[In PART 1 of this excruciatingly long exchange between myself and a veteran anonymous commenter named “beelzebub” — perhaps Orange County’s prototypical conservative — on the Voice of OC, he and I bonded over our shared desire to rid County Government of incumbent District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. in PART 2, he starts to ask me questions about policy. By the end, things start to get tense — and substantive. In Part 3 — we argue about policies and I … maybe … begin lose his vote! In this, Part 4, things get MUCH WORSE — then maybe better — then … well, by the end, you can see for yourself.]
52. beelzebub posted at 4:44 pm on Tue, May 6, 2014.
Let’s face it, Mr Diamond. The cops supply the DA with cases. What would happen to a grocery store if the product manufacturers stopped supplying the grocery store with goods? They’d go belly-up, wouldn’t they? So who controls whom in the cop-DA relationship? Are we getting warm yet, Mr. Diamond? You must have thought this through before. You’re an intelligent man. Let’s stop playing games, shall we?
Let me take a wild guess – neither the police union or the OCDA attorney’s association endorses you, do they, sir? If you’re running on an anti-corruption platform – why wouldn’t the police union or the OCDA attorney’s association endorse you? Are they not our protectors who represent everything fair, just and good?
Please reply inbetween your legal briefs. Mr. Diamond. Now we are getting to the heart of the matter. Now we are going where no candidate before you has gone!
53. Karl Bostrom posted at 7:13 pm on Tue, May 6, 2014.
I think this has become more of a “publicity stunt” than a real effort concerning Mr. Diamond.
The more I read of him, the more my hopes get dashed.
He appears to carry tremendous baggage and is increasingly mimicking an Orly Tait or Steve Rocco in an effort to self destruct.
I am embarrassed for the Democratic Party Of Orange County and it’s members however, for not standing by what the portend to believe in . It is shameful.
54. beelzebub posted at 11:12 pm on Tue, May 6, 2014.
Karl, give Mr. Diamond a chance. I understand your suspicions. But every man deserves a fair chance. That’s what makes us a civilization. The next 7-10 days will tell us a lot. Until then, I beseech you to put your biases on hold, to withhold judgment and just observe. Mr. Diamond was gracious enough to answer my hardball questions. No other candidate would have done that. Certainly not TR who will play it very safe. For that Mr. Diamond gets points. Let’s see what he’s made of. We’ll have the answer for sure within 2 weeks. Patience, Karl. Patience, my friend.
If I am wrong about Mr. Diamond I will fully admit it and join you in your camp. But I always give a man a fair chance. I was raised that way and will not abandon it now.
55. beelzebub posted at 9:04 am on Wed, May 7, 2014.
I sure hope Mr. Diamond returns. We were finally locating some of the beef. It would be a shame to waste all that good beef for nothing with hungry voters in the lurch. This could be a very fun and educational race with a little passion and courage thrown into the mix. It would be very disappointing to watch the sprinter trip coming out of the blocks when we had so much hope. I have confidence he won’t. I believe in faith. It’s all we got. Faith has no boundaries, costs nothing to touch.
56. beelzebub posted at 7:58 pm on Wed, May 7, 2014.
You may well be right and I could be wrong, Stanley. [NOTE: Fiala was claiming that my alleged propensity to duck this interminable conversation “is in his Jewish genome.” That’s the sort of comment that leads me to leave Fiala out of this.] I’ll fully admit to that. But you MUST understand something about me. I MUST give every man one chance. That was drilled into me as a small boy. But let me say this – I am never fooled twice by the same man. Once a con artist, always a con artist. Diamond may well be blowing smoke. Or he may be legit. Time will tell. We’ll find out soon enough. But I do find it curious that he commented under another VOC blog today but did not come here. Maybe he got spooked by my 2nd round of questions and bolted. That wouldn’t be a good sign. It would indicate a lack of courage. A deal breaker for me. Give it 7-10 days, Stanley. I’d say until May 15. We’ll know for sure by that time. You may be right. I may be wrong. And if I am wrong I will fully admit to it. That’s how I’m wired.
