The Wisdom of Hollis Dugan
Today, we received this insightful comment from long-time FFFF blogger Hollis Dugan that I made a post all by itself. Here ya go:
I have been watching the goings on from both sides of this since last summer and I have some thoughts. I guess I could make this several separate comments but here goes:
Battle Prep: It is obvious to me the other side is outmatched. Before anyone thinks this is a biased view, allow me to explain. Dave Ellis, sleaze bag extraordinaire, is used to ambushing unsuspecting politicos with his street fight tactics and getting some success. Go in to a fight that the opponents think has some rules of congeniality and decorum and Dave just blows them out with under handed tactics, lies tied to good timing (the last minute accusation type mailers) and he catches people off guard and rolls them.
In this case Dave has met up with some experienced ninja warrior street fighters. Dave’s usual tricks are bush league compared to what this crowd is already used to after battles with the local police union, the Ackerwoman v. Norby race, Sidhu/unions v. Nelson etc. This crew is battle tested and motivated to fight to the death because it is what they believe. Dave Ellis is a hired gun who cares zero about Fullerton or its issues. Dave will do only when paid and he has nothing at stake.
Recall Signatures: The anti recall group just cant get their head around the idea that 17,000+ people signed the petitions therefore, a ton of the sigs must be faulty. I’m sure it has never occurred to the that A) All newly registered voter sigs on a recall are 100% by nature. Having registered probably a few thousand new voters over the last 5 months, the recallers really need to get 8500 valid sigs from their remaining 15,500 sigs. B) It clearly has not occurred to the anti recall fools that with modern technology voter signatures can be verified and purged as collected. In other words, if all those volunteers appointed one among their ranks to verify sigs as they were collected over the last 5 months or so, the validity rate is going to be through the roof, not the other way around. Think this didnt happen? Please re-read above. This crew is battle tested and street savvy. Count on it (pun intended).
Withdrawl cards: Nothing screams failure louder than the return of 145 cards after several thousand dollars were spent on the Hail Mary play from the anti recall group. Earth to Dave Ellis: in order to withdraw a sig one must have signed the petition in the first place.
The only people who would have signed the petition were those that felt it was worth their time to challenge the three subjects of the petition. No doubt the signers could have had their own reason to want any of the three out of office or used one of those reasons offered by the sig gatherers.
Regardless of why each person signed the petition one thing we know for sure is the anti recall effort didnt even attempt to show the petition signers their original reason for signing was invalid. Rather than debunk some lie being perpetrated by the recall sig gatherers the anti recall crew chose to attack Tony Bushala. I ask, is there anyone who signed the petition based on their fondness for Mr. Bushala’s good citizenship?
In other words, the other side failed to consider intelligent people could very well agree with everything on the mailers disparaging Mr. Bushala and still think the three old guys need to be recalled. Best case scenario the anti recallers may have ruined Mr. Bushala’s run at city council but how the hell was that going to help their cause?
No one was going to withdraw their sig because their original reason for signing it was never addressed.
Excuses: I am amazed that at every step including Bankhead on the tv last night, the three old coots are constantly believing that this just cant be real. Don said on channel 4 last night that he has been told by “experts” a lot of the signatures will not be valid. McKinley said on national tv the cops may still get out of this because they have a good lawyer. Jones had seen worse injuries in Viet Nam than Kelly’s and just couldn’t imagine how he could have died.
These guys are going to go to the finish line having no idea what happened before, what is happening now or how it happened at all. They are all going to be former council members before they ever figure out what their role was in their own undoing.
It’s like they say, ignorance is bliss. It is also painful to watch.
Great points Hollis!!!
Especially the excuses segment.
Ditto what Wrong Guy said. That’s what shocked me during this signature gathering time. Who gives a rat’s a** about Tony Bushala?
When you’ve got nothing you lash out. It’s an admission of guilt.
Hey! That sounds like a post.
Oh I agree. I can see what the campaign is going to be like. Tony went to the store today-BAD RECALL! Chris drove out of his driveway today-BAD RECALL! Travis did something that we’ll also misconstrue as bad.
“And what have the council members done right?” you, the people ask. “We don’t care about Tony Bushala. We care about this city.”
“Bad Tony! Bad Tony!” they cry, instead of answering the question.
We need to answer it for them. We need to say that enough’s enough.
We need to win.
So what are they going to do, start peddling the Three Baffled Baboons as Wise, Heroic Leaders? That’ll be a hoot.
The three should just quit now and save themselves any more humiliation.
“They are all going to be former council members before they ever figure out what their role was in their own undoing.”
