A Clockwork Orange: Putting the ‘Bent’ in Incumbents

BLUE TIDE FOR ORANGE COUNTY?
With a year to go before the November 2018 elections, two of the top 10 most vulnerable House incumbents in the country represent Orange County districts, with Representative Darrell Issa (R-Vista) landing at numero uno and Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) occupying No. 5, according to the much-respected Roll Call.

The rankings published Nov. 6 are indicative of the changing demographics in Rohrabacher’s 48th and Issa’s 49th congressional districts, although other contributing factors are cited by Roll Call‘s Simone Pathe and Bridget Bowman.

Issa, whose North San Diego County-based district includes parts of South Orange County, narrowly won re-election last year, and his vote for the Republican health-care bill could be enough to close the gap for a Democratic challenger. Also per the Roll Call piece, Rohrabacher made the vulnerable list for the first time since he was elected to Congress in 1988 because of those nagging pro-Russia ties. (See Dana Watch for more on that.)

Here is Roll Call on Issa . . .

Clinton carried Issa’s California district by 8 points in 2016. But unlike other Republicans in Clinton districts, Issa barely won a ninth term, winning by half a point against Democrat Doug Applegate. He voted for the GOP health-care bill this year, which Democrats will likely highlight throughout the campaign. Applegate, a Marine veteran, is running again. Environmental lawyer Mike Levin and Navy veteran Paul Kerr are also running on the Democratic side. All of these challengers are raising significant money but still trail Issa (who is extremely wealthy himself) in cash on hand.

. . . and Rohrabacher:

The combination of Clinton carrying the California district and headlines linking Rohrabacher to Russia puts his re-election in question. Rohrabacher won a 15th term by 17 points in 2016. But since then, he has been at the center of some news stories raising questions about his pro-Russia views, with one Politico headline dubbing him “Putin’s favorite congressman.” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy even reportedly joked Rohrabacher was paid by the Russian president. Two of the Democrats vying to take on Rohrabacher, Harley Rouda and Hans Keirstead, have also been raising significant money. Keirstead, a stem-cell researcher, is considered a top recruit.

Naturally, Drew Godinich, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is crowing about the Roll Call analysis: “From their devastating votes for the health-care-repeal bill to their support for a tax plan that will raise taxes on millions of middle-class families to provide tax breaks to millionaires like Congressman Issa, it’s clear that the chickens are coming home to roost for vulnerable House Republicans. The strong bench of Democratic talent in races across California means that Democrats will have the resources to hold these Republicans accountable for their track record of failure next year.”

MIMI’S CAFÉ SOCIETY
It’s been reported that Representative Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) is also vulnerable—as in vulnerable to acting out of political self-preservation to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (a.k.a. DACA or Dream Act), which would allow those brought to the country illegally as young children to legally stay here under certain conditions.

The idea that Walters was softening apparently spurred demonstrators organized by the Buena Park-based Korean Resource Center of Orange County to boisterously gather inside rather than outside her district office at 3333 Michelson Dr., Irvine.

The protest was part of the “National Day of Action in Support of Families Under Temporary Protected Status.” Under TPS, refugees and immigrants from specified countries are allowed to legally extend their stays in the U.S. if returning home threatens their safety. The Trump White House has supported letting some TPS protections expire, which recently led to a standoff between Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and Chief of Staff John Kelly, who wanted her to expel all Hondurans who had been protected under TPS.

She refused.

Refused is also what one TPS protester in Irvine did when told to leave a restricted area of Walters’ building. Dae Joong Yoon, 47, of Redondo Beach, was placed under citizen’s arrest for trespassing and later taken into custody by cops without incident, according to Kim Mohr, the Irvine Police Department spokeswoman.

Walters was not in her office at the time of the incident, says Mohr, who added that Yoon was released after a short time at the police station.

FAKER, FAKER, WHITEY-ACHER
What follows is a fake news headline (on the Orange County Register website, Oct. 26): “Man arrested after driving into crowd of protesters outside Rep. Ed Royce’s office in Brea.”

Here is the real news headline (on White Pride World Wide’s Stormfront.org forum, Oct. 28): “Leftist Jew-approved Mexicans attack car during DACA protest in Orange County, CA.”

STAY CLASSY, OC!
Homophobic comments and the taking of a cellphone from a gay couple in Seal Beach on Nov. 3 were labeled a hate crime and strong-arm robbery by police.

The pair were walking in the beachfront parking lot at 902 Ocean Ave. around 7:15 p.m. when they were approached by four men they did not know, according to Seal Beach Police Sergeant Michael Henderson.

Derogatory comments were made about the couple’s same-sex relationship, followed by threats of harm before one in the foursome took the cellphone, and off they fled before police arrived, Henderson says.

All four were described as white, in their early 20s and having thin builds. One wore a black cap with marijuana leaves.

Yeah, that should narrow it down.

SHIT PEOPLE SEND US
Subject: Request for Article Removal/Legal
Contact Name: Henry Arganda
It has recently been brought to my attention that the attached online article [R. Scott Moxley’s “Fired Orange County Police Sergeant Loses Federal Lawsuit,” Dec. 2, 2013] appears on the first page of a Google search of my name, Henry Arganda. This article is about someone other than me named William Arganda. This is NOT me, and I do not want to be associated with this article, as it reflects negatively and inaccurately about me. I don’t know how or why it shows under my name, but it needs to be fixed ASAP. This person is a distant relative, but I had nothing to do with that past incident from years ago. Please remove me and my name from this article or remove the article from anything related to HENRY Arganda ASAP, as this is causing me damage and harm unnecessarily. I need this removed soon, please! Please reply and let me know this will be fixed. Thank you.