Instructor, George Brogan, Republican, running for Congress on the fringe

"The first new Republican"

     As many of you are aware, Mr. George Brogan, a close associate of IVC President Glenn Roquemore (see "contact information"), has taught Geology at Irvine Valley College for about eighteen years. Before that, he seems to have worked for private firms as a geologist.
     He is a Republican.*
     Brogan is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, 47th District. Check out his election website here: Brogan’s election website

     I want to provide readers with a sense of what they’ll find there. Here are some excerpts:

My Political Positions

[Mr. Brogan lists about 30 position statements, including these:]

• FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN; THE FIRST NEW REPUBLICAN
…
• BRING THE NATION TOGETHER, HEAL THE CURRENT POLITICAL RIFT IN THE U.S.A.
• REDUCE LARGE GOVERNMENT, MAKE IT RESPONSIVE
. . .
• STRONG ON STATES RIGHTS, STRONG ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
• EXTENSIVE FOREIGN EXPERIENCE, I HOLD STRONG FOREIGN POLICY POSITIONS
• STRENGTHEN OUR MILITARY, EXAMINE MILITARY BUDGETS, BE READY IF WAR COMES TO US
• SUPPORT ISRAEL FULLY AND COMPLETELY; STRIVE FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
. . .
• USE PRIVATE FUNDS, NOT TAXES, TO TRAIN THE UNEMPLOYED FOR JOBS
. . .
• OPEN FEDERAL LANDS FOR OIL, GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
• OPEN OFFSHORE LANDS FOR OIL, GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
• EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT 'GLOBAL WARMING' ISSUES….

[P.S.: it occurred to me, belatedly, that it is at least odd—and likely worse—that Mr. Brogan does not believe in using taxes to train the unemployed (see above) even though he is employed at a community college, a chief mission of which is retraining the unemployed for new jobs.]

[Re “Global warming”:]

...This might be the most divisive of issues splitting the nation today. It shouldn’t be.
. . .
Let's assume global warming/climate change is a problem. … My suggestions follow:

1. Let's first cure world starvation, which kills millions of people every year, mostly children….
2. Let's first cure access to clean drinking water…. [I think he means: cure "inaccessibility" to clean drinking water.]
3. Let's first cure HIV/AIDS worldwide….
4. Let's first cure malaria worldwide, now and forever….

Now, let's assume global warming/climate change is not a problem. Go back to number 1 above, and start all over…. 

     [I.e., Mr. Brogan seems to be suggesting that we do nothing about global warming/climate change, that we address other problems (i.e., current humanitarian crises) instead. I don't know how else to interpret his list of "suggestions." I can only assume that he is inclined to deny the reality of the humanitarian (and other) crises projected by those who assert the (likely) reality of anthropogenic climate change. I.e., he's a skeptic or denier. He is unmoved by the scientific consensus that the phenomenon is very likely real.]

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
. . .
   (1) The Trans-Alaska Pipeline. GEORGE BROGAN participated for about 10 years on the design team of this project….
   (2) If a nuclear power plant is to be done, it must be done safely….

Middle Eastern Nations

   • ISRAEL: …POSITION. Renew full military and economic support to Israel.
   • SAUDI ARABIA. We appreciate a good relationship with the Saudis, even though many of their citizens are violently anti-American. 
• POSITION. Continue with our present good relationship with their government;
• Continue our military presence there….
   • SYRIA. Secretly work to oust President Assad; set up a friendly government. Since democratic governments fail to be friendly to the USA in Middle Eastern nations, go to the next-best model of having an appointed head of state who sets up a democratic parliament that the head of state controls….
   
• AFGHANISTAN. We need to work the present leader, President Karzai, out of his job and replace him with someone who is honest and strongly pro-American…. [My emphases.]

Kids Overwhelm the Border
. . .

The 47th Congressional District

     How to fix this problem? Several solutions are possible. If I were President, I would do the following: 

 (1) Declare martial law along the U.S. southern border, from the Pacific coast north of Tijuana to the Gulf of Mexico coast near Brownsville, Texas; 
 (2) activate the National Guard in sufficient numbers to back up the Border Patrol to control the entire southern Border; 
 (3) order the border fence to be designed and constructed. The border fence would extend the full length of the border, and would be the multiple-fence design that is so successful east of the border crossings at San Diego; 
 (4) deport all of the children to their countries of origin, with payment for all administrative costs and deportation taken from the U.S. funds that now go as foreign aid to each country where the children originate; 
 (5) re-evaluate the relationships between the U.S. and all of the affected Latin American countries, to stop permanently the flow of all people into the USA illegally, and improve life in each country. Effective trade agreements would be beneficial to improve their economies, although more effective control of the drug cartels is necessary; 
 (6) cancel the Executive Order issued by President Obama, and replace it with an effective law to prohibit illegal entry from each of the Latin American countries and punish the country of origin, possibly through economic means.