Quite eloquent, and possibly true. Personally, i don’t think they will ever understand anything about themselves. Lack of intelligence, age, rank, and egotism are a really toxic combination.
Donald Bankhead this is for you pal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIsnIt1p978
Enjoy!
Here’s last night’s Channel 4 interview-
Pay special attention to Bankheadless- just makes you want to go…”WTF”?
And to all you trolls who think Ron Thomas is upset with the recall or Tony Bushala, listen up
Toward the end of the tape, another WTF moment when the channel 4 reporter regurgitates some crapola about “expect a high profile defense (Count Chocula), if the sigs turn out to be valid” whoa-what will is that suppose to mean?
http://youtu.be/IwHIeWdEKbY
That means that whatever cr*p anyone has done in the past that is embarrassing will come out. If anyone knocked anyone up in college and got an abortion, if anyone did a line of coke, hell, if anyone ever pulled a Tupac at a party (y’know, the video that was on TMZ a few months ago? One has to be really, REALLY high or drunk to pull that off while being taped), it’ll come out.
Remember during the Bush-Gore election when Gore’s team brought out the drunk driving case right before the election? Some say that created the infamous hanging chad issue that hung over the country’s heads for weeks afterwords.
Any way you look at it though, it’s all hooey.
*or got an abortion*
All about the left wing media swinging in the wind, trying to make news out of totally irrelevant BS. Why doesn’t the media bring up Clinton’s apparent open marriage after all he was out there ho’ing around like Newt. Double standard? Me thinks so.
Cities are run, top to bottom on the Peter Principle. Not sure what that is, do some research….very enlightening.
Silence can also indicate an admission of guilt!
Time to party! 🙂
Once the signatures are verified and valid, I wonder what Swinging Dick, Testicle 1 and Testicle 2 will claim then?
“Tony Bushala paid off the people verifying the sigs! They’re on the take!”
Sound outlandish? Not to me, I put nothing past those fools.
All the bashing has just begun. I just wonder who they will have in place to take their places. I heard they are ready to be done with politics anyways but they have big plans to have mirror images of themselves slide in right behind them. Already in the works.
My papers are ready too. 🙂
Who’s to say that they won’t pull a Don Bankhead and, after getting recalled, just run again? lol
It’s possible MUR but I think the are done for good. I got that feeling in talking tithe three of them. They are just trying to push Tony a little, get him to spend max money, and then disappear into their final years. I think they all have people that mirror their beliefs ready to run though. I mean what’s more perfect than pushing the recall buttons and then getting someone on their side into office behind them? A few names are in place with no known connections to the 3 mice 🙂
Ha, hope the smileys make you sleep better, retard.
How’s that proof coming? Oh right.
Good. I like pudding. Proof is in my pudding. 🙂
Rum-based? Whisky/whiskey-based? Heh, heh, heh – “proof is in my pudding”; pretty good
Thanks for sharing…still laughing my ass off.
Chi, Burbank, and Gregg. Those are their backup plans and ALL FAILED!
There is only one attorney in town I might vote for and they are busy WORKING.
Chi is a joke and is gonna head to Garbage Grove any moment.
Alas, Chaffee. No, he will jack taxes through the roof.
Makes a girl think…
“and then getting someone on their side into office behind them? a few names are in place…blah blah blah”
your forgetting the fact that the citizens of Fullerton are no longer sleeping. many new registered voters. Replacements for the 3 crooks will most certainly be scrutinized and watched. If they do the job right, no one cares if they have ties to Mc-Dick-head.
Recall Bankhead three times??
Count me in. I saw that pathetic interview on Channel 4 4. The poor old slug is suffering from dementia. His handlers are telling him the sigs will be invalidated?
Can’t wait RI! (yawn)
Sorry, no cops allowed Fullerton City Coucil anymore…
Wrong Guy. Better hurry and pass that city charter change!! 🙂
Definitly no cops, former cops, or future cops allowed.
I just moved to Fullerton. Can I still sign the recall petitions?
“It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.” – H. L. Mencken (1880 – 1956)
The RINOs are in denial. They are going to pay the price for their tax shenanigans and their lame reaction to the Kelly Thomas killing, not to mention their responsibility for creating an out of control Fullerton Police Department.
I wonder if the murder of Kelly Thomas, by Fullerton cops, inspired Ocampo to start killing other homeless men? Bankhead, Jones and McKinley may have even more blood on their hands. http://wp.me/p269j9-77
the first thing people said when they heard about the murders was “where were the Fullerton Police?”
sad
There was a time when Dave Ellis could put out his last minute hit pieces and have an effect. And he was quite active in the Inland Empire. Something has changed. iepolitics.com and Inland Empire.com has begun to feature Dave Ellis.
