Herding Jackasses with Joe Bell and Byron de Arakal
The elected 
majority on the Costa Mesa City Council continues their display of ineptitude, most recently with their decision to write an inconsequential missive to President Bush deriding his support for the current potential solution for the illegal immigration situation in this country. This is typical of this trio, who see things only in black and white and fail to consider the broader views of their constituents when they make decisions like this one.
Today our local newspaper of record, The Daily Pilot, published a couple columns of great interest to those of us who live in Costa Mesa. Each of them addresses this issue one way or another.
The first of these, published on the front page, is the regular column by octogenarian writer Joseph N
. Bell in his The Bell Curve. His is an open letter to our mayor, Allan Mansoor, and demonstrates what more than a half century of observing and writing about celebrities and near-celebrities can produce. You can read Joe's most recent contribution to the enlightenment and entertainment of our populace here. Bell, who will celebrate his 86th birthday on July 4th, continues to pump out prescient, provocative prose at an age when most of his peers are bemoaning the departure of Bob Barker from "The Price Is Right" and waiting impatiently for the Meals-on-Wheels truck to arrive.
The second is a commentary by Byron de Arakal in the every-other-Thursday rotation that he shares with Newport
Beach's Barbara Venezia. Byron is a fourth generation American, business owner and dedicated community activist, who put his Itchingpost.com blog into suspended animation recently when he, once again, agreed to produce a commentary for the Daily Pilot a couple times a month. Today's effort, which can be read here, takes the entire illegal immigration issue to task and points out, as only he can do, the folly of the actions of most of our politicians, including those local leaders who seem to have lost sight of their real job - to manage the well being of their constituents by focusing on things over which they actually have authority.
Those of us who scribble the occasional thought for your consideration can only sit and marvel at the skill and insight these two talented men display at every at-bat. Oh, to have that skill...
So, when you visit those links above, take the time to read the accumulating comments taking each of them to task. Many of those will be written anonymously by cowards who don't have enough courage to put their names to their rants. Such is life in the wonderful world of blogging - where the courageous present a position and the cowards hide behind anonymity and throw mud without any attempt to enhance or amplify the debate of important issues.
This event, and other perpetrated by our ruling troika in recent months, reminds me of a particularly relevant quote with which I will close this entry.
Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
-George Jean Nathan
majority on the Costa Mesa City Council continues their display of ineptitude, most recently with their decision to write an inconsequential missive to President Bush deriding his support for the current potential solution for the illegal immigration situation in this country. This is typical of this trio, who see things only in black and white and fail to consider the broader views of their constituents when they make decisions like this one.Today our local newspaper of record, The Daily Pilot, published a couple columns of great interest to those of us who live in Costa Mesa. Each of them addresses this issue one way or another.
The first of these, published on the front page, is the regular column by octogenarian writer Joseph N
. Bell in his The Bell Curve. His is an open letter to our mayor, Allan Mansoor, and demonstrates what more than a half century of observing and writing about celebrities and near-celebrities can produce. You can read Joe's most recent contribution to the enlightenment and entertainment of our populace here. Bell, who will celebrate his 86th birthday on July 4th, continues to pump out prescient, provocative prose at an age when most of his peers are bemoaning the departure of Bob Barker from "The Price Is Right" and waiting impatiently for the Meals-on-Wheels truck to arrive.The second is a commentary by Byron de Arakal in the every-other-Thursday rotation that he shares with Newport
Beach's Barbara Venezia. Byron is a fourth generation American, business owner and dedicated community activist, who put his Itchingpost.com blog into suspended animation recently when he, once again, agreed to produce a commentary for the Daily Pilot a couple times a month. Today's effort, which can be read here, takes the entire illegal immigration issue to task and points out, as only he can do, the folly of the actions of most of our politicians, including those local leaders who seem to have lost sight of their real job - to manage the well being of their constituents by focusing on things over which they actually have authority.Those of us who scribble the occasional thought for your consideration can only sit and marvel at the skill and insight these two talented men display at every at-bat. Oh, to have that skill...
So, when you visit those links above, take the time to read the accumulating comments taking each of them to task. Many of those will be written anonymously by cowards who don't have enough courage to put their names to their rants. Such is life in the wonderful world of blogging - where the courageous present a position and the cowards hide behind anonymity and throw mud without any attempt to enhance or amplify the debate of important issues.
This event, and other perpetrated by our ruling troika in recent months, reminds me of a particularly relevant quote with which I will close this entry.
Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
-George Jean Nathan
Labels: Byron de Arakal, immigration, Joe Bell
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 6/21/2007 05:40:00 PM
2 Comments:
Joe Bell is a man I've been proud to call a friend most of my life. He stands for the best part of old-fashioned American values, and he's served, paid the price, paid his dues, and kept his head longer than most of us have been alive. Thanks for giving him his due!
Substitute, Joe and I have a couple of links through mutual friends and have gotten to know him over the past few years. Politically, he and I are miles apart, but that doesn't keep me from admiring his work and character. Thanks for the comment.
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