A recent participant in the comment wars asked if EA was going to have any further comments on the Los Angeles mayoral election, which is an ethics lemon in about every way imaginable. Thinking about it, I suppose I have…
1. In the end, it may be that the predictable result of Democrats rigging the primary and election process to ensure that two unqualified extreme leftist women-of-color oppose each other will not be what is remembered, but the emergence of Spencer Pratt as a rising force in American politics. He was in the cast of the brain-dead reality show The Hills, and his main qualification to be mayor was that he was wiped out by the L.A. wildfires that current mayor Karen Bass allowed to rage in her incompetence and then lied about it. That’s like claiming that being mugged qualifies one to be chief of police. Pratt and his reality show actress wife own Pratt Daddy, “an exclusive crystal company,” whatever that means. In L.A., though, not being a woke idiot may be a qualification all by itself.
Like Ronald Reagan half a century ago, Pratt can speak persuasively in complete sentences, and has sufficient acting chops to project intelligence and gravitas. He mopped the stage with both of his Democratic adversaries, Bass and councilwoman Nithya Raman in their debate. He also had deft, humorous, and effective online ads that may be the beacon of what campaign ads will become.
Pratt has refused to concede despite being ejected from the final race by the Democratic machine in a, shall we say, dubious but not surprising manner. As you can see in his most recent ad, he intends to expose the corruption and incompetence in L.A. politics, although I might ask what more needs to be exposed.
Ethics Alarms 
What do you think of Pratt’s concession statement:
https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2065480031275544812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2065480031275544812%7Ctwgr%5E1b3c5f0774ef37cd759d55c2765b890513762ea5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flegalinsurrection.com%2F2026%2F06%2Fpratt-concedes-la-mayor-race-with-a-blistering-broadside-and-a-warning%2F
Of course his supporters are eating it up, but it strikes me as unnecessarily coarse, and a sign of a sore loser.
Wait, are you gaslighting me? That video is at the beginning of the post you are commenting on!
I don’t find it particularly course—he doesn’t say “fuck” for example—and I believe a clear political-machine manufactured take-down does not require a graceful exit. It’s not a concession speech, either. It’s a “I got into this race to expose the shithole LA has become and the crooks running the city, and nothing has changed just because they rigged me out of the election” speech.
My bad…I didn’t click on the video in the post. I just assumed it was a summary of events. I just remember seeing another post on his exit speech in particular, and I wanted to track down the whole thing, not realizing it was already here.
It’s no big deal, but this happens a lot with many commenters, and it just surprises me how often. I have vowed to point it out when it happens, because it makes me think I’m losing my mind. Someone writes a comment criticizing me for not writing “X”, and it’s right there in the post, in black and white. So I think I did something stupid, and I have to read my own post over again (usually discovering typos I missed). No, I was right: I DID include it in the post…
One of the reasons for a green card holder to become a citizen of the USA is to participate in the political process by voting. How do you motivate a green card holder in Los Angeles who trends Republican? Voting is the main benefit citizenship has to offer to a green card holder (plus it is harder to lose citizenship than a green card).
The message is that California is a one party state, and that the party in power has engineered the elections in such a way that other parties do not have a chance. California is in this respect not principally different than Russia under Putin; we are only talking about a difference in gradation.
What about patriotism? Does California give you any reason to be proud? I think the case is hard to make, with this type of woke government who is unable to run things and get projects done. It maybe a good place to live for many people, but so is Singapore and so it the Netherlands or Spain. The administrations of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass have nothing to be recommended for.
And if Kamala Harris had won the Presidency, California would have shown what the future of the United States is.
Thank you for posting this, Jack. Friday’s “All In” Podcast had an excellent analysis, including the presentation of data dissected by