Of all the slip-ups that can damage even the most talented of politicos is the high crime of hypocrisy.  (I think my favorite way to pronounce of the word was in the movies many years ago by the bellowing calls of "Hypocrisy" - (Pronounced "HIGH-POCK-RISY!" by the character Big Daddy in "Cat on a Hit Tin Roof."

But in a scene that seemingly could only be found in the movies, it seems that a video making its way through YouTube - and what video doesn't? - is skewering our perennial favorite Supervisor Jim DeMartini for a very messy public entanglement he's having with a woman who is, well, not his wife.

The case involves DeMartini and 21-year-old Serena Essapour (that makes the older of the pair.  Much, much older.)  

She is (get this!) accused of impersonating DeMartini, and being charged with identity theft, misuse of personal information and grand theft by using his information to obtain credit cards. According to DeMartini, Essapour ran up about $10,000 in charges, with some of the bills going to her Turlock home - that after DeMartini had helped her by giving her $6,500 to buy a car.

Here's the way Jeff Jardine of the Modesto Bee put it (better than I could):

DeMartini, I'm told, took Essapour to lunch on numerous occasions. That in itself suggests nothing more, but it certainly leaves the opening for questions.  Why would a seasoned political junkie like DeMartini, who is married, give money with no expectation of repayment to Essapour so she could buy a car?

And while DeMartini is the victim of alleged identity and grand theft, he broke the cardinal rule of politics at any level.  He allowed himself to get close to a young woman, and he could pay for it - with interest.

But the story gets better, as the YouTube video mentioned above is pointing out.  DeMartini was one of Congressman Gary Condit's main tormentors, going on and on about the immorality of Condit's conduct and demanding he resign.

Here's a clip from a July 10, 2001 report on Fox News:

"You can't have a scandal like this and expect to win re-election," said Jim DeMartini, the Republican Committee Chair of Stanislaus County.  "He can go ahead and stay in office and twist in the wind, and we're gonna (sic) get him in the next election," DeMartini said. "He's got a lot to answer to. This story is still not over with."

On a July 11th, 2001 appearance on CNN, DeMartini added:

"His credibility's shot. He's been lying to the police and to his constituents for months."

It gets worse.  Here's a clip from the August 3, 2001 edition of USA Today:

Meanwhile, James DeMartini, chairman of the Stanislaus County GOP, vows to make Condit's conduct during the Levy investigation the focus of the next campaign, if Condit runs again.  DeMartini says Condit committed a cardinal sin in politics by lying to one of his own constituents - Chandra Levy's mother, Susan - when Condit initially denied having a romantic relationship with Chandra. DeMartini says Condit's conduct was an unforgivable breach of trust.

"We're never going to let the people of this district forget what he's done," DeMartini says. "Every place he goes, we'll be there."

Now, don't get us wrong.  No one here misses Gary Condit, who always struck us as a downright dark character.  But the point here is that DeMartini is being hoisted on the same kind of conduct questions that drove Condit from public life.  Perhaps a similar fate awaits him.

All this makes me think that there is an even better way to describe DeMartini's conduct and opportunism, and it's my favorite quotation about the subject:

Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.

America, meet your friendly new banker: Prince Alwaleed.
 
The San Joaquin Valley has been particularly hard-hit by subprime loan foreclosures and the downturn in home sales – and home equity. Earlier this year, Stockton was ranked No. 1 nationally in per-capita defaults – the first step toward foreclosure – while Sacramento was fifth, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine-based company that tracks foreclosures in a Sacramento Bee article posted earlier today.  But should we trade our national sovereignty in for what twenty years from now will look like a middling market correction?
 
President Bush is poised to impose a price fixing scheme on a scale not seen since President Nixon imposed price controls on the domestic oil industry – and we all remember how successful that was!  The primary beneficiaries won’t be homeowners at risk of foreclosure but big banks like Citicorp who just sold a big chunk of equity to “the Arabian Warren Buffett” who, according to Forbes Magazine, also happens to be the world’s wealthiest Muslim businessman.

The Bee article does tell part of the story.  “Just which borrowers receive help from the Bush administration's plan could become a sticking point. As talk of a rate freeze gathered traction in recent weeks, some critics complained that lenders would be bailing out people who knowingly took out bigger loans than they could afford in hopes of reaping windfall profits as home values soared, while other people stayed out of the subprime mortgage mess. As a result, an analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said Bush's plan is bad policy. "In some ways it's worse than a taxpayer bailout," said John Berlau, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the institute.”

Berlau: "It pressures an industry to essentially alter the terms of millions of contracts, and it's going to make investors think twice about investing in America again."…except those “value” shoppers like Prince Alwaleed from the Middle East.