Karma: Identity Crisis at LAPD

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - The Los Angeles Police Department finds itself in a genuinely catastrophic and dangerous situation, of which it is the sole architect with no good options.

It pains me to type this, but that's karma for you.

While wishing safety for them all, the flippant response comes from years of the LAPD's unapologetic efforts to intimidate and retaliate for columns I wrote about it, LA politicians and a City Hall that fails and cheats the rest of us.

Ironically, this crisis is a grander version of what the LAPD did to me, twice.

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In Thick Of Bribery Scheme, Mark Ridley-Thomas Gave This Richly Ironic Advice

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - An amusing part of watching wonky and tedious government meetings is when agitating gadflies such as Zuma Dogg, Wayne Spindler and the late John Walsh make, and sometimes sing, obnoxious public comments that get under the skin of tightly wrapped politicians.

For example, there's the nugget from 2018 that we're going to revisit today, when then-LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who was convicted last week on seven federal corruption counts, interrupted Spindler's button-pushing for, what he described as, a "point of personal privilege."

If only Ridley-Thomas had followed his own advice.

If only all politicians did.

To read the whole column, head on over to DanielGuss.Substack.com and sign-up for my free newsletter.  Also follow me on The Twitters @TheGussReport.

(White) Power Grab: Krekorian Disenfranchises District With Only 8% White Population

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport on Twitter - Paternalistic racism is back in fashion at LA City Hall.  Did it ever really go away?

This week, while voters in Council District 6 hold a primary to decide who will replace disgraced former City Council president Nury Martinez, things are being handled quite differently in Council District 10, whose leadership for the past two years, the next two years and perhaps for the eight years after that, will have the heavy-handed influence of current City Council president Paul Krekorian, who is White.

And the man he is trying to single-handedly replace, the now-federal felon Mark Ridley-Thomas, is Black.

Paul Krekorian (Photo; Los Angeles Times)

But why should that be, especially since the 10th District is 92% non-White?

Because it's LA City Hall, where it is business as usual, and the business is paternalism, racism and disenfranchisement.

To read this entire column, jump on over to DanielGuss.substack.com.