Adam Schiff is not worthy of holding public office after the lies he perpetrated on us about the Russian conspiracy. He represents the most radical policies of the left and not the voice of most Californians.

Don't vote for Schiff for US Senate. He is a serial lier and a serial leaker.

I wish that news stories would stop mentioning that Schiff was a Monte Vista HS graduate. It’s not good for the school’s reputation (assuming that honesty and integrity are some of the character traits valued by our school district).

Though he attended high school in Danville prior to embarking on a political career, Congressman Adam Schiff is not reflective of our community & district.

And neither is Eric Swalwell who represents voters in Dublin.

The other hypothetical Democratic Party Senate candidates are nothing to write home about either and we might be better off with an elderly & moderate Dianne Feinstein at the helm.

On the other hand, the Republicans need to come up with a suitable senatorial candidate who is not aligned with Trump, MAGA supporters, or the now compromised House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Name recognition and a sound political platform will be critical as we do not need a Mike Pence type either.

Republicans have been successful promoting Hollywood celebrities such as Ronald Reagan, George Murphy, & Sonny Bono in the past.

Maybe they can find another one so that CA can have at least one Republican in the Senate.

@Tyrone...some of these Hollywood celebrities are either too old (or unavailable) to run for U.S. Senator from CA but they are Republicans.

IMO...Elizabeth Hasselback would be a poor choice but Kelsey Grammer or Drew Carey might be an interesting candidate.

Trace Adkins: Country Music Singer & TV Personality

Danny Aiello: Film Actor

Adam Baldwin: TV Actor

Stephen Baldwin: Actor, Radio Personality

Pat Boone: Singer, Songwriter

Jerry Bruckheimer: TV & Film Producer

Drew Carey: Game Show Host & Former TV Star

Tom Clancy: Espionage and Military Science Author

Jon Cryer: Film & TV Actor

Robert Duval : TV & Film Actor

Bo Derek: Model, Film & Television Actress

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: American Race Car Driver

Clint Eastwood: Academy Award Winning Film Actor & Director

John Elway: Hall of Fame Quarterback & Super Bowl MVP with the Denver Broncos

Lou Ferrigno: TV Actor (Star of The Incredible Hulk & King of Queens Guest Star)

Mel Gibson: Film Actor & Academy Award-Winning Director

Kelsey Grammer: TV & Film Actor, Star of TV's Long-Running Series, Frasier

Rick Harrison: TV Host of Pawn Stars

Angie Harmon: TV & Film Actor, Star of TV's Law & Order

Elizabeth Hasslebeck: Former "Survivor" Contestant & Co-Host of The View

Another Republican senatorial option would be celebrity Kanye West who also ran for POTUS

So, this clown Schiff was a federal prosecutor? This clown lied and said he has, not had, evidence that proves Trump is an agent of Russia. His buddy Swalwell said the same thing. In fact Swalwell was an Assistant DA for Alameda County.

Booth punks are supposed to stand for something. It’s no wonder people have a hard time respecting the law, and the people who practice it. Yet this local rag, continues to support Swalwell. Which make people question the ethics of journalists. What a joke.

Fortunately, Schiff and his fellow liar were kicked off the House Intelligence Committee. Their power is gone, and likely never to return; that is unless Feinstein steps down from her position. If she does step down, I have not doubt the looney left will elect Schiff to the Senate.

Schiff is an extremist who will not be able to work with anyone who does not share his same exact beliefs, and thus would make a horrible Senator. We need a Senator who is pragmatic, who can work with others, and get things accomplished. Schiff is a self promoter, as his only priority is himself. His comments in his announcement already alienated and attacked 25% of the constituents he would be representing in the Senate. Can we please find a candidate who is respectful to everyone, who can put politics aside and work with others to accomplish some win-win legislation for all Californians.

Though Congressman Schiff is not popular in Contra Costa County & other more conservative voting districts, the highly 'blue' & more densely populated voting regions in CA (SF-LA) will strongly support his candidacy for Senate.

Ironically Schiff was elected to Congress from Orange County...formerly a conservative Republican base but now populated by many recent immigrants & other minority voters who identify as Democrats. And the same can be said of San Diego County.

