At this point, anyone interested in running for elected office should be required to take a crash course in social media. For some basic—and recent—rules of thumb: Never hire a spokesman who sends out sexist tweets (county Supervisor and San Jose mayoral candidate Dave Cortese); never go on an epic Facebook rant against “the gays” while leaving no doubt of your ugly homophobia (former Congressman Ernie Konnyu); and never accuse the city you’re running to represent as mayor of assassinating your dog (Santa Clara NIMBY Deborah Bress). But what about posting pictures of cupcakes decorated in the shape of vaginas? This is surely uncharted territory, but San Jose policeman and downtown City Council candidate Raul Peralez did exactly that on his public Pinterest account. As part of a “Manly Men” board on his page dedicated to bachelor parties, Peralez pinned a photo of 35 anatomically iced cupcakes with the caption: “EATING OUT nEVER TASTED sO GOOD.” He also posted a photo of a cake in the shape of a voluptuously thonged derrière. This appears to be some harmless good fun, but it’s the kind of thing that probably wouldn’t play so well if he’s elected into office. There are different rules for elected officials—look no further than the group of Latino legislators, including Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville), who posed for a photo while getting bombed after hours at the state Capitol. It was idiotic enough for Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) to send the pic out on Twitter—it’s since been deleted—but later that night San Diego Assemblyman Ben Hueso got busted for DUI. Peralez is probably smart enough to avoid most of the aforementioned mistakes, but word to the wise: ditch all cameras/social media when the bachelor party comes to pass.
The Fly
Social Media 101 for Politicians
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Not everyone in politics understands how to use social media. (Poto by Alex Proimos, via Flickr)
The vagina cupcakes compliment the chocolate dildo that’s also posted on his site: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/197806608607551406/
Social media is a Democrat playpen.
There is ultimately NOTHING that Democrat politicians can do on social media that will hurt them.
Conversely, Republicans are complete nitwits about social media.
No Republican will gain a single vote by using social media.
That’s why the polls are crap.
The pollsters don’t know how to allow for social media.
Whatever poll who see, add 5 points for the Democrat, substract 5 points for the Republican.
There’s a side you don’t write about here SJI. The years of harassment, the cyberbulling. You contribute to it, you extend the problem. The scope of scum and villainy you associate with knows no depths nor bounds. It’s mean. It’s bad spirited. Some of the folks you’ve “inspired” have gone onto deeds so unsavory, so despicable that it can only be described as;
Snidely Whiplash.
In fact, one of your most inspired has “Likes Bondage” on his facebook profile. Here he is practicing his art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhC_JJwlep0
Isn’t SJI part of the outfit that collects income from the human trafficking “backpage”?
Who had to explain to “The Fly” that the cupcakes were decorated to look like a random assortment of vajayjays? ….and that the photos caption wasn’t refering to his usual spread?
Um….not trying to start something, but I’ve heard from some pretty reliable folks, including a high ranking County politician that Peralez is gay. And this was not said in an ironic, gossipy, he’s in the closet sort of way. It was said as a matter of fact. He’s engaged to a woman?
Apparently his girlfriend’s name is Victoria.
By the way, the politician who told me this is a Peralez supporter.
Who gives a rat’s ass if he is gay or straight? That has nothing to do with anything, aside from sounding homophobic. I heard from a supporter Peralez might also have a Hispanic last name. I heard that from a high ranking county politician.
To me, it matters if you’re gay and present yourself as straight. That’s dishonesty….which, though hard to avoid, I don’t particularly look for in my elected representative. And, you know what? Assuming that identifying someone is gay is a slur is what’s really homophobic.
Howie,
His sexuality, or the sexuality of anybody else, is absolutely none of your GD business. Who the hell are you to judge? Mr. Peralez has publicly never presented himself as gay or straight, and it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference which he is, no matter what Howie and his little pea-brain think. Get a life, Howie.
I agree that his sexuality doesn’t matter in and of itself. Any judging I might have engaged in would only be in relation to a candidate’s veracity, not sexuality. And, by the way, if Peralez is presenting that he has a female fiance, I’d say that he’s presenting as straight. And, Observation, you’re the one calling people names and judging here. Bless your heart. Hypocritical much?
Yes, Howie, I am judging you. I think you are an ignorant and unenlightened fool, just like any other bigot.
How exactly am I bigoted?
> Who gives a rat’s ass if he is gay or straight?
Well, the witch doctors and shamans of the Democrat political tribe give a rat’s ass.
Gays are now one of the celebrity tribes of the Democrat tribal coalition. They’re now right up their with the black tribe, the Hispanic tribe, and the woman tribe.
SJOUTSIDETHEBUBBLE: as long as the GOP can convince voters to think like you, whether it’s because of bigotry, religion, or any other factor haters like you come up with – we are all screwed.
Um… obviously you are trying to start something otherwise you would have no reason post this nonsense.
While you are at “not trying to start something” why not try and start something like naming the source who provided you with this information?
