grape vineyards and magnificent mountain views--a hot, deserty but fruitful place--the quintessential '50s town, a "Leave It to Beaver" sort of town. Now it's all paved over, from San Bernardino to Los Angeles, and choked with smog. So sad. And there has been corruption, all along the way, I'm sure, having to do with ungodly amounts of development, to bring it to its present state.
San Bernardino County (where Fontana is located)--and also nearby Riverside County--are two of the most corrupt counties in California with regard to election officials and Diebold's evil influence. These Republican county election heads joined with the very corrupt head of Los Angeles county elections, Connie McCormack (does sales brochures for Diebold, best friend was Diebold's chief salesperson in California), in a cabal to oust our good Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley (who had sued Diebold and decertified their touchscreens, prior to the 2004 election). Dirtiest bit of business I've ever seen in California politics. These Republican Congressmen were--more than likely--never elected in the first place. That illegitimate, unelected, blowhard rightwing demagogues feel no restraints on their behavior, and feel no accountability to anyone, and steal from the people of this country, hand over fist, shouldn't surprise us, given who their leader is, and how HE was...ahem...elected.
It is one of my hopes that Fontana (home of Kaiser Steel) and San Bernardino--which used to be strong union territory and very progressive and Democratic (back in the days of Gov. Pat Brown)--will make headway in re-democratizing itself. We now have an honest CA Secretary of State again (Debra Bowen), no doubt elected by far more votes than the "official totals" show--and perhaps she can clean up San Bernardino/Riverside elections. There are a lot of good people in that region (called "the Inland Empire"--I never knew why "empire"*), who have been horribly mis-represented in Congress and in local government for some time. Like many Americans these days, they probably have no idea why. But that is changing very fast. Go, Fontana! Go, Sam Berdoo!
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*(Just found out! Maybe. Good 'ol wikipedia!
Imperial County (note: same region of CA as SB/Riverside--to the southeast) was formed in 1907 from the eastern half of San Diego County. The county took its name from Imperial Valley, itself named for the Imperial Land Company, a subsidiary of the California Development Company, which at the turn of the 20th century had reclaimed the southern portion of the Colorado desert for agriculture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_County,_CaliforniaThe name "Inland Empire" was first used in the 1950s to distinguish the region (note: SB/Riverside) from the communities of the Los Angeles area, and Los Angeles itself. Within Southern California it's known as "L.A. and OC's (note: Orange County's) New Jersey."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Empire_(California)
So, the notion of "empire," "monarchy" and "imperial" all may have come from some hubristic land shyster, who gave his real estate scam the grandiose title of the "Imperial Land Company."