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Subject: Politics
DeYoung and De Restless
Today we spoke with Cassie DeYoung, candidate for Orange County Supervisor. She has an uphill battle against Pat Bates, a former Assemblywoman and cog in the Republican Party machine. Bates has the support of Congressmen Ken Calvert and Gary Miller, the OC GOP, the Transportation Corridor Agencies, Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and pretty much everyone else who makes me nauseous. DeYoung on the other hand has earned her party's enmity for courting Democrats and detailing certain aspects of the lo
October 25, 2006What Could Go Wrong
Here in Orange County we've got every reason to fear voter fraud. There's that time back in 1988 when Tom Fuentes, then head of the OC Republican Party, authorized the use of poll guards to scare off Latinos. There's the 1996 election when Loretta Sanchez won from nut-bar Bob Dornan (now with extra nuts!), in which Dornan demanded (and Tom Fuentes encouraged) a fruitless, frivolous investigation into whether unregistered Latino voters had tipped the scales. The words "sore loser" spring to mind.
November 4, 2006Dumping Ackerman
There's tension inside the world's smallest big tent. Following the lead of their fellow Republicans in the Assembly-- who bounced alleged Schwarzenegger-appeaser George Plescia out of his position as leader of the Assembly's GOP, and replaced him with the allegedly unbending Mike Villines-- the rightwing of the rightwing in Senate has its knives out for that chamber's top Republican leader, Tustin's Dick Ackerman. John Howard reports in the Capitol Weekly, A closed-door retreat in Newport Beach
December 1, 2006Ackerman Wins
At the end of last week, it appeared that OC's Dick Ackerman was about to lose his position as Minority Leader in the State Senate. He stood accused by many of his fellow Republicans of being too ready to cut deals with Governor Schwarzenegger and too pro-infrastructure bonds. Sure, voters had already approved the bonds and seem to overwhelming approve of the latest version of Schwarzenegger (the deal-making, semi-Democrat model), but Senate Republicans didn't appear to care. After all, the C
December 5, 2006The Broken Bone and the Big Bucks
No doubt Governor Schwarzenegger was really looking forward to all this week's inaugural celebrations. Then came the accident on the ski slopes of Idaho. So out went his participation in the public celebration. Kevin Yamamura of the Sacramento Bee reports: Sidelined with a broken leg requiring more rest than previously thought, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backed out Wednesday from his only scheduled public inaugural appearance despite earlier assurances he would attend all events to kick off
January 4, 2007MLK Day and the Bush administration
One of the things that fuels the belief of some people in some sort of government conspiracy in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the fact that Army Intelligence (along with the usual suspects, the FBI, etc.) was monitoring Dr. King. And now, just in time this year's MLK day comes news that the Bush administration is taking legally dubious steps to make it easier for the Army to spy on American citizens. The New York Times reports: Deep into an updated Army manual, the deleti
January 15, 2007Sixteen Hours With Vietnam’s President
Dozens of media outlets filed reports this weekend about the historic Orange County visit of Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet, but only one American reporter gained exclusive access. Read R. Scott Moxley’s story in Thursday’s edition of the OC Weekly.
June 25, 2007Agran's Irvine Machine Gets Challenger
A majority of Irvine voters are Republicans and yet for years Larry Agran's progressive political machine has controlled the mayor's office. It's a reality Republican city councilwoman Christina Shea hopes to shatter next year. This morning Shea announced that she will run for the job herself. Shea will face Agran's Sukhee Kang and whatever shell Republican campaign Agran also secretly sponsors to the divide GOP voters. Over the years, Shea has been the bee in Agran's bonnet, especially on et
September 13, 2007Rohrabacher makes the Code Pink "Hall of Shame"
On Sept. 17, the anti-war ladies from Code Pink visited the D.C. office of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Skipped Vietnam Combat Duty) to present him with a certificate inducting the congressman into their "Hall of Shame." The back of the pink piece of paper detailed an exit strategy for the war for politicians like Rohrabacher, who the activists believe could use some direction. From the Code Pink website: Congressman Rohrabacher has earned induction into the Hall of Shame for: His blind support o
September 26, 2007Rohrabacher: Why aren't we causing a revolution in China?