If Dianne Feinstein opts not to run for re-election to the Senate, Schiff will grab the merry-go-round ring & go for it.

We can then expect CA campaign visits from Barrack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi & other prominent Democrats in support of his candidacy.

Fascinating the way the comments here are uniformly against Schiff (and nearby Swalwell, reflecting the skewed population that tends to write comments on the local websites, who were also the Tea Partiers hanging signs on the 680 overpass bridges back in the day.

Schiff or Porter are highly likely to sweep the area when it comes to counted votes in '24, and it won't be from the election getting "rigged". Swalwell will be re-elected as overwhelmingly as he did last year.

Eric Swalwell Democrat 137,612 %69.3
Alison Hayden Republican 60,852 %30.7

Like it or not, the Valley is Centrist to Liberal, with patches off NIMBY.

Sadly what dbrower is saying is true...an online conservative gripefest will not prevent the re-elections of Schiff and Swalwell who have firmly established themselves in both Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

And let's not even get into Ro Khanna further south.

@ dBrower

It’s fascinating that you support members of Congress who lie. Schiff and Swalwell claim that have evidence that Trump is a Russian agent. The Mueller investigation proved otherwise.

Meanwhile, President Biddy has a hard time remembering where he put all those classified docs. At least Trump had his docs locked up in one place.

I wonder what happened to the thinking man’s Democrat? Thing of the past?

Not wanting to get into a micturation contest, but evidence of counted votes says that the voters of the tri-valley have concluded one set of liars is less-uncredible than another set, and aligns with their policy preferences better.

By two-to-one.

I mention this because town hall comments tend to be dominated by the one, not the two.

One just needs to look at the margins of Swalwell and Schiff's wins and all the hot air is blown out of the sails. This forum tends to get a lot of GOP leaners who tend to forget Calif is deep blue (sorry rural areas).

Yep, California and the Bay Area in particular are certainly considered “deep blue.” The color should be socialist/communist red, but TV networks turned that around, beginning with CBS in 1984.

In what Italian communist Antonio Gramsci called a “war of position” — and both radical socialist Rudi Dutschke and Frankfurt School critical theorist Herbert Marcuse called “the long march through the institutions” — leftists successfully took major (or even majority) positions in print and electronic media, education, many labor unions, some churches, some foundations, many government agencies, the Democrat Party (including its determined welfare statists and outright Democrat Socialists in legislative positions)….

Consider education. Hats off to the shrinking number of dedicated educators who realize and accept their proper task — i.e, instruction in knowledge and skills, not radical ideologies and countercultural activism.

But in contrast and unfortunately, the twisted indoctrination often displacing education these days can only be understood if one realizes that the activist teachers and administrators who push sexualized content and divisive propaganda at kids must be stupid, ignorant, or evil.

They may be useful idiots or malfeasant charlatans, but they typically know enough to hide their schemes from parents and other taxpayers — from LGBTQ-themed books for kindergarteners, to critical race theory lessons telling kids they are either supremacist oppressors or systemic-racism victims, to providing depraved pornography in school libraries....

Meanwhile, forty years after the “Nation at Risk Report” on America’s schools ( Web Link ), “the educational foundations of our society” are still “being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”

In all these contexts, it’s no wonder that clowns like Schiff and Swalwell get elected.

Reading the myriad on comments above, I have concluded that honest and talented statesman/women can't lie enough to get elected, so we wind up with ideological politicians whose primary focus upon election is their next re-election.

Also education seems to be infused with indoctrination, influence, persuasion, and outright brainwashing.

"I have concluded that honest and talented statesman/women can't lie enough to get elected..."

^ Are you referring to candidates like Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, and Lake from Arizona?

On the other hand, George Santos was very successful in his efforts to deceive.

Despite naysayers, Alameda & Contra Costa County are strongly supported blue districts.

Democrats tend to re-elect their knaves and fools (and liars). Edwin Edwards, the Democrat four-term Louisiana governor (1972-1980, 1984-1988, 1992-1996), was asked as a witness during his 2000 trial for corruption if he was lying. “No,” said Edwards, “and if I were, you’ve got to assume I wouldn’t be telling you.” He finally went to federal prison in 2002, for racketeering.

