Silence of Bobbie Singh-Allen's Lambs - Cowardice and Fear of Elk Grove elected officials; NRA Gun money anyone?
In any other situation, acceptance of cash from a death merchant or any other unacceptable behavior by an elected Democratic elected official would be harshly criticized from within the party.
In less than four years as Elk Grove mayor, Bobbie Singh-Allen has consolidated power among elected officials at a level never seen in the city's 24-year history. Never one to waste that power, the mayor has exerted influence over the local officials much like Donald J. Trump has over the entire Republican party.
Save for Elk Grove District 3 City Councilman Kevin Spease, Singh-Allen has pressed Councilmembers Darren Suen, Sergio Robles, and Rod Brewer to follow her commands unquestioned. Of those three, it is astounding that Suen, who is the longest-tenured city council member, has been rolled like a drunk on skid row.
Machiavellian politicians like Trump and Singh-Allen's ultimate goal is to exert power over others. With that power comes the ability to bend others to their will and, significantly, ensure that the power holder's aberrant behavior goes unaddressed.
Singh-Allen, a member of the Democratic Party, has positioned herself in this situation. She has become so powerful with local officials that she openly and gleefully engages in behavior antithetical to her political party.
This is the case of Ms. Singh-Allen's acceptance of $2,500 from tobacco death merchant R. J. Reynolds. To the best of our knowledge and research, Singh-Allen's acceptance of death merchant money is the first time an Elk Grove city council member, Republican or Democrat, has accepted a tobacco campaign contribution.
In any other situation, acceptance of cash from a death merchant or any other unacceptable behavior by an elected Democratic elected official would be harshly criticized from within the party. Some of the Democratic officials run from office primarily by fellow party members is long and include, among others, prominent politicians like Al Franken, Elliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner, and Andrew Cuomo.
And yet, when it comes to local Democratic elected officials, there is silence about Singh-Allen's embrace of this merchant of death. While it is not surprising that Singh-Allen's city council colleagues are afraid to stand up and say this is an unacceptable campaign contribution given her alpha dominance over three of them, it is more troubling with Democratic Elk Grove Unified School District Trustees.
As trustees of a government agency responsible for our youth's education, health, and welfare, it is disappointing that Nancy Chaires-Espinoza, Gina Jamerson, and Michael Vargas are silent like the Democratic city council members. All their talk about youth empowerment and creating healthy behaviors is meaningless if they don't press and insist that Singh-Allen return the death merchant money.
Singh-Allen has so much power over them that these lambs are either afraid of Trump-style retribution by recruiting electoral opponents, or maybe the mayor is like J. Edgar Hoover and has dirt on them to keep them silent. Whatever the dynamic, these Elk Grove Democratic elected officials are Bobbie Singh-Allen's Lambs.
Will Bobbie Singh-Allen's Lambs ever stand up and tell the king they are naked?
Given Singh-Allen's penchant for embracing death merchants, would Bobbie Singh-Allen's Lambs be fine if she accepted money from the National Rifle Association or, say, Colt Manufacturing, the inventor and license holder of the AR-15, the semi-automatic gun of choice for the mass murder of students and others?
The only difference between these death merchants is guns kill immediately while tobacco products kill their users and other innocent non-users over years. Either way, until Bobbie Singh-Allen's Lambs speak up and repudiate this campaign donation of their fellow Democrats, consider them death merchant enablers.