Currently, any politician who hires Dave Ellis will lose a couple of percentage points just because people recognize the work of Dave Ellis. This is becoming close to reaching five negative percentage points. As people continue to get their information from blogs, the connection with Dave Ellis will reach ten percentage points and override any advantage from any of his attack mailers.
One significant expose of Dave Ellis on talk radio will end his carreer. Then Orange County and the Inland Empire will be better places to live.
You may object that the blogs reach so few and the newspapers, TV, and mailers reach so many. Yes, iepolitics is read by only 40,000 daily and the Riverside Press Enterises reaches so many more.
The key is who reads the blogs. It is a self-selected group of the most involved people. Sharon Gilbert, the administratoe of iepolitics.com, periodically becomes frustrated with the “nobody reads your blog” comments and explains where the hits are coming from.
The mainstream reporters follow her. The County Supervisors, their staffs, and many, many county employees keep close watch. The FBI visits frequently and there have been hits from the Oval office of the White House.
yes, dhs is never far. hi boys!
This blog is read around the world,therefore, there’s no way to calculate the actual numbers that read it, certainly can not base any true stats based on the numbers that contribute to the blog with entries. Most bloggers are transient, here today gangbusters, gone tomorrow.
True, but some blogs are not most blogs.
Dave Ellis is finished.
No he isn’t. Dave Ellis, like other cockroaches, can survive a nuclear holocaust.
I think he will be okay if he can figure out how to revert to using his gills and re-submerge into the swamp.
To whom ever that decides to be a candidate and is supported by the three recallees, be aware you will be questioned, your life record and your whole family and relatives will be openly exposed to the public.
Anything accessible on the public record will be presented in the most despicable and derogatory manner legally possible.
Fullerton has been in the national news and will become another example of what the citizens can and will do with inept elected officials.
They know that. No connection. Nothing to find. Clean. Will be a good election. Vote for me. 🙂
Damn those negative paradigms!
Hi fedup. Happy 2012. 🙂
Oh! Those damnable negative paradigms!
Reality, we knew ye were a dog, thanks for admitting that you have papers!
I’m a pussy cat 🙂
Yep some serious dirt on Ellis out in the Inland Empire. A corrupt parasite for sure Steve.
#46 Steve Brow. Was not his partner at that time Scott Hart, known as Hart & Ellis. Hit mailers came out of San Bernadino, Money Laundering etc. It is in the archives.
I’ll look into it. I’ve only been aware of Dave for a year or so.
I’ll look into it. I have only been aware of Dave for about a year.
Ron Thomas Responds to New Police Chief Announcement
Read full statement below
By Ron Thomas
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2011 | Updated 1:52 PM PS
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Full-Statement-Ron-Thomas-136022643.html
You all might want to revisit the comments which I made many months back, about the lessons learned from the First Recall, and the different electoral-legal environment now. Just like the Gray Davis Recall, a replacement for each elected official will be elected, in case that the official is, in fact, recalled.
In the First Recall, the signatures averaged 12,500. The population has not grown significantly since then. So the Second Recall rumbles towards the polls with much more momentum.
Is this Second Recall about recalling Rulers, or about recalling Arch-Puppets? More about that, in a later comment. WSH
The recall is about getting rid of ossified geriatrics who see themselves as figureheads only; who like the attention but won’t do the work, or take the responsibility of governance. There really isn’t much difference between 1994 and 2012 except that the recall rules have changed for the better.
As I remember the Recall 1994 folks got distracted and started developing elaborate plans for how they would govern Fullerton. Big mistake and it almost cost them the recall election.
My guess is that this year’s recall will just focus on hammering the hammerheads and avoiding theoretical discussions of political science.
Dear Old Timer,
The 1993-94 Recallers did not get “distracted” nor did they “develop[] elaborate plans for how they would govern Fullerton.” Governance reforms were only four out of about 25 proposed reforms.. and one of those was simply the televising of Council meetings on cable TV. The rest had to do with financial and budgetary reporting reforms.
The original Fullerton Recalls Committee had to struggle with the challenge of “why don’t you show where you could make budgetary cuts, without making undesirable cuts to services?” We did.. through the “Door Hook” which showed the higher officials’ salaries, and in numerous other ways.
It is very significant that, after the disastrous-for-the-tax debate between Dick Ackerman and Bill Dannemeyer, the anti-Recall effort never again tried to seriously defend the Utility Tax. And Bill Dannemeyer’s anti-Tax arguments were based upon a line-by-line commentary on the reconciled Budget+FinancialReport; the Fullerton Recalls Committee, of course, developed all of that fiscal data.
