This is pretty funny. David Atkins, the chairman of the Ventura County Democratic Party, just officially called for a Simi Valley councilman's resignation over "vile" online activity. Apparently, a Republican councilman and LAPD veteran clicked "Like" on a picture of scantily clad women with guns on his private Facebook page.

That and a couple of similar "likes" led Atkins to declare his "vile activity online serves as a clear sign that he lacks the judgment necessary to serve in elected office." He added the "conduct and the material he likes are certainly not representative of the values held by most people in Simi Valley."

I guess he's saying most men in Simi don't find female models attractive?  Set aside that this whole thing is a laughingly weak accusation. It's even more amusing considering the timing. Atkins thinks this is a huge scandal, on the eve of the Benghazi hearings, which he'll ignore. Priceless.

But for a really good laugh, consider what Atkins himself posts on his social networks. Remember, Atkins wants this councilman to resign because of a few things he clicked "Like" on.

In 2011, his own party had to distance itself from him when he posted on Twitter that people in Simi Valley should "just put your white hoods on already" in response to some opposition to redistricting. He wrote that, "It's so clear that most of these old white people from East Ventura are terribly afraid of brown people in Oxnard/LA."

Remember, Atkins was upset that the Facebook likes are "not representative of the values held by most people in Simi Valley."

But this is!

"...hardcore conservatives want nothing more than to use minorities for target practice."

And this!

"The only way forward is to defeat and expose them for what they are: racist, bloodthirsty lunatics..."

These are both from Atkins' Daily Kos blog.

He also has a bit of a potty mouth, which honestly I don't have a problem with. But it makes for delicious irony when that person accuses other people of being "vile" online.

Gotta admire the cojones on conservatives: "cut govt!" "omg, you cut the wrong thing!" "air traffic? Cut help for poor people!" Assholes.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 26, 2013

Texas. Where assholes and morons in charge of zoning put homes within blocks of fertilizer plants.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 18, 2013

Meanwhile, @intuit outsources support to India during daytime hours, even though it's night time there. Assholes.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 18, 2013

By the way, California already has strong background checks. So if you're tired of GOP bullshit, move here.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 18, 2013

Essentially, NY Post and Fox News do appear to be full of shit as usual.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 15, 2013

Any asshole who says Chained CPI is a "triangulation against the left" shouldn't be labeled a "centrist." They're arch right.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 8, 2013

This is simple politics: if your opponent is an intransigent asshole who wants unpopular things, beat him over the head until election day.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 7, 2013

Assholes RT @suzyesp: Sister of famous California wolf trapped, killed in Idaho @pfimrite blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/04/3...

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 30, 2013

And that's only from the last month. Van Jones lost his job when he called Republicans "assholes," by the way. Honestly, the language doesn't bother me, except I wonder how much hate is inside him for him not to be able to control himself even though he's in a high-profile position.

What's more offensive to me is the lefty ideology, which I just don't get. Things like this:

No use talking to fools like Stockman, but he's got it backward. Abortion often needed BECAUSE fetus is physical threat. Self defense.

-- David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) April 12, 2013

Members of the radical left plotted to pose as conservatives and write racist comments on the Ventura County Star's website in an attempt to further county Democratic Party Vice Chairman David Atkins' efforts to paint local Republicans as racists in white hoods.

Atkins has not apologized for his accusations; to the contrary, he told the Star he's proud for identifying the "racism" he saw at the public Redistricting Commission hearing in Oxnard on June 23^rd, in which some residents opposed the plan to lump eastern Ventura County with Los Angeles county.

He also posted a vigorous defense on his Daily Kos diary Saturday, which is popular among the radical left.  Atkins told his followers that he's not going anywhere despite calls for him to resign his seat on the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee, and renewed personal attacks on local Republicans, particularly those in Simi Valley, and especially me, since I broke the story that led to a front-page Star article about Atkins' controversial comments.

His Daily Kos followers then conspired a "psyops" campaign to trick Ventura County Star moderators into approving comments after that article that would make conservatives look racist.

"No registration is required to post stuff on that newspaper's site," one of Atkin's commenters wrote. "Use a fake name and fake email address, and come out as someone who 'just wants to live with their own kind...'"

Atkins' follower also advised, "Avoid using racial stereotypes of others to make your point.  Just stick to the point that "we want to live with who we want to live with, not with someone else," and let readers fill in the blanks themselves.  This will make Ingemunson's smear backfire, and will also bring out some of the local racists-for-real, who will soil themselves in public and make our job easier. "

Several people tried to leave such fake comments on my blog, and I have no idea how many appear after the Star's article.

Other Atkins' followers cautioned not to discuss the matter where I could read it, and Atkins himself wrote that there is "no need for psyops on these folks. Just peruse the comments section--the racism there really sort of speaks for itself."

