17 responses to “Whitecaps in Our Teapot (updated 25may2010)”

1. 

   RL Crabb

   23 May 2010

   So let’s see here…The Tea Party claims to be non-partisan and doesn’t endorse candidates, but it seems that you, George, and every other Tea Party supporter I’ve talked to is supporting a Republican for clerk/recorder, a Republican for assessor, a Republican for assembly, a Republican for supervisor, and the list goes on. The only platform I see here is an effort to strip the Republican party of anything that reeks of moderation. Nothing wrong with that. It’s a free country, but to say that the movement is non partisan is hardly honest.
   In effect, you want to replace a hard core left wing government with a hard core right wing government. While it may pay off for a few election cycles, I doubt if the mainstream of the American electorate will like it any more than they like the current government. When you’re face down in the dirt with a jackboot on your neck, do you really care if it’s on the left foot or the right?

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2. 

   chuck shea

   23 May 2010

   Well George,..
   It is easy to bang on Rolf Klienhans for something that He has honestly earned and was awarded the Appraiser Trainee license by the State of California( No easy task I know because I did it as well).. and not mention in the same breath What Sue Horn DOESN’T have!
   This on going slander by Dan Ketchem and company is just too much!
   As always Dan and Co. twist the facts, Refuses to note that Sue Horn has NOTHING in the way of any type of qulification or training in the appraiser field at all!
   That her claim of oversight of the appraisers dept was just in the very least ERRONEOUS! Please refer to Letter of Support by Supervisor Hank Weston Dist 4
   When you talk about this office you need to speak directly to qualifications!
   So George you have always been a fair guy so how about it!
   Line up the qualifications “Rolf vs Sue and then lets see who is Really Qualified!
   And as far as Dan Ketchum,.. well, we need a “Facts Check” on the blog as well
   Best Regrds
   Chuck Shea

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3. 

   Michael Anderson

   23 May 2010

   I plan on writing in either James Blashford or James Dal Bon for Assessor. The partisanship demonstrated by the Kleinhans and Horne camps has turned me off to both of them. If others are also feeling that bad taste in their mouths, perhaps they’ll join me.
   And George, there’s still time to change your vote for Clerk-Recorder (unless you voted absentee). I have been holding off on any public endorsement for that office, given that the lawsuit against the county has the potential for upsetting the apple cart right before the election.
   But a recent article on Yubanet pretty much seals the deal for me, it doesn’t appear that AtPac (via its lawsuit) or Pruett (via claims of malfeasence) are going to be able to prove the case that Aptitude, Diaz, or Nevada County did the wrong thing in choosing Aptitude as the new software provider.
   If anything, AtPac’s latest amended complaint makes them look more foolish in their claim. At whose direction did county employee Evers create an admin privileges account? And even more importantly, why did AtPac apparently give the county the root password when their own EULA proscribed it?
   http://yubanet.com/regional/AtPac5.php

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4. 

   Michael Anderson

   23 May 2010

   I thought that I should add what I mean by partisan: “a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance”
   And I’m not talking about parties in this case, as in Democrats or Republicans (or Independents or Libertarians, for that matter). Just those folks “exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance,” i.e. those so stuck in the pig pen that the mud has filled their eyes and ears.

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5. 

   George Rebane

   23 May 2010

   Bob, as always, you raise arguments that reflect the concerns and viewpoints of many (most?) people – thank you. Let me respond by pointing out that the Tea Party Patriots are partisan to same degree that the professorial cohorts of our public colleges are partisan, or to the extent that the (now rapidly disappearing) newsrooms of journalists are partisan. Both of the latter vehemently claim to be non-partisan, yet freely admit to belonging to the liberal political persuasion and evidence this in their respective work products.
   The TPP claim adherence to a sparse set of strongly held principles – limited government, lower taxes, anti-corruption, and original intent constitutional interpretation. Being a member of a declared non-partisan organization – be it TPP or a teacher’s union – in itself neither assigns political preference nor deprives a person of his ability (right?) to partake in politics with all that it entails. That certain non-partisan organizations adhere to principles more embraced by one or another ideology is inevitable and ultimately tilts enough to self-select the membership of the organization. Witness the migration of the League of Women Voters from its 1965 squeaky-clean non-partisan fetish to being simply another progressive organ in our public forum.
   Calling the TPP a hard core rightwing organization is revealing. With the fluidity of labels (see my response to MichaelA in the last ‘Ruminations …’) these days, you may be absolutely correct in saying that today the TPP principles are only held by the hard core rightwingers. If so, then your semantic embraces over 20% of America’s eligible voters (and growing). Your reasoning may also bolster the basis for the growing Great Divide sentiment.
   But the TPP, if it gains the day, can never put its boot on your or anyone’s neck. A well-armed citizenry has never been dominated by a totalitarian government. Hard core leftwing collectivist governments have a long and mature history in doing exactly that.