During his 1983 gubernatorial campaign, Edwards said that the only way he could lose that election would be if he were “caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.” Ted Kennedy (leaving his dead girl in a submerged car) and Gerry Studds couldn’t uphold even that meager standard, but they were re-elected multiple times anyway.

Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden were/are politically successful liars themselves. Donald Trump sometimes left doubts about his own narratives, but the alternative in 2016 was Hillary Clinton, the BleachBit queen and device-destroyer overseer of 33,000 deleted emails.

George Santos, the embattled new GOP house member, has voluntarily stepped away from expected committee assignments for now, amid heavy criticism, even from other Republicans.

Herschel Walker appeared to be a compromised candidate, unfortunately, and lost by 37,675 votes even as Georgia Republican Brian Kemp was re-elected governor by 297,899 votes.

As someone who joined another non-attorney in overturning a 1995 SRVUSD school-bond election (reversing an apparent SRVUSD win) in a recount and subsequent Superior Court election contest — then single-handedly writing the respondents’ brief (citing 78 cases and some 4 dozen statutes) and successfully arguing against SRVUSD’s appeal, I know what vote fraud looks like. (SRVUSD’s lawyers charged the District at least $238,000 to lose to two non-attorneys in the original recount and 7-day trial. At least they lost their appeal for free.)

And to me, 2022’s Pennsylvania and Arizona elections once again demonstrated questionable results.

^ Are you referring to candidates like Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, and Lake from Arizona?

The comment was for politicians in general; no reference to blue, red or any other color was intended.

“50yearresident,” you should review submissions further above. One says “This forum tends to get a lot of GOP leaners who tend to forget Calif is deep blue….”

My comments on presstitutes’ biased, misdirective Democrat and Republican color assignments followed.

Just above your comment now, I responded to one immediately prior, which observed that “…Alameda & Contra Costa County are strongly supported blue districts.”

I have frequently observed the processing of vote-by-mail and provisional ballots in the years since overturning 1995’s SRVUSD bond-election result (finishing up in 1997, prevailing over the District’s expensive lawyers in California’s First District Appellate Court).

And what I see continues to support the bipartisan conclusions of Jimmy Carter and James Baker in 2005’s “Building Confidence in U.S. Elections (Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform).” Included there are important findings which still resonate now: “[S]ome form of identification [for voting] is needed” [p. 26].

And “Absentee ballots remain the largest potential source of voter fraud” [p.54].

Additionally, “The practice in some states of allowing candidates or party workers to pick up and deliver absentee ballots should be eliminated” [p.55].

So naturally, California’s Democrat-controlled legislature forbids voter ID requirements — and in 2016, specifically permitted ballot harvesting, allowing anyone, including political campaigners, to round up and hand-deliver bundles of vote-by-mail ballots (VBMs) to precinct officials or county election offices.

California Democrats worsened things further in 2019. Their SB523 now facilitates rehabilitation and counting, long after Election Day, of VBMs mailed or hand-delivered with envelope signatures not matching those on file — or no signature at all.

“This forum...”? It’s highly fair-minded and beneficial. In contrast, the East Bay Times rejected my 2020 exposure of the irresponsible VBM practices I mention now.

>>it’s no wonder that clowns like Schiff and Swalwell get elected.

It's called elections. The majority spoke (several times, by huge margins). Perhaps the clowns are the ones you voted for and lost....biggly? ;)

Edges of Calif and far north of GOP country; perhaps your opinion would fly up there?

Become an independent, you will have more folks on your island..

I haven’t disputed the fact that a local Democrat “majority spoke (several times, by huge margins)” in continuing to elect and re-elect local knaves and fools, Schiff and Swalwell among them.

Above, I’ve simply observed that California schools and most media outlets have cynically disserved the public. The consequence of such contemptible nonfeasance, misfeasance, and malfeasance is that local citizens, busy with long commutes, working hard to pay taxes, and somehow raising kids, are often poorly informed during election runups and other times as well.

