
Is there a limit to the extent one will shamelessly grovel in public? In case you didn’t see it, check out Frank Mickadeit’s column in the O.C. Register from a few days ago.
In this recent opus Mickey exhibits the fierce prowess that seems to drive journalism these days. Here is what Frank and his employers at the Register think the public wants to know all about; Frank’s lunch schedule:
- having lunch with political consultant Christine Iger;
- getting an olive-oil tasting lesson from restaurateur Antonio Cagnolo;
- getting a liquor-tasting lesson from vodka czar Bill Eldien;
- a slap-happy kiss-ass session with good ol’ boy Mike Carona.
Poignancy! Mick’s and Mike’s eyes meet across a non-smoke-filled room and Caroney waves his old buddy over to join him. Mickey describes his soul mate, characterizing Caroney as “smiling, buff, color in his cheeks.” He points out that if Caroney is lucky enough to avoid getting nailed with a witness-tampering charge he’ll be able to down endless shots of booze with his buddies with his freshly-won freedom (Frank doesn’t mention that he would be doing it on a $200,000+ per year taxpayer sponsored pension, but well, that would just be mean).
So what does the reader learn from this hard-hitting expose? That the Mickster is chummy and swills booze with some pretty notorious and questionable company, the kind of people that would bring into question his credentials. Not only does he shamelessly bring this to our attention, he even gives credit to Caroney for providing him with leads to “interesting stories!”
Interesting stories? The fact is that during Carona’s amoral reign of terror over the Sheriff’s Department Mickadeit gave him a free pass, and was, well, just damn glad to be there!

Now there’s truth in journalism! Can anybody take this guy seriously?