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6. 

   George Rebane

   23 May 2010

   Chuck, no one is ‘banging on’ Rolf for his accomplishments. When people listen to Rolf talk, he claims to have assessor capabilities both undemonstrated and, most certainly, uncertified. I personally witnessed this last Thursday at my Rotary lunch where Rolf and Sue were the speakers. I think that is what his opposition is attempting to point out.
   Truth be told, the office of assessor, the way it is now set up and regulated, would probably be well served by many people of good intelligence and energy who have the vitae of neither candidate. Anyone who is elected to that office must subsequently go through a state sanctioned certification that involves the appropriate instruction to execute the office. Both Sue and Rolf would have to do that no matter who wins the post.
   I don’t know Ketcham et al, but am puzzled by your allegation of “ongoing slander”. Slander has a pretty specific definition; in what sense are you using it. I don’t think that Sue Horne would sanction any use of slandering her opponent in order to gain office.
   There are many dimensions to the job of assessor. At the level of an adminstrator of a staff of 24, the mechanistic dimensions of quantitative value assessment are, in my mind, not the most heavily weighted here. Both candidates will have to be certified to that level by an outside agency. But the dimensions of knowing the workings of Nevada County as a long-time resident, active community member, and elected official build elements of a knowledge base more useful to the job than holding degrees and real estate certificates. Especially if the elected body in question had both budgetary and appeals authority over the assessor’s department. That happens to be the way I stack things up, and you may put the whole thing together in a different manner.

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7. 

   RL Crabb

   23 May 2010

   Just because you have a jackboot on your neck doesn’t mean you have to have a gun in your hand. A right wing government can accomplish a lot by disenfranchising the opposition. Destroy the unions, cut off funding for the social safety net, pack the courts with judges who care more for corporations than individuals. Start a few more wars and label anyone who squawks a traitor. More backroom deals as with Cheney and the oil barons.
   Rand Paul has already shown his true stripes, as far as legalized racism goes…reminds me of when I lived in Atlanta back in the early 70’s. A girlfriend offered to take me to lunch at a “special restaurant.” We drove around the suburb of East Point until she finally found the house she was looking for. It was an unassuming brick house, like all the others around it. There was a white picket fence with an arbor over the gate with a sign that read “Privit Club” (sic). We entered the place and found a full restaurant, with booths and a lunch counter. When I asked my friend what the deal was, she told me that rather than comply with integration, the owners packed up and moved the business into their home. It became a private club. To be a member, all you had to do was be white. If I understand Paul’s position, these folks wouldn’t have to hide in the suburbs anymore.
   No, George, I don’t trust right wing government any more than I trust left wing government.

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8. 

   George Rebane

   23 May 2010

   Bob, recall that we’re not in tight formation on what you ascribe as extremist rightwing government. But we have rightwing and leftwing governments regularly marching across our political stage. Where, I believe, we differ is that you belong to the school that assigns Nazi Germany to the right wing. This is the intended error of our school system.
   The wing that I belong to puts a premium on the rights summarized by the Bastiat Triangle. By its very definition, no government so organized and executed can put its boot on any citizen’s neck. It would simply have that boot and the leg in it removed.

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9. 

   George Rebane

   23 May 2010

   Michael, both Pruett and Diaz recently appeared on a candidates program at our Rotary club. From what I have seen and been told, Barry Pruett’s campaign rests on two propositions – A) the office of Clerk-Recorder has been administered in a less than professional manner, and B) Mr Diaz has demonstrated lapses in judgment and, perhaps, character that impact his ability to handle the complexities that arise from time-to-time in that office. Pruett has been making his case on both these points, and, I believe, needs to restate his case in a more clear and cogent manner, citing chapter and verse of the evidence he has assembled in support.
   In the interval, I support Barry Pruett because I know him and Kim to be straight shooters and capable people with whom I share many other values.
   And re partisanship – I don’t really know where to go with that one. You know me well enough that I don’t accept any belief tenet that cannot be falsified, most certainly those affecting the public round. Is any candidate in this race partisan in the extreme that you outline? I haven’t seen it. All candidates on both sides seem to have obvious partisan sentiments (the soft definition), but none that I can see are promoting their partisan sentiments as the base qualifications for the job.

