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From Steve Lopez in the Times:
If embattled City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo has any sense at all, he'll call a press conference today and get some credit for never having slept with Salinas.
Heh heh. The column also says the affair has been good for the Valley — "it's not clear how often Villaraigosa visited Salinas at a Sherman Oaks condo and later at one in Studio City, but it's possible no other mayor has spent so much quality time in the Valley" — and talks about how Telemundo staffers wonder uncomfortably if they have said too much about the mayor around Mirthala Salinas. Lopez also takes a brutal but probably deserved swipe at Villaraigosa:
On Wednesday, I heard from a psychologist who took issue with my column suggesting that no one could love Villaraigosa as much as he loves himself."True clinical narcissism has nothing to do with self-love," said Victor Silva-Palacios, who explained narcissistic personality disorder. "Rather, it has to do with a severe lack of emotional development."
Very interesting.
"Underneath an apparent 'self-love,' one frequently discovers a fragile ego … and chronic emotional emptiness. It seems to me that Mr. Villaraigosa is trying to hide his insecurities with choices that are very destructive to himself and others."
Makes sense, but I prefer the diagnosis by an 84-year-old Latina who called and asked me to pass it along to the mayor:
"Tell him that his brains are between his legs, and there's not too much there."
Other media items today about Topic A:
- The Times finds several Latinos-on-the-street who are chagrined by, or ashamed of, the mayor. And journalist Gustavo Arellano is quoted lamenting that "He is the most high-profile Latino politician in the United States and this is what he does? Jeesh." LAT
- Telemundo's national newscast on Thursday evening aired a lengthy story about Salinas on leave. A source close to her told the Times and Daily News that Salinas "asked her bosses multiple times to be excused from reporting that Villaraigosa would be separating from his wife," but station officials told her to read the story. LAT, DN
- L.A. has its own real-life telenovela, writes William Booth in a Washington Post story headlined Sex and City Hall.
- "Horndog mayor" could be bad news for Hillary. Radar
- Times editorial takes the long view and totes up a scorecard showing that affairs often hurt Democrats more than Republicans.