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Barbara Coe
Well, the Council’s motives were inscrutable and their reasoning a dodge, but it WAS satisfying to see bitter old Babs and her motley group of eight haters shuffle off disconsolate into the Little Saigon night withOUT one more SB1070-backing OC municipality under their belt.
And here I was all set to retell the story of Mendez v. Westminster, under the title “Westminster Returns to Its Proud Mexican-Bashing Heritage.” But now I don’t have to! And cheers!
Quashed by Quach
If you think you’re already a connoisseur of senile, brain-dead OC Councils; if you’ve derived perverse, superior enjoyment from listening to the free associations of Fullerton’s Dick Jones, the pronouncements of Orange’s Dim Jon Dumitru, the musings of Costa Mesa’s tongue-tied Mansoor, or the grunts and squeaks of Huntington Beach’s barely sentient Carchio and Green, you ain’t seen nothing till you’ve seen the two old white people on the Westminster Council – Mayor Margie Rice and Mayor Pro-Tem Frank Fry. (Watch the meeting here; enjoy Fry at 1:33:00; and Rice throughout.)
Andy Quach
The only brains on this council seem to be in the three-member Vietnamese (Trannie) majority, specifically the hard-drinking Andy Quach who had a ready-made dodge for the situation which should work in the near future for any cautious Councils whose desire to avoid controversy is greater than their anti-Mexican animus: We really care how all members of the community feel, but we should first wait to see how Obama’s lawsuit against Arizona is resolved! (In Mayor Rice’s simple mind, that became “We’ve got to make sure the Feds don’t sue US!” as though anyone’s gonna sue some one-horse California town for a punk-ass resolution saying that you like the unconstitutional AZ law.)
This was all just a pretext anyhow, and I’m sure the haters knew it, which brings me joy. I think the real reason Quach and company tabled the measure is that they are, above all, loyal disciples of Van Tran (popularly known as Trannies) and I’m betting Boss Tran has instructed them that he will consider any antagonism toward the Hispanic community unhelpful in his run against Loretta. I’m glad if he’s going that route – he probably noticed how little immigrant-bashing accomplished for the campaigns of Bill Hunt, Tan Nguyen and Steve Poizner. (Too bad Allan Mansoor doesn’t KNOW any other tune.)
Lupe Moreno
It probably didn’t help the nativists’ case that Dale Bradbury, perhaps their most colorful commenter (don’t miss him at 1:01:33!) after first claiming Nebraska has a new law preventing you from living or working in the state unless you’re a citizen, and then criticizing the Mayor for not being at some July 4 event that she apparently was at, started in to bitching about how Westminster’s Vietnamese-Americans don’t pay any taxes and aren’t real Americans, and how Westminster needs to cancel the “Tent Festival” where the Viets march around with “the homosexuals.” Way to keep the Westminster council on your side, Dale! (Way to unite minorities, actually.)
The usual nutjobs performed their usual shtick:
- An apparently sober Ms. Coe (34:15) was a trembling fireplug of fury as she described the “Invasion of Illegal Aliens.” A self-contained manufacturer of her own mad “facts,” she told us “it is fully documented that over TWENTY-FIVE INNOCENT VICTIMS DIE at the hands of THESE VIOLENT CRIMINALS, EVERY DAY.” Also, “the blood of our people is on the hands of the IMPOSTOR in the White House!”
- The pulsing heap of misery Lupe Moreno (30:17) , braving the fear of “political correctness,” undertook to name some of these hundreds of thousands of victims allegedly slaughtered by “Illegal Aliens” over the years, managing to name off nearly eight. She excoriated her assemblyman Jose Solorio for being “very proud to march in the Illegal Alien Marches,” and ended with a plea to “stand with Arizona against this evilness.”
- Actual Westminster resident Vaughn Becht (37:35) , whose letter to council set this resolution in motion, repeatedly and emphatically used the terms “Authentic Americans” versus “Illegal People.” As an Authentic American, he feels “assaulted” by the Illegal People whenever and wherever he sees them… “Where, you may ask? At churches, Mexican Consulate, and the Home Depot, not too far away from here!” (The Westminster Home Depot, where day laborers seek work, was an especial source of angst for those few speakers who actually knew the town.)