Last night in a C-SPAN televised speech, Dana Rohrabacher called Chinese government officials “gangsters,” slammed both Bush presidential administrations for failing to challenge China’s human rights abuses and complained that the U.S. Government isn’t working to spur a democratic revolution in that nation on the eve of the next Olympic games. Oh, and the OC-Long Beach Republican congressman also told us that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t have been a coward to stand up to the Chinese Commun
October 2, 2007CA GOP Sure Knows How to Pick OCers
The Republican Party of Orange County's Weekly Squeeze e-letter (guys: drop the cutesy orange metaphor, por favor) tells me today that longtime local GOP activist Kathy Tavoularis is now Executive Director of the California Delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention. "A well organized delegation is extremely important for our candidates and delegates, and Kathy is uniquely qualified to take on this role," California GOP chairman Ron Nehring tells the Squeeze. Not only that, but Tavoul
December 12, 2007241 Toll Road Delayed Indefinitely
The 241 Foothill-South Toll Road extension that would have run through San Onofre State Park endangering wild life and costing tax payers $10 million, has been delayed indefinitely, according to Congressman Ken Calvert. In the Congressman's words, "thanks to Reps. Susan Davis and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), a toll road project that has been years in the making has been set back indefinitely." Read Calvert's press release in its entirety here. Congress still has to approve the bill and President
December 17, 2007Register, Times Slam Santa Ana Good--And a Challenge
If there's one thing that Orange County Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut hates more than Sheriff Mike Carona, it's city-controlled urban planning, and he ripped SanTana officials a new one and then some yesterday in a piece blasting the city's much-ballyhooed Renaissance Specific Plan. Proponents say the Renaissance Plan will transform the city's downtown; opponents say the same, except use the word "gentrification." Greenhut, in one of his increasing moves to the Left, sides with the o
December 24, 2007Time to Give Santa Ana's Mayor a Nickname!
Today, bad-ass Los Angeles Times reporter Jennifer Delson writes about the idiotic Measure D, the SanTana ballot measure that would extend city council term limits from eight years to 12 years. She reveals that Measure D originally started as an attempt by residents and councilmembers to install term limits for the mayor's seat, but eventually devolved into another power-grab by loony SanTana councilmembers--scratch that. Let's turn it over to Jennifer: [Councilmember Sal] Tinajero said two rec
January 9, 2008Nguyen vs. Nguyen: Janet Wins!
Ok, so the timing sort of sucks for us, since we'd have liked to include the information in our story, but it's good news for Janet Nguyen: the California Court of Appeals ruled today, the same day our cover story hit the streets, that Janet did win her election, and therefore does get to stay in office. Last November, the Orange County Registrar ruled that Trung Nguyen, a Garden Grove school board member backed by State Assemblyman Van Thai Tran, the most powerful Vietnamese-American elected o
January 17, 2008Santa Ana Officials Redraw Renaissance Plan Boundaries Again
Today, Los Angeles Times SanTana reporter Jennifer Delson delivers a bombshell of a story on the city's Renaissance Plan: not only did city officials redraw the Renaissance Plan boundaries to omit the family businesses of councilmember Vince Sarmiento and Mayor Papi Pulido (as we reported last month), but they're planning to do it yet again to allow councilmember Michelle Martinez and planning commissioner Victoria Bentacourt to vote on the matter. Martinez is claiming SanTana officials are usin
January 20, 2008Not Easy Votin' Green
January 31, 2008OC Vote: Final count
Well, the votes from all 2076 precincts have been tallied. No huge surprises, but here are the final numbers in the presidential race: Democrats:Hillary ClintonBarack ObamaVote Count: 141,668Vote Count: 96,967 55.47.9% Republicans:John McCainMitt Romney Vote Count: 117,333Vote Count: 109,877 39.77.2%
February 6, 2008Cypress Goes Cultist
Cypress has followed Westminster's lead in officially embracing the occult. The Cypress City Council voted in a perplexing 2-1 majority to display "In God We Trust" in council chambers. Aww, poor Cypress - only three council members? Iddle biddle widdle council, so cute! Actually two council members abstained, claiming they didn't want to give views on religious matters. And yet they're willing to passively endorse the phrase? Cowards. The phrase is a reference to the fact that followers of th
February 13, 2008Muffle Scuffle
*Moved up, 'cause the conversation's fun! Irvine's reigning feet-to-the-fire holder Stephen C. Smith has a very interesting post on his IrvineTattler.com site. Here is an excerpt from “Sukhee Kang Knows Your Birth Date”: Councilman and mayoral candidate Sukhee Kang used a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request in August 2006 to obtain an estimated 90,000 records with personal information about Irvine voters, including birth dates, home addresses and e-mail addresses. The Irvine Tat
August 3, 2008Santa Ana Now Officially Run by Lazy Mexicans
*Updated, with new information on the bottom... As the largest city in Orange County, SanTana needs a more-committed city council than, say, Laguna Niguel. Unfortunately, the county seat is cursed with buffoons, a veritable clowncil, to use the term of Orange Juice! bomb-thrower Art Pedroza. We've documented the wackiness of Mayor Papi Pulido and councilmembers Busty Bustamante (pictured), Claudia Alvarez and David Benavides, and at least one of them is amongst the pendejos who are out of town
August 2, 2008No on Prop 8 public service announcement
Weekly contributing writer Dave Barton and his friend Greg Adkins directed and edited this moving No on Prop 8 clip, currently making the rounds of YouTube and even the Daily Kos. The lines being read are from 1 Corinthians. And of course you already knew that Proposition 8 is the November religious-fundie ballot measure that seeks to ban re-ban gay marriage in California...