57. beelzebub posted at 12:02 am on Thu, May 8, 2014.
Karl, you might be right afterall, buddy.
I’ll sit tight until May 15 @ 12:01am. If I don’t see anything of substance by that point I’ll chalk it up to another lesson in the human condition and join the other side. But I was taught to give a man a fair chance. And we generally fall back on what we were taught as youngsters. Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you. But we must accept that the empire is in decline. We must accept it’s not the world it was only 20 years ago. Words have lost some value and the handshake is not quite as firm as it was. That’s what happens when prosperity wanes and the masses compete for scarce resources. And now it’s time to say goodnight – goodnight sleep tight – now the sun turns out his light – goodnight sleep tight – dream sweet dreams…
58. beelzebub posted at 2:19 pm on Thu, May 8, 2014.
Well, Mr. Diamond has been absent for this blogged article now for 2 days. I will speculate some possible reasons:
1) He has another work due date for a client and must meet it.
2) He’s experienced computer problems.
3) He broke all fingers and both hands and must type with his feet.
4) He’s been conducting surveillance on TR’s home.
5) He’s been out panhandling for campaign funds in his spare time.
6) He’s totally depressed over losing his vice-chair and can’t get out of bed.
7) He’s read Beelzebub’s follow-up questions here, got scared and ran away.
8) There’s more truth in what Stanley and Karl say than what Mr. Diamond is willing to publicly admit and he knows the truth will eventually raise it’s ugly head.
9) His dog ate his campaign strategy so now he has to redo it. It’s time consuming
10) Obama called him and asked him to be the new campaign fund raising czar for the DNC.
59. Greg Diamond posted at 3:24 pm on Thu, May 8, 2014.
beelz: #1 and #2 only.
I believe you gave me a deadline of Wednesday night. That seems fair.
I do think that the notion that you might not vote for me because, due to my other obligations, I’m not campaigning hard enough for your taste is odd and troubling. If I were asking you to do something difficult, that would be one thing, but marking down my name (if you think that I’m better than Rackauckas, as I think you already do) is actually less exertion that writing in the name of a cartoon character. But it’s your vote to do with as you please.
60. beelzebub posted at 4:56 pm on Thu, May 8, 2014.
Well I’ll be, look who makes an appearance!
Mr. Diamond – if you voluntarily suit up for the game you gotta play. You can’t stand on the sidelines with your hands in your pockets and expect my vote. Elmer Fudd would be more deserving.
Oh, btw, tell your buddy Dan to watch his words when he comes to our board, ok? He asserted that I’m dishonest because I use a moniker and I rightfully resented it. He should know better than to say something so ignorant. And after making the ignorant remark he ran away with his tail between his legs instead of discussing it publicly like a man. How lame is that?
Mr. Diamond – I haven’t seen you campaign at all except for your little musings on the discussion board(s). So how with a straight face could I call you a passionate, serious candidate? And don’t use money ,or lack thereof, as an excuse. I’m not a 3rd grader. Drag out your soapbox and put it on any streetcorner. Give us a time and place. I’ll show up to listen. But you haven’t done SQUAT, man! So how could you blame me for questioning your motives?
Not all of us fell off the turnip truck yesterday, Mr Diamond. It’s time to put up or shutup! We don’t have the patience of Job!
61. beelzebub posted at 10:13 pm on Thu, May 8, 2014.
Mr. Diamond – Wednesday night is almost over, sir. There are only 2 hours left for May 8, 2014. My dad used to tell me to do my business or get off the pot, as we only had one bathroom in the house. Something to consider, sir!
I am a conservative and I could be your biggest fan. If I set my mind to it I could bring you an easy 100-150 votes a day. 3 hours worth of work! I already know the strategy that I would use. Something your team of managers couldn’t come up with during brainstorming exercises in a month of Sundays! And I wouldn’t charge you a plug nickle! Let me manage 5 volunteers who can string 3 sentences together without getting confused and I could deliver 500 votes for a mornings worth the work!
But you have to do your part, Mr Diamond. You have to show me:
1. PASSION
2. COURAGE
To date, you have shown me NEITHER!
The drop-dead deadline date is May 15, 2014 @ 12.01am
Mr. Diamond – DO YOUR BUSINESS OR CLIMB OFF THE DARN POT!!!
[ADDING LATER]
38 minutes remaining. Where are you, Mr. Diamond?
Screw it. I’m going to bed.
62. beelzebub posted at 8:50 am on Sat, May 10, 2014.
Yo, Mr. Diamond….any rallies this weekend? When and where? Rallies are free, sir. Pick any streetcorner or any park. I’ll be there with bells and whistles on. It’s May 10th, man. About 20 days to election Tuesday. You’re an underdog, dude. Are you going to wait until May 25th to start campaigning? I mean you DID throw your hat into the ring and you ARE a candidate, right? I’m starting to feel like a sucker here. I had faith in you. The question “Why did you run for office?” is becoming the foremost question in my mind. Do I have to guess why? Do I have to read between the lines?
[ADDING LATER]
Since Tom McClintock left for DC I honestly can’t remember the last time I wasn’t disappointed by our state or local politicians. Tom was a straight talker and had courage. Characteristics in politics that are as rare as a chipmunk with 2 heads. When Tom spoke it was good as gold. Today our politicians remind me of Barney Fife on Mayberry RFD. Scared of their own shadows. That’s why I respected Mr. Diamond with the loss of his vice-chair seat. But perhaps that was a flash-in-the-pan quirk event. Perhaps I spoke too soon. With each passing day I lose more hope. I thought we might have had a Rocky Balboa inside the OC political ring for once. A real longshot contender. A somebody. An inspiration for the little people. Well, you can’t blame me for dreaming. I’m human too!
63. Greg Diamond posted at 12:20 pm on Sat, May 10, 2014.
I’m heightening the drama. But look, if you really want to vote for nationally recognized sportsman Elmer Fudd, I get it. The only thing I’ll note is that Mr. Fudd will certainly make fewer personal appearances than I will over this next month.
I am completing work this weekend on the lawsuit that got me kicked out of party office. That’s my priority right now and I won’t be swayed from it. You can accept that or not; I’m OK either way. But consider: votes for me are the only ones that will be counted against that wascawwy Wackauckas, so whether your hopes for me are way up in the air or crawling along the sidewalk, as an *activist* I suggest that that’s your best vote. Until then, as the Bronx Bunny himself would say: “Unlax, buddy!”
64. beelzebub posted at 9:49 pm on Sat, May 10, 2014.
Mr. Diamond – the mock jury is still out on the verdict, re: your motives for running for DA. But an independent source claims to have heard some squabbling through the walls about a non-existent ‘plan of action’ with only about 20 days to go until the final ballots are cast. And considering that the majority of ballots are ABSENTEE in nature and submitted well in advance of election Tuesday – it proves to be even more alarming. Not even ONE fracking rally and it’s already May 10th? The fantasy of Rocky Balboa running up the courthouse steps to the tune “We are the Champions” is fading fast. The possibility of a 1st round KO is becoming a much more likely outcome without even one glove landed on the incumbent.
I was your biggest fan. And now I have my doubts.
Oh, and I don’t vote fo the lesser of 2 evils (if that is what it comes down to). Those days are over. I’ve seen too much. Fudd is symbolic. Sometimes there’s more to the picture than what meets the eye.
65. beelzebub posted at 10:24 am on Sun, May 11, 2014.
What will Monday’s excuse be, Mr. Diamond? You had to take a client out to lunch and the car was dirty so you had to wash it? The cat got sick and you had to take it to the vet?
You CHOSE to enter the DA’s race and you are a major underdog. It’s May 11th. Have you had even ONE campaign rally anywhere?
You can’t blame me for being disappointed., Mr. Diamond. It’s a letdown. I had hope.
66. beelzebub posted at 11:39 pm on Mon, May 12, 2014.