- The utterly batshit insane Judy Ahrens, (58:21) longtime Westminster nightmare, breathlessly hashed out her grievances over having to live with Mexicans in her midst. The other day she saw TWO signs in Spanish at her local DMV – why TWO? She berated the Council for failing in their duty to defend the Constitution by shielding her from the presence of illegals, reminding them that she had previously read them a “litmus” (litany?) of complaints, and sent them “stats and statistics from her internet.” Later she took note of the “Boy Scout Fleet” (??) that was in attendance, and opined that we shouldn’t be teaching them to scoff at the law, but to “come in through the front door.”
- And finally some horrific old Germanic hag named Anita Hynds, (1:19:35) thick Nazi accent still intact, claimed that “we are not free” any more because of all these immigrants. In fact “We are practically SLAVES to these illegal aliens!” because “these people are living on welfare, food stamps, and social security.” It was as fact-free a presentation as all the rest; I don’t need to bother with it beyond mockery, do I?
The saddest part of the video is seeing the innocent, restless young Boy Scouts sitting in the front row being exposed to all this poison without a filter, and occasionally joining in the applause. (Kudos to the three very moving and effective opposition speakers by the way.)
But, keep an eye on Mr. Ted Hayes.
Ted Hayes
There was only one anti-immigrant commenter to be taken seriously, the articulate and charismatic Ted Hayes; and it turns out he’s a celebrity I hadn’t heard of. A homeless activist in LA since the 80’s, leader of Black Republican group “the Crispus Attucks Brigade,” and the 2008 Republican candidate against Maxine Waters, as well as an advanced inline skater and father of Olympic gold-medalist hurdler Joanna Dove Hayes, he has more recently become an outspoken activist against illegal immigration, joined up with the Minutemen, and will soon be co-hosting events with SB 1070 author Russell Pearce.
A guy like this is obviously prized by the immigrant-bashing community, as in their minds his very existence clears them of all charges of racism. So I think I will have to deal seriously with his skillful and dangerous presentation, which you can watch at 42:08.
Dressed in Afro garb and yarmulke with a prophet’s grey beard, Hayes catalogues the oppression of Black folks – the Middle Passage in chains, centuries of slavery, terrorism from the Ku Klux Klan, kept from voting, employment and housing, he names it all, and claims that since Latino immigrants don’t have to suffer anything comparable, they have no claim to suffer Civil Rights abuses.
Sir, you win the OUCH contest. Nothing our Mexican immigrants endure is as bad as slavery or lynching (or for that matter, being shipped off to the ovens, or to a reservation with a smallpox blanket.) But who the hell claims that anyway? This is a Strawman argument, and all people IN America, citizens or not, Black or not, are entitled to Civil Rights.
He repeatedly claims these immigrants are “harming” and “hurting” him and his people, but never really says how. Coming to the rescue of whites accused of anti-hispanic racism, he stoops to the old standby that “ethnicity” isn’t technically “race” – a contemptible semantic quibble not worthy of response.
From there he segues into “The racism is against ME, MY people!” [From the immigrants I assume.] “THEY come here, they take MY legacy!” WHAT? That’s the problem? You’re protective of your place on the oppression totem pole? Are they devoting less weepy PBS docudramas to the troubles of blacks now, and more to the troubles of immigrants, or what?
I don’t waste time with bleeding-heart arguments when talking to Republicans (and I know most of my readers here are Republican or some hardnosed rightwing equivalent.) And anyway Mr. Hayes APPARENTLY believes that Latino immigrants are here mainly because of their “suffering” in their native lands.
No, Latino immigrants are in the United States because we NEED them. We need their labor, for any number of jobs we don’t want to do, and if they weren’t here working for us, prices for many essential things would go through the roof. We need them paying into the system, to keep our economy, Social Security and Medicare afloat. And since we need them, we need a more sensible immigration system that will let us know who’s in our country, and help us prevent actual crime. And until the Government gets it together to make a more sensible system, the laws we have now will continue to be flouted just because they’re unworkable. And anyone blaming all of this on the brown people is a RACIST and ultimately unhelpful and piteous.
Mr. Hayes, you may be correct that the “suffering” of Latino immigrants doesn’t rise to the level of the suffering of your ancestors, but I’ll tell you what IS a good comparison: Blacks like you who blame their problems on another poor minority are VERY SIMILAR to the impoverished, uneducated, white southern crackers who were manipulated by the rich whites to keep YOUR people enslaved and disenfranchised. It’s the same old divide-and-conquer, pit the different poor people against each other so they never change the oppressive system. Now you’re the dumb white southern cracker. Wake up and pull yourself out of this if you can, Mr. Hayes!
