Some are born great, some have greatness thrust upon them, and then some are suddenly called on to take the place of Pedroza – what shoes to fill! I’m still catching my breath, and I feel humbled. But probably not for long.
I want to assure you all that even though I am Far Left Vern, this is not going to become a left-wing blog! No, what drew me to this blog all along was the variety of opinions, the rude and unpredictable back-and-forth that you just don’t get on the Red and Blue blogs. That will not change, in fact we shall jack it up if we can.
One thing that’s always been true about the Orange Juice – beyond all the left-right conflict, it’s always been strongly pro-immigrant; and with me, Sean, Francisco, Duane, and Art still contributing, that will stay the same. (The xenophobia will be confined to a few of our goofier commenters.)
I’m gonna make sure Art stays on with frequent feisty posts on Santa Ana politics and the atrocities of the local blogosphere and political parties because that’s what draws people here – hell, that’s what drew me here!
When I looked around for local blogs to read in 2005 or 6, this one seemed like the most fun and least compromised; the Liberal OC and Red-Faced County were both too insular and predictable…as well as intertwined. And none of that’s changed.
Back then, Democrat Sean Mill, Republican Thomas Gordon, and independent Art seemed like a really cool trio of muckraking troublemakers in their beloved Santa Ana, and I dreamed of someday doing something similar in my own Huntington Beach. Meanwhile Claudio Gallegos was writing long hard-hitting exposes of the Minutemen and Costa Mesa racists – a subject that’s as timely as ever now that Mansoor is going for an upgrade.
In August of 2007, Art and Claudio took notice of an anti-war protest some friends of mine were holding in front of Loretta Sanchez’ office. This made no sense to them, as Loretta had voted against the war (although she continued to vote to fund it.) They wondered aloud (without asking us) why we didn’t protest at the pro-war Republicans’ offices instead (which actually we did plenty.) They also had no idea that our relationship with Loretta was relatively friendly – not only did we meet with her and eventually change her mind about war funding, but she actually used to drive by and thank us for what we were doing.
So Art called for a big counter-protest – to which I responded BRING IT ON – and meanwhile Claudio, hearing that there was some kind of “rolling hunger strike” involved, came over and interviewed us while chomping on a big chicken sandwich. (We just thought he was sort of a strange slob, until we read his post later and realized that was his idea of humor – gobbling food in front of hunger strikers. I’d link to Claudio’s post here, but they seem to no longer be archived.)
Art’s counter-protest “fizzled” by his own account, but to his credit he showed up, talked to us, and decided that he agreed with us after all. For months after that, I sent him notices of our various anti-war events, which he always posted (while the Liberal OC always refused to – possibly because we had “disrespected” Loretta) and he also posted notices of my piano concerts. That’s how I first became involved with this blog.
Fast forward to March 2008, I was enthusiastically trying to help Debbie Cook beat Dana Rohrabacher, and the Orange Juice had just acquired a real showboat hysteric named Sarah Michelle Spinosa, against whom I commenced fiery hostilities when she started dissing both the Loretta protests and Debbie herself. Impressed with the fireworks, Art asked me to write a blog post about Debbie, and the rest is history. Recent history anyway. Recent, local, bloggy history.
Thanks for your kind indulgence. Where does the Orange Juice blog go from here? I propose:
- Bringing down more bastards on both sides of the aisle
- Challenging the noise machine right-wing or otherwise, as well as disabling the silence machine
- Comforting the afflicted
- Afflicting the comfortable
- Making you laugh, cry, think, and ACT.
- What else? Throw me a bone here…
And we’re going to need all of you! Onward into the fray, Juice brothers and sisters!
Vern: Congrats. Please continue what OJ is best at—hounding liberal and conservative fat cows; scabrous political coverage; no-holds-barred fights. In other words, continue being the Weekly’s spiritual bastard child of the blogosphere!
I feel you, hermano, I feel you.
Again, Congrats Vern. Also, if Art is going to work with Terry to upgrade or change the look of this site, would you consider a suggestion from me?
sure lam, e-mail me. ChezVern@aol.com
Actually, I have thought this blog a “fair and balanced” mix of perspectives. Hope that does not change.
It will stay fair and balanced – much more so than FOX News! – and your contributions will be an important part of that mix, OverButNotOut/BeenAroundAWhile.
Brother Vern.
Are you saying Keith O and Madam Maddow offer fair and balanced commentary???
Vern,
Thank you for taking on this monumental task! I know you will do a great job!
oh vern . pedroza is gone but i see he left you his torch . we are all pro immigrants we sure ARE . I AM EVERYONE IS . BUT VERN GUESS WHAT WORD YOU LEFT OUT HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM . IT STARTS WITH A I AND IT CHANGES THE WHOLE CONVERSATION .
NO I didn’t Brother Larry! How could you hear such a statement??
But they don’t SAY they do – that’s the difference!
You may be Far Left Vern, but when compared to the Grating One, ANYONE looks far left.
*Allow us to suggest to Dr. Vern…..that his tireless energy is greatly appreciated. But then, that does come from some of the OC Juice “Goofier Commentiers”! No one could adequately replace the “Great One – Art Pedroza”. We need not mention the greatest attribute of Dr. Pedroza…his integrity! True to himself….seldom speaking for others! We were greatly attracted to that form and why for the last many years….we have endured “the snide, the stupid and the irrelevant” comments of the uniformed or ill informed!
But, in the a spirit of resolution: Let us all take hands and welcome Dr. Vern to a very challenging task. Dr. Vern now needs to keep his energy and good investigative skills separate from his own individual proclivities! A tough job, but then we know that Art would have not passed the hot baton on to someone who could not do that.
Ah, my proclivities. Who told you about that? Keep it under the hat now, Ron and Anna. Schtum, schtum!
Kidding, thanks.
Welcome Vern
I agree we need to keep this as a place that people with different perpectives can feel comfortable offering thier ideas and thoughts.
This Needs to include the Great One, Michelle Q and Terry C in the right, those more in the middle and those like Sean M, yourself and Duane R on the left.
It keeps this Blog interesting and worth reading, partly because you never know what to expect.
I hope everone tires to stick with issues and leave personal items out of the mix, I have found that at times this to be distressing to watch. Especially if I know the persons involved and realize that a lot of what is being tossed about is not entirely accurate from all sides.
Congratulations to you, Vern. Although Art will be missed, your ability to remain consistently fair and measured makes you the perfect blogger to whom to entrust his mission. I look forward to you seizing this endeavor with your inimitable creativity and passion.
Congrats Vern,
You have big shoes to fill. I’m sure you will do well.
Art your blog inspired me to get involved in politics and what’s going on in Santa Ana. thanks for the memories you will be missed.
Robert,
Thanks for the kind words! I will still be around but not as much. And now Vern is in charge.
I do plan to keep working on my New Santa Ana blog, although long term I would like to put others in charge of that blog as well.