Leon Panetta represents, to the insular county of Monterey, (only approx 450,000 people total where the 1% thrive and literacy in schools is at an all time low),
the worst in politics. What the Panetta's have done to this region in the 40 years of Leon's bizarre ascent to big league politics after @BillClinton appt. Panetta his Chief of Staff during @MonicaLewinsky, is criminal.
Their son, a silver spooner United States Congressman, has
been installed in various public sector jobs, including an unreal stint as a reserve Lt. in the military so he could get some "veteran" benefits to Alameda County / Monterey County District Attorney, (where Panetta overlooked many, many criminal referrals) is stunning in scope.
And the silence is deafening (and measurably unusual) from the very institutions who are suppose to also serve the public.
"When I chose Leon Panetta as Director of the CIA, I said he was going to be a strong advocate for this agency and would strengthen your capabilities to meet the threats of our time. And when I chose Jim Clapper as Director of National Intelligence,
"I charged him with making sure that our intelligence community works as one integrated team. That’s exactly what these two leaders have done, along with all of you."
One of the worst mistakes President @BarackObama made was promoting Leon Panetta, assisting this screwed up
family who has done damage to Monterey County for decades (largely unreported, under analyzed)
First thing @LeonPanetta12 did when he left "service" was shit all over @MichelleObama's husband, the first Black President.
* now let's analyze race in MoCo & the Panetta legacy.
DEAN FLIPPO was Monterey County's long term District Attorney after Bill Curtis (and a couple others). FLIPPO has been in charge of Monterey County's prosecution side of top law enforcement. @SheriffBernal, the @MCoSheriff is on the other 1/2 of "top tier".
FLIPPO has acted as
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as "legal advisor" for the Monterey County Peace Officers Association.
That position raises huge legal, ethical, and conflict of interest concerns. The conflict should be obvious to the ethical and knowing keepers of governmental ethics. Reg. agencies and others. The @FBI.
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Dean FLIPPO and John PHILLIPS were the two numbers twos to a corrupt former District Attorney - Bill CURTIS.
During FLIPPO'S tenure as District Attorney he prosecuted zero public corruption cases of significance.
Some public officials were prosecuted for crimes unrelated
.@SALINASPD chief @adelefrese hates #Salinas so much she tried to get hired in Texas for another job. Frese has done nothing to make Salinas a better city, a less corrupt city, a department with officers who are accountable to the public.
Case and point?
OFFICER GABE CARVEY
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.@SALINASPD OFFICER GABE CARVEY has an extremely unusual and close relationship with Rolando and Ricky Cabrera.
This is the Cabrera brothers scumbag brother who murdered a young, single mother from Fiji for insurance money so he could put more money into an organized auto
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theft ring that involved a number of prominent businessmen from MoCo and Castroville and a car dealer in Hollister CA.
That was over a decade ago.
And what's going on now?
It's worse, Monterey County is becoming more dangerous.
... I barely mention the owner of the Pine Cone. Possibly never. He runs a right leaning weekly for the nuanced Carmel crowd (mainly), has his own set of detractors and is largely irrelevant to Monterey Co. News.
Plus I was at a luncheon with one of his reporters
and she told me how much she didn't like @Calkins_Royal or his reporting.
It wasn't at that moment I knew, but it reaffirmed for me that the Carmel Pine Cone is not a serious paper. (somehow Paul Miller makes a lot of money).
In Monterey County the voters elected a criminal to be top cop.
Steve didn't start out that way but he is a spoiled rich kid*, installed by hundred-millionaire oil and gas relatives AND Monterey County Agricultural giants like Bruce Taylor of @YourTaylorFarms and Dave Gil of
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Gil Onions and other massive, money making ventures. Dave Gil's son murdered someone in South County, all real hush-hush and all, being it's a local rich guy - and they kept the kid out of prison.
So you can understand what having the Sheriff in your back pocket means to
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them. Steve Bernal was also supported by the two big shots on #CanneryRow. Ted Balestreri and Burt Cutino.
Those two and their names have long been mentioned in many a whisper campaign about narcos, money laundering and organized crime.
Jimmy Panetta's sixty something year old cousin, John Panetta, is being ushered into *diversion* for 120 illegal guns, bomb making supplies (@MontereyPolice - John Panetta's brother Joe was Monterey Police too) and crystal meth - after a court process that dragged on
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secretly, and every so quietly since 2018.
There will be no condemnation from our local newspapers regarding this special treatment - they are all nearly deceased now, absorbed and dismantled by the hedge fund billionaires.
(Billionaire CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison gave
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Leon a job - at 80, $425,000 per year and millions in stock)
So there will be no national uproar about what a joke our criminal justice system is, and how it's getting worse.
There will be no credible coverage of the Panetta's yet again - walking on the line of criminality