OK, so you've probably seen this by now. Or perhaps, you've seen this. Wherever you saw Matt Cunningham's post about the cancelled Nancy Pelosi fundraiser in Orange County, don't believe it.
Yes, the fundraiser was cancelled. But no, Loretta Sanchez didn't "put the kibosh" on a chance to raise money for the Democratic Party of Orange County. No, Loretta Sanchez isn't against a stronger, better-funded DPOC. No, the Democratic Party is not weak and incompetent.
Follow me after the flip to get to the truth of this matter...
My member of Congress, Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), did something pretty amazing yesterday. She voted against four additional months of funding for Bush's failed war in Iraq. She actually stood up and voted against keeping our brave troops in the middle of someone else's civil war for any longer. Loretta did the right thing, and as a constituent I am proud.
"The right to vote is fully protected under the XV Amendment of the US constitution. Anybody that uses any intimidation tactics should be prosecuted with the full power of the law. When Mr. Nguyen or anybody else uses the printing materials such as letterhead of an anti-immigrant organization it shows intent to intimidate. How more clear can it be? I feel disappointed that it was LULAC that had to call the State Attorney General's office to find out the results of the investigations rather than the AG call us. When I spoke with Mr. Schons he said that the case was closed back in February, they really dropped the ball. We are going to ask the US Attorney General to fully investigate this issue."
The California Attorney General's office announced today that Tan Nguyen will not face charges in the fraudulent letter he sent out to disenfranchise Latino voters. Former Attorney General Bill Lockyer quickly moved into action to ensure Nguyen was held accountable. Unfortunately he did not have enough time in his term left. Democrat(although I am hesitant to call him that at this point) Jerry Brown took over as Attorney General. His spokesman Gary Schons is quoted as saying
"We had to prove that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. We found no evidence that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. In fact, the first line of the letter said, 'If you're a lawfully registered voter, we encourage you to vote.' A lot of people missed that."
No kidding a lot of people missed it Mr. Schons, it was meant to be missed. Even Republicans were calling for his head.
So is there something that Jerry Brown missed here? Follow me after the flip for more...
Remember Tan Nguyen? Yes, that Tan Nguyen! Well, he's now legally free and clear... Or at least, he is on the state end. Here's what the AP has just learned (via OC Register):
The state Attorney General's Office said today that it will not file criminal charges against a former congressional candidate whose campaign mailed letters warning immigrants against voting.
Tan Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, was trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez last year when his campaign sent out 14,000 letters to Hispanic immigrants claiming they could be deported or jailed for voting. The controversy erupted just three weeks before the Nov. 2 election. [...]
But they could find no criminal intent, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Schons told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"We had to prove that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. We found no evidence that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. In fact, the first line of the letter said, 'If you're a lawfully registered voter, we encourage you to vote.' A lot of people missed that," Schons said.
It's a classic "I'm just..." defense. In this case, Loretta claims she's "just" ensuring the completion of the 241 tollroad will comply with state law -- pointing to the nominal purpose of the amendment while refusing to admit to its real purpose. But that's a red herring.
The intent of the Davis amendment is obvious. Davis carried this amendment at the behest of the Surfrider Foundation. Surfrider doesn't want to ensure the 241 completion complies with state law -- they want to ensure it is never completed. Period. That's the purpose of the Davis amendment, and Sanchez is lying if she claims not to know that.
(Btw, kudos to The Liberal OC for getting my attention on this matter yesterday. : ) - promoted by atdleft)
This just in from Brian Joseph of The OC Register, blogging at Total Buzz:
Orange County Sens. Lou Correa and Tom Harman ignited fireworks in Senate chambers this morning when they objected to the introduction of a delegation from the Vietnamese government.
The senators said it was inappropriate to welcome representatives of an oppressive regime that had caused so much pain for Vietnamese residents of Orange County. Ceremonial introductions like that are infrequently challenged.
"I don't believe this is necessary," Correa said.
So why were Vietnamese government officials allowed into our state capitol? Why would officals from an extremely oppressive regime be allowed into OUR HALLS of government? And why would anyone want to respect a regime that has absolutely no respect for its own people?
