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Terry C's avatar

Hi Dave! For someone just "freestyling it," your latest piece on the LA unpleasantness was impressively thoughtful and well-analyzed—made all the more credible by your boots-on-the-ground perspective.

You wrote: "Trump proceeded to announce that he’s slowing down the immigration raids to protect agribusiness and the hotel biz." One of my very delusional Trump the GOAT friends needs to see that in black and white. If you can point me to a source or link, I’d be much obliged, friend.

By the way, I left a few beers in the icebox.

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David Cole's avatar

Thanks for the beers!

Here are some links RE Trump's change of plans:

The story:

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/12/trump-immigration-enforcement-farms-hotels

Trump's tweet in full:

https://x.com/kausmickey/status/1933427524828344567

Newsom literally gloating:

https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1933224145300635685

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Ricardo's avatar

Self aware MAGA Tard: "Trump is playing 5D Chess. I'm his sacrificial pawn"

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Terry C's avatar

Many thanks, Dave!

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Myriad Mike's avatar

Have you talked to Morpheus about my movie pitch? “The Matrix - Mindfuck Version”

🤪

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David Cole's avatar

LOL!!!!

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Sonny Lopez's avatar

Anyone who thinks Mexicans are as violent as blacks has never lived around either.

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Gina Nelson's avatar

So nice to hear your perspective on this, you are the best at dissecting LA.

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David Cole's avatar

Thank you, Gina!

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Ricardo's avatar

Beaners, MAGAs and BLMs surgically dissected by Dr. Cole; Heir to the throne of the 'I Dindu Nuffin to Elvis Dinasty.'

Excellent and incisive write-up, Dave.

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David Cole's avatar

Thank you sir!

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Myriad Mike's avatar

A riot over Depeche Mode!?

Surely that was the actual end of America, and everything since is just the death rattle.

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David Cole's avatar

LOL!!!!

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Terry C's avatar

Ethically-sourced sarcasm that! LOL!

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Brian P Henry's avatar

Exactly what I miss about not getting a regular dose of Dave - someone willing to trash both the lefty lunatics and the MAGA morons in the same piece. Should be worth a couple of beers, I reckon.

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David Cole's avatar

The beers are most appreciated, my good friend. But even more appreciated is your readership. Thank you!

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Lucky Ned's avatar

Dave, as a native White Southerner who still lives in the South, racial hatred and violence from the blacks is the only thing I've really ever known since I began attending our recently integrated public schools in the late 1960's. Your top-notch literary skills almost make me yearn for some beans. Perhaps the beans would give the blacks a new racial target to whine about and assault. Enjoyed it as always.

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David Cole's avatar

Thank you! All I can say, as a guy who's lived here 56 years, is that things are much better now. Sadly for Southerners, most of the blacks who've fled here have gone back to the South (Atlanta especially). I wish you luck!

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Ricardo's avatar

If you build it, they will come...

a lawnmower dealership that is.

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Michael Meo's avatar

I learned the Berlin slang term for Greatest Leader of All Time from this column. Thanks, Dave.

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David Cole's avatar

My pleasure, and thanks for the beers!

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Keith Shapiro's avatar

From my stunted little corner of the world, the takeaway is that living with Hispanics beats living with you know who.

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JayeRyanOD's avatar

Yep / ya got that right ! Dante s Inferno depicted many levels of Hell - it could always get worse .

Life in urban American and now in all formerly safe homogeneous ha White UK, European countries except Iceland has brought … new neighbors …

There s much talk about who are the worst neighbors - Pakistani sexual grooming gangs in England ? Jihadists and Algerian soccer hooligans in France ? Bomb throwing Syrian drug gangs in Malmo Sweden ? Nobody seems to have a good thing to say about Afghans or the Roma.

But , I think our native Black underclass Rap music , George Floyd , Emmett Till , Willie Horton , Willie Bossett and those fake “Reverend “ race hustlers have to take the cake as the worst - Beaners are definitely better than the Bloods and Cripps or our Chicago BGD and the Vice Lords .

