This weekend, I will be at the CAGOP convention. I am sure I will get the usual dirty looks from past victims of past campaigns and the self-righteously arrogant. It comes with the territory when you call people on their crap.
Crap. Like the Sutter GOP drama.
It is so unnecessary. I have heard good stuff about Sarb Takhar their chair. I saw a recent post where he was celebrating his beautiful daughter passing the bar. I’ve never met him, but I know he has a five-star mess on his committee.
I met Larry and Carla Virga a number of years ago when I was trying to rebuild the CRA in the North State.
I can relate a lot to the Sutter GOP situation as it mirrors the meltdown of the CRA. Two groups clashed, all were convinced they were right and then things escalated from there.
Unlike the CRA situation, which will last for years, I hope the Sutter GOP situation will end with the civil judgement entered against Elaine Miles. The people that threw George and I out of the CRA have proven themselves to be maladjusted nerds, narcissists with even a sociopath or two mixed in to their group. I don’t see any hope of the CRA or their leadership of ever understanding just what they did, let alone acknowledging it – both of which would be critical to any hope the CRA has toward being relevant again.
The Elaine Miles saga started when Carla confided to her in early 2014 that Larry was thinking of running for Sutter Cent Com Chairman. The Virgas then got to experience what everyone in politics experiences from time to time – when you cross a tripwire of someone else’s agenda.
Elaine Miles basically went berzerk and turned several people against the Virgas. I personally have been treated to the allegations of racism that have been levelled against the Virgas for example. I have in conversations attempted to smoke out any racist leanings either may have, there are none. The Virgas are strident Conservatives that desire border security, this does not make them racist.
I was also informed that Larry has issues in his background. I am an alcoholic. I admit it freely and publicly. I haven’t drank in nearly 13 years, not even one beer. As a result, when people tell me about an issue in a background investigation that was several years old in an attempt to gain leverage in an argument, It is a red flag. (the issue? A loitering ticket that some said was something far worse than loitering)
It kind of makes it hard for any self-righteous purist to use my 19 year old DUI as some sort of hammer.
I listened to Elaine. I listened to Carla. I listened to others. I was approached by others in an unsolicited manner.
Larry and Carla Virga were mistreated. Period. I know what Cent Com fights are like, they get uber personal and quick. When people tell me about rude behavior – I could care less because I know there is plenty to go around.
When I hear about felony vandalism, It gets my attention. Elaine Miles even recruited a witness for the court case to accuse the Virgas of some sort of plot to inflate the damage!
I can relate to the tactics used against the Virgas. This is the same behavior that the CRA engaged in when they were trying to justify and cover themselves for what they did to George and I.
I know Jerrie Libby, I have known her since the days when I made blood enemies out of David Stafford Reade, Jim Nielsen and Doug LaMalfa. I had always known her to be a straight-shooter and a strident conservative. That has been shattered. Jerrie Libby attempted to pass photos in court taken a couple weeks after Miles vandalized the Virga’s car as having been taken that night.
In a bizarre twist – another witness for Mrs. Miles said that the nail polish was the same color Carla Virga wears. Now – how could Jerrie Libby have photos of water on the trunk lid (as in there was water on the trunk lid, not nail polish) allegedly from the night of the incident and then another witness say the nail polish was poured on the trunk by Carla herself? (which is the assertion made with the claim it is Carla’s color)
As an important side note exposing the further absurdity of the attempted defense – Carla has a deformed fingernail from a childhood accident and does not wear colored nail polish, compounding the lies told.
Elaine Miles hung herself in court with her arrogance and others she recruited made it clear Miles was guilty. Her defense was to assassinate the character of the Virgas.
Having dealt with this many times, it was easy to identify. Having dealt with many people who are immune to the truth and others that would rather get executed by ISIS than admit fault, I 100% understand the Virgas’ predicament.
Carla Virga was expelled from the Sutter GOP in April with no notice and no hearing.
Larry Virga has not been expelled from the Sutter GOP yet because the Cent Com has failed to meet quorum the last couple of months. What a sad irony.
This brings me back to the original issue.
Many years ago the LaMalfa/Nielsen/Reade faction won an all-out war with the Logue/Keene/Wagner faction of the GOP. To the victor go the spoils – this includes the gutting of the CRA in the north state and reprisals against some Central Committees. The Sutter GOP Cent Com was one such committee that got hammered.
These things happen – it happened in Placer when people seeking to avenge the primary challenge to Beth Gaines got $45k spent on slate mail cards in the Placer Race. The Placer GOP Cent Com has been largely ineffective since – the worst example being left-wing union-made Placer County Supervisor Jack Duran getting re-elected in a 42% Republican Sup district without an opponent while the GOP in Placer loses market share.
No one is innocent here. Even in my fight against the now current leadership of CRA, I have never claimed innocence as I have the fog of war upon me. The sad state of the CAGOP can indeed be summed up by reading stories about the BS happening everywhere.
One thing that gives me hope about the Sutter GOP situation is that there are normal, well-adjusted people around the situation that actually consider facts. There are some leaders that want to win elections instead of fights to the death to be right.
New AD-03 Assembly-Member James Gallagher appears to want to try to put things back together. SD-04 Senator Jim Nielsen has mellowed out with age becoming more of a statesman (yes, I wrote that). While David Reade will hold grudges until his grave, here is hope that the Brian Dahle / James Gallagher types that are beginning to assume the reins of leadership will begin to find new blood for the GOP in the area. More importantly, they understand what the GOP should be focusing on.
Perhaps Mr. Gallagher and others will tell Mrs. Miles to just pay the $2,152.83 judgement and the court fees and call it a day.
Perhaps Sarb can step up and lead a fractured Committee out of its’ morass.
Lord knows at 28% – we could use some focus. I’d rather win elections while admitting fault, rather than being a perfect loser. I had to get my butt kicked a few times, I had to get lied about and betrayed a few times to understand that.
Maybe the Sutter GOP, the Sutter Taxpayers Association and others upon seeing the Virga’s car once again white without the months’ old nail polish on it will realize it as a sign to everyone that it is time to move on and try to elect and register some more Republicans.