California’s raunchy politicians

Do you remember the old Dean Martin comedy roasts? The zingers were mean, sometimes mildly risqué, and usually funny. Don Rickles was the acknowledged master of the genre.

The California Assembly has taken the roast to a whole new level. At a benefit to raise money for programs involving young people and politics (“It’s for the children!”), the past and present assembly members gathered to roast Speaker John A. Pérez. The tone of this affair, a public event comprised of elected politicians raising money for children, couldn’t have been lower:

From the moment Assembyman Tom Ammiano asked if anyone had an “objection to the f-bomb,” it was clear that the tone of last night’s roast of Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez would be more appropriate for “The Hangover” than the Assembly floor.

[snip]

Many of the swipes at Pérez were R- (and even XXX-) rated, with the bulk of the raunchy jokes hitting the Los Angeles Democrat’s weight, race and sexual orientation.

What’s really disheartening is that this was a bipartisan event (although I don’t know whether the Republicans contributed to the raunch). What’s clear is that the political class has no class.

California now ranks up there with Haiti as a nationally recognized failed state. This roast is a perfect example of the way in which California’s government is made up of sordid little Neros fiddling their shrunken hearts out while Rome (aka California) burns.

Cross-posted at Bookworm Room

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