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Mailbox continues to yield campaign gems
MAILER MANIA MARCHES ON … in a campaign full of menacing mailers, the strangest I’ve received so far came to “The Dunning Family” from some outfit calling itself the “Cops Voter Guide.” … nothing nasty on it at all, but at no point did they reveal who exactly these “Cops” are, where these “Cops” live and why on Earth they’re endorsing Lucas Frerichs and only Lucas Frerichs for Davis City Council … In the same breath, they’re also telling me to vote for both Dianne Feinstein and Elizabeth Emken for U.S. senator, which might invalidate my ballot …
Lucas is cited for his “courage, commitment and collaboration,” which, strangely enough, is exactly what it says on his many bright orange lawn signs around town … on the flip side, right under the picture of a blue-clad K-9 officer directing his dog, we’re told “This document was prepared by California Vote by Mail Voter Guide. Appearance is paid for and authorized by each individual candidate and ballot measure which is designated by an asterisk.” … yes, Lucas’ name has an asterisk next to it all right, but it’s still unclear if he paid for the endorsement or just for the mailer … no other Davis City Council candidates are mentioned, positively or negatively …
SPEAKING OF MAILERS … while Dan Wolk’s “You Can Go Home Again” mailer/brochure/first six books of the Holy Bible has generally played to favorable reviews, dozens of folks have asked if he always goes jogging alongside his wife and two young daughters while wearing a white button-down shirt and tie, black slacks and cumbersome dress shoes … hey, maybe when you’re as busy as Dan is, you don’t have time to change your clothes before going out for a family run … best not to plan a marathon with the Wolk family without first visiting your tailor …
THE BRAINY BUNCH … we’ve long known that Davis is the Second Most Educated City in America, but unfortunately we lost a few points off the old Intelligence Quotient when this paper published its “What do you think?” feature last Sunday … this segment, which grew out of the old “Man on the Street” bit from years ago, asked six random downtown Davisites “What should be the City Council’s top priority?” … all six appeared to be of voting age and able to count to 10 without using their fingers or toes …
Despite those credentials, two of the six decided the top priority of the Davis City Council should be “schools.” … said one respondent to the question: “Schools, just because in my experience in the public system, there weren’t enough teachers to get the attention I needed.” … especially in that political science segment on the operation of local government … said another: “Schools. I went to school here and I’ve been all over the world and seen other school systems and nothing’s as good as here.” … in his mind, apparently, the council is doing a great job with the schools … fair enough …
In fact, given the pickle they find themselves in, I’m sure all five members of the Davis Board of Education would be happy to relinquish jurisdiction to the Davis City Council at this point …
SCANDALS ALL AROUND US … my friend Curt, who knows his way around a courtroom, is thrilled with the entertainment our political candidates have provided all of us in the past several weeks … “Reminds me of my youth in Chicago,” he notes … “An ostensible photo of our former mayor being carted off to the hospital as a result of an alleged verbal assault, and insinuations that a judge is nefarious.” … for a columnist, this is truly a target-rich environment …
“The common trait shared by judges,” Curt continues, “is judicial temperament. Striving to be fair, neutral and acting without prejudice. Mr. Parish has made clear he will not demonstrate judicial temperament, but injudicious temper.” … amen to that … “To make it clear, I’m not favoring Harvard and Stanford over Puget Sound and McGeorge, but we all know that the ones who went to Stanford and Harvard didn’t have what it takes to get into Berkeley and Hastings.” … now you’re talking, my friend …
OPPORTUNITY LOST … I am absolutely stunned that UC Davis did not make a bid to enroll Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and his $35,000 foreign student tuition to help balance the university’s budget … maybe last November’s pepper-spray incident caused him to accept NYU’s offer instead …
— Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net
Discussion | 12 comments
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InterestingMay 25, 2012 - 2:03 pm
Apparently Bob Dunning doesn't even read the rest of the Enterprise. Davis is not even the second most educated city in the state, let alone the country.
