Councilman Reeve wants to repair the city's reputation!

     According to yesterday’s OC Register, the odious Derek Reeve has at long last poked his head above the horizon: Councilman with dog Muhammad urges religious inclusion (OC Register).
     According to the Reg,

...[Reeve,] who was scolded by some of his colleagues after making remarks … about naming his dog Muhammad ... is trying to repair the city's image with a new tradition in which he plans to select different members of the community to periodically lead invocations at council meetings.

     Repair the city’s image? Way to take responsibility, Derek. It's not you; it's the city!
     What an a**hole.

In a statement, Councilman Derek Reeve said, "San Juan received an unfortunate reputation the last few months as being unfriendly to religion. This, of course, is a false reputation…."

     Right, now he’s decided to alienate SJC atheists and agnostics. Evidently, to Reeve, they’re not even worth mentioning.
     What an a**hole.
     It appears that Reeve plans to do this “selecting” of invokers by himself:

…Reeve plans to select a different local resident to lead an invocation before every fifth council meeting. He says it will promote public participation in "all segments of our community, including religions."

     The Reg notes that it wasn’t just Reeve’s “dog Muhammad” remark that ruffled feathers re religion in recent months: “the city was involved in a controversy over a San Juan Capistrano couple who were fined by the city for hosting large Bible studies in their home.”
     That latter controversy is now resolved.
     Reeve's gambit is transparent: he is bundling these two unrelated controversies—one in which he ridiculed Muslims, another in which the city clumsily fined people for hosting large neighborhood meetings (that the meetings were religious was not the issue)—in order to obscure the obnoxiousness of his action.

This accompanied the Register article. Did I mention that Reeve is an a**hole?

     What an a**hole.
     So, has Reeve run this rotating invocation idea past other Council members?
     Apparently not:

"There is no rule prohibiting this, and I hope the others will follow my lead," Reeve said when asked whether he had discussed his idea with the other council members.

     One more time: WAA.
     Meanwhile, as far as I know, Reeve, who was let go a month or two ago by Concordia University—evidently owing to his serial plagiarism (or his refusal to acknowledge the impropriety of his plagiarism)—still teaches for Saddleback College and is scheduled to teach there again in the spring.

P.S.: before I hear from the Incorrigible One, I want to briefly explain my use of the term “asshole.” According to the OED, an “asshole” is “someone or something foolish or contemptible.” Quite so. Do I believe that DR is foolish or contemptible? I do. (He's both.) Is it necessarily unfair or illogical to take such a view of a person? Obviously not, for some people, obviously, are foolish or contemptible or both.
     I do believe that it is important that one have (and give) reasons for taking such a view of a person. That’s what I do in this post. I note that DR lumps together his own recent action (of ridiculing Muslims) with the city’s clumsy (and far less disturbing) act of fining neighborhood religious meetings—something, I suggest, he does plainly in order to obscure the contemptible nature of his own action. That DR engages in such cowardly and self-serving sophistry (I suggest) entitles one to conclude that he is contemptible, i.e., an “asshole.” Thus, in this instance, though I apply a "name" to DR, I nevertheless rise above “mere” name-calling. (See also In defense of name-calling.)

"I'm frustrated we're talking about dogs...."

Famous talking dog

     Jonathan Volzke of the Capistrano Dispatch joins the San Juan Capistrano Patch in reporting that SJC Councilman Derek Reeve has pulled his controversial anti-illegal immigration proposal. (See Anti-Illegal Immigration Policy Proposal in Capistrano Pulled after Plagiarism Allegations.)
     Volzke seems to view Reeve’s action as a consequence of recent plagiarism allegations made against him by the SJC Patch. A kind of strategic retreat, under a rock, I guess.
     Based on Jenna Chandler and the Patch’s reporting, it seems very clear that Reeve, a lawyer, a realtor, and a Saddleback College Poli Sci instructor, has blatantly plagiarized the works of various authors in recent months—on the Patch.
     Not sure if anyone’s checked any other publications yet.
     Mayor Sam Allevato said that Reeve’s plagiarism issue is distracting:

“I feel further discussion by the City Council (of the plagiarism allegations) is unwarranted as it does nothing to further the interests of the residents of San Juan Capistrano and is yet another distraction from the important work of this Council,” Allevato said. “Ultimately, Mr. Reeve will have to answer to the public and his employers regarding his actions.”

     —Gosh, I think Allevato is alluding to Concordia U and Saddleback College, where Reeve teaches. No?
     Another City Councilman, John Taylor, evidently worries that Reeve could mess up SJC's rosy rep:

“Members of an elected body are supposed to be leaders—plagiarism is against the law,” Taylor said in a written statement “This lack of character and leadership is a hindrance in his ability to govern the affairs of our City.”

"Distracted"

     I don't know about plagiarism being against the law; it does invite civil lawsuits. Surely it's unethical, scandalous.
     Another council member, Laura Freese, evidently a fan of absurd remarks, said: “I’m frustrated we’re talking about dogs, the right to gather and now plagiarism” (CD).
     I’ll bet. This fracas sure reminds me of the old Frogue/Board Majority days, when SOCCCD officials spent most of their time 'splainin' the board’s absurd actions and policies, many of which were clear instances of “red meat tossage” to the Board Four’s benighted right-wing constituency—you know, the people who, fifteen years later, sip tea and support Reeve.
     A former Councilman is urging others to take a good look at Reeve. Maybe he thinks there’s more to find under the rocks of SJC. Do you suppose?
     Meanwhile, Reeve ain’t talkin’. He won’t respond to his old buds at the SJC Patch, who want to know about this unseemly pattern of plagiarism that he saddled ‘em with. I bet they’re pissed. Are they gonna delete all that stuff?
     I wonder if Saddleback College’s Academic Senate is dusting off its "code of ethics"? I mean, what’s the point of having a code if you don’t do something when one of your own members violates it bigtime?
     For all I know, they're on the case right now. I can just imagine the discussion:

     "Well, he's obviously taken other writers' words and ideas and claimed them as his own! The rascal!"
     "Wait. The stuff on the Patch is written, right? Maybe his dog Muhammad peed on his submissions, messing 'em up?"
     "Never mind pee. Our code is about being honest with academic stuff. When he writes for the Patch blog, that's not academic stuff; it's political stuff."
     "Wait! Doesn't he teach politics here at the college? I'm so confused!"
     "Let me get this straight. If he goes on TV and announces that he wrote Huckleberry Finn, that's OK, cuz it's only TV?"
     "He'd better not say it on Saddleback TV. Nancy Padberg watches that shit, and I bet she hates Mark Twain. Have you ever read Letters from the Earth?"
     "Yeah. Gosh."

     I happen to know that they really do talk that way down at Saddleback. They're seriously serious down there, man.