How does he know he's not fooled by a liberal psyops campaign? Talk about a vicious cycle--the radical left writes anonymous racist comments on a website and then Atkins decries the racist comments. It's like a perpetual racism machine.

I won't do what Atkins did and take some anonymous commenters and use them to broadly smear a larger group, like he did with his conservatives "want to use minorities for target practice" piece. But I will say that it's nice to know that some on the other side are willing to lie to make their points because they can't win a stand up argument.

Ventura County Democratic Chairman Richard Carter sort of distanced himself from a racially tinged rant tweeted by his vice chairman Wednesday. However, Carter apparently wasn't so much offended by Atkins' sentiment that racism runs rampant through the Republican Party, he just didn't like the choice of words he used.

"The only rebuke I have is to say that his comments do not represent the views of the Ventura County Democratic Party," Carter said. "They were posted on an individual's Twitter account."

Just like Anthony Weiner. Atkins lists his position with his party on his Twitter masthead, and sent the offensive comments from a state-sponsored political event. 

Carter said Atkins won't face any censure, and suggested that other people corroborated Atkins' belief that Republicans used racial "code words" during a redistricting commission hearing. 

Unfortunately for Carter, Twitter limits posts to 140 characters. If Atkins can do this much damage to his party in tiny posts, what can he do on the Daily Kos website where there is no limitation? 

An anti-conservative tirade was posted earlier this year on Daily Kos entitled, "Shooting Black People for Sport" (emphasis added). It stated:

There's nothing more complicated about hardcore conservatives than this.  They believe wholeheartedly in their own magnificence and self-reliance.  They believe that minorities are fundamentally subhuman.  They want all aid to minority communities eliminated.  And then they would like nothing better than to use minorities for target practice when social unrest develops.

The author of the screed is identified as David Atkins. He apparently came across some offensive anonymous comments at the end of a conservative blog and then immediately tried to hang it around the necks of conservatives as a whole, particularly the Tea Party. He continued in the same vein as his recent remarks about opponents to redistricting (again, emphasis added):

There is no coming to terms with these people, or negotiating with them.  In the end, we can share a country and political system with them, but we cannot share a bipartisan future with them.  The only way forward is to defeat and expose them for what they are: racist, bloodthirsty lunatics with a profoundly warped sense of self-importance.

Chairman Carter distanced himself over the "KKK" and racism accusations. What does he do about the accusation that large swaths of American people are "bloodthirsty" and are itching for a chance to shoot minorities in the street?

Ventura County Democratic Chairman Richard Carter half-heartedly distanced himself Wednesday from comments made by his vice-chairman, after the Ventura County Star followed up on an article I wrote criticizing David Atkins for offensive statements he posted on his Twitter account. From Timm Herdt's article:

Comments posted by a Ventura County Democratic Party official on his Twitter account last week in which he wrote that some east county Republicans who testified at a hearing in Oxnard should "just put your white hoods on already" do not represent the views of the county party, Chairman Richard Carter said Wednesday.

Atkins also tweeted that the "racist" Republicans were "afraid of brown people" and were just trying to protect their "lily-white" communities from being separated under the state's redistricting proposal.

Not surprisingly, the statements offended members of the Republican and Tea Parties.

While Carter said he believes Atkins now regrets those comments, Atkins' statements since the story broke seem to indicate otherwise.

In Herdt's article, Atkins said he is "proud of calling out the obvious racism that was on display" at the hearing, although he acknowledged he "might" have used different language in retrospect. He went on to describe his actions as courageous and said even commenters that write on the Star's website show a "virulent underbelly of right-wing racism in Ventura County, and the Oxnard hearing was no exception."

Carter said he did not condone the language Atkins used.

Had a Republican officer said something similar, we can only imagine what Atkins and Carter would have done. Osborn said he wouldn't tolerate it from a member of his executive board and suggested that Atkins step down.

Certainly fairness calls for that--again, if Osborn said something similar Democrats would call for his head. Justice also calls for it--the vitriol Atkins publishes really is beyond the pale and shouldn't be tolerated by a political party.

But Republicans might be secretly hoping that a politically wounded Atkins keeps his job near the top of the county Democratic food chain.  Someone that is prone to posting hateful emotional outbursts for the world to see not only shows Ventura County voters what the modern Democratic Party is willing to tolerate, he provides a recurring handle for the GOP to use over and over again.  Earlier this year, Atkins wrote that conservatives want "to use minorities for target practice."

Of course, Carter might neuter Atkins and put him on a short leash, but given Atkins' history he won't stay housebroken long.

In the final analysis, if he gets booted out of his position, local Republicans would be pleased that justice was served. If he stays, they can take heart he only does so at the expense of the daily embarrassment to his party.