[img]1909|right|Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa||no_popup[/img]One of the proud journalistic verities of our town is that the LA Weekly is the unchallenged, untouched king of probing reporting. It dwarfs, if not embarrasses, the gay-crazed, Obama-obsessed, eons wealthier Los Angeles Times. The Times approaches news stories with two limp wrists and the caution of a newly blind man.
Lest anyone doubt the bullseye merit of the Weekly’s latest calorie-rich cover story, Mayor I Love Me, whose self-control rivals that of a 4-year-old, flew off to China yesterday. He leaves Los Angeles more frequently than the San Diego Freeway.
You must question the sanity of this dapper little man. Why, praytell, would he leave town, spectacularly, deliberately, 35 days before he is termed out when his serial traveling has attracted a fierce eight-year bonfire of criticism?
Last December, in a single foolish stunt, he punched himself in the face and eliminated himself from plum Obama administration jobs by partying – appearing drunk – with toxic Charlie Sheen in Cabo. Even, stupendously, posing for photographers. Naturally those humiliating shots circled the globe in four minutes.
John Walsh, Our Man at City Hall, did by far the best prize reporting on the incident. Belatedly, the Times, unseriously, made a brief, foppish pass at the job-killing gaffe.
What Can He Boast About?
His eight-year record reads more like a rap sheet, a drumbeat of immature, Look at Me, clueless performances rather than a chart of achievements.
His IQ must be in danger of vanishing.
China? Is he daft?
Broke, weeks removed from his 60th birthday, with fewer desirable post-July 1 employment prospects than an uneducated bum on Main Street, the obviously desperate Mayor I Love Me is waddling in a sewer of unrequited despair.
Patrick Range McDonald’s comprehensive, fair-minded report (http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/)is mandatory for anyone with a remote interest in City Hall. It surgically scopes out Antonio Villaraigosa more surgically than anyone except Corina when she cornered him in divorce court.
Like his so-called pal President Obama, the Prince of Photo-Ops has no idea how to govern. What to do when bamboozled? Both react the same way when they find themselves in a pickle jar. Flee town.
You think it is coincidental Mr. Obama and Mr. Villaraigosa have logged more air miles than any three astronauts?
According to the Weekly, Mayor I Love Me spent 42 percent of his last ull year in office out of Los Angeles.
After his first term, the Weekly found he devoted 89 percent of his workday to media interviews, traveling and banquets. In that same ’08 investigation, the Weekly said the tireless mayor left town 10 times during a 10-week period.
In a 15-week period preceding last Dec. 16, he traveled to 18 destinations.
He is the highest paid mayor in the country, has collected almost $1.7 million, and if he invited you to Burger King this evening, you would have to spring.
Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti gratefully tips his fedora to his self-consumed predecessor. Mayor I Love Me set the bar so low, if Mr. Garcetti drives past City Hall, he will represent an upgrade.
