One of the biggest "shit a brick" moments in recent memory

[anarky]

Our local paper is a piece of shit. It comes out once a week, and the distribution sucks eggs. For all the local races, it always endorses all incumbents, and does so in a way that makes it clear they just didn't research anyone. I doubt the editor is a native English speaker, too. The paper really is that bad.

But I opened this morning's copy to read the local election results. And a headline on the front page made me shit seven bricks. It's true. I can build a shed if stories like this come out every week.

There's a street corner where there have been quite a few demonstrations in favor of and opposed to Proposition H8. Fine. No problem. It's freedom of speech. On Monday evening, there were opposing groups on both sides. One man from the Pro-H8 side rushed over to the other side of the street, yelling that all the anti-H8 protesters were "abominations" and "going to hell." He called two women "dykes" and said he doesn't agree with their "queer ways." Then he punched a hole in one sign and pushed a woman down!

Here's the shit-a-brick part, if it wasn't bad enough: this man is a fucking city council member! The incident was filmed by several people on their cellphones. Another city council member saw it as well!

He wasn't up for re-election Tuesday, and won't be until 2010. I've never cared about local politics, but will do everything in my power to keep that man from being re-elected. Not so much that he supports discrimination, but that he used violence without provocation against people who disagree. That's not cool. Not cool at all.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Wow. All hail douche. Got a link or anything? Or is the newsmedia still 1970's down there? Did any of the cellphone films make it to youtube yet?

[Ran]

You guys recalled a Governor. Since I lived here, they kicked at least one person off the county council and fired a judge. Can't you boot a City Council member?

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Not if everybody in douchetown feels the same way. Fuck, those dickbags might throw the twat a parade for being King Douchenozzle.

[anarky]

I intend to do whatever I can. Even if I have to run for City Council myself in 2010 and run smear campaigns about what a douchetard he was, I'll do it. Our public officers are entitled to their opinions and the same rights to express them as anyone else, but someone entrusted with upholding the law should not break it, especially in this manner.

Our shit-ass local paper doesn't have this story on their website, despite it being front page news and their having others on the site. The Riverside Press-Enterprise has a story here. It apparently ran on Tuesday, but I don't get that paper. It's usually awful about covering local news anywhere in the Inland Empire (even Riverside!) and is one of the shittiest papers I've ever seen that still charges money. I also found one guy who blogged about it in Palm Springs, but I avoid blogs like the plague since there are no journalistic standards whatsoever. (And, despite the myths, take it from someone who trained for and worked in the newspaper industry until I got sick of it and the shitty pay: the "liberal bias" is extremely overstated. As in "it doesn't really exist at all.")

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Liberal Bias. From papers and stations owned by giant corporations. Who, last time I checked, were all about profit. Sure. Makes perfect sense.

[anarky]

I've decided to investigate what is required to censure or even kick out a councilman. I plan to bring the entire weight of the media down on this son of a bitch. Guys like Stewart, Colbert, and Olbermann eat this shit up. I don't mean to make a laughingstock out of my little town, but this bastard needs to get spanked.

[anarky]

I just typed the story in (as it's still not on the newspaper site). I remembered a couple of details slightly wrong earlier, but I posted the story to FB.

[Seven]

He looks like the alien Arturis I encountered while serving on the U.S.S. Voyager.

[Jargo]

looks more like that tv show alien nation was fer real real not for play play.