September 29, 2008Barbara Coe Upset Sarah Palin Doesn't Acknowledge Her
On Sept. 15, California Coalition for Immigration Reform head Barbara Coe sent off a questionnaire to Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. "The California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) is a nationally recognized nonpartisan grassroots organization representing thousands of patriots nationwide," Coe wrote to Palin. "Our goal is the enforcement of our immigration laws, protection of law-abiding Americans from illegal alien invaders and the preservation of the U.S. as a sov
October 16, 2008Irvine Candidate Forum: Mostly Civil, Some Fireworks
Irvine is either a city where the sun does nothing but shine, the streets are lined with gold and bad stuff never ever ever ever ever ever ever happens, or it's a swirling cesspool of cronyism, backroom deals and looming Muslim threats. That was the message voters were given as a busload of people running for Irvine City Council gathered in the council chambers tonight for a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters, whose Sharon Holdt served as moderator. Current council members
October 21, 2008Proposition 2 Opponents Use Pete Wilson Card for Their Tricks
Amazingly, both parties have ignored Mexicans in this election. So leave it to the animal-abusing geniuses behind the No on Proposition 2 campaign (y'know, that nefarious measure that would force farmers to treat their animals humanely) to conjure up the spectre of the Reconquista in this ominous ad. Dig the long lines! And it's not the first time Prop. 2 opponents have bagged on Mexico:
October 28, 2008Election Night Music in OC/LB
Sure, it's fun to sit at home on election night and watch the results come in. I mean, think of all the great moments: Russert with the whiteboard, Florida "erroneously" being called for Gore, and, uh, other things that happened in years other than 2000. But what if you could watch these things - and listen to live music at the same time? Oh yes, it's possible. Here are some election night music events going down tomorrow.
November 3, 2008The Party's Over
State GOP chairman Ron Nehring: "Lease, don't buy..." The state GOP's "Victory Night Party" (hah!) was over before it started. Driving over to the Hyatt Regency Irvine to make the 8:30 p.m. start time, I was talking on my Bluetooth to my brother in San Francisco when he informed me John McCain was already making his concession speech. "Holy shit!" I said as I steered into the Hyatt driveway. "I'm going to miss the Republicans crying in their beers." The mood was definitely somber inside the
November 4, 2008Attorney Who Misspent Clients' $2.7 Million Was at Center of Irvine Election Controversies
The Register's Greg Hardesty has the scoop on 38-year-old Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja admitting to burning through nearly all of a $2.7-million settlement that was supposed to be shared by about 1,000 plaintiffs he represented in a class-action labor lawsuit.According to the story, Baweja played the dumb card, saying he invested the money in the stock market without knowing what he was doing, apologizing for his knuckleheaded conduct in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and r
December 31, 2008Jerry, Be Wary
January 31, 2008Iowa Gay Marriage Ruling Means Everything or Nothing
The Iowa Supreme Court's overturning of the law banning same-sex marriage in that state either bolsters the arguments of those pushing for gay marriage in California or has nothing to do with the issue here. It depends on who you ask.National Center for Lesbian Rights legal director Shannon Minter:"The fact that two state supreme courts--including now a court in the heartland of our country--have now followed the California Supreme Court's holding on that issue underscores very powerfully that t
April 3, 2009[¡Ask a Mexican!] Sucio Harry
April 2, 2009Lance MacLean Has Learned That Mission Viejo's Political Players Always Go for the Throat
March 5, 2009Mission Viejo Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht Tries to Deliver, But Is Running Into an Opposing Majority
January 29, 2009Surf City Mayor Debbie Cook Takes on Dana Rohrabacher, OC's Weirdest Republican Congressman
September 18, 2008[¡Ask a Mexican!®] Cherry-Picking César Chávez
July 3, 2008Humberto Caspa's New Book Chronicles the Fear and Loathing of Mexicans in Costa Mesa
May 8, 2008Controversial Developer Robert Bisno Brings His Grease-a-Palm Politics to Santa Ana
March 6, 2008Smiley Coyotl
When is a prosecutor not a prosecutor? The answer spared a Santa Ana activist/punk rocker from criminal charges
October 11, 2007From Hunter to Hunted
In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought hed seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar
June 28, 2007As Stephen Smith Leaves Town, Irvine's "Tattler" Calls on Others to Step Up
Stephen C. Smith calls on others to keep tabs on Irvine City Hall.CORRECTED!Lost in Santa Ana a few months ago, half paying attention to the street signs and half to Larry Mantle's KPCC interview show blaring out of the car speakers, I heard the host steer his Orange County "roundtable" guests--Orange County Register senior editorial writer Steven Greenhut; former LA Times religion writer William Lobdell and the Weekly's irrepressible Gustavo Arellano--into the topic of local bloggers. The three
May 12, 2009Behold John Bolton and His Moustache at Balboa Bay Club
