I have been saying it for awhile – today the O.C. Register followed suit: “District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, all five members of the Board of Supervisors and the Orange County Republican Party backed Carona despite deep indications that the sheriff was at best a lousy judge of character and at worst, a criminal.”
Darn right! We ALL knew that Carona was a bad guy when he last ran for reelection. The OC Weekly and the LA Times had been going after him for awhile, and we did too here at the Orange Juice. But listen to what the Carona hacks have to say today about their past support for Carona:
- “People fail,” said Suopervisor John Moorlach said. “This is just part of the drill.” NOTE: I personally asked Moorlach not to back Carona in 2006. He chose otherwise. That’s on him. He also thought Chriss Street was a spiffy choice to replace him as O.C. Treasurer.
- Flash Report Blogger Jon Fleishman called Carona “a man of strong integrity.” NOTE: Fleischman used to work for Carona, as his PR flack.
- GOP pollster Adam Probolsky, noted, “outside of that handful of crazies, the rest of Orange County is solidly behind the Sheriff.” NOTE: Probolsky also works for Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Supervisor Janet Nguyen. He is a complete hack who sold out years ago.
- “Nobody knew he was a crook and looked the other way,” OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh said. “All the evidence seems to suggest that Mike Carona lived two lives and didn’t necessarily blend the two together. Had that information been known in a credible way, he wouldn’t have gotten the endorsement.” NOTE: OC GOP hacks don’t believe the LA Times or the OC Weekly are credible, and they hate this blog. Nevertheless, we were all right about Carona – and Baugh and company need to apologize for backing this creep.
- Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said he doesn’t regret his support of the former sheriff. Rohrabacher’s “impassioned defense of Carona was credited by many as sealing the endorsement in 2006.” NOTE: Did anyone expect anything different from “Crazy Dana?”
- “Should I have caught on sooner? I don’t know,” said Supervisor Bill Campbell, who endorsed Carona in 2006. “I think what’s come out in the trial is we have a Jekyll and Hyde.” NOTE: Campbell is a hack who tried to appoint a Catholic Monsignor to a County Commission, even though there was ample evidence that the guy covered up for molesters. Campbell also appointed Red-faced County blog editor Matt/Jubal Cunningham to the County Parks, Beaches and Harbors Commission.
- “I think that those who had the courage to challenge him in that election probably deserved a better look than they had,” Norby said. “None of us are perfect.” NOTE: I personally asked Norby not to endorse Carona in 2006. He knew better. He went along with the GOP machine. I was very disappointed.
- “I did struggle,” said Democratic State Senator Lou Correa, who was a supervisor during Carona’s term. “That command structure was very rigid. I would call and couldn’t get through because everything had to go through Mike’s office.” NOTE: DPOC Chairman Frank Barbaro also endorsed Carona. Lesson for OC Democrats? Don’t endorse Republicans. It just isn’t worth the grief.
It’s a sad story when electeds are more interested in swapping endorsements than in maintaining their integrity (if they ever had any).
Then there are those who commit sins of omission: partisan shills by nature, or those who hope to gain materially by their abject stoogery. The worst offender is the individual who paints himself as a judge of moral behavior in others, but keeps quiet during Carona’s criminal, venal, and carnal reign of error.
Part of the problem is we wont allow them to be human so they all invent personas to be electible. Of course they don’t look behind each other’s personas, they don’t want someone looking behind theirs. Until we require honesty and not perfection from our elected officials we will get dishonesty that looks perfect.
Everyone is easily dazzled by the stature of a public office and a glib office holder. Endorsements about appearance vs. substance are nothing new among elected officials as well as the voting public. Look at the indicted officials of recent – from Alaska Senator Stevens to Duke Cunningham to the Governor of Illinois and more. Don’t expect it to change.