Reply |The World's Gone CrazyMay 28, 2012 - 5:02 pm
It’s been Bobs running joke for years. Get a sense of humor!!!
Reply |Rich RifkinMay 26, 2012 - 4:11 pm
Interesting, perhaps you are a Brookline, MA partisan who is upset Davis beat your beloved burg out for the second spot? See this for where Davis ranks, and then buy a beer for Bob Dunning after you eat your crow. http://www.aneki.com/educated_cities.html
Reply |ActuallyMay 27, 2012 - 6:38 pm
Actually I'm a graduate student here in Davis. According to this we are 8th in the state: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=23265 Not to mention, a recent article in The Enterprise: http://www.davisenterprise.com/features/sunday-best/illuminating-the-nature-of-the-community-of-davis-by-the-census-numbers/ So how about you get back to me about 'eating crow' when you learn how to read your own newspaper.
Reply |ActuallyMay 27, 2012 - 11:46 pm
Actually, Rich Rifkin, I'm a graduate student here in Davis. According to this we are 8th in the state: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=23265 Not to mention, a recent article in The Enterprise: http://www.davisenterprise.com/features/sunday-best/illuminating-the-nature-of-the-community-of-davis-by-the-census-numbers/ So how about you get back to me about 'eating crow' when you learn how to read your own newspaper.
Reply |AlbertMay 28, 2012 - 3:41 pm
The article Rich quoted and the article you quoted are using different criteria for the definition of "educated." (Rich's article is based on the percentage of resident with graduate degrees, while the article you quote is based on the percentage of residents with bachelor's (or higher) degrees.)
Reply |test 3May 27, 2012 - 11:57 pm
Nice job moderators for helping me figure out that you censor comments based on the provided email address. I'll make sure to switch it up from now on. Funny, it only seems to happen when I'm writing a rebuttal to Rich, as happened a few weeks ago.
Reply |LeilaMay 28, 2012 - 5:34 pm
I know! What is up with the Rich Rifkin angle in this paper? He's the only columnist who misuses his authority as such to basically patrol every letter and comment written in the paper and then he thoroughly chews out whomever he does not agree with. Isn't there something a little wrong about that? Kind of like the neighborhood bully who makes you afraid to say what you really think, or he'll beat you up? And-- Does he have a life?
Reply |The World's Gone CrazyMay 28, 2012 - 5:59 pm
Maybe you should dispute Rich’s facts rather than his character. He can and always does document his point of view. You’re just assaulting his character without backing it up. What did Rich say that you can document as being wrong?
Reply |Sebastian OnateMay 29, 2012 - 6:48 am
We only remove comments for libelous or abusive language. If you include multiple links there's a pretty good chance that the server will mark it as spam, in which case it will stay hidden until an Enterprise staffer (there are no "moderators") can get around to approving it.
Reply |LeilaMay 28, 2012 - 8:50 pm
What's wrong is that, in my opinion, Rich misuses his position (no other Enterprise reporter or columnist does this) to control or stifle much of the dialogue in these postings. His tone is often censorious and his so called "facts" are often just someone else's opinion, someone who, of course, agrees with Rich. Experts disagree often and they all have "facts" with which to back themselves up. Are you deliberately pretending to misunderstand what I said? The "facts" I am referring to in my opinion of Rich are self-evident--the "document" you want produced is the Enterprise itself. I am saying Rich Rifkin often has a ubiquitous, censorious and debate -stifling presence in these postings and I think he should rethink what kind of influence he wants to have in his position as a paid columnist. Once in awhile he can be funny and informative, but many times he just seems to want to stifle people with whom he disagrees.
Reply |ScottMay 29, 2012 - 7:44 am
Couldn't have said it better myself! Add to this list of misusing his position, the fact that he obtains e-mail addresses that are not published here to contact (uninvited) those who he wants to badger. Ethically wrong at best.
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