John Robert Bolton, the neocon's neocon, laps up the hosannas of fellow knuckle-draggers May 28 when he is the special guest of the World Affairs Council of Orange County. The nonprofit, 500-member council--which since its 1967 founding has hosted Prince Andrew, Vicente Fox, Hans Blix and several other international newsmakers--expects 250 to turn out for Bolton and his moustache tormenting the wait staff at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.Bolton has been employed by several Republican pres
May 15, 2009Royce, Sanchez Blast North Korea's Harsh Sentencing of Journos
Two Orange County representatives in the U.S. Congress came out strongly today against North Korea's harsh sentencing of 12 years hard labor for two U.S. journalists charged with "hostile acts." The other four Members of Congress were silent.Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) emailed the Weekly the following statement:"I am deeply concerned by reports that two U.S. citizens and California reporters have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of illegally crossing into North Korea
June 8, 2009Royce, Sanchez Blast North Korea's Harsh Sentencing of Journos
Two Orange County representatives in the U.S. Congress came out strongly today against North Korea's harsh sentencing of 12 years hard labor for two U.S. journalists charged with "hostile acts." The other four Members of Congress were silent.Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) emailed the Weekly the following statement:"I am deeply concerned by reports that two U.S. citizens and California reporters have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of illegally crossing into North Korea
June 8, 2009New Free Iran Movement to Hold Teach-in at UCI's Aldrich Park
Courtesy of PersianoEvents.comIt begs the question.The Iranian government now says Neda Agha-Soltan--the 26-year-old martyr in the struggle for freedom in that tense country--may have been killed by a gunman who mistook her for the sister of an Iranian "terrorist," the Islamic Republic News Agency reports today. Rather than blaming the marksman, Iran suggested "those groups who want to create division in the nation" are responsible for Neda's death, even hinting at something of a conspiracy by s
June 24, 2009Irvine Police Association Blasts Mayor Sukhee Kang, City Council Members Beth Krom and Larry Agran
Irvine Police Association has criticized Mayor Sukhee Kang (left) and City Council members Beth Krom and Larry Agran over stalled contract talks.Anyone who has attended a city-run meeting in Irvine has heard elected officials, especially City Councilman and Orange County Great Park Corporation chairman Larry Agran, boast about overseeing "America's safest city."Likewise, anyone who complains about the shady, back-room, ethically challenged way the city of Irvine is run, or the plastic, uninsp
July 27, 2009"Press Conference" Against Iran Government Produces No News, Much Political Support in Irvine
Rep. Laura Richardson (inset), Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rep. Ed Royce, together at last.If the goal of a press conference is to produce a "big announcement" that makes news and warrants coverage--the usual reason one calls a press conference in the first place--then the Iran Supporters Network failed Friday evening at Irvine City Hall. But if the idea was to bring local politicians, community leaders and the Iranian American community together, engage in some spirited preach
August 10, 2009Orange County Clergy Goes Hollywood for Obamacare
Yes, the people popping up everywhere to disrupt explanations of Obamacare by congress people and administration folk seldom get covered these days. A favorite was two days ago on CNN, when the anchorwoman cut to such a town hall where a U.S. senator was detailing the plan. Without hanging in long enough so viewers could figure out what the senator was explaining about the plan, CNN cut back to the doe-eyed newscaster, who said she'd check back in should "something happe
August 11, 2009The Other Side of the Health-Care Debate Strikes Back
The other side of the health-care debate (think opposite of Fox News' town hall criers) has come out swinging of late.California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee just issued a statement with the provocative title, "California's Real Death Panels: Insurers Deny 21% of Claims." The CNA/NNOC has compiled data that shows one in five requests for medical claims for insured patients, even when recommended by a patient's physician, are rejected by California's largest private in
September 2, 2009Agran Crony and Gore Campaigner Agrees to Guilty Pleas in Federal Wire Fraud Case
Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja, the 39-year-old money man for that town's "progressive" political boss Larry Agran and a former official with Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign, agreed in court papers to plead guilty to two felony charges related to a scheme where he ripped off nearly all of the $2.7 million he'd previously won for his clients, the FBI announced today.In a plea agreement prosecutors filed late Thursday in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Baweja indicates he will pl
October 2, 2009LGBT Groups Seek to Intervene in Prop. 8 Challenge
This just in from the ACLU, which believes the action taken today will help a judge hearing a challenge of Prop. 8 understand the unequal rights inherent in the ballot initiative . . . SAN FRANCISCO -- Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to allow Our Family Coalition, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays to intervene in Pe
July 8, 2009
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