Follow me after the flip for more on what the heck happened at the Capitol yesterday...
``The women were incredibly brave,'' Sanchez said. ``They were pushing and shoving the women.''
So what is Loretta Sanchez talking about? Well, the Vietnamese government won't let dissidents meet her. So why is the Vietnamese government afraid of my fabulous Congresswoman? Here's what I just saw from AP via The Guardian (UK):
Vietnamese police blocked dissidents' wives from attending a tea at the U.S. ambassador's house, creating a scene that he feared ``was at risk of spiraling out of control,'' the diplomat said Friday.
U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine had also invited Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who said police had ``manhandled'' the women.
Sanchez, D-Calif., who has criticized Vietnam's communist government, said 15 police officers surrounded two women when they arrived at U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine's home on Thursday evening.
So what's happening with the dissdients, and how did my Congresswoman get involved? Follow me after the flip for more...
Here's some BIG NEWS from our good friends at The Liberal OC:
Alicia Berhow has worked for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for the past five years, and her last day will be April 19th.
Berhow will be starting a new position with the Orange County Business Council as the Director of Workforce Development. The Liberal OC congratulates her on her new position and wishes her a lot of luck.
And I'll add the same for Calitics! Alicia has done a terrific job in community outreach for Loretta Sanchez, and I'm sure that Loretta's office won't be quite the same without her. Congratulations, Alicia, on the new job. I'm sure you'll be as much of an asset for the OC Business Council as you have been for Rep. Sanchez! : )
UPDATE:by Brian...As long as there is some space here, let's talk about tonight's activities. There are going to be lots of Iraq War vigils all over the country. Four in California are listed in the event section, but there will be a lot more. Moveon.org has an archive (by Zip) here.Check it out if you are so inclined...
For more pics from Saturday's event, as well as a little verbal explanation, follow me after the flip...
Well, my mother always told me when you can't say anything nice, you know. Anyway, it appears that Joe Baca has survived an attempted coup at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Rep. Joe Baca came out on top of a recent flap over his chairmanship of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, earning a vote of confidence from the group at a special meeting Tuesday.
A splinter group of the all-Democratic caucus challenged his chairmanship and questioned his leadership and decorum, particularly when it comes to women. (S.B. Sun 3/7/07)
You know, as atdleft pointed out, perhaps the OC Weekly article was unduly hard on Loretta Sanchez. I mean after all, there are several California Congress members that are closer to the Republicans than her. How do I know? I went to Progressive Punch (House Scores) In fact, one of those with a less progressive than Loretta is Joe Baca. (Baca also scores lower on the National Journal rankings)
Did you know that Joe Baca supports drilling in ANWR? I didn't, but then I looked up his progressive punch score, and I saw that Mr. Baca has a very low environmental score (63). I drilled down and found out that he votes with the gas guzzlers every time ANWR comes up for a vote. Loretta Sanchez? She has voted consistently against drilling in ANWR. Good work, Loretta. And Loretta has managed to out-progressive Baca despite the fact that Baca's district (CA-43) has a Cook Score of D+13 compared to CA-47's score of D+5.
On the question of why there isn't a strong push to primary Baca? Well, he reaches out to the grassroots.
Gil Navarro, a Democratic activist in the Inland Empire, said local Latinos remain strongly behind Baca. What other congressmen, Navarro asked, would regularly attend a meeting of Rialto Democrats, as Baca still does?
To some extent, Rep. Sanchez invites this kind of reporting about herself. As you can see from her christmas card (→), she doesn't shy away from innuendo and tawdriness. I mean, really, "pet the cat"? This would be a great card from your hairdresser or maybe even an OC realtor queen.
But on the other hand, the media, and her opponents, are way too eager to tackle the story of her "feistiness" or whatever you want to call this. Of her sister, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez says that her critics are just jealous...or something like that.
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Lakewood) said critics fixate on her sister's personality because they "can't pick apart the substance of who she is as a person or her work…. Everyone complains about how boring members of Congress are, but as soon as someone exhibits a personality, puts their own stamp on something, everyone comes out with a dagger."