Mr. Diamond – do you realize that absentee voters are already mailing in their ballots and don’t know you from the man in the moon?
You said it costs $29,000 to put a candidate’s statement in the Voter’s Guide. How much did it cost you to enter the race? It must have been more than the candidate’s statement! Why enter the race if nobody knows who the heck you are? Why toss all that money down the flusher?
Can you at all blame me for asking about ‘motive’? I’m human after all!
67. Greg Diamond posted at 3:41 pm on Tue, May 13, 2014.
OK, beelz: I believe that I have about 8-1/2 hours left to meet your deadline to reply to various of your comments. [NOTE: WRONG! the “deadline” was the following day.] I’ll try to do so — although in the meantime I’m going to be attending the Irvine City Council meeting — and speaking in public comments about Mayor Steven Choi’s despicable obstructionism of a committee to site a Veteran’s Cemetery in the Great Park. (I’ve been meeting most weeks with OCVMP, the committee of veteran’s — I’m not one myself, but I’m the parent of a Naval Reservist — trying to get this project to happen.)
I see that you commented on another article where you, quite rightly, bemoaned the corrupt happenings in Anaheim City Government. The project that I’ve been working on — the one that led to my removal as DPOC Vice Chair and that has hamstrung my fundraising — was to file a complaint in that case. I accomplished this yesterday afternoon. Bantering with you was distracting me from that task; and that is why I had to decide to forego it for a week.
If those two activities — one volunteering, and one in which I have been working almost entirely unpaid, although I have the possibility of obtaining legal fees for it later — aren’t enough to convince you to cast your vote for me, then you may be a harder sell than I can devote my time to closing. But: I will be speaking at the Laguna Woods Democratic Club tomorrow night and will probably mill around at the site of the Republican Gubernatorial Debate on Thursday. If you visit Orange Juice Blog (or read Scott Moxley’s piece), you’ll see that I have a low-cost fundraiser on Saturday at Linbrook Lanes.
As for answering your questions, I will try to do so by midnight. If I don’t, you can decide the significance of that omission as it pertains to your vote.
By the way — I put material up in SmartVoter (last I checked my opponent did not) and answered the Register’s questionnaire (which my opponent did not.) So I would not say that “nobody knows who I am” — and I’m proud to have earned the ballot designation that you’ll see on your sample or absentee ballot.
The cost to register to run, by the way, was about $2950, as I recall; nowhere near $29,000. If it simply gives you, me, and others who want the pleasure of casting a substantive vote against Tony Rackauckas a chance to do so, I think that that would be justification (and motivation) enough — but the fact is that neither you or I know how widely Mr. Rackauckas is reviled in this county. Thanks to the $2950 or so, we’ll now find out. I hope that you’ll choose to cast a ballot that will be counted.
68. Greg Diamond posted at 10:06 pm on Tue, May 13, 2014.
OK, the big case has been filed; I’m ready to take on beelzebub’s (and Karl’s, and even some of Stanley’s) questions now. I actually had until tomorrow night, but I decided to get everything out of the way here and now.
Beelz, 5/6@1:54: you ask me again about those social workers. I have no tolerance for perjury, but anyone with criminal justice experience will tell you that it’s not frequently prosecuted. When prosecuted, it should be done, as far as possible, based on objective standards – and never for punitive or retaliatory reasons. However: I’m not a fan of employers – citizens included – simply trying to displace blame onto their employees where their wrongs may be due to their cutting corners due to bad supervision or scarce resources. If the public has to pay for an employee’s wrong, the public is supposed to learn that its managers and supervisors do a better job of hiring, training, supervision, and discipline. What of that analysis applies to this particular case, I do not know; but those are general principles I’d apply.
Beelz, 5/6@2:22: yes, I agree that Rackauckas prosecuting personally was strange – and I would not have done so under any circumstances I could imagine. Beyond that, I stand by my previous answer. As for the jurors not coming forward with public statements, while I appreciate such statements I am not inclined to criticize jurors for choices that they are legitimately offered, because I think that the prospect of such criticism just dissuades people from becoming jurors. The deal is: they do their job and if they do it conscientiously we accept their personal decisions about what else to do – including their not explaining themselves.
