Survey Says: RN Actually Among LA’s Best

February 9, 2010 by admin | Filed Under California politics, News media, Richard Nixon | 3 Comments 

In a cheap attempt to gin up its readership, the perpetually unsubscribed LA Times ran a blog article entitled “Who Are LA’s Worst People?,”

Steve Lopez, the author of the article, nominated an “all-star cast of bigots, crooked business barons and dirty politicians.”

Under “M” for Murder, we have Hall of Famers like the Hillside Strangler, the Night Stalker, the Freeway Killer and Mr. Helter Skelter himself.

But don’t let me influence your vote. Let local historian Joe Scott of the L.A. County district attorney’s office do that.

“Frank Shaw,” said Scott, nominating as most disreputable Angeleno the L.A. mayor who, in 1938, was recalled in the midst of scandals that fueled the imaginations of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy.

Nobody beats former LAPD chief William Parker, said author and former Timesman Bill Boyarsky. “He was the most damaging Angeleno of all time” because of his “us-against-them, all-white, anti-minority attitude. That has done more lasting harm to the city than anything.”

Within that mix Lopez included President Nixon, a decision that seemingly backfired when he opened the comments section for readers to publish their own rankings:

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