Garden Grove Mayor: Broadwater Checks Out of Polite Society with Vicious, False, and Dangerous Attack on Bao

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OJB is with Bao. What Bruce Broadwater is doing with the ad below is revolting — and an insult to the Vietnamese community.  Calling a Vietnamese official in OC a communist is about as low as calling the Mayor of Garden Grove a child molester.  (Both are untrue, by the way.)  This is the sort of scurrilous allegation that could literally threaten Bao’s health and safety — all it takes is one lone nut who takes it seriously and wants to make a point.  But Broadwater doesn’t care about that any more than he cares about Garden Grove’s anti-conflict of interest laws — that is, not at all.  Like Bao, they just get in the way of what he wants.

First, read what one of Bao’s supporters has to say about the mailer itself (to which OJB has added its own bottom banner, just to fill out the space):

Bao Nguyen red-baiting attack ad with BB head

Remember, the bottom banner was NOT part of the original Broadwater mailer. It just might as well have been.

“THIS IS NOT OK! Whether you are a resident of Garden Grove or not, please take notice. This Vietnamese-language mailer was sent out by current Mayor Bruce Broadwater in a desperate attempt to slander and red-bait Mayoral candidate, BAO NGUYEN. As a friend of Bao and a 2nd generation Vietnamese-American contributing to my local community, it greatly upsets and angers me that Broadwater would disseminate lies that are both disrespectful, nasty and low – the epitome of the tired, scummy circus politics that keep citizens from caring about OUR voice in the first place. chụp mũ – that’s what this is. THIS IS NOT OK. This is the translation of his Vietnamese mailer which incorrectly quotes Bao and takes his statements out of context:

“First page:

“- Propagate and praise Communists!
“- Fight for the interests of those who provoke and insult the Community!
“- Abuse official title to attack and divide the Community!

“Second page:

“Bao Nguyen energetically FIGHTS FOR THE INTEREST OF THOSE WHO WORSHIP COMMUNISTS and THE BLOOD FLAG. Bao Nguyen gravely criticizes the Vietnamese refugee community. Bao Nguyen has propagated and praised Vietnamese Communists as having more freedom than America today! Responding to an interview after a recent trip to Vietnam, Bao Nguyen propagates, VIETNAM IS AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL; BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE; BEAUTIFUL SCENERY; AND DELICIOUS FOOD. THERE’S NOTHING TO FEAR IN VIETNAM, “I FELT [IN VIETNAM] A SENSE OF FREEDOM THAT I DON’T HAVE HERE [AMERICA].”

“LOW. UGLY. DESPERATE. DIRTY. Broadwater invests his dollars into slander.”

“Even OC Weekly’s Charles Lam thinks it is absurb.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2014/10/bruce_broadwater_bao_nguyen_attack_ad.php

“THIS IS NOT OK. We have a voice. Show it at the polls. VOTE FOR BAO. Get racist Bruce Broadwater out. [please share and re-post]”

Now that’s bad enough.  The worse thing about the attack is that it may be working.  Here’s what Bao had to say today:

“Recently, the incumbent mayor targeted Vietnamese voters with a mailer, attempting to defame me with accusation of being a ‘communist-worshipping propagandist.’ Redbaiting tactics are common in Orange County politics, especially where Vietnamese voters are influential in elections. The motive is to divide the Vietnamese electorate with lies about me and my family. His attack is dirty and attempts to detract from the real reforms we need to make in our city.

I tested the mailer on a Vietnamese person who knows nothing about me. And she thought those were actual news clippings and she believed I was a communist. It was hard to try to convince her that those weren’t actual news clippings. She would not change her mind. And she could not recognize nor understand the difference between the editorialized print from the actual quotes. This is why and how this tactic works: By painting the target as the community’s worst enemy.

“We must not allow others to inflict pain upon our community for political gain. This is an attempt to detract from my message of reform and transparency. I am the son of a boat person and born in a refugee camp to escape the very oppressor Broadwater is now labeling me. This attack is not only against me but against our community by instilling fear and hindering progress.

“With less than two weeks left until Election Day, I need your support more than ever. We have a final event scheduled for this Saturday, October 24th, at The Globe on Main Street (detailed invite below).  I hope that you and can join us. Contributions are not mandatory to attend, but greatly appreciated. Together, we can bring new leadership to City Hall and change the culture of corruption.  I hope to see you on Saturday.”

(That boldface comes from OJB.)  We won’t to link to Bao’s fundraiser invitation — but we will link to his campaign website, which has a link to it on Facebook. What you all post in comments is your own business.


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)