"Vote for Hillary" has begun ["issues" update]

Bumper sticker on a car with Kentucky plates:

"Vote for Monica Lewinski's Former Boyfriend's Wife" [END]

     Just in case you haven't noticed, Mr. Brogan is an eccentric fellow. No doubt some of this eccentricity derives from his peculiar sense of humor.
     For instance, under the heading Issues, he offers the following encomium:

Thomas Crapper
. . .
     Thomas Crapper saved the world from plagues. Pure and simple. This essay gives credit to him for the millions of lives he has saved. Reading this essay represents a long and winding road, so hold on to your belt loops. 

…Before reading this document you must first take and pass a quiz….
. . .
9. What does vulgar mean? Is unvulgar a word? Give an example of each. As an analogy sing a medley of Don Ho’s greatest hit and name that tune. Be certain to work in the concept of Milorganite.
. . .
11. What is trickle-down economics? Which part of Reaganomics relies on it? What is an economist? Why are all economists vulgar? Same question about cartographers, Sanitary Engineers, etc.
. . .
13. Who is Sheryl Crow and why is she famous? Why is it she and Lance are no longer a thing together?
. . .

Brogan in Alaska

     Introducing this tome is pretty difficult. You see, it has not only different settings to figure out, it also has a lot of places where it seems someone is commenting on a sentence just ended. Who be that? Makes the whole thing hard to follow. It is as if there were a voice in the distance coming over your shoulder, but nobody is there. Maybe the small voice is coming from the back or your mind. Better yet, maybe it’s coming from the back of my mind. Maybe it’s even coming from someone else, or involves two persons apparently talking about something. Oh little Timmy. I’m so confused! In those cases just realize this: no non-sequiturs are in this document. Anywhere. Everything relates to something else. In fact, the flow is remarkably smooth. At least to me. Now fasten your seatbelt. [Italics in original.]
. . .
Poop. Scat. S___. There. I’ve said it. None of these really do the job. Poop is a term invented so mommies can communicate with their babies; it is generally accepted and so was elevated to the five-letter word Poopy. Acceptable to society, but not to construction workers. Scat. Technical term used by biologists, zoologists, and geographers. People in urban centers don’t know the word because they don’t have coyotes leaving it on their doorsteps. Proficient scientists may declare, as their experiments blow up, “Scat happens.” Good use, bad word. Not the proper ring. Doesn’t communicate with the masses. Can’t be used. That leaves S___, hits spelled differently, completely vulgar and worthy of removal from a serious scientific analysis such as this.

     —Perhaps Brogan's point about "vulgarity" concerns the origin of the word, which is the notion of commonness. (We in the Humanities tend to teach about word meanings and histories, although we are usually careful not to equate the two.)
     In truth, Mr. Brogan isn't very clear about his intent re his ample verbiage about "vulgarity" and "poop" and the celebrated Mr. Crapper. Not to me. He seems to want to say more than that Crapper is underappreciated. But what?
     Mr. Brogan is religious, a Presbyterian Christian.
     He also seems to be a frustrated artist, yearning to get his thoughts "out there." He offers lots of curiously indirect verbiage on his website—to be admired and to inspire, no doubt. (His declaration that there are no non sequiturs in his essay seems perverse.)
     I think he should start his own blog, fill it with his humor and musings, and then see what happens. Get it out there, dude! Let the vulgar decide!

* Brogan is not the Republican candidate for this office. In the primary, Andy Whallon won the right to represent the GOP. Brogan seems to be running as a write-in candidate. His chances of victory are therefore close to nil.

Smartvoter results of June 2014 election. Evidently, Brogan, a write-in, got no percentage of votes.

Things to come

Evidently, the new and improved A400 will be landscaped with translucent trees.

Flex Week will include public appearances by two—count 'em—two Chancellors.

In the future, everyone will drive a flying car

The Dutchess & the Duke are no more

Forde and Agran's Great Park: a query

OC Weekly

     I offer the following “connective,” represented by the "circle" symbol: °
     The circle connective indicates that the person (or agency) to its left is “somehow connected to” the person (or agency) to its right. Hence, the sentence

Roy ° Teddy

Asserts that Roy (yours truly) has some connection to Teddy (his cat). (As Huey Long might have said, Roy and Teddy are living in "open celibacy" in a home in Trabuco Canyon.)
     It’s a pretty hazy connective: it could mean a lot; or it could mean virtually nothing.

