You know, it is bad enough to see a crackpot racist like Villa Park Councilmember, Deborah Pauly, actually have the nerve to run for the Third District Orange County Board of Supervisors seat. She had little enough chance of winning the spot (or even a credible number of votes) as it is. Her dismal fundraising efforts so far are equaled only by her slim list of endorsements. We can only figure that endorsing Pauly on his way out of the state was Chuck Devore’s final flip of the middle finger to Todd.

A tip of the hat to the OC Weekly for showing us that, just when you don’t think you can fall any farther into the den of iniquity, well….. you can. It seems that a year ago, February 5th, Deborah and her hubby, James, were having a night out at a local restaurant where they must have inadvertently toasted Todd Spitzer. As they left the parking lot, they ran smack into a DUI checkpoint run by the Orange Police Department. According to the OCW story, James attempted to avoid the checkpoint by swerving into a driveway and crashed his Porsche on to the curb, getting stuck in the process. After he unstuck his car, he was stopped by an Orange Police Officer who asked why he collided with the curb. Pauly replied that he did not [hit the curb]. As an old DUI cop myself, I wish I was a bird on the wire listening to this conversation as the officer blithely pointed out the damage and oil leaking from the car.

From the OC Weekly:

“I smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from James’ person,” Plascencia wrote. “I saw James’ eyes were bloodshot, water, and they had a glossy appearance…I heard James slur his words heavily as he spoke.”

While Plascencia tried to administer a DUI test, another officer twice told Deborah to stay in the Porsche. James was so drunk that Plascencia repeatedly had to stop simple tests “for his safety” because James was swaying so much and nearly falling on his face. When Plascencia asked James which DUI test he’d prefer, he replied “Neither,” then yelled to Deborah–who was trying to walk to her husband despite having been told to stay near the bashed-up Porsche a third time–“he needed to submit to a blood or breath test.”

That could have been it. Deborah could have, and probably should have, shut her mouth and grabbed her phone to call a taxi. Instead, she asked if she could be allowed to drive her husband’s car home. Officer Armando Plascencia, who made the arrest, would not allow her because he also recognized the signs of inebriation in Deborah Pauly. And, in case you are wondering, OC Weekly bills this cop as the “Wilt Chamberlain of DUI arrests.” So, I think he would know an intoxicated person when he sees one.

The article goes on to say that James Pauly tried to slip off his handcuffs and he had to be further restrained by buckling him into the unit with his seatbelt (but, you would have done that for his safety anyway, right Armando?). He did finally take the blood test and was shown to have a BAC of .17. Now, remember, the legal limit is .08.

Deborah Pauly wears her conservative Christianity like the scent of Chanel No. 5. On her Twitter feed, which she recently blocked me from following, she has such interesting tidbits as,

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln

“You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.” – Abraham Lincoln, great conservative president

“Muslim Terrorists Are Pure, Unadulterated Evil.”

Oh my goodness! Look at all of @toddspitzeroc’s churlishly furious tweeting while I was busy @ my Wednesday morning Bible study.

Well, there was nothing in there about drinking and driving. And, strictly speaking, she did have a designated driver. But, someone should have told her Abe Lincoln was a teetotaler.

To be fair, the article never says what Deborah Pauly ultimately did. And, contrary to what some may think, she did not seem to use her powerful position as a councilmember of a neighboring city….uh, town…. to try to wrangle her and her husband out of the mess they found themselves in. And, she did not decide to run for the Third District until way after this incident. And, it could have been a whole lot worse had she been the one behind the wheel. That’s a whole lot of ands.

Oh yeah, Tweeting? She has three times as many followers as Todd. Of course, she probably blocked him, too.

For Todd Spitzer’s part, he has not said a word about this incident, most likely because he knows it would serve no further purpose. Gale Bates, in a recent letter to the OCR editor said, ” The most egregious argument Todd Spitzer used was sexist when he said Deborah “Pauly is unsuited for office because of her temperament.” Of course, Todd could have said many things about Pauly to demonstrate her unsuitability for any office, let alone the Third District Supervisor. But, he didn’t have to. Pauly said, and did, it all.