Pratt-a-mania!
'Mean girl' Nithya Raman versus the Venceremos Brigade's Karen Bass versus Reality's Spencer Pratt: LA Mayor's Race: Season 1 pops off. Plus, millionaires and Maoists in SF.
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Meet your Mayoral Candidates, LA
Some of us missed Reality TV star Spencer Pratt in The Hills and Celebrity Big Brother UK, but LA Mayor’s Race: Primary is appointment TV. The cast list is wild. One, an incumbent named Karen Bass who is best known for nipping off to Ghana as her city was about to burn. Bass cut her teeth in politics as a teen traveling back and forth to Cuba in support of socialist revolution, which prepared her well to oversee the looting and destruction of Los Angeles. Not to be outdone, an upstart named Nithya Raman is a Los Angeles City Councilmember who sits to the left of Bass. And in one recent debate, she thought she could make common ground with her Sherman Oaks constituents by displaying a blasé attitude toward homeless tents parked in front of schools. “I don’t think a kid’s gonna be safer if they are 10 feet or 500 feet away from a school... It’s like, whatever.” She’s lived in Los Angeles for a little over ten years, so it’s impressive she’s drops into the local slang — even if a slightly dated version — when leaving the comfort of Silver Lake and visiting the Valley.
And Pratt? Please, please, producers, keep him on the show! He’s the only one who understands the role. To be the heel that creates the drama that keeps us watching. Will socialism actually work this time? Tune in to find out. June 2nd will be the reveal — to see which two cast members among the full 14 get enough votes for the next episodes, L.A. Mayor’s Race: Run-off. Meanwhile, the debates do offer advantages to a reality TV veteran who knows how to work a second unit camera when the opponent is mouthing the absurd: Enjoy this viral moment.
Which is wholly separate from this mayoral ad:
San Francisco’s Star Search for a Pelosi Replacement Matches a Millionaire with a Maoist
Someone’s gotta fill the pink pantsuit — and vying for the job Nancy Pelosi’s leaving as the House’s Representative of (the majority of) San Francisco for just about four decades are four major candidates, all Democrats. How to stand out in the crowd that agrees on so much? Incumbent Scott Weiner likes to focus on housing but makes a name for himself by frequenting leather festivals in chaps that show off his skeletal torso — unforgettable. Connie Chan — like most of her fellow candidates — is concerned about “Trump.” (It still works its magic on the afflicted.) Marie Hurabiell homes in on street safety and grass roots communities and common sense plus separate and protected restrooms for girls — radical words in this city. What’s left for Saikat, the man who brags about his work for AOC — while she notably hasn’t endorsed his campaign for Congress? Distraction, which he aced on Thursday night. After making a massive amount of money as Stripe’s second engineer, apparently the next move is this: Embrace Mao. Last night’s event in downtown SF featured F-bombs, disco balls, and this rallying cry from Saikat best bud Hasan Piker: “Let a thousand Zohrans bloom.” The Rally was called “Change the Party,” and the Party wasn’t pleased.
The place was packed, and it seemed in reporting from SF Standard that there was a directive to call this odd embrace of the Twitch streamer a success. But it was easy enough to read between the lines. Piker, they report, was “more awkward” … “than anyone who had preceded him — like someone for whom public speaking both came naturally and still felt vaguely uncomfortable. He was the smooth but shy football player; Chakrabarti was the valedictorian he’d been copying homework from.” In a word, “cringe.” Wait a minute, I think we’ve found Chakrabarti a brand.
San Francisco politics can be so depressing. Thankfully the country as a whole is doing better.
I don't trust Saikat as far as I could throw him. Wish Spencer Pratt all the best down in LaLa land. Unbelievable that anyone could vote for Karen Bass at this point.