Politics
Commentary: Jeff Pearlman goes from sportswriting to throwing fastballs at O.C. politicians
Jeff Pearlman is one of the most successful sportswriters of his generation. His must-read articles appeared in Sports Illustrated and ESPN in the 2000s before he switched over to penning best-selling books on everything from Bo Jackson to the 1986 New York Mets to the Showtime-era Lakers, the latter which was turned into the recent HBO series “Winning Time.” His biography of Tupac Shakur is scheduled for release in October.
And yet last month, Pearlman announced he was embarking on an altogether different kind of mission: to write about Orange County politics. Talk about a wicked curveball!
As a faithful reader and lifelong Orange Countian, I immediately signed up for his website, The Truth OC. There, on a near daily basis, Pearlman uses the same puerile-yet-potent invective against local conservatives and President Trump that he once reserved for sports fools.
Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns? He’s “Bull Connor meets Bobby Knight meets Officer Krupke.”
Laguna Woods Republican Club president Pat Micone? Belongs to the “genre of person who needs to be told, repeatedly, not to answer her cell unless she recognizes the number.”
Capistrano Valley Unified School District trustees are a “four-headed wackadoo squad of hard-right board members.” Rep. Young Kim is a “coward” for not standing up to Trump. Those are the barbs I can quote in a family-friendly newspaper.
Pearlman already scored a scoop by unearthing a video that went viral of Capo Valley trustee Judy Bullockus using the N-word during a board meeting. While I was pleasantly shocked by Pearlman’s pivot, he’s a much-needed chronicler for a region of 3.2 million that has served as a political bellwether for decades yet has a much smaller press corps than before.
Still, Pearlman writing about O.C. politics seems a little like Gustavo Dudamel quitting the L.A. Philharmonic to moonlight as a drummer at the Dresden Room. Shohei ditching the Dodgers to join a local pickleball league.
“I’m profoundly down” about national politics right now, he said when we recently met at a cafe near Chapman University, where he lectures on sports journalism. Gawky and bespectacled but with the brio of a scrapper, Pearlman was dressed like a quintessential sports geek: black-and-yellow Pittsburgh Pirates hat and Pittsburgh Maulers shirt, the latter a long-gone professional football team. Flip-flops. Sweatpants that looked like jeans.
“Like, these are not happy days for me. But every time I write a new post, I feel really good,” he said. “Every time I see people reading and the subscriptions keep going up, I’m like, ‘All right, this is a way to feel a little like you’re doing something.’”
Other sports journalists also occasionally opine on politics, long a no-no in their profession. But Galen Clavio, director of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University in Bloomington, feels that what’s especially fascinating about Pearlman’s latest focus is that almost all of his peers “aren’t going into hyper-local things, because most followers will think, ‘I don’t believe you’re really into this, so why bring it into the equation?’”
“I wish I didn’t have to do this … but this feels more important,” the fast-talking Pearlman replied when I asked him why he’s now focusing on the micro instead of the macro. He recently covered a rainy Friday afternoon pro-democracy rally outside Irvine City Hall, for chrissakes. “We don’t need another me screaming about Trump, which I do a lot. It doesn’t really resonate. There’s a million people screaming, but there’s not that many people screaming about local politics.”
I wondered why he didn’t just volunteer for a local Democratic club, or write a check to a politician, instead of devoting time and energy to something he’s doing for free.
“This is important — I’m being serious,” he shot back. “I want people to know that not everyone is doing sh-t for the money. Like, I’m just doing it because I’m mad.”
Jeff Pearlman attends the premiere of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty” at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angees in 2022.
(Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images)
The East Coast native moved with his family from New York to South O.C. in 2014 after years of visits for his work, which included covering the 2002 World Series that saw the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants (he thinks the Halos are the worst franchise in Major League Baseball). “We wanted a yard for our kids,” he cracked. Pearlman was initially the classic O.C. suburbanite, preferring to focus on the good life instead of local matters. But he always kept in mind the experiences of a good friend.
“She used to tell me what it was like to be a Black person in Orange County and being stopped here” by police constantly. “And I’d notice weird things, and she was like, ‘Well, that’s Orange County.’”