Tom Fuentes ° Butcher-Forde

Caspers

     Now, it’s plain that the late SOCCCD trustee (2000-2012) and one-time OC GOP chief (1985-2004), Tom Fuentes (1948-2012), was “somehow connected to” Bill Butcher (now age 82) and Arnold Forde (now age 78) of the notorious campaign consulting firm Butcher-Forde. I’ve explored and described the strong TF/BF connections that existed early in Tom Fuentes’ career (starting c. 1969, when college kid Tom became Supervisorial candidate Ronald Caspers' campaign manager). In later years, Tom would have been “connected” to Butcher-Forde if only because many Republican candidates secured the services of B-F, and, as a GOP official (Fuentes was on the OC GOP central committee by 1971; eventually, he became second vice chair, then first vice chair, then chair of the OC GOP [1985]—until 2004) he would likely be friendly with leading campaign consultants, and Butcher-Forde were "stars" in their field. I'm guessing their relationship continued to be much more than that, though. (A case can be made that "modern" [i.e., ruthless and sophisticated] politicking, in OC, all started with Caspers' notorious 1970 campaign, which not only started Fuentes' political career, but essentially started B-F's rise to prominence.)
     (Note: Butcher and Forde parted company in 1995. Essentially, Butcher moved to Britain [changing his name to "Lord-Butcher"], then to San Diego, then to LA [Encino]. Meanwhile, Forde continued in OC [he lives in Laguna Beach; his office is in Newport Beach]. Forde partnered with B-F associate Stu Mollrich; hence Forde & Mollrich.)

Tom Fuentes ° Larry Agran

     Larry Agran, former Mayor (and present City Councilman) of Irvine is “somehow connected” to Tom Fuentes, if only in the sense that, at one point, Fuentes supported Agran’s efforts to pursue a Great Park instead of an airport at El Toro:

Irvine's Next Mayor Comes With High Voltage (LA Times, October 2000, Jean Pasco)
     —Larry Agran, controversial in job during '80s and unopposed now, sparks alarm over sizzling El Toro issue.

Arnie Forde, c. 1982

     ...David Ellis, a Republican consultant who favors an airport at El Toro, said Agran's forte has been to use public money to fund personal causes. The Great Park plan, for example, was developed using a city-paid consultant.
     "He's a committed liberal, and you've got to respect him for that," Ellis said.
     Until recently, the mayor's race [in Irvine] had caused little stir in Republican circles in South County. Even Thomas A. Fuentes, the longtime chairman of the county GOP and a Lake Forest resident, joined Agran in promoting the Great Park plan….

     To the surprise of many, Fuentes "came out" for the park in a piece that appeared in the OC Register on August 13, 2000. He wrote:

[H]ow about a spectacular urban national park with vast green areas and plenty of orange trees to enshrine the county's agricultural heritage and provide contact with the land for generations to come? With Saddleback Mountain in the distance and the local foothills as a backdrop, an urban national park in Orange County could be a dream come true. (Quoted by Anthony Pignataro.)

     OK, that might be a pretty tenuous connection. So what if right-winger Tom briefly found it expedient to support this "great park" idea? But maybe there's more here than meets the (or, at any rate, my) eye. (I'm thinking: how explain Agran's picking a guy like Forde?)
     WELL, in recent years, we’ve come to realize that Arnold Forde (of BF) has been the secret "boss" of Agran's Great Park, a fact that is scandalous all by itself (why is this private PR guy running this public project?). And so

Tom Fuentes °°° BF (and thus)
Tom Fuentes °°° Arnold Forde [You bet!]
Tom Fuentes ° Larry Agran [Well, maybe]
Larry Agran °°° Arnold Forde [Amazing but true!]

     The above “connections” might add up to nothing, of course, re the BIG BOONDOGGLE. On the other hand, they might not. It all depends on the details in these connections.
     Anybody got any thoughts on the matter?

Some mental noodling:

Forde, c. 1978

     Note that it would be odd for Fuentes and Agran to form any sort of alliance, though it is fairly well understood why both Fuentes and Agran were drawn to opposition [starting in the late-90s] to the El Toro Airport and thus (?) support of the emerging alternative, the “Great Park.” So, at the very least, Fuentes and Agran had, in some sense, one goal in common, though, otherwise, they would seem to have been at opposite poles of the political spectrum, with very differing goals. (It was because Fuentes was so very conservative [in one sense of conservative] that he ran afoul of the Big Money wing of the local party [the "New Majority"], which tends to shed conservative "principle" in favor of big-profits-by-any-means*; he was drawn to opposition to the airport as a way of increasing the power of the right-wing of the party over the Big Money moderates of the party: Argyros, et al.)