So it is true, that the anti-Recall mailing campaign did focus upon the few non-fiscal reforms that had been proposed… especially the proposal to televise the council meetings.
The Big Lesson: Don’t develop policy, or a proposed set of reforms, and release it during a campaign, unless the campaign is prepared to independently publicize it, in order to prevent distortions and misrepresentations by the opponents.
And I do predict that the FPOA will try to gain participation in forthcoming debates, and try to commandeer it in that way: “What, exactly, would not change, if you/ your people were elected?”
The leadership of the present Recall is completely familiar with this particular mistake from the last one. It will not release or publicize the truly effective reforms, unless and until a pro-Reform Council majority has been elected.
Query: How much is the illegal narcotics trade in Fullerton worth? How much is insufficiently “taxed”, due to pressure on FPD brass to “blind-eye” it? How much did this ratio increase, under Chief McKinley? I have just given you some clues and signals.
“The Big Lesson: Don’t develop policy, or a proposed set of reforms, and release it during a campaign, unless the campaign is prepared to independently publicize it, in order to prevent distortions and misrepresentations by the opponents.”
Sorry to disagree, Mr. Hume. The purpose of the recall is to get rid of three incompetents. Coming up with a set of ‘reforms” is neither wise nor necessary. And no matter how much you “publicize” them, such efforts would merely be a confusing distraction for many voters.
Keep it simple would be my advice.
Now if this Second Recall is about recalling Arch-Puppets of a cabal of special interests, the predominant one of which is the FPOA, then we are dealing with a local Council of Rulers, whose proxies are the City Council majority’s triumvirate.
As I noted in a comment several months ago, the present bloc of recallees will not have the ability to ensure Dynastic Succession through manipulation of the timing of the Replacement Election; that will happen coincidentally with the Recall Election itself. OK. Therefore, the present COR will have an initial Hobson’s Choice, just as the COR behind Governor Davis did: oppose the Recall with the possibility of a total wipe-out of power and do nothing more, or run a credible replacement candidate who endorses the recall. Obviously, it was not possible to do both.
In the end, in a maneuver that is reminiscent of 1930s Soviet politics, certain polarizing elements were cut loose from the statewide COR, and support was quietly thrown to Schwarzenegger. And sure enough, Schwarzenegger made only a few reforms to the CDC, which was and is the largest interest group within the statewide COR… but then he otherwise did their bidding.
The battle, therefore, is not so much for the success of the Second Recall. Rather, the battle is for the seats which open up. The FPOA — through the guise of some splinter or reform group within it, or perhaps some coalition of “sleepers” in the City — will quietly install its proxies at the Replacement Election, after having openly opposed the Recall itself. There will be no “money trail” that leads from FPOA to the New Proxies. Instead, the money will be entirely raised from the Favor Banks, who will be repaid much later. FPOA will pay PAC F, which will pay PAC-G (minus cut), which will then pay PAC-H, which will then pay PAC-I, which will then pay PAC-J. (One of these “chain-favors” has recently led to the decision by Congressman Brown, here in the Inland Empire, to not seek reelection. Darn, and I thought he would be “Congressman for Life”!)
And it is not as if we don’t have some precedent from the replacement election for the First Recall.
Allright, all of you Neo-Recallers and Ready-to-Reformers: so this is your Second Notification. Let me know if you want to have a dialogue about how to frustrate and thwart the “electoral hedging”. Best wishes, WSH
Ron is right in his commentary. Hughes needs to explain how ALL these allegations, most of them confirmed, happened under HIS command?
If he was the tru leader as some think, MOST of this stuff would have never happened.
At this point, we can only hope FPD will be put under a Federal Decree and their daily operations will be under the watchful eye of the federal government much like LAPD was for the last 10 years or so.
We can also hope when a new city council is seated, they will direct the City Manager to hire a new Chief from the outside.
Obvious change and no double talk.
Great point pertaining to a potential Fed Decree as happened with LAPD.
Notice how Chief Charlie Beck seems to have his boys under control compared to the previous decades?
AMEN!!!!!! Congrats to Hollis Dugan!!
That Ch.4 coverage is just the lame-stream media being who they are. As twisted as it was it didn’t surprise me in the least.
On topic: Very good points made by Hollis Dugan, and very well written as well.
Yes sir!!! OR Charlie Beck is one of the best bullshitters in modern times?
Chief Hughes should buy Chief Beck lunch and see if he can learn something from Beck.
Wishful thinking I am sure.