Great Reading (And Listening) With SD CityBeat

Dave Maass has a nice trifecta in the current issue of SD CityBeat — profiles of three local San Diego Tea Party activists.
It’s well worth reading.

Maass also appeared on Mike Slater’s new show on KFMB 760 radio . (MP3 podcast) Maass discussed the Filner/Popaditch intimidation issue, uncivil rhetoric, and the Mt. Soledad cross issue, both with great perspective and subtlety.
It’s well worth listening to. (And kudos to Slater for being a quick study about San Diego).

Here’s a Maass blog post on Filner/Popaditch, the clearest, most comprehensive and fairest explanation of the issue I’ve seen. Excerpt:

It’s unclear why Popaditch and his supporters were so angry. Popaditch himself claimed it was because Filner smeared him in a television ad. If that’s the case, then Popaditch doesn’t have thick enough to skin to run for office; the ad was piddling compared to the mud Meg Whitman, Jerry Brown, Carly Fiorina and Barbara Boxer were slinging. Some of his volunteers said it was because Filner avoided debates. Big deal. Rep. Darrell Issa refused to debate his Democratic opponent at all, while Rep. Duncan D. Hunter’s Democratic and Libertarian challengers went on an 11-day hunger strike to force the Republican to debate. Other Tea Partiers were angry with Filner’s vote on health care reform, his unwavering sympathy for undocumented immigrants, and the fact that he has no problem earmarking pork for his district. (I recommend that Popaditch’s supporters read SDRostra’s account of how Popaditch dropped the ball with his NRA endorsement.)

Sure cures for weekend ennui.