Luke Ford

ERSNews.com broke this story July 3: "“He’s now dating one of the members of his LAPD protective detail,” this source revealed."

Adriana posts: "Here’s the latest I heard from inside sources — the Mayor has been dating a woman on his security detail after dumping the t.v. anchor. The Mayor allegedly spotted her at the police dept. and said he wanted the woman he saw on his detail. He was told only those from the Metro division are assigned to this kind of detail and it’s very hard to make that happen. Apparently getting into Metro division is not an easy task and is highly sought after. Allegedly, strings were pulled and this woman whisked through the process and ended up on his detail– this one would be easy to check–find out who the new woman on detail is who was moved into Metro with a quick and speedy and highly unusual transfer to be with the Mayor. Confirm with LAPD sources to suss out veracity."

Here’s the Korea Times report on planning commissioner Sabrina Kay and Villaraigosa. Anyone fluent in Korean?

Here’s Sabrina and the mayor at a banquet in Shanghai, China. Another in China.

Papa Ray comments to Gateway Pundit: "If his new squeeze is anything like a little Korean gal I knew about thirty years ago…he is going to miss a lot of work…and not even care."

I emailed Sabrina Kay these important questions:

What is the nature of your relationship with the mayor?

What is it like to be the center of so much attention?

Are your breasts real?

Chris Weinkopf writes:

By now, everyone knows the story: Antonio fell in love, got married, settled down and had children. He named the boy for himself – Antonio Jr. But Antonio’s interests and his heart lay elsewhere. Eventually, he left the marriage and his family, and took up with another woman.

I write not about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but his father, Antonio Villar.

When Antonio was 5 years old, his dad left home, devastating his young son. Compounding the injury, Villar would go on to start a new family, with a new son, who, like Antonio, was nicknamed Tony.

Antonio would see his dad but a few more times, ever. The abandonment left scars that, by his own testimony, lasted a lifetime. It also fueled a cycle of familial breakdown, culminating in Villaraigosa’s admission last week that, caught up in an adulterous affair, he was leaving his family, too.

Fortunately, this is where the similarities end.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson writes:

…Villaraigosa set himself up for the massive and intrusive peep that his revelation into his personal life has triggered. He has reveled in the oftentimes slavish adoration of the media. He has turned his office into a virtual press central, and reportedly has been piqued when the number of TV cameras at an event falls short of his expectation.

Villaraigosa has consistently hungered for the media spotlight, even calling a press conference a few weeks ago to talk about the separation from his wife. That effectively canceled out his plea that the press respect his privacy and his personal relationships. With the Salinas revelation, his private affairs are even more tempting prey for prying eyes.

In a perfect world, free of the media’s obsession with titillating gossip, the stance the city’s top elected official takes on issues and how effective he is at making government work should be the only things that matter in judging his worth and effectiveness. That has nothing to do with the amount of TV camera time or newspaper print space he can grab.

Mariel Garza writes:

IF this were an ancient Greek tragedy, Corina Villaraigosa would be plotting her revenge on her philandering husband, something perhaps involving poisoned golden robes or a visit from a giant with one eye.

No such luck for the soon-to-be-ex first lady of Los Angeles, whose famous husband admitted this past week to a prolonged relationship with a television reporter who had been covering him. While there is no more tragic figure in modern history than the political spouse, these days acceptable responses don’t include murder, curses or visits from angry gods. Filing for divorce just doesn’t have the same catharsis as a good bloodletting.

…Even if Villaraigosa marries her after his divorce, Salinas can only expect his ever-loving devotion until the next hot young thing comes along (and she may already have). He just doesn’t work that way. Even when you’re with Antonio, he’s looking over your shoulder for the better thing to come along – sometimes quite literally. He’s thrown over constituents of the 14th District when he saw a chance to move on to a bigger and better relationship with the entire city. And one day he’ll dump Los Angeles as well.

Tony Castro writes:

Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles, confirms that Villaraigosa should be concerned about the possibility of "a Latino conservative cultural backlash."

Regalado, who lives on the Eastside and maintains a wide network among Latino voters, says "there’s a certain sense of moral outrage" against Villaraigosa, especially among women.

"What they’re saying is that this guy can’t keep his word," he said.

"And if he can’t keep a commitment, what else is he going to do in life if can’t commit to a relationship?"

If so, that would be a recallable/impeachable offense, notes a commenter on MayorSam.

With the number of attractive young females the mayor spends quality time with, it wouldn’t surprise me that some of them got their positions on their backs.

Tabloid Baby Burt Kearns writes:

The LA Times is backtracking on the Villaraigosalinasgate scandal, with an astounding column yesterday by media columnist Tim Rutten that attacked the "informational vermin" who whip the LA Times’ lazy ass on hot city stories, and yearned wistfully for the good old days when the LA Times had a vice grip on local media coverage and could cover up mayoral scandals, even when they imapcted city business, as when the wife of Villaraigosa predecessor James Hahn split on the family, leaving him to leave work early every day to care for his kids in San Pedro…

…It’s clear the Times has an agenda here, and doesn’t want the facts to lead to Villaraigosa’s downfall or have an effect Hillary Clinton’s chances for the White House.

Meanwhile, for full, exciting coverage of the City Hall scandal, the Pulitzer-deserving journalist is Luke Ford, a journo whose focus borders on the autistic and whose website is the new "paper of record" for the most portentous story in Los Angeles and possibly American politics.

Mickey Kaus writes on Slate.com:

"Don’t Get Caught Again": Lone blogger Luke Ford, and not the L.A. Times, continues to be where you go go to find out what’s really happening in the Villasalinas sex scandal. Ford notes that the LAT, despite signs of catch-up tabloid feistiness earlier in the week, has delivered its traditional scandal-killing thumbsucker on schedule. Riveting headline: "Villaraigosa affair may not be one to remember." Why, "Democratic operative" Chris Lehane thinks he may survive! Ford comments:

It’s stupid to write all these analysis pieces saying the mayor can overcome this scandal until we know how many more scandals are coming the pike on this score. I predict several.

He suggests some leads. …

P.S.: The traditional pompous Tim Rutten piece–attacking "the gossip sheets … that continue to proliferate like informational vermin"**–arrives right on cue as well. L.A.’s Pulitzer-winning paper is back to running at peak efficiency.

Bonus pomposity: Rutten writes–

Villaraigosa’s personal connection with Salinas is a private issue that legitimately concerns only the two of them and their families. No one else has a moral or rhetorical right to an opinion on that aspect of their conduct.

Why the hell not?

**– … like the ones that broke the story the Times helped Villaraigosa try to keep a lid on. Rutten also more or less admits the Times helped cover up the marital trouble of the previous L.A. mayor, James Hahn, even though it clearly affected his performance (when he insisted on going home to look after his kids!). … 10:54 P.M.