The Outrageous Comedy Stylings of Margie “White” Rice
Mayor Rice
After the unexpectedly quick denouement to the issue, there was a sort of unsatisfying feeling, a sense that things had prematurely fizzled, that the momentous issue of protecting our borders had not been given the serious consideration it was due, a sort of blue balls of righteousness. And so, Mayor Rice stepped into the breach. (1:31:40)
“I don’t like the illegals here either. I would like to see ’em ALL run out of the country. NOT just the Hispanic – ” and here her eyes flashed and she leaned in to the mike for emphasis – “but ALL illegals!!!” Then, realizing she was maybe going over the top, she quickly added, “but… I think we should do it in a, a level-headed manner.”
(To be fair, she did seem sincerely moved by one opposition speaker’s argument – a Latino, who made the case that under the Arizona law, even though he was a citizen, he was now a second-class citizen.)
And THAT’s my report on THAT meeting!
@Vern:
Great Article:
check out:
1) RAY HERRERA at the beginning of Video, and at 2:06…
2) But you will like TED HAYES at 1:18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1crnpTtj4vo&feature=player_embedded
Further info on these extremist groups.
http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=433:heat-and-hate-the-anti-hispanic-crowd-have-a-rally-in-arizona&catid=31:immigration-issues
Hey Vern:
Isn’t this Anita “HEINZ” really – the same Anita “HYNDS”…married to the Gary Hynds guy that referred to brown people as WETBACKS as the Independence Day celebration?
She might be from Yorba Linda, and per Claudio G. she might be Peruvian, not German.
She also calls President Obama an illegal alien at her Facebook page.
http://newsantaana.com/2010/07/04/minutemen-take-over-independence-day-event-at-santa-ana-public-library/
Ah… damn… does that mean I have to get rid of “thick Nazi accent still intact?”
Still with that name, and from Peru – South America IS where all the old Nazis went, and Hynds also sounds Germanic. I’ll fix the spelling of her name at least, it sounded like Heinz.
Your quite humorous in a sad pathetic sort of way mr. nelson. Speaking of “race”. Are you not being racist yourself referring to mrs Hynds as “a german old hag” with “neo nazi accent? FYI, Mrs. Hynds is of hispanic heritage. NOT german. Someones last name is not always an indication of their race. I would write more however i feel i would only be wating my time being that you already seem so small and closed minded. How sad! Patricia Rubio. santa ana california
I am showing the hypocrisy, or at least the utter selfishness, of immigrants who try to outdo us natives in their intolerance of newer immigrants. They are the most pathetic people. I know a few; they comment on this blog. The Hynds, whatever native land they’re running away from, are part of this august company.
By the way Anita’s hubby really turned Santa Ana’s 4th of July celebration ugly with his “Wetback” talk.
Vern: Don’t give Hayes credit when credit isn’t due. It was all those un-suffering Mexicans, after all, that paved the way for the more-famous African-American civil lawsuits after WWII. And Mexicans, not lynched? Go tell that to the ghost of Francisco Torres on the corner of Sycamore and Third in SanTana…
Good point about the lawsuits Gustavo.
I didn’t mean to suggest that NO Mexicans ever got lynched. But it was a much wider, systematic thing with blacks, that’s for sure.
I’ve changed one sentence near the end that seemed to minimize the suffering of Mexicans more than I meant to.
Vern: You gotta bone up on your Chicano studies! The overall numbers of African-Americans might’ve been higher, but that just means the rates of Mexicans getting lynched weren’t that far behind. Of course, this was just limited to the American Southwest, unlike African-Americans.
Claro, ‘Tavo. Pero, remember what I’m trying to do here:
I’m trying to SHAME the Black Republican Ted Hayes for turning everything into an “Ouch Contest” between different oppressed minorities.
I don’t think we should join him in that petty, divisive and unproductive game, do you?
Some Irish got lynched too…
YAHHHHHHH! Let us in on this action too! ERIN GO BRAGH!! Nobody knows the Troubles we’ve seen.
Many of those folks who showed up at the Westminster City Council and their supporters like Thomas Gordon are scheduled to be honored by Councilman David Benavides at the Santa Ana City Council meeting Monday night. This is simply despicable.
That’s still happening?!? I thought it got scuttled a week or two ago.
