Ain’t free speech a bitch? Add in the anonymity of the internet and the cheesy goodness of AI, and you’ve got the makings of some very picante, accountability-free satire and parody where you can poke fun, humiliate, distort—whatever—and get away with it. Gotcha!
Of course, sometimes parody and satire are spot-on.
I speak, of course, about the perennial political rancor of Grover Beach, that small, South County beach town where everyone lives happily never after. As the election approaches, anonymous content creators have turned to the internet to create websites designed to skewer Measure F-26,which would limit building heights, and the measure’s vocal supporter Kelvin Coveduck (sandcastlegazette.com); attack both F-26 and Measure A-26, which makes the clerk-recorder position an elected rather than appointed one (stopthestupid.net); lambast mayoral candidate and current Planning Commission Vice Chair David Swift (isswiftready.com); and pillory 1st District City Council candidate Allen Thompson, who’s running against incumbent Jules Tuggle (thompsonstaxes.com).
That last site’s my favorite because it’s got a blingy AI image of a smirking Thompson at a podium wearing a green polo shirt with a dollar $ign insignia and gold and diamond rings on every finger—thumbs included—as well as a garish gold watch and bracelet with a Kleenex box behind him filled with dollar bills. Fun!
Just to make sure it’s clear, in the bottom righthand corner of the image, it says “SATIRE.”
Grover Beach, you may recall, sued Thompson for back taxes and interest for failing to pay bed taxes on his short-term rental. He skipped out on what was first estimated to be about $16K in taxes, but things compounded over time, and after going back and forth with the city, he eventually agreed to pay $39,043.75.
“He refused to pay. He refused an audit. He ended up writing a check for more than double the city’s first estimate. And now he wants your vote for District 2?” the website intones.
My second favorite site is the Sandcastle Gazette because it’s got a political cartoon depicting Coveduck as a pants-less, polo-shirt-wearing duck with a red, white, and blue sash that reads, “Coveduck for District 1.” He’s raising a plastic toy shovel and standing atop a sandcastle with “Height Limit Measure” written on the side and a little flag that reads “Local Control.” Behind him looms a wave about to wipe him out.
“Some walls hold back the tide. This one holds back the budget,” it says under the cartoon.
But wait! There’s more! Four people are cheering Coveduck on, while off to the side people in work clothes—a serviceman, a store clerk, and two nurses—hold a sign that says, “Where do we live?” In the upper corner, a lawyer with a briefcase marked “Lawsuit fees” grins as money flows out of a wallet and into his case. There’re also a potholed road and sign that reads, “State Road Grant: Forfeited.”
So much detail! The webpage also says, “Kelvin Coveduck says his height limit measure will protect Grover Beach. The state already warned it conflicts with California housing law and can’t be legally implemented.”
Coveduck, a member of Save Grover Beach, believes passing F-26 will send “a strong message to the Grover Beach City Council.” What? To break state law?
“The cartoon parodies are misleading to the public and not based on truth,” he said. “The Grover Beach scenic views of the Pacific Ocean and sand dunes will be lost forever if voters do not pass the No More Tall Buildings initiative.”
Not exactly a rebuttal of the state law conflict, eh?
The remaining two websites, Is Swift Ready? and Stop the Stupid, have too many words and not enough cartoony satire, but that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
Speaking of opinions, 4/5ths of the SLO County Board of Supervisors think the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) proposed changes to the Head Start program—in particular the plan to provide English-only instruction—will do a disservice to the young children the program was designed to help.
“We are particularly concerned about proposed changes affecting dual-language learners,” 4th District Supe Jimmy Paulding wrote to HHS on behalf of the board, “Supporting children’s development in English is important, but we believe children should also be able to maintain meaningful connections to their home language and culture.”
Oh snap! Y’all know Trumplethinskin isn’t going to cotton to that DEI sensitivity. John Peschong decided the very respectful, downright milquetoast letter contained negative statements about the tRump administration, but Paulding refused to revise it.
“I don’t want to add into kind of the negativity of this letter and wanted to see if the author of the letter of this board would strike the two sections to talk about that,” Peschong said. “So we’re not poking a finger in the administration’s eye.”
Yeah, we wouldn’t want to add to the negativity. Just ask “Crooked Hillary,” “Sleepy Joe,” or “Pocahontas” (aka Elizabeth Warren) about this administration’s commitment to positivity, eh? But what do I know? Journalists are “the enemy of the people” peddling “fake news.”
You know what’s not fake news? Convicted vandal and serial neighbor harasser David Allen Leader is heading to county jail for 30 days after admitting he violated his probation terms. Dude, you’re 71. Grow up. ∆
The Shredder doesn’t need three hots and a cot. Give it a squirt of machine oil at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 15-22, 2026.
