CM PRESS # 179

OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN WE SET OUT TO SMEAR OTHERS

Once again, ultra-liberal Daily Pilot Publisher, and Irvine resident, Tom "Waving" Johnson--who claims to not be a liberal but who always seems to support liberal causes and liberal candidates in local elections--attempts to smear a private citizen--me, with a column full of innuendos.

In his column, Johnson writes that "There's primarily one man behind the quest to get rid of the 'soccer players' in Paularino Park which leads me to believe it's race related. His name is H. Martin Millard."

Let's take Johnson's last mistake in those two sentences first: Ya sees Johnson, ya doesn't has to calls me H. Martin Millard. It's Martin H. Millard. I often write as H. Millard, and sometimes as M.H. Millard or even as Martin H. Millard, and rarely as Martin Millard, but never as H. Martin Millard (but it does have a certain ring when written that way--hmmm--maybe that moniker will join the rest of the gang soon).

By the way, readers can find my books and columns all over the web and at Amazon.com. by using my right name. The fact that Johnson can't even get my name right tells something about this guy.

Maybe Johnson's silly column was motivated by the stinging defeat of his anointed candidates in the last City Council election and he wants to strike out, or maybe he's trying to shut me up before the next election. Hey, Johnson, I only had one vote in the election and I didn't give a penny to the good candidates who defeated your liberal candidates. Grow up. And, as far as shutting me up goes, if that's your intention, it's not going to work cupcake.

Or, could it even be that Johnson is in a snit because he knows I'm a shareholder in Tribune Company--the company that owns the Pilot--and that I made a suggestion a couple of years ago to the board of directors that the company might consider selling the Pilot building, and they subsequently did this? Man, I must have some influence. Actually, it's far more likely that the board had already been working on this and that my suggestion wasn't even considered.

I find Johnson so goofy that I often parody him in the CM PRESS as Waving Johnson. That came about after he first started attacking me by allowing smears of me in the Pilot and after he came to our city and sat at the then open job center looking like a cross between Where's Waldo and Alfred E. Neuman. In my parody, Johnson tried to find work as a publisher by sitting with the day workers and waving, while yelling "Yoo-hoo" to potential employers. He lost out to an illegal alien who had more publishing experience--making phony ID cards. Laugh out loud, as we say in blogs.

And, as far as me being "primarily [the] one man behind the quest to get rid of the 'soccer players' in Paularino Park," Johnson is wrong again. While I have been a voice for safer streets, sidewalks and parks in our city--including Paularino Park--and have spoken out frequently about inappropriate and unsafe activities in our parks, I am just one voice. I am not a politician and I'm not a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission which approved the passive park resolution 5-0. I'm also not on the City Council which also just passed the same resolution. Why, I'm not even the publisher of a daily newspaper that has the potential to sway opinion in our community. Just a lone voice with a modest little blog that I don't even know how many people read.

Furthermore, the City of Costa Mesa recently held a meeting in Mesa North to discuss Paularino Park and how the park could best serve the needs of the residents. All residents in Mesa North were invited to the meeting via first class mail. At the meeting, there was a close to unanimous desire expressed that Paularino Park should be made safe and fun by making it a passive park so that residents, and especially those with young children, wouldn't have to fear being injured by sports activities in this very small park that has no sports fields.

If Johnson actually lived in Costa Mesa he might have known this. Instead, he tries to smear me by innuendos.

Johnson then darkly tells readers that he is led to believe that making Paularino Park passive is [lower your voice here and speak in the best conspiratorial tone you can muster] "race related," because "[Millard's] writings [whisper,whisper, pass it on] have been associated for a number of years with racially-charged websites." Oh no, not racially charged websites! Tell us it's not true, and "associated"? Cover your eyes, Mildred. You, of course, dear reader, understand Johnson's ham handed attempt at a smear here. It's the modern version of "So and so is a witch. She's been seen talking to other witches. Pass it on." Or, "Did you know [whisper, whisper in a German accent, while looking over your shoulder and raising an eyebrow] that Herr so and so was seen in the company of [whisper, whisper] Jews?"

Actually, if Johnson were better read he might realize that my writings appear on many websites and in many publications including some minority run websites, MENSA publications (well, there's probably no way Johnson would know about MENSA), and many more.

