Will He Forge a Clean Getaway?
Under discussion today is the case of the Los Angeles Fire Dept. veteran who nearly scammed the city — and may yet get away with his bold heist. Slickly, he had planned to cash in with a fistful of city dollars on the eve of his retirement. You may remember the gentleman made a media splash a couple of weeks ago when the City Council voted 11 to 1 to hand him $2.7 million. Fellow firefighters played a prank on the gentleman by mixing dog food into his spaghetti dinner. The gentleman and his attorney, smelling payoff, sniffed around City Hall. They sued the city of Los Angeles on the possibly reasonable grounds his teammates pranked him because he was black. Except that he didn’t just turn black last Thursday. By George, he has been black throughout his decades of fire department service. The scam was exposed within hours. Turns out the gentleman’s nickname is Big Dog. Turns out the gentleman is a major league prankster himself. Turns out the gentleman has been caught on camera pranking fellow firefighters. Shrewd observers noted that the skin of the prank victims was of a different shade than his. Oops. Mayor Villaraigosa, in a rare visit from the truth fairy, displayed a burst of common sense and vetoed the handout to the scammer. As he stood in City Hall, holding the hand of the truth fairy, Mr. Villaraigosa said solemnly he wanted the intemperate City Council to reconsider the outcome. Last seen, the Council was down to evenly divided, possibly heading for a reversal.
Take This to the Banks
Ms. Cranky Banks, ever the immoderate reporter, suggested under a shared byline this morning in a Page 1 “news analysis” piece that talk radio, not the body of counter evidence, may undo the payoff to the firefighter. Ms. Banks is a liberal. Talk radio is not. Hence, her little-girl snit. That would be all right if she were hanging out over the back fence with her fellow heroic girls. But she had the still vast audience of Times readers listening to her. Did she ever stamp her feet over her spilled ice cream cone. Ideology, in Ms. Banks’ small world, trumps reason every time. Without any contrary evidence to present for her side, Ms. Banks asserted that the gentleman firefighter was pranked because he was black. That was the thrust of her evidence-thin claim. He is black. End of debate. Maybe as she has physically matured, Ms. Banks has outgrown her old cheerleader dresses. Instead of maturity this morning, she clothed her words in cheerleader language, disappointing those of us interested in a serious debate.
Postscript
If follicles of hair represented reasoning ability, Ms. Kaplan probably would be portrayed in a state of baldness. In her weekly op-ed page rant this morning, she pretended — surely she was jesting — to be mad because more of America is outraged at O.J. and Fox News over his now-killed book deal than over Michael Richards. She says the disparity is because O.J. is black, and America is a racist country. If her claim is true, Ms. K is a leading contributor. She evidently lacks the insight to realize that most Americans know O.J., and that she, of all people, has more fans than the long-faded Mr. Richards. Mr. Richards spent a decade playing Kramer on “Seinfeld.” I would guess 95 to 98 percent of America does not know the name Michael Richards, though some will recognize the face. Maybe 100 percent. Already obscure, the 57-year-old comedian made possibly career-ending egregiously racist remarks to black hecklers the other night at the Laugh Factory. In a final attempt to discourage readers from agreeing with her, Ms. Kaplan admitted she is neutral on the subject of O.J.’s guilt as a double killer. Pathetically, she argues, along with other unredeemable bigots, that Americans are mad at O.J. because he is black and his victims were white. The morality factor does not interest Ms. Kaplan. O.J. couldn’t be guilty, she argued, because he is black. Give the little woman a diploma, professor.