Schools have routinely supplanted instruction in knowledge and skills with leftist indoctrination, in twisted “Equity” brainwashing schemes.

SRVUSD glibly calls parents their “partners,” but regularly ignores or deceives them — whether the subject matter is critical race theory (CRT) or “LGBTQ+” activism — as they dragoon even the District’s youngest children, in captive-audience classrooms.

Supt. Malloy talks histrionically about “getting to a better place” and improving “trust,” then drives the District in the opposite direction

I discussed CRT intrusions in comments at the end of a November Town Square, Web Link .

More CRT information is posted at Web Link .

The “LGBTQ+” stuff is at Web Link . The latest such abuse is depraved “LGBTQ+” pornography in SRVUSD high school libraries.

Most local media outlets (including, the East Bay Times) ignore, under-report, or misreport news which counters their predetermined narratives — to the point of running opinion editorials as news, while editors increasingly reject countervailing facts and related opinions.

Go “independent” — i.e., like Bernie Sanders = the local presumption. As Texans like to say: there’s nothing in that supposed “middle of road” but yellow lines and dead armadillos.

Republican candidates tend to lose key elections because many of them are too reactionary for the average voter.

The party has become a haven for diehard Trumpists, ex-Tea Party members, QAnon adherents, and pro-police racists.

America needs more bipartisanship in order to move forward...not petty cat fights initiated by a right-wing lunatic fringe.

And despite the support here for that fringe mindset, most California voters know better than to elect kooks.

@Beecham

Pot calling the kettle black, eh? You stated that the Republican party has become a haven for diehard Trumpists, ex-Tea Party members, QAnon adherents, and pro-police. You don’t support law enforcement? Anti-police are we? You just tipped your hat.

Trumpists vs Biddies: You are officially a Biddy. But what has Old Man Biddy (OMB) done during his time in office? Well, absolutely nothing, except shake hands with flags he thinks are people. His current state of mindset aside, your guy continues to screw up everything.

Afghanistan - OMB left behind Americans and Afghan support personnel.
United States Southern Border - OMB has down nothing. Over 400,000 “got aways” crossed into the U.S last year)
Classified Documents - OMB has ‘em spread all over the place (At least Trump had his in one place)
Economy - OMB shut down gas pipelines and oil reserves.
Ukraine - OMB took his time to arm Ukraine (Obama only gave the Ukrainians clothing)

Now, let’s take a look at the underlings in your own party. Two well known liars, Schiff and Swalwell, just got kicked off the House Intelligence committee for doing just that - lying. You also have Omar who lost her Foreign Affairs Committee seat because she’s an anti-Semite. I would mention AOC, but there would be no point because she has no point worth listening too.

Circling back to the pro-police racist comment you warbled in your drivel, I’ll bet you would be the first to call the police if you found yourself in a situation where you needed them.

Bad apples exist in all professions. But it’s you Democrats / anarchists that tend to scream and throw a tantrum, and burn down buildings when you don’t get your way.

>> in continuing to elect and re-elect local knaves and fools

And why were your candidates not elected? I'm guessing you feel they weren't knaves or fools? do explain why they lost.

Ah, yes, it’s those wascally wepublicans, as Tweety Bird would say, who [allegedly] cause all the problems. So Californian majorities have elected such paragons of political virtue as Eric Swalwell (no doubt appreciating his, shall we say, foreign relations expertise — especially as it has involved Chinese spy Fang Fang (sometimes aka “Christine Fang”).

And then there’s Adam Schiff, the original subject of the article captioned above, himself so reliably expert in discerning hostile acts abroad, such as Russian disinformation, that he could join 51 “intelligence officials”— and affirm to Wolf Blitzer with absolute certainty regarding the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — to say that “We know that this whole smear on Joe Biden comes from the Kremlin. That’s been clear for well over a year now that they’ve been pushing this false narrative about the vice president and his son.”

And let’s not forget that scintillating gem of intellectual brilliance and bipartisan DSA-style/CCP cooperation in his family’s deals with China, Joe Biden. His Afghanistan withdrawal and his “minor incursion” there, there head-pat when Russia massed its troops on Ukraine’s border were models of international diplomacy.