I write to be read. Given the huge volume of written material floating around, I'm pleased when anyone wants to run or read my stuff and especially the philosophical things about the big questions of existence and why we're here, etc. and the Sacred Cow toppling pieces--and these are the things that I mostly write about nationally. I don't discriminate in who can run or read what I write. Heck, I'd even let some of my stuff appear in the Daily Pilot, under my name, although that might damage my reputation, if the cheapskates would pay for it.

In his column, Johnson continues lurching down the twisted hate filled liberal path that he's made for himself and along the way he tries to defend his fellow traveler Linda Dixon who, in my view, is one of the two worst City Councilmembers we have in this city and who I guess, from her past statements and actions, would vote in an eyeblink to keep the Westside Bluffs full of polluting industries, would reopen the job center, would give even more of our money to illegal aliens and would generally do all those things that have driven Costa Mesa down to the bottom of the barrel where we now have schools at Third World levels. And, like Johnson, she would no doubt talk out of both sides of her mouth to make it seem that she's against illegal immigration and not a liberal.

Despite the smears from the likes of Johnson, I will continue to be an active and outspoken voice for the improvement of all of Costa Mesa. And, while I'm a lone private citizen and I can't do everything, I can do some things--mostly speak out. Here are just a few of the other things, off the top of my head, that I've spoken out about and which have come to pass that Johnson and his pals probably think have a racial basis. This is just a partial list and includes mostly some of the minor things that I've worked on.

1. I worked hard to have the City paint the wall along Baker Street so it would look nicer.

2. I also worked hard to have the alleys closed off on Baker because of dangers to pedestrians.

3. I spoke in favor of the City replacing the wall in front of College Park on Harbor Blvd. (where Linda Dixon lives).

4. I notified the City of dangerous conditions on Baker Street where people were darting across the street. A pedestrian signal was installed.

5. I notified the City of a dangerous turn pocket on Baker Street by the 7-11 and the City painted a no turn island.

6. I worked hard, along with many others, to get the City to start the Westside Revitalization.
7. I worked hard to make the Davis School playground safer by having it moved back from the street.
8. I worked hard to get the City to make the street behind Davis School safe for dropping off and picking up kids.
9. Then there are all the calls about graffiti, gangs, and even the capture of an illegal alien who had broken into a home.

I could go on with many more things that I have spoken out about or done to try to make our city nicer and safer and especially for our kids, but the point is made to those who understand, and it will never be made to those with twisted bigoted minds. I'm not trying to take credit for anything, and most things done to improve the city are worked on by many people, but Johnson's silly column requires that at least a few of the things I've helped with be mentioned.

Here's a heads up to Irvine resident Johnson on a few of the bigger things that some of us are speaking out about now to help improve Costa Mesa. No doubt, Johnson will think there's a racial motive in these things.

1. We need to find a new airport and replace John Wayne. I believe a tiny portion of Camp Pendleton would do the trick. As a former Marine, it's my opinion, given the vastness of Camp Pendleton, that my fellow Marines wouldn't even miss the relatively small chunk of dirt needed for an airport that could be larger than LAX.

2. We need to underground the 55 Freeway to about 15th Street to revive Costa Mesa's downtown.

3. We need to find a way to connect Costa Mesa up to the Pacific Ocean or at least to the brackish water area in Banning Ranch so that we can build a small beach for residents and take our place as a true coastal community which will be good for property values and other things.
4. We need to encourage more home ownership in the city and especially on the Westside Bluffs.

Here's the real problem with Johnson's column. His smears will be picked up by bigots and they'll be twisted some more and they'll probably use Johnson's column as their authority. Such is the power of a daily newspaper that columns appearing in them are often used to bolster the half-truths and outright lies of haters. These things are like jokes going around a room at a party and they get more distorted with each telling.

If you want to know more about my national writings, you can pick up my books at brick and mortar book stores or at Amazon.com or you can find many of my columns--hundreds of them--all over the internet. You may or may not agree with everything I write, but you won't find any hate in any of my writings--just a search for ultimate truths presented in a manner that is hopefully not too boring or dry. After all, I'm not interested in writing another textbook that no one wants to read.

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