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DOOLITTLE DRIPPINGS — For all his faults, John Taylor Doolittle handled his bowing-out announcement with a kind of smarmy aplomb and dignity last week. When he leaves the House of Representatives at the end of 2008, he will have been our congressman for 18 years, which is a almost a record for longevity in these parts. If memory serves, Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson, a New Deal Democrat, served 22 years before he was knocked off in 1980 by then-Assemblyman Gene Chappie, who wasn’t above admitting that he rode Ronald Reagan’s coattails to victory in that election. (Trivia note: Bizz Johnson, a widower, later escorted Chappie’s former wife Paula to a number of social gatherings.) But back to JTD. I was pleased to know that he prayed the night before his announcement, which he sweetened with a New Testament citation: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.” My return quote to him also from the New Testament: “All they that take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” JTD swung a big sword, often ruthlessly, during his nearly three decades in state and federal elective politics, and it is warming to know that another sword played a role in his exit — the Sword of Damocles that still hangs over his head in the form of the ongoing FBI/U.S. Department of Justice corruption investigation into his close relationship with Jack Abramoff, the crooked lobbyist who’s now behind bars in a federal prison and ratting out former pals in the hope of getting his sentenced trimmed. It’s being bandied about that the race for the GOP nomination to replace JTD will be between T. Rico Oller, a former state assemblyman and senator, and Doug Ose, a former congressman from the Sacramento area. JTD has not yet endorsed anyone to succeed him, but the betting is that he’ll end up backing Oller, a Doolittle darling all the way. Oller, like his mentor JTD, is from the scorched earth/take no prisoners school of politics. Just ask retired baseball star Steve Sax and Kirk Uhler, once again a Placer County supervisor, about the way this guy wages war. Oller will turn 50 this July; Doug Ose, who’s viewed as a moderate Republican, will be 53 in June. Both are considered very wealthy and able to fund big chunks of their campaigns.  And neither currently resides in the 4th Congressional District (and the law says you don’t have to in order to run for a House seat). There is no love lost between them, either. Ose served three terms in the 3rd CD and voluntarily retired in 2004. His sister, Mary Ose, filed as a Republican to succeed him that year as did Oller and Dan Lungren, a former Long Beach congressman as well as an ex-state attorney general. According to a recent Human Events piece by John Gizzi, “things got rough in the primary, particularly after some hard-hitting attack ads by (Mary) Ose on Oller, which his supporters say raised his negatives enough to permit Lungren to eke out a win.” Well, whoever wins the GOP nod this June, he’ll have to face Democrat Charlie Brown in November. Brown supporters had hoped he’d be running against Doolittle; after all, JTD barely beat him in 2006. But without Doolittle and his ethics problems to shoot at, Charlie’s going to have a different kind of fight on his hands. Stay tuned.

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RICHARD “BUCK” ROBINSON, the onetime Placer High basketball stalwart who quit his job as Rep. Doolittle’s chief of staff some time ago to pursue life in academia, is said to be working as a well-paid drumbeater for Measure H, which would ratify the Rocklin City Council’s approval of a major development in Clover Valley and will be voted on February 5. According to a news release from the project’s opponents, the Yes on H boosters raised and spent in excess of $300,000 as of December 31 while the No on H folks reported raising about $70,000, mostly in checks of $100 or less. They’ve also delivered more than 1,000 yard signs to Rocklin residents opposed to Measure H. One of the most active anti-Measure H volunteers is none other than Robust Rob Haswell, who waged a spirited but losing campaign for the Assembly in 2006. Stay tuned for developments, both on Measure H and Rob Haswell’s political plans (if any).

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CITY BEAT — Plans for the long-rumored Hampton Inn and Suites on a 10-acre parcel southwest of the corner of Lincoln Way and Russell Road (just north of the Auburn Woods condos) are coming along swimmingly well. There should be more than 100 smoke-free rooms in the new hostelry to be built by the Remeson Hotel Group of San Francisco, which I believe also owns the Holiday Inn in central Auburn...There are no flies on former Auburn Police Chief Mike Morello. Rather than play a lot of golf or sit around swapping war stories with other old cops, Mike’s been a licensed private eye for a spell whose firm — Morello Investigation Services — just landed a $15,000 contract to perform in-depth background checks on all the men and woman applying for work as APD officers. Bully for Mike Morello, a great gent!...The city council has agreed with the recommendation of Valerie Harris, the current chief, that the J. Lloyd International Company of Cedar Rapids IA be allowed to use APD graphics (logos, decals, etc.) on the 1:43 scale replica miniature police vehicles it manufactures and markets. And the little car that will be wearing the Auburn decals? Why, a sleek black Dodge Charger, of course! The city won’t get anything out of the deal other than the right to buy some of the miniatures at cost....Finally, Councilman Kevin Hanley reports that Auburn-to-Sacramento railroad commuters have amassed about $5,000 with which they’ll get a plaque in honor of ace train rider Bob Conheim, who died several months ago, and dedicate it at the Nevada Street station some time in the spring. Bob Conheim was one heckuva great gent, too!

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ANCHORS AWEIGH — Catherine Morris, the veterans counselor at Sierra College, will be the guest speaker at this Monday the 21st’s dinner meeting of the Navy League’s Placer County Council in the Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall on East Street, starting at 6 p.m. She’ll talk about the challenges veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan face in returning to civilian life. Cost of the dinner is $12 and payable at the door, but reservations are required and you can phone (530) 823-2820 to make them.

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ROUNDABOUT — “War Made Easy,” a film explaining how news reports have become indistinguishable from White House/Pentagon talking points, will be shown in Auburn’s Old State Theater Saturday the 19th at 10 a.m., courtesy of Veterans for Peace’s Gold Country Chapter 122. Suggested donation is $5, but no one will be turned away...The same veterans group will convene in the Auburn Library’s Beecher Room next Wednesday the 23rd at 7 p.m. for a video presentation by filmmaker/journalist John Pilger on “Propaganda, the Press, Censorship and Resisting the American Empire.” Call (530) 878-1331 with questions...Sierra College Trustee Aaron Klein, who’ll undoubtedly seek re-election in November, will be in Grass Valley’s Peace Lutheran Church Friday the 18th at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to discuss the planned expansion project for the college’s Nevada County campus. Seems like the $47 million approved by voters in 2004 won’t cover the latest estimated cost of the project, so Klein wants public input on what priorities the available funding can cover.

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