     That Agran “connected” with Forde—as, evidently, he did, in a big way—is very odd. Arnold Forde is a Republican and a conservative who has generally affiliated himself with right-wing causes (he was a big player in Jarvis’ anti-tax crusade; he was part of the movement to oust Rose Bird). Larry Agran has had the reputation (probably undeserved) for being OC’s most liberal/progressive politico. He inspired the one-time jokey moniker of Irvine as the “People’s Republic of Irvine.” Despite some changes in his approach in the last dozen years, he's still opposed to the right's agenda.

     On the other hand, starting about a dozen years ago (see here and here), Agran, to the horror of many of his fans and associates, began to embrace a kind of realpolitik—an embrace of hardball tactics and corrupt secret shenanigans, often of the self-serving variety. But when one thinks of the rise of hardball campaigning, etc., in the OC, one immediately thinks of Butcher-Forde, the "Darth Vaders" of ugly direct mail tactics. That is, one immediately thinks of Arnold Forde.

Bill Butcher, c. 1982

     Fuentes was still a big mover and shaker at the beginning of the millennium—he wasn't deposed as chair until 2004 (they took him out for several reasons, including his opposition to the airport and his bungling of outreach to Mexican-Americans). Privately, he was (always) all about lobbying for big money to secure fat government contracts. (I was much amused by how noisily he declared his "vindication" when my FPPC complaint turned up nothing. Gosh, dude, why was that silly agency's favorable finding so important to you? Were you worried about what everybody was thinkin'? Think so. [Do you suppose that Tom really prayed for me like he said he would?])
     (*Fuentes was complex. What he preached, as a GOP leader, was one thing; what he did in his private affairs was quite another. As GOP leader, he celebrated the efforts of the "many" [volunteers] over special interested Fat Wallets; but, in truth, he made his money getting those Fat Wallets juicy government contracts—by hook or by crook. He was loudly homophobic in his politics, and yet--well, whatever.)

     How does this all fit together? Does it?
     Maybe TF has nothing to do with anything here. Could be. The more fundamental question is: just how does a right-wing, hardball playing guy like Arnie Forde get into the catbird seat of a liberal's Great Boondoggle? 
     Inquiring minds wanna know. (Yes, yes, I know: it could be just another opportunity for AF to grab enormous wads of cash. It may go no deeper than that, I suppose. Forde is just a very prominent flack, so he got the gig. --Nah, there's gotta be more to it.)

Supervisor Caspers and right-hand man Fuentes, c. early 70s

     On the other hand, it's just the usual heart of darkness, the usual apathetic vague awareness of which seems, ultimately, to constitute ongoing support.

"Secret Boss"

Arnold Forde, c. 1979
Pal o' Fuentes

Arnold Forde: Half a Century of Big Time Politics (Voice of OC)
     Arnold (Arnie) Forde, identified in depositions as the secret boss behind Irvine’s Great Park, has been a publicity-shy mainstay of both Republican and Democratic California political campaigns for nearly half a century.
. . .
     Forde first gained political attention in the 1960s when he and Butcher formed Butcher-Forde Consulting.
     At the height of their political and financial success, they called themselves the "Darth Vaders of Direct Mail."….

OC's "win at any cost" political ethic: Butcher-Forde, Tom Fuentes, & James Lacy (Dtb)
Orange County incomporuption: toward a "big picture" (DtB)
The 'Darth Vaders of Direct Mail' (LA Times)

Wendy's campaign, 73rd Assembly District

     Listen to a recent radio interview of our own Wendy Gabriella, Candidate, 73rd Assembly District:

     Interview. (Show 16, July 12)

     Very informative. Lots of discussion of higher education, the Brown Act, the CA legislature, the minimum wage, etc.

     To contribute to Wendy's campaign, visit Wendy Gabriella for Assembly 2014

THE 73RD ASSEMBLY DISTRICT:

» Aliso Viejo

» Coto de Caza

» Dana Point

» Ladera Ranch

» Laguna Hills

» Laguna Niguel

» Las Flores

» Mission Viejo

» Rancho Santa Margarita

» San Clemente

» San Juan Capistrano

Now this

A "second hardware failure Friday evening"? Golly.