Thursday, February 27, 2014

Why we care: Open Letter to the Humboldt Community from Arnie Klein

...What has gone terribly wrong is that the victim’s character has been assassinated and HE has been put on trial.

Why we care.

An open letter to the people of Humboldt County,

Recent events occurring at the courthouse have caused great alarm and upheaval throughout our community. Until yesterday, I have stayed out of the fray because I don’t believe that prosecutions, or lack thereof, should be dictated by politics.

I am gripped by a letter I read from a friend of Douglas Anderson-Jordet who was killed in Arcata. One could not help but feel that this heartfelt plea was from someone who cares about another person who tragically died.

I felt compelled to speak out so that the community did not lose it’s voice in this unmitigated disaster and fiasco. There is paucity of confidence that exists now due to the actions of the current administration and their policies.

What has gone terribly wrong is that the victim’s character has been assassinated and HE has been put on trial.

This is a reflection of the current District Attorney’s administration and his subordinates. Based on my 40 years in law enforcement, 20 years on each side of the fence, I have never seen anyone or anything do something this dastardly. This amounts to evil and it robs our community of “our” voice in the courtroom. To paraphrase an often used quote “All it takes for evil to win out, is for good men to do nothing”.

I call upon all those who care about justice to attend the sentencing hearing, which is set for April 3rd. at 2 pm, and demand justice for Douglas Anderson-Jordet.

Sincerely,

Arnie Klein.... (votearnieklein.com)

◼ WEB: votearnieklein.comABOUTDONATEFACEBOOK

22 comments:

  1. Well said Mr. Klein. I for one will be there! I hope other community members will do so as well.

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  2. Rose, You know I don't pay close attention to DA stuff. Mostly because I just can't get worked up about law and order stuff. But I do know politics a little.

    I appreciate that many don't like partisanship. I think partisanship is fine, in fact it's essential. What we don't need is fake "camps" for a lack of a better word right now.

    Rush and Glenn do this by ascribing evil intentions to "liberals" or elites, etc. This type of thing I don't think is OK. That is something I hope you noticed I try hard to avoid. I may disagree with you, but at the end of the day we should be civil, respectful, and dare I say it, kind.

    I was never going to vote for Arnie anyway, but no matter what, to call out someone in a political arena as "evil" or "dastardly" is a step WAY to far. I know you might find me incredibly hypocritical on this as "partisan" as I am, but there is a distinction there that I hope you can see too.

    I know absolutely nothing about this case, and I don't need to. One elected professional and his staff are doing what they can to further justice. Arnie seems to disagree. It is critical to our political and policy discussions that he keep his language civil.

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  3. Jon. I KNOW you haven't followed it. And that you're almost completely uninformed about the office, about what it does, about how it is supposed to function, about the job it does, about the people who work there, about the working conditions, about the incredibly difficult conditions, - and the failings of the current DA. You don't care, unless it fits in your little box. You've made that abundantly clear.

    Which is why I get frustrated with you pontificating about the race and the people running.

    You may not like Arnie because he doesn't fit your idea of a Dem. I don't freaking care what party any of them are. You don't like Arnie and you judge him, but you couldn't even begin to do the work he has done.

    All four candidates have worked in the office. How they choose to characterize what goes on there - you really ought to LISTEN, for a change.

    You say "I know absolutely nothing about this case, and I don't need to. One elected professional and his staff are doing what they can to further justice. "

    THAT, Jon, is complete rhetorical HOKUM.

    Those poor 9 (soon to be 7) people in that office are trying desperately to do the work of 20. They don't have much time to think about justice. They're trying to figure out how they're going to face the judge, the defendant, and the victims when they've had about 2 hours to read the file on the case. They're trying to figure out how to go to trial, or not, when they've got 50 other cases just like it.

    Because people like YOU voted in a man who was KNOWN to be a poor manager, was known to have lost half the staff, and you didn't care.

    So don't come here pretending to care now.

    Unless you've had an epiphany, and realized the error of your ways.

    Peace be with you.

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  4. "Mostly because I just can't get worked up about law and order stuff. But I do know politics a little. "

    Yeah, well, Jon, law and order stuff, when not done right, results in people dying. As we've seen a couple of times no, haven't we - but don't trouble your little head because you do "know politics a little," and that's all this is, right? Just a jousting match. A contest. Throw in your quarter to bet on the winner! Choose your team, and cheer.

    Don't even think about what happens after the lights go out, the tickertape has to be swept up, and the work has to be done.

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  5. "9, soon to be seven . . ."? Explain.

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  6. Regardless of political bull shit.....a man killed another man and is going to spend two years in county. We should ALL be pissed! That is the moral of the story!

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  7. Apparently Liberal Jon is just that! He does not care for the safety and future well being of our community that he would rather overlook the inept abilities of Firpo and what she can not bring to the table. I guess it is okay to murder a human being and get away with it in this county. Yes, 2 years is basically getting away with it! The best candidates for the important position are Mr. Klein and ms. Fleming. They are the ones that should should progress to the November elections, because they have the experience and the community's best interest in mind!

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  8. Folks, remember, we elected someone with no experience Aka Paul Gallegos as the DA for our county and he promised us exactly what firpo is promising AND he didn't come through. In fact, he made that Office worst! Folks open your eyes, Firpo is but an extension of Gallegos. She has his backing and all of his political alliances that supported him are backing her. She has Salzman who oversaw everyone of his campaigns. Let's not get fooled by Firpo. Inexperienced doesn't work, we tried it and it backfired on our community. Let's make a statement this June and vote for experience! That is what our community needs and desires.

