Sean Mill and I attended the O.C. Hispanic Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) dinner tonight, over at the Anaheim Hilton. We had a great time saluting the fine teachers and students who were honored.
Two young ladies spoke about their experiences coming out of Santa Ana High Schools and ending up at the Boalt School of Law at U.C. Berkeley. And they are both Mexican immigrants!
With that in mind, I was astounded to hear that Santa Ana Councilman Carlos “Space Commander” Bustamante was there. (The Space Commander is pictures above with two anti-Mexican Republicans who inexplicably removed the U.S. flag, via Photoshop, from the background). He supposedly told Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido to force Councilman David “Benapuppet” Benavides to withdraw a resolution in support of the Dream Act, which would have given immigrant children who graduate from our high schools the opportunity to access higher education, as did the two young ladies I referenced earlier.
Why would Bustamante even show his face at the HEEF dinner? Who the heck is he kidding? We all know how he really feels about immigrant children.
On top of that, Anaheim Union High School District Trustee Thomas Holguin was there too. You might recall that Holguin pretty much tanked his political career this year when he appointed the infamous anti-Mexican Harald Martin to the AUHSD board, after one of the Trustees suddenly died. Holguin, who like Bustamante is a Republican, is said to be very anti-immigrant. Why would he show up at the HEEF dinner?
Fortunately there were many good people there too, such as State Senator Lou Correa, Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, and former Santa Ana Councilman John Acosta. North Orange County Community College District Trustees Manny Ontiveros and Mike Matsuda were there too. There were many other decent politicians there as well. And many commissioners, such as Santa Ana Planning Commissioner Mike Munoz, Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commissioner Tish Leon, and Santa Ana Human Relations Commissioners Valerie Amezcua, Lynette Verino and Cecilia Aguinaga.
I was amazed at how many people came up to me and Sean and wished us well. It is incredible how many Orange Juice fans are out there! We are most appreciative of the support for this blog. I know that Sean and I were thrilled to be there and we were very impressed by the young people and teachers who were honored. I was particularly pleased to see so many young Latinos and Latinas who are on the path to success and leadership. I hope they stay in Orange County when they finish school. They are tomorrow’s community and civic leaders.
art the dream act is for ILLEGAL CHILDREN NOT immigrants .. you always leave out that word when trying to make a issue of something . it changes the hole conversation . like your anti citizens since you support ILLEGALS .=See how one word can turn things around . the dream act will never pass it rewards ILLEGAL KIDS OVER legal kids and that is not right .
Why do you keep ridiculing Bustamante’s military service? What’s the closest Art Pedroza ever got to serving our country in uniform? Reading a Sgt. Rock comic?
At least Carlos Bustamante gave a few years of his life to serving the USA in uniform. That alone is worht more than slacker Pedroza’s keybaord heroics.
Poster 2,
Give me a break. Many of my family members have served honorably in the U.S. armed forces, including my uncle and one of his sons.
Carlos did not last long in the military, by his own admission. Why is that?
Regardless, he is a waste of time today. And you can make fun of my work on this blog, but the Orange Juice is having a major impact…even as Carlos is starting to lose it as he stares at an impending loss next year in his reelection race.
If you thought the Space Commander tanked last year as a Supervisorial candidate, wait until next year. He is going to implode now that the voters know he is a Bush Republican who disdains immigrants.
I noticed that the Space Commander was there too. Actually, didn’t Dr. Lara mention his name and ask him to stand?
And if I could throw in a plug for Dr. Lara for getting us out of there on time! Yay! It was a Friday night, and he had the decency to keep the dinner and awards running on schedule.
acosta is not a good person. Do you know what he did to his ex-wife. He dumped her and left her penniless. True story. ask around.
Carlos did not last long in the military, by his own admission. Why is that?
However long it was, it’s more than the 0 days you’ve served in uniform. Criticize Bustamante all you want for his actions as a councilman, but your ridiculing of his military service is sleazy not funny, and the only person it makes look bad is you.
Poster 6,
Actually, it costs the U.S. a lot of money to train young men only to have them leave after one term in the military.
And your point that anyone who has not served in the military is somehow unworthy to serve as a community leader is just plain stupid.
We all serve our community in different ways. I have served on the boards of many non-profits and city commissions. I have volunteered as well. In fact for the last three years I have led an effort to paint homes that house orphans, for a non-profit here in Orange County. I don’t like to brag about my community service, but suffice to say it stands up well to anything that the Space Commander has done.
The reason by the way that I poke fun at Carlos in this fashion is that every time I run into the guy he launches into a spiel about his time in the Space Command. Give it a rest Carlos! How long ago was that? Does he keep bringing up the past because he has been such a waste of time ever since?
Carlos is not long for the City Council, because he consistently votes against the interests of the people of Santa Ana, while he stuffs his campaign account with ill-gotten money from shady business interests.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, because it tolls for the Space Commander…
Art, how do you know who photo-shopped out the American flag. If, in fact, it was an elected official or member of his staff, that is a serious issue. Please let us know the facts behind your assertion immediately.
Seriously, Art, if that was a throw-away dig at those two, you need to correct it immediately.
Rob,
Here is the link: http://www.carlosbustamante.com/images/carlos18.jpg
Go see for yourself. It comes right from Carlos Bustamante’s website.
Sean,
Thanks. Unfortunately, the pretty plain reading of Art’s post states, not implies, that the “two anti-Mexican Republicans” who were WITH Bustamante “inexplicably removed the U.S. flag, via Photoshop, from the background”.
That is just plain sloppy and really disngenuous. However you may feel about either politician, attributing something as incendiary as the deliberate removal of the American flag without any shred of proof whatsoever is just plain dumb.
If you want to be taken seriously, I’d suggest sticking to the facts.