I’m not naming any names, Mr. Weed, but I admit to exercising poor judgement in posing the question in this forum. Believe it or not, I really did think what I’d heard about Raul Peralez was widely known since it came from many respectable members of the community. I was pretty happy that we were going to have a gay councilperson for D3 regardless of who wins. I’ve met both candidates and like both candidates; although Mr. Peralez’ interest in the tacky and misogynist “Manly Men” Pinterest Board does tarnish him. For any part I had in spreading any possible misinformation, I apologize to Mr. Peralez, his fiance, Victoria, and the community.
> I was pretty happy that we were going to have a gay councilperson for D3 regardless of who wins.
Why?
Why does this make you happy?
And would those fellow D3 citizens who fail to experience a similar jolt of happiness be bad people?
The main reason it would make me happy at this moment is that it would piss you off. Not that you need to be any more pissed off. Tell me, what WOULD make you experience a jolt of happiness, sad person?
Really, a cupcake is worthy of a “news” article? And there is sordid dirt you could find on any candidates…why single out these candidates? Seems worthy of a Mercury article.
Dear Fly,
Here is something of more importance than a cupcake with frosting like a vagina. Here is a memo from over a year ago, written by Sam Liccardo, noting the “plan” he and Reed came up with to add “200 police officers over the next 4 years, to 1,250 officers.” Well here it is over a year later, and the police department staffing is DOWN 100 officers more than it was a year ago. A year ago, there were over 1,000 officers, and this number is now down to 885 officers. There are also 186 officers that could retire in the next 20 months, which Sam apparently forgot to factor into his plan. That does not take into account the “tier 2” officers, as well as veteran officers, that are leaving the SJPD in droves. Not good…..
http://sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/20722
Cut him a break; Raul doesn’t understand that anything he posts publicly on the internet is posted publicly on the internet.
OMG, it’s cupcakegate and thank god you’ve got your finger in the frosting of the nation! One of your top stories is the same top story on almost every news outlet across the board–celebrities nude photos hacked. However, the headlines are misleading, there hasn’t been any mention of any male celebrities being hacked, only females, and it’s because female sex sells. Whether it’s to objectify women under the guise of beauty, sex symbolism or making the female form dirty, female sexualization sells–and it’s titillating.
Women have a right to feel safe, whether it’s on their computer, in their neighborhood or at home. It would have been nice in the article about citizen’s opposition to the SJPD drone if you had mentioned that many of the speakers who went to the August 21 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee meeting to oppose it were women and that one of the concerns raised was the privacy of Muslim women working in their garden without their hijab, being surveilled by the drone. This would have been a much better “women’s issue” for you to cover if you were interested in covering women’s issues.
I live downtown and am confronted daily with the disastrous impact of Measure B. Whether it’s the women fighting and threatening to kill each other last Sunday at 4am (when 911 said no patrol cars were available), or the robbery/stabbing Monday across from city hall, or the murders that repeatedly occur in my once relatively safe neighborhood. According to SJPD’s own figures, for the first six months of this year, there have been 22 more rapes (145) in San Jose than last year (123). Like everyone else, I would like to feel secure in my neighborhood again and I believe Peralez has the ability, with Cortese, to ensure that.*
But back to the cupcakes… at a time when women’s reproductive rights are under attack, when women are still not paid the same as men, when colleges across the country still aren’t treating rape as a serious issue, when there are still only three women in the entire (active) U.S. military who hold a four star rank, when celebrities still defend pro-rape remarks, when mayoral candidates have relatives who profited from the exploitation of women… perhaps it is because women are still treated as cupcakes. They should look good at all times, be sweet, maybe a little savory and never ever go stale.
Sure, the picture was an error in judgment, but it doesn’t reflect how I’ve ever been treated by Peralez or his campaign staff (of which I am not) or how I’ve ever heard of anyone being treated by them. I’m supporting him because I genuinely feel he’ll make my neighborhood safer, he’ll bring much needed unity to the council and he has the kind of public service background that gives him a good foundation to base council decisions on. I think these are the same reasons many other women support him. And yeah, it doesn’t hurt that he might know his way around a luscious, moist cupcake.
* http://www.sjpd.org/crimestats/crimestats.html
No shortage of drones around here.
> at a time when women’s reproductive rights are under attack, when women are still not paid the same as men, when colleges across the country still aren’t treating rape as a serious issue, when there are still only three women in the entire (active) U.S. military who hold a four star rank, when celebrities still defend pro-rape remarks, when mayoral candidates have relatives who profited from the exploitation of women… perhaps it is because women are still treated as cupcakes. They should look good at all times, be sweet, maybe a little savory and never ever go stale.
If you’re a grown up, you’re not required to believe any of this.
And if you DO believe any of it, you’re not required to accept it as important or relevant to anything.
It’s just progressive blah, blah, blah.
Think of it as just behavioral conditioning. It’s like ringing a dinner bell and feeding a dog.