Beelz, 5/6@2:35: if the public can see the dashcam video, then it should. If the law prevents it, though, then whether it’s a smart or a dumb policy it should be followed. I’d need to know more details here about why it hasn’t been available. I agree that people just flat out don’t trust the DA’s investigations.
Beelz, 5/6@2:58: I think that I answered the question on illegal immigration before and you just didn’t like the answer. I’m not going to be an anti-immigration activist as DA. To the extent that unauthorized residents are hired because they’ll accept violations of labor codes – and that’s a big part of the problem – I can and will address that. And yes, various natural experiments in recent years have shown that there really are some jobs that Americans won’t – or at least don’t – take.
Beelz, 5/6@4:44: I’m not worried about running out of legitimate cases to prosecute. Given that I’m running in part on a platform of respect for civil rights, which often means investigating police more seriously than the incumbent has done, I’m sure that many such organizations wouldn’t support me even if I had asked. I don’t mind not having their support if that support is withheld for a bad reason. I feel the same way about the Building Trades.
Karl, 5/6@7:13: not much to reply to there, except to say that he’s wrong.
Beelz, 5/7@9:04: says that we’re finally getting to the beef. I agree, somewhat, but his appetite seems voracious.
Beelz, 5/7@7:58: is upset that I’m fulfilling my obligations to clients rather than continuing to answer his (mostly quite legitimate) questions here, where it seems to me that few are reading anyway. This seems like a poor reason to vote against someone, but it’s his vote to case (or not). Most of beelz’s follow-up comments are in this same vein: that, apparently, it would have been better for no one to run against Tony Rackauckas than to have someone who came it at almost the last minute knowing that he would not be able to put all of his professional obligations on hold – but believing that he could still offer enough of a record and platform to earn people’s votes. I find this attitude strange. I never promised to be anyone’s dream candidate – and I certainly never promised to put down all of my other paid and volunteer work. If that’s not enough for some people – well, so be it. But it doesn’t make any sense to me.
Beelz, 5/8@4:56: He’s right – he doesn’t know me at all if he thinks that Dan Chmielewski is my friend. As for “if you voluntarily suit up for the game you gotta play.” This strikes me as weird. The alternative was no opponent for Rackauckas. If it’s really important to you that an opponent of his put down all other obligations and campaign to your satisfaction, then I guess you can pretend that he has no opponent and sit this one out. But he does have an opponent – one who will do a better job – and if that’s not enough for you then you seem to be in it for something other than electing the best person. (You may have me mixed up with someone who has the means not to work. Sorry, that’s not me.)
Beelz, 5/8@10:13: Beyond bragging of his enormous ability to attract votes – sounds great! – he tells me that I have to show him passion and courage, which he says I haven’t. To that, I say “nerts.” Ask around.
Beelz, 5/10@8:50: Beelz asks a good question: was I having any rallies last weekend? No I wasn’t – instead I was completing work on a really important lawsuit. My having rallies versus not having rallies last weekend may have influenced the likelihood of my election by … let’s be generous and say 1%. My working on the lawsuit versus not working on it influenced the likelihood of being able to file the important public interest lawsuit by 100%. For me, that was an easy call. If you don’t want a candidate who would make that call – it’s your vote! I am sorry that I disappointed him, though.
Beelz, 5/10@12:20: Beelz quotes to me from Stephen King’s “Misery.” I am trying to ignore the implications of that. We are working on having a rally, in addition to the fundraising event and my personal appearances. I hope that that may mollify him.
Beelz, 5/11@10:24: Monday’s excuse was still the complaint – which, I’m happy to say, was filed. I’m working on fundraising and my volunteer campaign manager is working on rallies. If beelz wants to put together a rally, I’ll probably attend – though I’m painfully away of our difference on immigration policy, so I’m not sure what to expect.