Then there’s Kamala Harris, another foreign policy authority who (when asked by a radio host to explain the war in Ukraine) offered this keen assessment: “So, Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong, and it goes against everything that we stand for.”

Lunatic fringe and kooks? “The Squad” may object to any effort which attempts to hand those titles to someone else.

Meanwhile: a combination of disinformative media and academe, along with drugs and a large helping of legislatively facilitated voter fraud, helps to explain many Californians’ seemingly reflexive attraction to knaves and fools.

Correction: it was Elmer Fudd who used the term "wascally...."

Hey S… Hale,

Regarding the Chinese spy balloon: How do you feel about your weak president now? He probably thinks it’s a hot air balloon, right? Old Biddy is as weak as they come. You think China or Russia would stand for this had we sent a spy balloon over there country?

One thing I’ve realized about these Democrats: they like to scream and yell. But when faced with a threat, they cower.

All things considered, both parties have their share of fools and frauds.

The conservative voices here have brought up some key observations regarding Biden administration oversights and blunders BUT they have provided no potential Republican POTUS candidates who can steer the ship in the proper direction.

Trump along with Nikki Haley have declared their candidacy for 2024 while DeSantis and Pence are still testing the water. Kristi Noem of South Dakota is another potential Republican presidential candidate.

On the other hand, we have Joe Biden and Kamala Harris most likely running for re-election while Gavin Newsom and possibly Joe Manchin of Pennsylvania are considering a run.

Can't we come up with a better candidate than any of the above names?

At this stage of the game, America must secure it's southern border, keep China in check, and curtail immigration.

POTUS45/Trump was actively involved towards achieving those three goals but the COVID pandemic derailed his 2020 re-election bid.

President Biden also deserves some credit for securing emergency economic rescue programs during the height of the pandemic though some of these supplementals were abused by unscrupulous individuals and companies.

All in all, no one is perfect and who would want to be president in the first place...a tough job but with plenty of perks.

It is a shame that presidential term limits prevent Barrack Obama from running again.

Compared to predecessor George W. Bush and successors Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Barrack Obama to date is the greatest U.S. president of the 21st century and his achievements may never be equaled by others.

Our nation's biggest nightmare would be having Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on a combined presidential and vice presidential ticket because if Trump somehow won, Donald Trump Jr. could succeed or him or run for president himself at a later date which could amount to 12 years of Trump presidential politics.

Some would compare such a scenario to the North Korean family dictatorship.

>> How do you feel about your weak president now?
My weak president? did I vote for him? Sure. Did I really want to? No. I held my nose the least voting for him. Your dotard lost; gotta live with that.

As to the balloon that has GOP knickers in a knot. OK, so let's say the US military shot it down. How many lives on the ground is it ok to lose? Your honest answer after you research what happens when something comes down from 50-60k feet. Please, also detail what would be used to achieve this and what would happen with THAT debris?

Take your time.

@Fiona

I’ll take DeSantis over President Mumbles and Fumbles every time all the time, should DeSantis run. Your president is weak, old, and senile. The problem is, you Democrats won’t admit it. You pretend that this clown is a good president when he is clearly not. Are you comfortable with an 80 year old feeble minded president who may have to take on China at some point? You want HIM in charge? Please.

@S….Hale,

Welp, I’ll give you credit for being honest about who you voted for. Hope your happy with this dunce. At least Trump had out southern border more secure than what your fool has done. Trump’s remain in Mexico policy was working until your clown stopped it. Proud of that, S….Hale? Let’s see, there were over 400,000 “got aways” last year. We have no idea who these people are. But your president has turned a blind I to it. Sure, he visited the southern border recently, but it took him two years! And still no strategic plan. BTW, people are now coming in through our northern borders - all thanks to President Biddy. Gonna vote for him again, S…Hale?

You Biddies will continue to vote the party line instead of what’s good for this country. If Newsom runs, I’m quite sure you and Fiona will vote for that clown too.

