This is the very definition of putting lipstick on a pig. It's as close to a literal example as you can come without physically putting some actual Revlon on your pet swine.
Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman wanted credit for safer streets. She wanted to bolster her public safety bona fides, if you will. So she posted an example so stunningly pathetic that it's hard to believe somebody on her team didn't pull her aside and say, 'Yeah, no.'
Raman, in a post to X, explained that her office had been alerted by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council to the need for a crosswalk at the corner of Sunset Drive and Bates Street in late 2025. So, she and her team leaped into action — roughly 8 to 10 months later.
Despite the delay, the end result was a masterpiece. The crew delivered in ways hitherto undreamt of. Their 10 months of preparation led to roughly one yellow, rectangular box painted per month.
A crosswalk was born.
"Thank you to our incredible CD4 Field Team for continuing to problem-solve, push for solutions, and make our streets safer," Raman humble-bragged.
The Los Feliz Neighborhood Council alerted our office in late 2025 to the need for a crosswalk at Sunset Dr. and Bates St., which has just been completed!
— Councilmember Nithya Raman (@cd4losangeles) August 26, 2026
Thank you to our incredible CD4 Field Team for continuing to problem-solve, push for solutions, and make our streets safer. pic.twitter.com/AmNAyPAhdR
I mean, great job on the crosswalk there, but it seems likely that a pedestrian's blood might clash with the bright yellow in the incredibly likely event that they trip over the canyon-sized alligator cracks in the pavement.
But hey, the street is safer ... or something.
Serious question, Nithya: Did you not see the cracks that an Evel Knievel in his prime, armed with a ramp and a motorcycle, would have difficulty traversing?
You know who did see the cracks? Everybody else on the planet. They could probably be viewed at a decent height using satellite imagery on Google Earth. Anyway, the internet responded as only they can.
Holy shit, my sides...Nithya Raman's big accomplishment is taking 9 months to paint 7 yellow stripes over a cracked street?
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) August 27, 2026
How dumb do you have to be to post this? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA https://t.co/DRUaUC4EwA
"I (had) to double-check to make sure this is real," Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin wrote. "Yes, the socialist candidate for LA mayor and current member of the LA city council is taking a victory lap for painting a crosswalk over a decrepit road full of cracks."
"I once painted over rust and bondo," one critic replied. "This feels very similar."
Another asked, "Is that a fault line or ... street maintenance neglect? You see what a joke this is, right?
Former LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt could hardly contain himself.
"Holy s***, my sides ... Nithya Raman's big accomplishment is taking 9 months to paint 7 yellow stripes over a cracked street?" he wrote on X. "How dumb do you have to be to post this? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
I bad to double check to make sure this is real.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 27, 2026
Yes, the socialist candidate for LA mayor and current member of the LA city council is taking a victory lap for painting a crosswalk over a decrepit road full of cracks. https://t.co/Er03wuTIbH
You don't necessarily have to be dumb. You just have to be a socialist who thinks voters are dumb. Dumb enough to be convinced that putting a Band-Aid on crumbling infrastructure is somehow good for them.
The plebeians need to know this is top-notch work, whether they can see it or not.
Raman's opponent, the equally inept Karen Bass (D), isn't much of an upgrade when it comes to fixing city streets. A photo-op of her filling a pothole back in February backfired spectacularly when a local reporter began pelting her with repeated questions about what she planned to do about the poor condition of the roads.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gets absolutely obliterated on live TV during a pothole filling photo op.
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 20, 2026
She attempts to brag about paving 60 miles of Los Angeles streets, when the reporter informs her there are 22,000 miles to pave in Los Angeles.
For those keeping track at home… pic.twitter.com/lVhXIaUL5f
More recently, Bass posted a video advertising that she was unable or incapable of fixing another pothole.
The City of Angels is being dragged down by some of the most incompetent people you'll ever see. If you ran a McDonald's and Bass and Raman came in with applications in hand, you'd send them away almost immediately. Rightly so.
Neither one has the credentials to tie their own shoes, let alone run a city the size of Los Angeles.