Jeff Denham has a lot of explaining to do. Once again on his biennial campaign tour, Denham’s latest reelection gambit features Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke. Secretary Zinke is supposedly helping Congressman Denham work against state requirements for increased flows along our rivers, the so-called, “water grab.” Denham obviously wants to show he has tremendous […]
Politics
Bruce Frohman on Jeff Denham: Propaganda over Service
Former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman followed Jeff Denham’s long political career well before he won at the federal level and ever since. Although Jeff Denham has not been a good Congressman, he’s a masterful propagandist. He’s even got a billboard praising his failed effort to help promote DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals); that’s […]
The Denham Dossier, Part II: The Real Water Grab
Why would a Beverly Hills billionaire donate big money to a congressman whose district is over two-hundred miles away from the billionaire’s business holdings? Because water flows uphill toward money and power, that’s why. Though he lives in a Beverly Hills mansion sometimes known as “Versailles II,” Stewart Resnick’s biggest land holdings are in Kern […]
The Denham Dossier, Part I: the Immigration Shell Game
Every two years, Congressman Jeff Denham leaves his Virginia home and shows up in California to run his immigration shell and pea game. In the shell and pea game, the object is to follow the pea while it’s supposedly concealed under a shell. The scam is that the operator of the game hides the pea […]
At the March: Names and Stories
“This is about a profound contrast in moral vision for what America should be.” Josh Harder America is names, names and stories. The names—Madueno and Kolasinski, Nou and Tanaka, Harder and Hughes and Hernandez, Lakestani and Dashputre, Ricci and Costello and Talbott, Pallios and Nelson and Scribner—all have stories, and some of those stories were told […]
Denham and Friends: Is Dirty Money the New Norm?
“Rep. Denham may have found a new low in despicable campaign tactics.” Headlines about the latest Trump scandal—this time about a phony charitable foundation used to launder money—have become ho-hum moments. It’s pretty hard to top payoffs to porn stars and Russian bagmen. But dirty money in politics isn’t anything new; in fact, it’s now […]
CA-10 Democrats Dodge Howze-it-zer
With all but a few votes now counted, it appears the turnout for Democratic candidates in California Congressional District 10 (CA-10) was up over fifty percent from 2014, the last off-year election. In the 2014 primary, Democrats Michael Eggman and Mike Barkley totaled 30,809, with Eggman logging 19,804 votes. This year, with six Democratic candidates’ […]
Last Minute Guide to Stanislaus Elections
The only flaw in Thomas Friedman’s recent column in the New York Times is he didn’t include advice all down the ballot. The message is clear enough: If you want to save the traditions and institutions that constitute American values, vote for a Democrat. Still, there are cases where multiple Democrats are running and other […]
In the Race for CA-10, Harder’s the One
Turlock native son Josh Harder has suddenly become a target for supporters of other candidates, especially those who favor Sue Zwahlen and Michael Eggman. It’s a sure sign Harder has broken away from the pack in California Congressional District 10 (CA-10), where the crowded field also includes Virginia Madueno, Mike Barkley, and Republicans Jeff Denham […]
Damrell Easy Choice for Supervisor
There’s probably no better contrast in the race for supervisor in Stanislaus County’s District 4 than that between Frank Damrell and his opponents Tom Berryhill and Janice Keating. Everything about Frank Damrell represents Modesto’s and the county’s better days, while too much about Berryhill and Keating reminds us of the calumny and corruption in the […]