In 2018, Pearlman came across the words of Huntington Beach-area Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, long an outlandish figure who once said during a congressional hearing that dinosaur farts caused global warming (he later claimed it was a joke). “I never actually never had exposure to people like this,” the 52-year-old said. “I had read about them, but that was it.”
He started a website that tracked some of the crazier things Rohrabacher said, which I remembered as being funny but not really revelatory. In hindsight, Pearlman was personifying the awakening of O.C. liberals, who made history in 2018 by electing an all-Democratic congressional delegation for the first time ever two years after making Hillary Clinton the first Democratic presidential nominee to take Orange County since the Great Depression.
“That was a real turning point,” Pearlman said. “And I didn’t think [Orange County] would ever go back for red.”
Trump’s triumph last year (although not in O.C., which he has never won), coupled with local election victories for MAGA acolytes, snapped Pearlman back into action. Shortly after the election, he went to a local meeting of liberals.
“They were very nice people, but basically the whole vibe of the meeting was, ‘Who wants a hug? You need to get in touch with our feelings.’ And that’s just not me at all. I’m not saying I don’t have feelings. But to me, you have to punch them [MAGA nation] in the face.”
His pugnaciousness reminded me of O.C.’s oldest political blog: Orange Juice Blog, which began in 2003. Publisher Vern Nelson started off as the resident loudmouth in its lively comments section before becoming a contributor, then taking over Orange Juice altogether in 2010.
He hadn’t heard of The Truth OC until I told him, and he asked if he could read some posts before offering his opinion. When Nelson called back, he was laughing in appreciation.
“He’s doing a lot of good stuff,” Nelson said. “We need another good political blog. I’d say to use his previously existing fame, but he’s probably going to piss off a lot of his old readers.”
Pearlman thinks his sports background actually makes him ideal to write about politics.
“We deal with people who are mad at us all the time, and we have to come back the next day,” he said. “And, like, you have to write fast. You have to turn around copy quick. You have to make it punchy. Like, it can’t just be flat.”
Jeff Pearlman, best-selling author of multiple books about sports, talking at L’Orange Cafe in Old Towne Orange. His elbow is resting on a copy of a book by Huntington Beach Councilmember Chad Williams.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
He admits to being a “community college student, second semester freshman year” when it came to knowing about his new beat. He knew none of the historic names I threw at him, and nothing about Santa Ana, where a new generation of Latino voters are bringing L.A.-style progressive politics to the city. When Pearlman tried to rationalize the conservative leanings of his neighbors — “I think my neighbor is upset about his taxes. I don’t think he’s upset about a Black family here” — I retorted that his neighbor would be up in arms if it was a Mexican family, and he conceded the point.
“But I’m taking whatever people have to give me,” he added. “I’m open to learn.”
Pearlman doesn’t know how long he’ll do The Truth OC and even admitted, “I know I’m definitely gonna burn out. That doesn’t mean I won’t keep going.” But he hoped that his example will bring attention and vigor to a political scene that desperately needs both.
“You’ll go to these [local Democratic] meetings and they’ll be like, ‘All right, guys, tomorrow we’re going to have a letter-writing campaign to Young Kim’s office, and we’re going to send 100 postcards. And it is done earnestly and with very good intentions. I’m not bashing anywhere, but it’s not f—— working.”
He stayed silent for a second — a lifetime for Pearlman.
“I sent 50 bucks to [Rep. Hakeem] Jeffries’ office. It’s another 50 bucks he has. What’s it going to do, buy 100 postcards?”
A half-second of silence.
“What these people [politicians] don’t like is being embarrassed.”
Politics
Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
new video loaded: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
transcript
transcript
Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.
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“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”
By Shawn Paik
January 6, 2026
Politics
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
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A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”
In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”
KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’
California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)
“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.
He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.
“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”
GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’
In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”
“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.
“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”
EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO
Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.
Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.
McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”
SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”
“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said.
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“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”
Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.
Politics
California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.
“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”
LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.
Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.
LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.
LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.
One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.
In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.
The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”
In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”
“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”
“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.
Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.
Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.
LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.
Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.
President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.
“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”
“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.
A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.
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