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  9. Folks, remember, we elected someone with no experience Aka Paul Gallegos as the DA for our county and he promised us exactly what firpo is promising AND he didn't come through. In fact, he made that Office worst! Folks open your eyes, Firpo is but an extension of Gallegos. She has his backing and all of his political alliances that supported him are backing her. She has Salzman who oversaw everyone of his campaigns. Let's not get fooled by Firpo. Inexperienced doesn't work, we tried it and it backfired on our community. Let's make a statement this June and vote for experience! That is what our community needs and desires.

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  10. "9, soon to be seven . . ."

    Two rumored to be going out on paternity leave.

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  11. Rose.

    Who did Arnie call Dastardly and evil? It was someone in the DA office right?
    Here is his quote..."This is a reflection of the current District Attorney’s administration and his subordinates."

    Not even the criminal him/herself?

    That is wrong-headed and I don't need to understand the DA office to get that this is the absolute worst kind of political posturing. And, btw, it has nothing to do on what Arnie is calling himself politically.

    I'm curious as we speak about politics, are you OK with that type of language in this particular case. What was it? For the sake of argument, I'm going let's say the current office is being managed less than effectively. Does that correlate to "evil".

    In your opinion, what that language appropriate? If so, could you explain how. You mention "poor manager", how to we go from that (again, taking your highly biased opinion on this as fact) to "evil" and "dastardly". Again, that is a rhetorical step way to far, don't you agree.

    And, not everyone can spend all their precious time on every subject. You have your interests, I have mine.

    We do what we can to listen to people we trust on issues we don't necessarily have the time to study in depth. I've been noticing for example, even the Commissioners on the Planning Commission are not well versed in the science behind habitat protection of streams. That doesn't seem to stop them from casting votes based on... I don't know what.... basically burying their heads in the sand.

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  12. "and that's all this is, right? Just a jousting match. A contest. Throw in your quarter to bet on the winner! Choose your team, and cheer."

    No Rose, not at all. This is not politics for winning. This is politics to determine policy. I understand the policy implications of politics from School Board to President, mostly. DA has me a little confused. I'm learning. I voted for Gallegos because he held corporations accountable too. I think violent criminals should of course be prosecuted and serve their time, but I want to be sure white collar criminals do their time too. I'm going to assume we agree on that.

    I know you would like to reduce my concerns and interests to a shallow shadow of what they are to fit your narrative of what I am. Sorry, but your image of who and what I am is not who I am.

    So, again, is the use of terms like "evil" and "dastardly" OK in what amounts to political discourse? Just wondering, I haven't seen anyone else bring this up, and it's a really big issue for me. What do you think?

    If I haven't posted this here, I'd like you to take a read of this book. It's something I keep in mind when I started to partake in the HumCo political back and forth. It's by Jonathan Haidt and is called - "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion".

    We're going to disagree on a bunch, possibly everything it seems. It doesn't mean you or I or even people in the current DA office are evil or "bad".

    I think the use of those terms to characterize someone in the DA's office is wrong and should be called out. I'd be very surprised if he didn't mean his opponent which I'd find so totally convenient to his political aspirations. But I don't know, I'm depending on you and your focus on this race to report such things. If they matter to you. Which apparently they don't.

    And if you agree that someone's actions or inactions are so negligent to warrant the "evil" tag I think this should be followed up. Explain why.

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  13. the "jon's" seem to really like Arnie. Let's see...evil to win...a murderer gets off with two years in county.... Winning!!!....gee...maybe the letter is referring to a broken system...guess you would have had to use deductive reasoning for that instead of some political bias. This is stupid...a man dies and you want to shame someone that is speaking up about an injustice....this is about life and death and not some "game"...this is about our community. At least someone stood up.

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  14. "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing"

    Or women, I might add.

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  15. Just an observation, Arnie until he retired was one of Paul's cronies.

    All Arnie has done is criticize and throw out sensational words.

    Unlike the 3 other candidates, Arnie has nothing to lose except to go back to collecting his nice retirement pension.

    Too much negativity in him.

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  16. Anon at 1:26, actually Klein has been campaigning in good faith. In fact, I worked for the DA office with Mr. Klein and he was not one of Paul's cronies. He has been running a clean campaign and what he stated in his letter is truth. Only those who have worked or work under the current DA know this to be true.

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  17. BTW, he has never spoke negative but rather spoke the truth! Our community deserves just that instead of the smoke screens we have been subjected to by the current DA administration. Don't you think so too as a community member and taxpayer.

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  18. Anon 1:26, hopefully this will be posted, but to answer you question, no Arnie was not one of Gallegos cronies. I know this for a fact as I worked with Arnie.

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  19. Anonymous, both of you I want to believe because I am trying to get information but I will be cautious of anyone who seems like they are personal friends of any candidates so the I worked with him tells me to take that opinion carefully.

    Both of you sound like friends. Still not saying what Arnie can do that other 3 cannot. I don't want to hear what others are not doing. What can your man do? And can you defend him by not dissin any other candidate.

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  20. Reportedly - 10, plus Paul, minus 1, David Nims is leaving.

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  21. The only former co-worker that is supporting Klein is Jeannie Duncan. That is probably who anonymous is. It was quite well known how much the attorneys and staff hated Mr. Klein

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