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10. 

    mikey mcd

    23 May 2010

    To call Rand Paul a racist is an exercise in stupidity. Dr. Paul simply does not believe that the ‘state’ has the power to tell a business owner who they can or cannot serve, what they can or cannot serve, etc. He is a libertarian and as such he believe that everyone should be free from overbearing government control (micromanagement) regardless of race, religion, geography, etc.
    I , too, do not trust government.
    full disclosure: I have contributed to Dr. Rand Paul’s campaign.

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11. 

    RL Crabb

    23 May 2010

    My contention that the right wing can be as easily manipulated as the lefties is based on my own experience. As an example I present an old flyer I saved from the debate over the Iraq war. It’s from a group calling themselves The Nevada County American Patriots and declares “Anti-America/ Anti-war cowards are at it again. They hate patriots. They support Iraq. They support Hussein.”
    The flyer was a call to arms to attend the Board of Supes meeting on April 1st (irony?) when the Board was being asked to issue a proclamation supporting the Bush administration’s decision to invade. As usual in those days, the room was packed with supporters and protesters. You could feel the hatred and contempt from both sides, but the right was was ready to start a war right then and there. It was a miracle that no one threw a punch, or worse.
    Patriotic fervor does strange things to people. It doesn’t take much to whip them into a murderous frenzy. Only now, years later, are some of our fearless leaders admitting that the war might have been a mistake, or begun under false pretenses.
    My point is that any government can fool the people some of the time under the guise of a “national emergency.”

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12. 

    George Rebane

    23 May 2010

    Fully agree Bob. RR has many posts on this notion. The proverbial ‘man on a white’ cannot arrive to take control and set things right until the appropriate ‘national emergency’ arrives planned or unplanned.

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13. 

    mikey mcd

    23 May 2010

    Rahm Emanuel exemplifies the egos of those in power (here and abroad, past and present): “You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste”… especially when the crisis is government engineered (Iraq, housing bubble, globull warming, etc).
    For the life of me I can’t understand why a BOS ever issues proclamations regarding war (etc)… I remember being asked to show at the BOS meeting to “support the war”… I thought it was BS then and I think it is BS now; though I support and pray for our troops regardless of where/why the Washington boneheads send them.

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14. 

    Mikey McD

    24 May 2010

    Have you seen pelosi’s call for artists to quit their jobs and go on the dole to chase their artist dreams.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRY7Wvim8-8&NR=1

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15. 

    George Rebane

    24 May 2010

    That video clip is priceless Mikey. It summarizes so well the perverse thinking of that entire ilk.

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16. 

    Steve Enos

    25 May 2010

    Sue Horne?
    Let’s review just a small part of what a number of Republican-conservatives said about Sue Horne just a short time ago.
    Back when Sue Horne was running against Dan Logue in 2008 the Yuba County and Butte County Republican Party’s officially censured current Nevada County Assessor candidate Sue Horne for false and malicious campaign tactics during her State Assembly race against Assemblyman Dan Logue.
    This is especially note worthy as Sue Horne is/was a Republican and was censured by both the Yuba County and the Butte County Republican Party’s. Candidate Sue Horne was censured by her own party “for false and malicious campaign tactics”.
    In response to Sue Horne’s campaign mailers Assemblyman Logue in The Union Newspaper stated, “Everything in that piece is a bold face lie”. Logue also stated Sue Horne’s campaign was “underhanded and dishonest”.
    Also in 2008 Assemblymen Rick Keene and State Senator Sam Aanestad endorsed candidate Dan Logue, not Sue Horne. Keene stated in The Union Newspaper, “I told her I couldn’t endorse her, because she hadn’t been consistent on the Board of Supervisors”.
    There is also a number of current Nevada County Tea Party and Republicans that at that time went on record saying Sue Horne should not be elected and then provided a long list of reasons why. Many of these folks are local, Nevada County Tea Party and Republican “leaders”.
    This factual information will soon be made available to the voting public… stay tuned for the real story and the facts!

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17. 

    Steve Enos

    25 May 2010

    Plus… what the heck is the Tea Party thinking with their attacks on County Supervisor Nate Beason for supporting and endorsing Greg Diaz?

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