Well I’ll be the first to admit you should not (repeat not) drink during the workday. But my old friend “The Barkeep” called from Dobsons and I felt the obligation to join him. Several stiff ones later I felt the obligation to take a cab home. So now that I’ve taken a nap, what did I learn? To paraphrase, and I want to go to bed so I’m not going to expand much:

“Word is with the labor guys there could be a shakeup over there.”

Just home from a trip, a tipsy trip at that, with my good friend. The new, or semi-new, Grant Hotel this time for too many delicious glasses of scotch. That aside, I need to reprint his paraphrased comments or I fear I will forget:

On Donna Frye Endorsing Roberts: Does this woman not realize the heights she could attain as a Decline to State or as a Republican? It’s the Democratic Party holding her back!

On the 77th Assembly race: I just shake my head when I look at those campaign finance reports. What is more important though is what this means is Sacramento interests can buy this race if they want, for cheap.

Went out to dinner with my political friend last night, and managed to lock myself out of the house for the past few hours. Broken glass and a hangover. What luck. Here’s the lowdown on what I found most interesting that he said, in his words as much as possible (different parts of a conversation that lasted several hours):

I’ll admit it… to write these posts I have to get my older friend a little snookered. Worse, his tolerance for scotch is stronger than mine. I’m dragging today, but I want to publish before I lose my breakfast. Of note from this conversation with ‘The Barkeep’:

At drinks with my older, wiser politico last night I brought up the ongoing ‘Advisory Council’ issue that Councilmember Emerald is embroiled in and he laughed. His thoughts, paraphrased:

“Emerald really stepped in it this time, in her district and in the public eye generally. She’s stuck – if she doesn’t come clean with the names, she’s going to take heat from the newspaper and from real local community leaders who think this is a screwjob. If she does reveal the names and they are anything but legitimate community leaders she’s going to take as much heat from legit community leaders and the press. Either way this is another in a chain of actions which damages her ‘troubleshooter’ moniker — the ethics issue, the ethics committee appointment, the tapings the first time around. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. She’s going to have to wipe pretty hard to get this one off her shoe.”

Again, that is from memory, but I think I got most of the color in. Damned if she does, damned if she does not. Frankly I can’t believe she would try to get the City Attorney to tell her she doesn’t have to release the names to the public. You can’t call this a community advisory council and keep the members secret, particularly when you put out the existence of the group on a press release. It just doesn’t smell right.

I’ve got a friend, well not really a friend, but an acquaintance , who always seems to know what is going on in local politics, at least by my lax standards. He is old, he is surly, and he drinks too much. I like to call him ‘The Barkeep’, but not to his face.

My posts on this blog are not really going to be about my own opinions, but rather I’m just going to buy the Barkeep some drinks, ask him some questions, and report what he says, to the best of my memory, until he figures out the internet, reads my posts, and kicks my ass.

This guy has been around the block. Maybe some San Diegans can figure out who I’m talking about… maybe not. Either way, this should be a ride. We have drinks scheduled for Thursday. Stay tuned.