Stanley, 5/11@8:17: The Vile Fiala outdoes himself by dredging up one of the most vicious anti-Semitic accusations of them all. No one objects, of course. For those legitimately interested in learning about the Kol Nidre, here’s a source:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2008/10/the_antisemites_favorite_jewish_prayer.html
Beelz, 5/13@3:41: In an odd way, I respect his theme that he is concerned about my motive. Am I fishing for clients? No – I have more clients than I need. (I need more money from practicing, but it’s my fault for doing so much contingency, pro-bono, and public interest work, when most of the people with whom I went to school simply cashed in.) Here’s my motive: I don’t want Tony Rackauckas to be DA. I don’t like the way he does his job. I don’t want Susan Kang Schroeder to be his anointed successor, probably hiring him on as a pricey consultant after he leaves office. When it became clear that Todd Spitzer wasn’t going to run, and that no one else was going to run, there was only one way left to make that happen: and that was to run myself, making room for that effort among my already pre-existing responsibilities and commitments. If that’s good enough for you, I want your vote. If that’s not good enough for you, I doubt that I’d ever have gotten it anyway – because seeing Rackauckas defeated is simply not important enough for you.
Until next time!
69. beelzebub posted at 11:57 pm on Tue, May 13, 2014.
Well, thank you Mr. Diamond! Your response has earned you continued consideration for my vote even though some of your responses made little or no sense to me.. Congratulations! I don’t come easy or cheap, sir. If you win my vote you are an honorable candidate. But now the heavy lifting begins. You must EARN IT! I would rather vote for Elmer Fudd than vote for the lesser of 2 evils!
Something else, Mr. Diamond. In good conscience I could NEVER vote for a candidate who champions illegal foreigners over unemployed Americans, sir. We have 30% unemployment in our black communities. We have 1000’s of military vets in OC who cannot find a darn job. And we have 1000’s of illegals working in the construction, hospitality, manufacturing, landscaping, etc….industries, thus preventing from our own citizens from gaining employment. If you champion illegals over our citizens that’s a deal breaker, sir. We elect you to represent US – NOT LAWBREAKING FOREIGNERS!!
Your response on the social workers was a dodge and an answer I would NOT expect from an officer of the court sworn to uphold the law. Even if an employer cut corners (which has not even been insinuated) there is NO JUSTIFICATION for gov employees to reportedly LIE to a court of law, thus resulting in egregious harm to mother and her children. You implied these social workers could have been victims and therefore immune from prosecution. I find that repulsive coming from a candidate for the DA’s office. That’s as stupid as saying that bank robbers were ‘victims’ and immune from prosecution because the bank manager forgot to lock the door when he left at night, thus giving the robbers easy access to steal the bank’s money! AND YOU WANT TO BE THE COUNTY’s DA?
Jurors should have an obligation to explain the rationale of their verdict when it made NO SENSE to the large majority of the OC citizens who saw all the evidence and listened to all the testimony! PERIOD! Otherwise we do NOT have a transparent justice system!
So we should FOLLOW the law when it comes to preventing the public to see the Manuel Loggins dashcam video, yet we should TURN A BLIND EYE to the law when 2 social workers reportedly LIED to the court and thereby caused egregious harm to a mother and her children AND IGNORE the laws when foreign lawbreakers enter Orange County and steal jobs from our citizens and military veterans? Are you running on a platform of 2 separate and distinct books of laws depending on who the violators might be?
You are on shaky ground, Mr. Diamond. But you remain under consideration for my vote. Right now IMO your chief opponent is Elmer Fudd – not TR. And Elmer is in the lead.
I will be watching closely. YOUR actions will determine who gets my vote. And I will mail my absentee ballot in NO EARLIER than June 1, 2014.
So you do have time to convince me that YOU are the right man for the DA’s office.
I MUST feel beyond a reasonable doubt that you will UPHOLD YOUR SWORN OATH OF OFFICE and without flaw PROMOTE ‘EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW’. The law must apply to EVERYONE EQUALLY!!!!
Otherwise Elmer gets my vote!
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