Dear Friends, we have received the following e-mail from Joe Sipowicz:
The last couple of months have been a lot of fun for me as I followed the doings in the 72nd Special Election primary. This was really the first time I have paid close attention to a state election, and boy was it an eye-opener. I guess enough has been said about the triumph of substantive record versus hollow slogans, mendacity, self-serving corruption, seemingly bottomless pots of money, and an outright lie of a residency.
My favorite part of the whole episode came when FFFF published a post on the Dave Lopez appearance at the Ackerman party at the Summit House and was subsequently notified by some huge law firm (Jones Day) that FFFF would be in big trouble if you didn’t remove it and cook up some cowardly “retraction” of simple facts. It was a pretty obvious case of harassment orchestrated by Ackerman himself.
You did not give in. Instead you left the post up and essentially told the Ackerman campaign and its running dogs to shove the crap right back up where it came from. I think you deserve a lot of credit for that. And I wonder how many of the sniveling centro-sphere pin heads who love to throw around the word ‘”cowardly” would have caved in to that sort of intimidation attempt.
Anyway FFFF, my thanks for you efforts to keep the Ackermans out of Fullerton. I’m not even sure if you realize the great service you have perfomed – but thanks!
The search for Eternal Truth may have just been steamrollered by Ackerman, Inc.
Yesterday our old playmate Matthew J. Cunningham of the irrepressible boot lick Red County Blog took us to task for passing along the “false” information about his hero Dick Ackerman illegally lobbying for the OC Fair sale. You can read it here, but be forewarned about a likely gag-reflex response. It seems that Cunningham is on a noble mission to promote the Truth, the Whole truth, and Nothing But The Truth. How does he know that Dick’s behavior wasn’t lobbying? Because Dick said so! Quod erat demonstrandum!
I don't remember and you can't make me
Yeah sure, anything you say, J.
Ackerman has already admitted to “helping” draft the legislation, legislation that somehow managed to jump into AB 22 all by itself? Did Dick go to Sacto? Did Dick make calls to his former colleagues? Naw.That would be illegal lobbying.
Interestingly, our Friend Vern Nelson over at the Orange Juice blog has reported a conversation he had with Assemblyman Jim Silva who opposed the sale. Silva affably relates that there was lots of pressure on him to vote in favor of the sale legislation. Any guesses as to who one of the pressure-appliers was? Not Ackerman, surely – that would be illegal lobbying!
Well, maybe we’ll find out soon all about what Ackerman did or didn’t do; and Cunningham’s lofty life-long goal of pursuing the Truth will bear fruit – although no thanks to him. See, the County Counsel has asked the State AG to look into the whole issue of open meeting law violation, public procurement (Ackerman’s “services”) violation, and manifest conflict-of-interest charges against Ackerman’s employers. Who knows, maybe Dick will be able to explain what he did, or didn’t do under oath.
We also note in passing, that according to Scott Moxley at the OC Weekly, Ackerman’s law firm has passed the OC Fair “Foundation” hot potato on to Jones Day, the same scumsuckers Ackerman used to try (unsuccessfully) to intimidate us.
Your Honor, can I borrow that wooden hammer thingy?
Following hot on the heels of their last snagged conversation between Dick Ackerman and his various high-minded associates, we have received this sparkling gem from our Undercover Surveillance Unit.
It appears to be a conference call between Dick Ackerman and two of Repuglican OCs minor water bearers, Adam Probolsky and Matthew Cunningham. It is so unbelievable that we will obviously forgive you Friends for treating it as fiction, but here goes, anyway.
It's all coming together...another term in Sacramento!
(Cunningham and Ackerman were already conversing when the interception began. A faint ringing sound is heard in the background)
Dick Ackerman: (snort) You missed the rear tires again.
Matt Cunningham: Sorry, sir. Thought I got them. Won’t happen again.
DA: (grunting noise) Yeah, well it better not…and use Armor All next time…
(ringing stops)
Adam Probolsky: Hey there, Senator. So glad I could join –
DA: (guttural sounds) Shut up and listen Problobsky. Your girlfriend has already got me into plenty of hot water. That shit with Jones Day isn’t going to be free.
AP: I’ll tell you what –
DA: (bark) No, you’re done talking, putz. Clam up. You’re almost as bad as that donkey Fleischman.
AP: Sorry, sir I just –
( a low grade snarl, unattributable)
DA: That asshole Lacy did a poll. Showed Linda down by ten. We go down, you go down. Now get your fat ass out there and refute it. And you, you –
MC: Me? Yessir?
