(cross-posted on the BetterCA blog)
The millionaires, billionaires, and corporate Interests bankrolling the Prop. 75 campaign have launched a new television ad which began airing in Los Angeles today. The ad features a paid political consultant, a republican congressional candidate and extremist activists deceptively posing as typical teachers, police officers and concerned citizens who support the governor’s measures. See this is the problem when you don’t really have the support of the very people you claim to be working for. You don’t have every day teachers, nurse, firefighters and police officers to support you, and to stand up for your initiatives. Instead, you have your political hacks play dress up, and put them in misleading ads.
Halloween is over, it’s time to take off their costumes and reveal their true identities:
Allan Mansoor as an Orange County Sheriff:
In reality Mansoor day job is serving as the “ultra-conservative” Costa Mesa Mayor who once unsuccessfully sought the endorsement of the Orange County Sherriff’s Association, posts “anti-homosexual rantings” on a citizen’s group bulletin board and believes homosexuals “are disproportionately likely to engage in pedophilia.” He counts among his supporters Martin Millard a columnist for Citizen’s Informer, the journal of the Council of Conservative Citizens, an anti-Semitic group that opposes racial intermarriage. Mansoor wanted to “eliminate city funding for programs like soup kitchens or the job center,” where Latinos waited for work. At one time he was worked for the Orange County Sheriffs department, but that was years ago.
Jeralee Smith, Elementary Teacher in Colton:
Smith is the co-founder of the Conservative Educators Caucus in the NEA. Smith is has co-founded another group called the NEA-Exgay Educators Caucus. She’s also involved with the ex-gay movement through the Exodus Organization – a group whose moto is “Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.”
Larry Sand, Middle School Teacher, Los Angeles:
Sand has been a vocal and extreme critic of Black History Month, Unity Day, and all cultural celebrations.
He once wrote this in an email to his Congressman:
The aforementioned Unity Day was formerly known as Multicultural Day. Only the name has changed. On this day the powers that be trot out a truly nauseating bunch of people. There is usually a homosexual telling the 11 to 13 year olds that, by golly, it is okay to be gay. Then we are treated to an Hispanic activist who claims that we need to stop spending money on war and buy more school books. And just for good measure, we get some former black street thug telling some pretty graphic stories about his life which are supposed to scare the kids straight, but in fact, sound pretty glamorous to some of them. Interestingly, this day is always the Friday before Memorial Day. I dutifully get on the PA that morning and explain to those who will listen what Memorial Day is about. I read a list of the former military men and women who work at my school and ask the students to thank them for their service. And that is it for Memorial Day. No speeches, no essays, no assemblies, no acknowledgement of the importance of fighting for your country.
Sandra Crandall, Kindergarten Teacher in Fountain Valley:
Crandall isn’t just an ordinary teacher. She serves as the state chair and is a leading spokesperson for the Yes on 75 committee. She also sits on the board of directors of the National Right to Work Committee a group which works to restrict workers rights to organize. She supported Prop. 226 in 1998, and left the union, becoming an “agency fee” payer in 1994.
Jim Prunty, Arigi/Pest Control Supervisor of Glendora:
Prunty is a paid political consultant for the Yes on 75 campaign and a Republican Party candidate for Assembly District 59.
Lon Jacobs, San Bernadino County Sheriff:
Jacobs once filed a restraining order against the Safety Employees’ Benefit Association. It was thrown out of court. In August 2005, Jacobs declined to defend himself at the SEBA Board of Director’s meeting, where he was expelled from the union for, among other things, creating an anti-SEBA website and filing the restraining order against the union.
James Galley, wearing a hard hat and safety vest, Water Treatment, San Diego:
Galley is a Republican candidate for the 51st Congressional District nomination, and former candidate for the Republican State Senate primary in 2004, the San Diego City Council in 2002 and 2004, and for Mayor of San Diego in 2005.
Other posts on BetterCA.com today:
Mad Mike’s At It Again….
Mike Murphy is ignoring the Field Poll and instead playing up the Hoover Insititue Poll, which get this, is an Internet poll.
Turnout: They are Hoping You Stay Home
So far, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s special election strategy has been to target only those voters he believes will be most likely to support his agenda. He’s used codeword laden speeches, carefully selected “town hall” audiences, target ad buys, and highly restricted public appearances to keep his message at a level that will generate turnout only from those voters he expects to support him. If he went for an all out turnout campaign he would lose, because the fewer Californians go to the polls next Tuesday, the greater his advantage.
Ms. Fortune: Legend in Her Own Mind
Who is Margaret Fortune, the Governor’s education maven and head of the Yes on 74 campaign?
According to the Governor, she’s Wonder Woman with credentials galore. She has a BS from Berkeley and an MS from Harvard. But what about all her other resume bullets? Let’s check the facts.
