What a spectacle, what a carnival, what a glorious, over-the-top bacchanal of grievance politics we’ve seen unfolding in Los Angeles this week.
What a spectacle, what a carnival, what a glorious, over-the-top bacchanal of grievance politics we’ve seen unfolding in Los Angeles this week. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported on a conversation secretly recorded nearly a year ago among Los Angeles city council members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de León. Also participating was Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
During the conversation, Martinez spoke in crude terms about the son of fellow councilmember Mike Bonin, saying, “Parece chango,” which in Spanish means, “He’s like a monkey.” It must be pointed out that Bonin’s son is black and was adopted by Bonin, who is gay, and his husband. Add the gay factor to an already explosive racial situation and you have the precursors for the circus we have witnessed this week. As Howard Cosell learned almost 40 years ago, you don’t go around referring to black people as monkeys, at least not where anyone will make it public.
Surely neither Martinez, Cedillo, de León, or Herrera believed their conversation would be made public, hence the casual ease with which they talked about Bonin’s son. And it wasn’t only blacks who would find cause for outrage in the leaked recording. Also discussed in less than complimentary terms were Armenians, Jews, and Mexicans of Oaxacan descent. And though neither Cedillo, de León, or Herrera echoed Martinez’s comments, their silence as she blathered on can reasonably be viewed as tacit acceptance.
The recording provides a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the L.A. city council, which one suspects is much like any other similar body, which is to say it is composed of mediocrities unfit for almost any other profession, people who form coalitions so as to maximize their own power, whether or not the exercise of that power is in the best interests of their constituents. The larger topic under discussion was the redrawing of the council district map, which occurs every ten years.
Looking at the current district map, one can see what appear to be nonsensical boundaries for certain districts, which are pinched in some areas and elongated in others so as to include some prized business, school, transportation facility, or ethnic enclave.