When you hear things like “war on women”, you’re supposed to run to your voting booth and press the “D” button. And then you sit up on your haunches and wait for a treat.
since the rise of the tea party, we can see that bigotry has become fashionable once more.
Dear Rossty:
> SJOUTSIDETHEBUBBLE: as long as the GOP can convince voters to think like you, whether it’s because of bigotry, religion, or any other factor haters like you come up with – we are all screwed.
Did you get a waiver from the SJI comments policy?:
> •We will not post racist, sexist or sexually explicit comments, obvious commercial promotion, off-topic comments or comments that constitute a slur against a person or group.
>•We will not publish comments that deride a person or group of people for their physical characteristics, and we will not post comments from “cyberbullies.”
Calling someone a “hater” I think we can all agree constitutes “a slur against a person or a group”.
Also, I think your personally targeted invective would qualify you as a “cyberbully”.
Sensitive much? Not enough frosting on your cupcake?
It’s clear that the SJI doesn’t want to talk about problems in Downtown, rather they wanna try to drag everyone down into their filth. Not only is this article nonsense – the fact that SJI was willing to have this printed in the Metro (that used a stolen image on their cover) shows they have zero journalistic integrity.
I found this video very helpful
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1v5wNYuJKs&w=420&h=315%5D
Immature pictures of desserts is not newsworthy. SJI will find any excuse to try to attack any good liberal candidate. If anything this makes Peralez look better … if you are desperately looking through his pinterest boards and can’t find something bad about him then he must be pretty clean. I live downtown and care more about my car getting broken into twice last month and that our homeless population is not getting services they need.
> Tell me, what WOULD make you experience a jolt of happiness, sad person?
Well, Howie! How nice of you to ask!
For starters, here are some things on my happiness list:
1. Cutting taxes.
2. Reducing government spending,
3. Closing down the stupid High Speed Rail swindle.
4. Border security.
5. Rule of law.
6. A mammoth aqueduct to bring water from the Pacific Northwest and Canada to the California central valley.
7. Increase energy exploration and production in California.
8. Government protection for the furbish lousewort.
9. World peace.
I was appalled by Raul Peralez’s expression of Hustler Magazine-type humor.
“Eating out?” Really. Who talks like that?
It might be understandable if he were running for VP of a fraternity house. But no, he’s running to represent our neighborhood.
So who is Raul Peralez? I had never given him much thought. I thought Don Gagliardi was a shoe-in after working on neighborhood issues tirelessly for decades. Gagliardi is dedicated, open-minded, and he’s in nobody’s back pocket. I’ve met very few people as well suited for local govenment as Don Gagliardi.
So I did a little research on Peralez. I wanted to find out, was this cupcake/cunnilingus thing just a slip? Or is it an indication that he’s frightfully unfit for the job?
I’m afraid he appears to be the later.
He reminds me of Nora Campos– who went to college to study fashion design but a got a job in government because she was photogenic and backed by big labor. Her brother, too, a dim bulb, was just a smiling face backed by labor. (A good thing he’s now out of the picture.)
Gagliardi is backed by lobbying groups, but they didn’t create him out of thin air. He’s been in the trenches for a long time.
Peralez, on the other hand, is simply someone that the labor pac found to run against Gagliardi. Someone with a nice smile but virtually no track record of community involvement.
I suppose you could point to the fact he was on the Human Relations Commission—but in view of his frat boy sensibilities, it’s hard for me think of him serving alongside Jim McEntee.
Yes, I’m bothered by his crude, sexist sense of humor, but more than that, I’m bothered by what it reveals—a lack of substance. It show he’s not a serious candidate, just a well financed one who I’m afraid might win.
He’s little more than someone who’s been packaged and marketed for the purpose of securing a vote against pension reform. That’s it.
I think we can be good Democrats –for those of us who are proud to be of the yellow dog variety–and still say no to the Democrat/Labor coalition that recruits these vacuous, scripted stand-ins that vote to tear down buildings and erect new ones, not for the benefit of the community, but for the benefit of the building trades. Yes, we can be good Democrats by voting for smart, dedicated, hardworking community organizers, and say no to candidates selected by special interest groups.
It used to be in San Jose that landlords, real estate developers and the Chamber of Commerce called the shots. That’s not the way it is now. The special interest group that dominates our politics is the political arm of local organized labor.
Left wing, or right wing, special interest groups with too much clout disregard the needs of the community.
We deserve to have someone of Gagliardi’s caliber.
Shame on me for sitting back and thinking the obvious choice is going to win this one.
Time for me to write a check, put out a lawn sign, maybe even walk a precinct.
I don’t want to. But if the cupcake cunnilingus candidate is elected, I’d have to share in the blame.
Robert Wright
N. 15th St.
> I suppose you could point to the fact he was on the Human Relations Commission—but in view of his frat boy sensibilities, it’s hard for me think of him serving alongside Jim McEntee.
Judging from his preferences in cupcake décor, maybe he just thought it had something to do with sexual relations.