed he abruptly stepped down last month, in part, because of a retaliatory threat that the public would find out about the night he and other GOP lawmakers — including Wingard — spent at a California topless bar.

“No state or campaign money was spent on the trip. But the embarrassing details are surfacing just as Republicans are trying to win majority control of the House, or at least maintain the 30-30 tie that granted them equal power to Democrats in the past two years.

“I am not proud personally about what I did at that point in time,” Cameron, R-Salem, told The Oregonian.

The story not only made local and national — but international headlines. As the UK Daily Mail wrote: “Married Republican lawmaker resigns over visit to topless bar while on golfing holiday with six colleagues.”

TEA PARTY BULLIES

This GOP topless bar scandal comes after we reported: Roseburg is a conservative lumber town — home of Roseburg Forest Products, one of the nation’s largest privately held lumber companies. The city is 94 percent white. And the newspaper — securely planted behind a pay-wall — is a monopoly.

“While tucked away in the Pacific Northwest, Roseburg’s tea party recently made national headlines for its bullying tactics. Last summer tea partiers invaded a quiet MoveOn picnic, breaking it up — and the video went viral.

“The Tea Partiers themselves proudly posted the video of their invasion of the MoveOn picnic,” according to Crooks and Liars. “Moreover, it clearly documents how they effectively broke it up — by threatening the attendees with intimidating speech and making it clear they wanted the group to clear out.”

The video is here. You’ve got to watch it.

The tales of this “burg” (AKA Roseburg) is all subject matter for Tom Lehrer, the American singer-songwriter, satirist and pianist known for the pithy, humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. Some showed dark humor but were widely popular, such as “My Hometown.”

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