Benavides has brought it back and put it on the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
I watched most of the clown parade, and can’t help but agree with a nice gentleman who noted that these challenging economic times bring out a tendency in some folks to attack the easy targets–the poor, disenfranchised, the suspiciously un”authentic”Americans….””
Blame the big banks” he said.
Historically born out. Minorities in stressed environments feel the pressures of discrimination early on. If abiding by the law is so vital to these “authentic” Americans, they should be ever so careful not to cheat on their income taxes, drive over the speed limit or discriminate against others. “Cause that’s ILLEGAL. (I won’t even mention what would Jesus do…..)
great article ! besides calling people racists, u called them other choice words like: nazi, hater, horrific Germanic hag,motly group, pulsing piece of misery, and batshit insane This tolerance of opposing viewpoints and strong attack labels on people with them lend real credence to your reporting !! A fresh piece of jounalism that doesn’t bother to talk about the invasion and colonization for once, thank u.
Did you get down to the Ted Hayes section? It’s kind of far down, but this is the most serious paragraph of the whole piece:
“No, Latino immigrants are in the United States because we NEED them. We need their labor, for any number of jobs we don’t want to do, and if they weren’t here working for us, prices for many essential things would go through the roof. We need them paying into the system, to keep our economy, Social Security and Medicare afloat. And since we need them, we need a more sensible immigration system that will let us know who’s in our country, and help us prevent actual crime. And until the Government gets it together to make a more sensible system, the laws we have now will continue to be flouted just because they’re unworkable. And anyone blaming all of this on the brown people is a RACIST and ultimately unhelpful and piteous.”
You should argue with that.
Number two, I’m talking about Barbara Coe, Lupe Moreno, and lesser-known equally crazy people, I’m not talking about ALL critics of illegal immigration. Did you watch the video? Did you read my quotes? Are you familiar with these extremists? I wouldn’t think you’d want to have them as your spokesmen.
It’s not just me who calls Coe and co. racists and a hate group, and it’s not just the Southern Poverty Law Center or whoever. It’s the mainstream of the Minutemen who won’t have anything to do with them. Those are the people who were at the Westminster meeting, and they deserve everything I wrote.
Speaking of “extremists”. Are you familiar with la raza mr. nelson? They are anti white and anti anyone who is NOT hispanic!
Well, if that’s true, which I’m not sure of, then I hope the Westminster City Council will also stand up to La Raza if asked to sign onto any anti-white resolutions.
Wait… “talk about the invasion and colonization for once, thank u.”
dmw look who wrote the piece . did you expect anything diferent .
I was at the westminster city council meeting and i am also hispanic. I bring that up because as an hispanic american i AGREE with people like barbara coe and lupe moreno. I came to this conutry LEGALLY and while i can understand and sympathize with immigrants to an extent being that they want a better life. I DO NOT agree that they should be granted amnesty. It is a slap in the face to LEGAL immigrants who work pay taxes and contribute extensively to this country while ILLEGAL ALIENS sneak over here and want everything handed to them. Why cant they take the route i did and go about things legally? I did. I wanted a better life also but again, i did it the legal way. Also, i do not understand why people are automatically deemed racists because they are tired of the influx of illegals coming here? Everyone that spoke at the meeting supporting sb1070 here in westminster are only saying COME HERE LEGALLY. THATS ALL. IT DOES NOT matter what country you are coming from, just do it LEGALLY. Enough said!
Mr. Nelson, i am having a difficult time understanding and accepting your article regarding westminster city councils meeting on illegal immigration. The people who spoke in favor of the law are NOTacists as you so believe. I was in attendance at that meeting to do a small story for my paper and found those who spoke gave very eloquent speeches and just feel strongly about this particular issue. Feeling strongly about it does not mean that they or anyone that supports this is “racist or hateful”. I along with them believe that if a person wants to come here, then take the necessary steps to apply legally. My parents were not born here but they did come here legally and are very happy and proud to be here. I can sympathize with immigrants wanting to come here, as can many of the speakers at that meeting however it is very frustrating to say the least to have a illegals coming here only to disobey alot of the laws here, not pay taxes etc etc when there are legal immigrants who came here legally and chose to do it the right way. I spoke with a few of the speakers after the meeting and they shared the same sentiment. Ted hayes and Vaughn beecht and yes lupe moreno. So i resent your use of the term racist in describing said speakers. This has NOTHING to do with race.
