Tag: Doug LaMalfa

Union columnist Boardman gets it wrong (again) — this time he’s confused about the “Sunrise Movement”

The published corrections are endless with The Union’s weekly columnist George Boardman, as we all know. And here’s another one that he owes us:

This week George writes, “The Sunshine Movement, the same great folks who helped propel Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into the crosshairs of conservatives everywhere, has announced it is backing Audrey Denney’s encore effort to unseat Rep. Doug LaMalfa.”

Huh? I think George means the Sunrise Movement, not the “Sunshine Movement.”

Listen up “Georgie Porgie”  (rewriting a person’s name with “ie” is George’s way of deprecating others, as if they were a child):

As Rolling Stone explains — “Two days after Doug LaMalfa, a climate-denying Republican, was re-elected to his fourth term in Congress, the Camp fire — the deadliest fire in a century and the most destructive in California’s history — broke out in his district. It raged for two and a half weeks, displacing 52,000 people and killing 67. On Saturday, Audrey Denney — an environmentalist and professor who lost to LaMalfa in 2018 — became the first 2020 candidate endorsed by the Sunrise Movement when she announced her intention to challenge him again.”

So there you have it: Rolling Stone gets it right (“Sunrise Movement,”) and The Union’s weekly columnist gets it wrong (“Sunshine Movement”).

Memo to George: Are you out of touch, confused, too lazy to fact check your column, or all of the above? Perhaps you are confusing the “Sunrise Movement” with John Denver’s “Sunshine on my shoulders”? ROFLOL.

And here’s the irony: Local right-wing blogger George Rebane labels his contemporary “the other George” (Boardman) a “progressive.” Ha! If Boardman is a progressive’s “friend,” who needs enemies? He can’t even get the Sunrise progressive movement right!

A video from the Chico State student newspaper explains it. Listen up George; you might learn something:

LaMalfa Town Hall shows continued shift to the left in local politics

Locals lineup for the LaMalfa town hall meeting (Photo credit: Facebook)

A theme on this blog last year was that elections results are pointing to a shift to the left in local politics. Though much of the local hard right is in denial — including the human global warming naysayers— the handwriting has been on the wall since last June and again in November.

In Nevada County, Heidi Hall won the District 1 Supervisor’s race; Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump for president; Kamala Harris bested Loretta Sanchez for the California Senate; Doug LaMalfa narrowly beat Jim Reed (50.56 percent vs. 49.44 percent) for Congress; and Robert Derlet beat Tom McClintock for Congress — handily. Nevada County is going blue.

This weekend, the trend was reinforced at Doug LaMalfa’s town hall. I listened to the proceedings on KVMR and watched them on YubaNet — in real time. The Union lacked the real-time reporting of the progressive local media, only reinforcing its perception as the “Tea Party Gazette.” (Memo to The Union: The internet is changing how we communicate).

LaMalfa was contrite: He mentioned progressive Nevada City council member Reinette Senum, SYRCL executive director Caleb Dardick and other progressives by name as being instrumental in being catalysts for the town hall meeting.

Meanwhile, rightwing activist and blogger George Rebane was having a hissy fit. He wrote: “The meeting was co-opted by the left.” No, it wasn’t. The local GOP was outgunned politically by the progressives despite having a staunch Republican Congressman in their camp. LaMalfa must have been disappointed at the local GOP’s effort — despite the advantage.

Senum shared a video on Facebook, writing: “Such bull. ‘Early on at the town hall. Red shirts going in on the side while we wait outside.’ Trying desperately to get an advantage. … BTW, I give kudos to LaMalfa. … To Bessee and the Chair of the local Republicans, not so much.”

She was referring to this email blast sent by the local GOP, stating: “We must show up in large numbers to show we are strong too.  The best way to assure seating is to volunteer for the set-up effort.  For that, a list of approved set-up personnel is being compiled by Don Bessee.  Only persons who are on the set-up list will be provided with the details for arrival location and early admission time for set-up.”

The progressives were well organized, holding up signs that read “agreed” when a speaker made a point that resonated with them.

What’s ironic is that their grassroots efforts are redolent of the Tea Party Patriots — but without anywhere near the hatred and rancor. The progressives’ protests are more civilized than anything that the Tea Party ever dished up.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of the next round of local elections.

Local: Rightwing activist Bessee seeking to micro-manage the LaMalfa town hall meeting

This was posted on Reinette Senum’s Facebook page:

“Sadly, it looks like a lot of shenanigans are going to be happening at this Saturday’s Town Hall with Doug LaMalfa.

“This comes via one of our Indivisible Women:

“Just had a long chat on the phone with Don Bessee. I tried to sign up as a volunteer for the Town Hall. He would not provide any details or information unless I provided him with proof that I had personally received the email addressed to me from Nevada County Republicans. I was asked to send back the email to him showing my name and email address. I suggested that it was unethical, undemocratic and unamerican to limit volunteer slots to one political party only. He replied that he was only interested in allowing people who got the email to volunteer. He stated there would be plenty of room for all to attend the meeting, even those who did not volunteer,. I asked him how many volunteer slots he was designating for Republicans. He would not tell me.”

Juvinall forks out $2,500 for a mug with with LaMalfa and Boehner — and thinks he’s “special”

(Credit: Todd's blog)
“Grip and grin” photo (Credit: Todd’s blog)

CABPRO founder and former County supervisor Todd Juvinall is long delinquent on a property tax payment, at least according to the County.

But he still was able to afford a $2,500 donation to Doug LaMalfa’s campaign for Congress. Check out the details here.

But like American Express, “membership” has its privileges. This week, Todd has a post where he’s mugging with Doug and John Boehner, who has now stepped down as Speaker of the House. “I have my picture with him and Doug LaMalfa on my table,” he writes on his blog, waxing on about his political “genius.”

What Todd left out is that the photo was at a political donor gathering at Doug’s big rice farm in the Central Valley: “After mingling for a while, The Speaker of the House, John Boehner arrived. He was escorted by a few Sheriff’s vehicles and he was accompanied by some Secret Service people.  … After a short while we all stood in line and one by one we got our picture taken with Doug and the Speaker.”

The details are here.

So it sound like Todd didn’t earn this photo; he stood in a line and paid for it, like children who wait in line at Macy’s for a photo with Santa Claus.

This is the MO for national politicians, traveling to the hinterlands and getting country bumpkins such as Todd to pony up $2,500 for a “photo op.”

Doesn’t that make Todd special. ROFLOL!

An Aqua Velva man

CABPRO founder and former Nevada County Supervisor Todd Juvinall recently reported on his blog that he and a “gal pal” visited Doug LaMalfa’s rice farm in Richland for a political fundraiser. “We made the rounds … the tri-tip was so tender!” he reported, adding “I got this picture at the beginning of the evening and before he was shaking all those hands.” Urban dictionary defines a “gal pal” as a “guy who hangs around with all the girls.” It got me thinking that Todd is one of those “Aqua Velva” men.

(Credit: Todd Juvinall's blog)
Todd and Doug down on the rice farm (Credit: Todd Juvinall’s blog)