Old Man Biddy (OMB) Failure Monitor:

Afghanistan - OMB left behind Americans and Afghan support personnel.
United States Southern Border - OMB has down nothing. Over 400,000 “got aways” crossed into the U.S last year)
Classified Documents - OMB has ‘em spread all over the place (At least Trump had his in one place)
Economy - OMB shut down gas pipelines and oil reserves.
Ukraine - OMB took his time to arm Ukraine (Obama only gave the Ukrainians clothing)
China - OMB refuses to shoot down a Chinese communist spy balloon

The list is growing.

Stop the press! The Disaster in Chief had one of our brave military pilots shoot down the Chicom spy balloon. However, we now know that the balloon had been floating over the Aleutian Islands - which is sovereign U.S. territory - prior to making its way over the continental United States. Why?

Why did President Biddy allow this to happen? He could have shot that balloon out of the air long before it appeared over Montana. Biddy took his time and finally made the decision long after the balloon came down from the north, over Alaska.

2024 can't get here soon enough.

@Malcom Hex
According to the news, President Biden OK'd shooting down the balloon as of last Wednesday but his military advisors advised him to wait until it passed over the continental United States first.

The balloon should have been shot down when it was still hovering over the Aleutian Islands.

What are those Chinese up to?

@Wilkins



Is that a rhetorical question, statement or satire? You sound about as confused as President Biddy. Either way, your president has the power to override his military advisors, and could have shot down that spy balloon long before it passed over Montana.

In case you’re confused, the Federal Government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the Federal courts, respectively.

A Chinese spy balloon crashed into the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii four months ago, U.S. officials say. I’m sure the president thought the balloon was from Disneyland.

Of course, the Biddy administration is now claiming that this kind of thing happened on Trump’s watch too. However, Trump and top national security officials from his administration said that did not occur. If it did occur, than Trump should have shot down those balloons too. Gotta be fair.

>>>However, Trump and top national security officials from his administration said that >>>did not occur.

Three times it occurred and Trump hid it from the public. Now, compare and contrast. A few people saying it didn't happen is not a leg to stand on. Read the articles.

Once done with that. Do an analysis of what happens when a few tons of 'stuff' falls from 50-60k feet to the ground. Damage it will cause. Loss of life etc.

Facts, not opinions. Post sources. THANKS /s

@S…Hale

You want to compare Trump to Biddy regarding facts? You walked right into it. So let’s talk facts, shall we? Happy to oblige.

Trump had a plan to get our peeps out of Afghanistan had he won a second term. Your current stooge in the White House left Americans behind, plus millions of dollars of military hardware. Yeah, nice job there, Biddy. Happy with that, S…Hale?

Trump had our southern border squared away with his Remain in Mexico policy. Your guy threw Trump’s plan out, and look what happened? Over 400,000 “got aways” last year. Happy with that, S…Hale?

Trump sent Mercy ships to New York when COVID hit to help overcrowding in local hospitals. But another Democrat, Cuomo, never sent a soul to those ships. Instead, he sent elderly patients with pre-existing health issues into rest homes infected with COVID. A lot of elderly people died as a result. And who supported Cuomo? The current clown in the White House. Happy with that, S…Hale?

Trump made a deal with Ukraine President Zelenskyy in exchange for small arms prior to the Russian invasion and Trump came through. However, your gal, Nancy Pelosi, and her fellow stooges, including the liar Adam Schiff, went after Trump for helping Ukraine. But that wasn’t all. President Mumbles and Fumbles failed to supply Ukraine with the arms they asked for just before the war started. It’s only now that Biddy wants to send our tanks. Yeah, what a friend. Happy with that, S…Hale?

Buy the way, it’s ALLEGED that Trump knew about spy balloons on his watch. There are NO facts as of yet to support the accusation. You made that up. But we know one thing for sure, President Biddy had every chance to shoot down that balloon near Alaska long before it hit the continental United States. Happy with that, S…Hale?

Your guy is the worst president in American history. He’s 80 years old, senile, and getting worse. But you Dems would rather vote for a president that poses a security risk, right?

Happy with that? S…Hale?