Eva: If you’re a reporter, do your reporting on Coe and Moreno. And since you seem to be part-Vietnamese, don’t forget that your countrymen were ridiculed as illegals when they first came to Orange County. Only now, years after the fact, do we lionize Vietnamese, but they were despised when they first arrived. The term “anchor baby,” after all, was created to describe Vietnamese and Cambodian children, not Mexicans…
@Eva Rodriguez & @Eva Nguyen Reed:
I had never attended a protest by the Minutemen, and below I describe my first observation of one held earlier in the year [In this link below, (The guy in the “USA cap” was shouting at anyone passing, (ladies and children included) and opening the door to the Mexican Consulate and shouting things like go back and take your diseases with you..] The guy in “USA Cap” I refer to, I later learned is Mr. Vaughn Becht, and he was even shouting at the Mother of A US Marine and her 6-7 year-old daughter.
http://newsantaana.com/2010/02/28/naui-huitzilopochtli-takes-on-the-minutemen-in-santa-ana/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NewSantaAna+%28New+Santa+Ana%29
Additionally, by the way, contrary to the false beliefs and hasty generalizations, most independent non-partisan studies demonstrate that undocumented immigrants PAY MORE in TAXES and FEES than they receive in Services, and that they have a NET Positive effect on the US Economy, and on the individual pocketbook of most American Families.
Furthermore, the National Conference of State Legislatures also show that while some states carry a greater burden than others, that the net effect is still a NET POSITIVE effect from the contribution of undocumented immigrants.
Unfortunately Hoping for Deportation or Attrition to be a solution is an unworkable solution because at the current rate it would take about 30 years to accomplish, while we spend Billions of Dollars that we do not have and which distracts us from fighting VIOLENT CRIMINAL offenders….Thus our immigration system needs to be reformed in a way that works for America, and brings people out of the shadows, so we can know who they are, and put them to contribute in an expeditious legal manner.
Please refer also to:
1) http://newsantaana.com/2010/07/13/five-facts-on-undocumented-immigrants/
2) http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/07/know-who-you-are-dealing-with-key-hates-groups-their-reps/
My opinions only and not those of any group
Could you name one of those “independent non-partisan studies” that indicate undocumented workers pay more in taxes than they receive in services??? Because, quite honestly, I don’t believe you or that information. I have seen MANY independent non-partisan studies and ALL of them document that illegal aliens; or as you call them undocumented workers, DO NOT pay more in taxes than they receive in services. Has the world gone up-side-down?
@ EARL you asked for the links, here they are:
1) All independent studies show that illegal immigrants CONTRIBUTE more in REVENUES than they use in services. This is not personal opinion, this is a fact, and not emotion.
1A) From CBO (Congressional Budget Office) December 2007, Introduction:
“Over the past two decades, most efforts to estimate the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States have concluded that, in aggregate and over the long term, tax [REVENUES] of all types generated by immigrants—both legal and unauthorized [Illegals]—[EXCEED THE COSTS] of the services… Generally, such estimates include revenues and spending at the [FEDERAL,STATE, and LOCAL LEVELS].
However, many estimates also show that the cost of providing public services to unauthorized immigrants at the state and local levels exceeds what that population pays in state and local taxes…most unauthorized immigrants are prohibited from receiving many of the benefits that the federal government provides through Social Security and such need-based programs as Food Stamps, Medicaid (other than emergency services), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.”
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/87xx/doc8711/12-6-Immigration.pdf
1B) National Council of State Legislatures data indicate that an average immigrant pays $1,800 in taxes to local, state, and federal government above what he or she “costs” in services or benefits received. NRC also notes that costs to state and local government are higher.
http://www.ncsl.org/IssuesResearch/Immigration/ImmigrantsintheWorkforce/tabid/13120/Default.aspx
2) The rescue of Social Security will require a good number of immigrants.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/why-more-immigrants-are-a_b_533347.html
3) We are facing an aging people (which is also an issue for the rest of the world), and we will have about 75-80 million retiring in about 10 years….and we will need to have a greater labor force working and from which we are collecting taxes to help support the majority that will be retired.
And as painful as it currently is with our unemployment of about 12-16 million, in the LONG-TERM we will still need to replace this 75-80 million people to remain competitive as a nation.
Great report back from another city clowncil of OC! Judging by her comments, Margie ‘White’ Rice was “steamed!” haha
Good one Gabo. Remember though – THIS “clowncil” – as fun as some of its members are to caricature – actually did the right thing.
Oh “Vern” what a twit you are!