Some twisted impulse seems to have overtaken local advocates of various causes.

People who want to limit commercial development and reduce traffic call their group “Residents’ Initiative to Fight Traffic,” or RIFT, an odd moniker for a group that wants nothing so much as to unite residents to oppose City Hall and the special interests.

RIFT has endorsed challengers Susan Hartley and Ted Winterer and incumbent Bobby Shriver, who’s seeking a second term, for the City Council.

Then there’s “Save Our City,” or SOC, which purports to be a “broad coalition” of community leaders” but is, in fact, just a funnel for the $400.000, and rising, that developers are throwing at RIFT in an effort to defeat it.

In this instance, the acronym. SOC, is more accurate than the name, because “Save Our City,” clearly wants to save our city from residents so that City Hall and its developer pals can go on slicing and dicing our townscape for their fun and profit.

But the acronym booby prize goes to “Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution,” or CRAAP.

It’s a very worthy cause, and, its members – from Mar Vista as well as Santa Monica – are serious people, but does anyone really want to hear from someone who says, “Hi, I’m from CRAAP,” or, “Hi. I”ve been endorsed by CRAAP?”

As it happens, City Council candidates Hartley, Linda Piera-Avila,
Jerry Rubin and Winterer have been endorsed by Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution.