Predators Post And The Holy Ghost

You know, if you only got your local information by reading the online version of the Daily Pilot and the comment threads attached to the articles, editorials and commentaries included therein you could be convinced that there is no problem in Costa Mesa that is not the directly related to those darn illegal aliens! Yes sir, according to some folks who write comments on those pages, if we can just somehow shove all the Latinos out of our city all our problems will be solved.

Reading those comment threads has been a very interesting and enlightening experience over the past couple of months. There's a small group of people - or maybe it's just one person posting under numerous names - who jump from article to editorial to commentary like a pack of hyenas dashing from carcass to carcass, yapping and laughing while trying to tear the innards out of the content of the piece. Typically, they offer no relevant information, only criticism of other commentors who are attempting, with their 100 word limitation, to enhance the debate of the issue at hand. Rather than using whatever limited intellect they might possess to logically move their viewpoints forward, they usually spend their time nipping at the haunches of other commentors, trying to deflect attention from substance of the issue by attacking the messengers. And, of course, they do this from behind the shield of anonymity - the coward's way.

Although I have no way to know how many comments the editors of the Daily Pilot reject, it appears that they try to let the dialogue flow, regardless how inane and vicious some of the postings might be. To their credit, they seem willing to let fools be fools, knowing that, in order to make their point, other folks with something important to contribute to the debates will put a clothes pin on their nose and wade through the steaming piles of rhetoric those predatory naysayers deposit along the path. As a result of the persistence of those with substantive views, most of the time both sides of the issue seem to get a pretty thorough airing. Many times, though, it's akin to trying to have a quiet conversation while walking through an animal shelter - dealing with the ambient noise of yapping mutts, who wet themselves and climb all over each other to see who can say nothing the loudest.

As one who has gotten more than his share of drool sprayed on him by those slobbering mongrels, I can tell you it's not an enjoyable experience. A few weeks ago I tried to box myself into a situation where I committed to keep the dialogue at a higher level. That didn't work. Although others have been successful at keeping a calm demeanor, I found it tough to compete with that group of howlers whose mantra seems to be "Pump Up The Volume!, Pump Up The Volume!" I'll try to do better, but I'm comforted that there are others picking up the slack, including some who post thoughtful comments on this site.

It's interesting that two of our elected "leaders" - the court jester, Eric Bever and his pal, our young jailer/mayor, Allan Mansoor - have recently begun posting comments on the Daily Pilot threads. This is curiously amusing, since both men swore off the Daily Pilot in the recent past. Now they seem determined to come to each other's defense in the Daily Pilot online. Mansoor apparently has misplaced his spell checker because in a recent post he, ironically, misspelled the word, "intellectual". I'm sorry, but when I saw that I just had to chuckle.

In Bever's case, you have a man chopped off his pony tail to run for office and it seems to have done something to him. For one thing, he seems to have no shortage of hubris, which my online dictionary defines as "overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance". As he pompously pontificates, both verbally and in his writing, he frequently steps past the boundaries of propriety, as was the case last week when he criticized a Costa Mesa police lieutenant for supporting candidates opposed to his pal, the mayor, and his running mate, Wendy Leece. The list of his transgressions is much too long to repeat here.

Both the mayor and Bever have made it clear through their actions and public pronouncements that they don't intend to clutter up their decision-making process with input from the residents of this city - with the exception of those comments whispered to them by their small cadre of salivating supporters. This was driven home in their recent comments posted in the Daily Pilot, where both were quite specific that they would not support a Truancy Ordinance, even though such an ordinance has not yet been formally presented to them, nor has it had the benefit of a public hearing where residents with views on both sides of the issue can make them known. As I said, they don't care what we think - they've already made up their alleged minds.

Over the past couple of years I've watch men and women of faith stand before the City Council and use their "moment of solemn expression" to encourage our leaders to be wise and fair as they govern our city. That doesn't seem to have worked. On this Easter Sunday - when many will pause to reflect on their God and the sacrifices made for them by his son - for some of our elected leaders it will be business as usual. At a time when many will take a knee and pray for the well-being of his fellowman, some of our leaders will continue to seek ways to oppress, repress, distress and displace some of the most vulnerable among us. On this day, when many raise their arms to embrace their God, some of our leaders and their slobbering sycophants seem intent on going a different direction, following a darker path.

Perhaps it's time for folks on this side of the equation to "Pump Up The Volume", too. So, as you celebrate this day I encourage you to focus your thoughts and prayers on this city, and on those who are leading us down the wrong path. Perhaps it's not too late for some of them to realize the damage they have done, and are doing, to the soul of this city. Perhaps.....