DA: Your job is to screw with that FFFF operation and Bushala. That bastard is putting up signs attacking me. I mean attacking Linda. Nobody attacks me. It can’t be legal. They’re making me look bad. Making Linda look bad. Making us look bad. (several low growls and a snort). Ughhhmmmmph.
MC: He’s fringe. Crazy. I really hate him. I hate his guts.
AP: He’s a terrrorist. They all are, you know.
DA: Shut up, Plobrosky. What are you still doing on the line? You’ve got your assignment now get lost.
(a distinct clicking sound)
MC: Anything else you want me to do, sir?
DA: (snarl) I want you to start going after Norby, goddammit!
MC: Okay….well…its hard…I mean. I haven’t endorsed him…
DA: (several growls)Nobody gives a rat’s ass about your punk endorsement. Just take a shit on him every day.
MC: Well, I’m trying, but you see, John is telling me the same thing, so –
DA: Don’t play hard ball with me you little (unintelligible). If I go down you’re coming along, too see, just like Porbolsky and Fleischberg. And all that Carona shit may come out, too. You and all your little…(loud sound of exhalation). And don’t forget to shut up that Bartlett piece of crap. Thinks he’s so goddam pure and self-righteous. (growling sound)
MC: Well, we’ve been deleting some of his posts and Chip has –
DA: (muffled sounds of indeterminate origin) Shut him up. Now. I’ll take care of him but good after I win. So go after Bushala. Make him look bad. (several quick grunts)
MC: Well, it’s a little hard – he doesn’t seem to care what I say about him. He’s crazy.
DA: Goddamit, call him a liar and a crook. I don’t give a shit. Use some big words. Goddam Jones Day. Worthless. Can’t count on anybody. All out to get me. (a muffled snarl)
MC: Okay, sir. I’ll keep up the pressure. We really need Linda.
DA: Who? Oh, yeah. Right. Now start blogging or your gravy train’s gonna come to a screeching halt, you got it?
MC: Yessir!
DA: And next time get the tires right or I’ll let Fleischman do it.
Orange County lawyer James Lacy has leaped into the breach to defend Art Pedroza’s Orange Juice blog from the intimidation by legal monster Jones Day – reportedly the fourth largest law operation in the nation. Here is Art’s post on the subject.
You may recall that Art, like us, received a threatening letter from Jones Day lawyer Thomas Reed Malcolm (who just happens to have been at the same college and law schools at the same as Dick Ackerman. Hmm). Malcolm, it seems, is representing one Desiree Mouzoon – who was the subject of a KCAL investigative piece by Dave Lopez. Several local blogs were targeted (including ours) for merely passing along news of an event that occurred in our city.
Lacy has also agreed to defend FFFF against potential legal harassment, although we never took down the post.
So our thanks to Mr. Lacy for doing the right thing. If the political machines – republican or Democrat – can deploy their pals in big law firms to bully and harass their opponents, then we’re all in big trouble.
Your honor, I'd like to abridge the First Amendment! By the way, are you going to finish the rest of that soda?
Last night we received an e-mailed letter from Jones Day, the same lawyers that miraculously worked on convicted criminal ex-Sheriff Mike Carona’s defense for free.
The letter demands that we remove the post we published about KCAL’s Dave Lopez pursuing a story concerning a former Mike Duvall associate at Linda Ackerman’s October 20th fundraiser at the Summit Inn.
Our post was about an event that occurred within Fullerton, our city. It’s on film. Thousands of people have seen it on television. It indisputably happened. It was of particular interest to us since Mr. Lopez also interviewed us at our protest at the site of the fundraiser; this fact was clearly related in the very first sentence of the post.
The post made it very clear that the behavior ascribed to the individual in question was merely alleged. We did not claim that it was true, since we did not know. Therefore Jones Day’s second demand – that we publish a retraction averring the falsity of the allegations – is a logical absurdity since we have no way of knowing that the allegations are false, either. We presume credible allegations were actually made since this story was aired by a reputable news operation.
But we will say this: the subject in question and her lawyers categorically deny the allegations reported by KCALs Dave Lopez.
This appears to be nothing more than a little intimidation orchestrated by Ackerman, Inc. itself, to keep people in Fullerton from knowing things that happen in Fullerton – much like the rest of phony “Ackerman for Assembly” campaign.Is it merely a coincidence that the guy whose name on the Jones Day correspondence is an Irvine lawyer who just happens to have been at The Hastings School of the Law at the same time as Ackerman? Hmm.
We have caused nobody “serious and irreparable harm;” we have defamed nobody. If KCAL determines that this story has no basis and no merit then we will be happy to relate that, at the appropriate time.