Jaye

Left behind in chicago

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Harshkumar's avatar

Plus, a pretty and skinny petite Latina with long black hair can make for a wonderful time!

Truth be told, I also like it when they dye their hair deep red. Ol Dave may like the blond haired shiksas, but I've found them to be too expensive over time...

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David Cole's avatar

Oh, how I miss that column!

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noochness's avatar

Your question, "Who am I, Jesus?" reminded me of the 2000-Year-Old Man talking about Jesus; something like, "He made a set of bookshelves for me, didn't even charge me."

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noochness's avatar

Eve Babitz, David Cole, James Ellroy, Ross Macdonald, Joseph Wambaugh.... (I'll add to the list as I uncover more names of great L.A. writers). I was gonna add Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, but I'm not sure they were Angelenos....

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David Cole's avatar

Funny you mention Wambaugh. Last week, bored in my hotel room, I watched on Tubi a 1993 Wambaugh-penned TV movie, Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert.

TERRIBLE title!

Teri Garr as an ex-LAPD turned private eye, Sam Elliott as an LAPD ready for retirement, and Thomas Haden Church as an Arab.

It's...not good, but I kept watching it, and I could totally see what Wambaugh was going for. He just kinda misses the mark.

Garr does NOT convince as an ex-cop (cute as a button, but no way does she convey ex-LAPD), and Sam Elliott plays Sam Elliott...all he ever plays.

Anyway, it killed 2 hours in a hotel room at 3am.

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noochness's avatar

Teri Garr did some great Letterman appearances---she kept going back onto the show until she got really funny. On her first appearance in the early 80s you could hear the crickets in the NBC studio rafters.

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noochness's avatar

Wambaugh was at his peak in the 1970s, writing great cop books from all the stories he had. When he ran out of cop stories he slowed down/retired until James Ellroy convinced him to come back and do mysteries. I think I remembered that right---Sailer did a RIP post on Wambaugh shortly after his death:

https://www.stevesailer.net/p/joseph-wambaugh-age-88-rip

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A. Hairyhanded Gent's avatar

Add Nathanael West.

Dave could do an updated The Day of the Locust, for sure.

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JayeRyanOD's avatar

Makes sense. Thanks Dave - you definitely know your LA, you're the real deal.

Keep callin' 'em as you see them.

Keep the faith brother

Jaye R

Left behind here in Hyde Park South Side of Chicago

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David Cole's avatar

Thanks, friend!

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Harshkumar's avatar

I do not see any inconsistencies in your reasoning once again, which is excellent.

Perhaps you should remind those who think that they have 'gotcha" that you love beans should read your column extolling the virtues of beans only when compared to blacks:

"Yes, the more that blacks are displaced, by gentrification on one end and Mexicans on the other, the better L.A. gets. That’s not something I ever say with glee; it’s just a fact. But if it’s true that Mexican neighborhoods are better than black ones, it’s only because blacks in large numbers are so bad. They throw the curve off to such an extent, that sure, by comparison, pretty much any other group is preferable.

And yes, Mexicans are respectful of authority and “rule of law”…compared with blacks. The extent to which black Americans despise the rule of law and resent authority figures is off the charts. Immeasurable. Any population looks “respectful of the rule of law” next to them."

https://www.takimag.com/article/magarriba-arriba/

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David Cole's avatar

I really appreciate you remembering that! Means a lot to me as an author. Thank you!

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Harshkumar's avatar

Thank you for the kind reply. I was pretty proud of myself for remembering it at my age, since it was a while ago that you wrote it. I think the reason I was able to remember it is the framing was so logical, I had an aha moment, feeling you captured the essence of the situation so well.

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Alexandru Constantin's avatar

Dude you nailed it. I grew up in Long Beach and lived everywhere from San Diego to Ventura until I moved to South Carolina three years ago. Watching the nonsense I immediately called bullshit on the MAGA narrative.

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