On Nov 8, 2006, at 8:02 AM, Michael Perelman wrote:
One tiny gloat: California's worst congressman, Richard Pombo, is apparently gone.
I think John Doolittle actually has that distinction. And he's still here, although we got close to nailing him. The Democrats have protected his district for many years, in exchange for protecting Diane Watson's in LA, if I recall correctly. Back in 1980s a bunch of us progressive types took over the local Democratic Central Committee thinking we would run progressive candidates for Congress. "Not with our help," said Assembly Speaker Willy Brown. There was a deal in place and we've been screwed ever since. Since Doolittle has not had to run very hard for so long, he takes the money he does get and dumps it into the Boards of Supervisor races in Placer, El Dorado and Nevada Counties (this according to a well-researched article a few years ago in Sacramento News and Review). He also dumps money into my city's council race and the Sierra College Board of Trustees. His attempt at creating an empire is open and transparent. His wife, who does much of his PR and organizing for big bucks (some from Abramoff) has a company appropriately called Sierra Dominion Financial Services. That's what he's apparently building--his dominions from El Dorado County to the Oregon border. In the British Empire, I believe a dominion is a nation that didn't rebel, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand. Doolittle is colonizing us for the corporations and hoping we won't rebel. The FBI is on his tail, though, and he may be indicted along with his friends Duke Cunningham and Tom DeLay. Dan