Look, Loretta Sanchez, like it or not, is who she is. I don't think we should expect our Representatives to be any exalted holy person. And she certainly isn't, but hey, she's way more sane than those people from The OC. Hey, you don't see her doing any cage fighting, do you? She has a personality, so what? Andrew Jackson got married to an already married woman, George W. Bush is a serial liar, and Barack Obama smoke(d), what's the big news here?
No, the OC Weekly got it right here. What we should be concerned about with Loretta isn't that she is a whore, a babe, or whatever, it's that she is a closet Republican. Well, they joke, but how about her membership in the "blue dog" caucus and Ellen Taucscher's New Democrat Coalition.
If you want to talk about Loretta, talk about her votes. Because she has certainly made some mistakes there. In 2006, she had a liberal score of 74.3, not exactly a shining progressive, but it still beats Joe Baca's 69.3. So, enough of this already. Her personality is what it is, and until she attempts to strangle somebody, molest a teenager, or anything else illegal, all the rest of the stuff is peripheral to what she really is, a Congresswoman.
UPDATE: Darth Schroeder has officially filed a lawsuit in Superior Court. Go ahead and see the lawsuit for yourself. I guess we'll see what the courts have to say about this never-ending special election.
OK, so I'm feeling tired today...
And I still have so many things to do...
So here's a new weekend tradition that I'm starting here...
Yes, I'm starting it just for you!
- "Youthful Spring: 25 Glorious Years!" This weekend, Little Saigon will be going all out for this year's Tet, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year. But why? Well, this one is extra special because this will be their 25th annual festival in Orange County! Get ready for a one million firecracker display, a traditional lion dance, a fantastic beauty pageant, and more. Oh my, this certainly looks to be fun!
So who are we to blame for yesterday's loss? Whose fault is it that we have lost our one and only Board of Supervisors seat in Orange County? Some are blaming State Senator Lou Correa. Some may want to blame Santa Ana DINO Mayor Miguel Pulido. I was about ready to blame Garden Grove Councilmember Mark Rosen as the Democratic spoiler...
But you know who is really to blame? WE ARE!
Want to know why... AND find out how we can get our groove back in The Land of the OC? Then follow me after the flip for more...
OK, so I'm feeling tired today...
And I still have so many things to do...
So here's a new weekend tradition that I'm starting here...
Yes, I'm starting it just for you!
SURREAL OC WEEKEND!
So here are some wild and wonderful Orange County stories that you may have missed while you were, I dunno, watching San Francisco turn upside down over that whole thing with Newsom or watched sockpuppetry in action:
- Rudy's in town! Yes, you heard me right: Former NYC Mayor (aka "America's Mayor") Rudolph Giuliani came to Orange County to bring us some "Big Apple excitement"...
And to ask for money for his Presidential Exploratory committee. Now, I just have one question for the "Republican(??)": Where are the mistresses?
- Is Trung Nguyen just "fakin' his way to the top"? Remember when we found out that Supervisorial candidate Trung Nguyen photoshopped his apprearance with Ahhnuld...
Well, watch out for his next move!
- Is Silva just losing it? This week, newly elected Assemblymember Jim Silva (R-Huntington Beach) wanted to share with everyone how his first day in the Capitol went...
But when I read his "report" on his first day in Sacramento, I started to worry about him:
From what I am told, my days are fairly typical for a legislator. I wake up with the sunrise and head on over to the State Capitol. I spend most of my early mornings voraciously reading many of the state's newspapers and returning telephone calls that came in overnight.
I'm also meeting new legislators every day. This too, is an odd phenomenon. It's like grade school where the boys sit on one side of the room and the girls on the other; except in this instance, it's Republicans on one side and Democrats on the other.
When I have a free moment, I wander the hallways, poking my head into the offices, saying "Hello" and trying to meet all the new folks. Staff members are confused; they ask, "What do you want?", "How can we help you?" I want to learn their names and try to introduce myself, but they all seem to already know me.
Many in Sacramento also ask, "Are you really that conservative?" My answer is always the same, "Orange County!" Growing up in Orange County has made me who I am.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, all that Orange County sunshine can work for you, too!
And now, for the grand finale... Follow me after the flip for it! ; )
