I am still confused as to why a bunch of anti-war protesters decided to get themselves arrested at Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez’ office. The story is not new at this point – the protest happened on Tuesday. However, it does bear further scrutiny, IMHO.
You can read about the protest and the arrest of said protesters at the Times and the O.C. Register. The Liberal O.C. did a fantastic job of covering this as well – and their post includes a long thread with comments from some of the activists involved in the protest. I also borrowed their picture for this post.
Red County/OC Blog covered it too.
Personally I think these protesters are completely nuts. Why target Sanchez, who has been mostly friendly to them and their issues? Most of these people live in south Orange County – you would think they would turn on Congressman John Campbell, not Sanchez.
As Northcountystorm pointed out at the Liberal O.C. thread, would they be happier with Congressman Van Tran instead of Sanchez? Good grief – talk about counterintuitive!
Sanchez is easy to pick on. She is a moderate Democrat. She is cushy with defense contractors. But when she votes to spend money on building planes for the military, she is saving union jobs! Don’t these hippies get it?
Do they need directions to Campbell’s office? What about the other GOP congressmen in the O.C.? Couldn’t they protest at Gary Miller’s office? Or Ed Royce’s office? Or Dana Rohrabacher’s office? Why pick on Sanchez?
This is why the Democrats have not advanced further in Orange County. They need to get their whack job extremists in line and focus on taking out the Reeps, not each other.
These protesters ought to be contributing to the effort to take out racist AUHSD Trustee Harald Martin instead of getting themselves arrested while protesting at a fellow Democrat’s office. But that might actually make them useful, which would run counter to their usual activities…
Don’t get me wrong – I think invading Iraq was stupid and Rumsfeld should have been fired a lot sooner. But protesting the war at Sanchez’ office was completely moronic. It was a pendejada.
News flash…not all Dems think the same on every issue. What are they supposed to do, sit in quiet submission just because they marked “D” on their voter registration?
Thing is, it’s the Dems who have the majority in Congress now. And so pressure is increasing on them to take action (I would venture to speculate that most of the protesters would advocate cutting of funds for the war). This pressure is increasingly coming from within the party…and the recent vote on the warrantless wiretapping bill only intensified the frustration some Dems are feeling toward their own party. Some within the party see the leadership as weak and spineless.
And as for Sanchez saving union jobs, I’d also venture to speculate that lives are more important to these protesters than jobs.
n2justice,
Well, let’s think this through. How does it help our men and women in the military if they don’t have the equipment they need to fight the war? If these protesters get their way, that is what will happen.
I am all for stopping the madness, but we cannot let a bunch of leftist freaks dictate our national policy.
And I still don’t understand going after Sanchez. Eating your own is a stupid strategy.
n2justice-
I understand your frustration with Democrats. Believe me, I am also that way at times. But ultimately, the Democrats in Congress can only do so much when the minority Republicans (especially in the Senate!) keep obstructuing the agenda, and that Republican in the White House keeps vetoing what Congress can get passed. This is why we so need a DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT in 2009!
Art-
I can understand some of my fellow Democrats’ frustration with Loretta. However, they must remember that LORETTA IS OUR ONLY ALLY HERE IN ORANGE COUNTY! She’s the only one here trying to end the Iraq occupation, and she’s the only one who really cares about the well-being of our troops. If we REALLY want to see change happen here, we need to send Loretta MORE DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES to work with her. Challenging Loretta may feel good, but in the end IT IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.
Oh yes, and thanks for checking out our stories at The Liberal OC! : )
2 and 3,
I’d guess that Sanchez is still getting plenty of strokes. It won’t hurt one bit for her to realize that the frustration level is growing.
Don’t worry Art, the sky is not falling…leftist freaks aren’t going to be dictating our national policy anytime soon.
The Liberal oc has 41 posts on this-plus its blogrank is #1- Arturo yr disguised Republicanism has been exposed! You are part of the RED menace!