Anyone who knows anything about Little Saigon politics knows the routine: someone brings up something condemning anything remotely related to the commie Republic of Vietnam, and every politician follows forth praising refugees and freedom and damning the Reds–never mind that trade between Little Saigon and Vietnam goes into the hundreds of millions annually. Leading the way, of course, are Vietnamese politicians, who know any deviation from this script will result in angry protests and retribution at the ballot box.
Enter Bao Nguyen, new mayor of Garden Grove. As we wrote last week, Nguyen refused to sign a letter condemning Riverside for agreeing to enter into a sister city partnership with a Vietnamese city, leading to threats of a recall. This is what I talked about this week in my weekly KCRW “Orange County Line” commentary.
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As usual, head over to KCRW's website to hear the commentary. Enjoy!
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