Posted on 03/05/2005 11:29:21 AM PST by orangecountyboy
As the chair of Orange County’s Republican Party from 1984 until last year, Tom Fuentes distinguished himself by waging vindicative, sometimes bizarre campaigns against enemies real and perceived. As a trustee for the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD), Fuentes continues his GOP battle plan by launching a campaign against . . . Spain?!
Sí: España.
Fuentes unveiled his new crusade at the Feb. 28 SOCCCD Board of Trustees meeting, when he requested a discussion on Item 10 from the night’s consent calendar. The item would have allowed Saddleback College students to study abroad in Santander, Spain, during the summer. It wasn’t expected to generate much controversy; the SOCCCD board has allowed Saddleback students to learn Spanish in the Iberian country for the past 15 years.
But Fuentes shocked everyone in the audience when he began to assail his ancestral home...
(Excerpt) Read more at ocweekly.com ...
Let me guess, this latest Fuentes effort is "vindicative and bizarre" according to the Orange County Weekly.
Pulling out of Iraq was undoubtedly noble in their opinion.
"Noble" in their opinion are countries like Vietnam and China that never bothered to send troops in the first place. At least Spain with Aznar sent over soldiers--Aznar knows about terror. His successor, obviously, doesn't.
good for Mr Fuentes! If we are displeased with how Old Europe is acting, we should hit them where it hurts. not only should students offended by Spain's recent conduct not study there, but tourists likewise offended should not visit Spain either. Imagine how quickly Spain would change its tune if all those American tourist dollars stopped coming. The same goes for France.
As for students who wish to study abroad and learn Spanish, Mexico probably is not a good alternative to Spain. However, there is Costa Rica, which has a reputation for being very stable and safe as well as stunningly gorgeous. Maybe this college could set up a program there.
Lots of hot, young, well built & willing chicks in Spain, that's all I know...
Yes most likely China and Vietnam would be a cut above in this instance. Whew!
As I recall, Fuentes ran the Orange County Republican operation until he was purged by "The New Majority" (or some similar misnomer), a gaggle of wealthy RINOs who flack for the "big tent" contingent of the Orange County GOP. Tom Fuentes is well respected by Orange County conservatives who despise "The New Majority".
The California GOP is now solidly in the hands of the RINO big tent "moderates" and thus will continue to reside in the toilet on elections. The GOP cannot be competitive with these jackasses in charge.
With an opening line like this I hope this is an editorial.
I've also heard Guatemala has good Spanish-language schools, although I don't think it's particularly safe, either. Costa Rica does have a reputation as a safe haven, though.
Hopefully, more schools will start sending their kids to other countries that love freedom in Iraq. Italy, for one. Or England, protesters notwithstanding.
No, unfortunately this story isn't an editorial. Just typical "progressive" grandstanding as is wont of the free-weekly press.
Sorry folks but this is not a noble effort by Fuentes. It's petty bureaucracy. The Spanish teacher upbraided him at the Board meeting several weeks ago and this is simply spite covered with noble sounding intentions. Anyone who thinks that these bureaucrats, be they Democrat or Republican, operate on noble principle need to have their heads checked. I happen to know one of the people involved who told me by phone the bigger picture. The Board is acting childish since they allow all kinds of other programs. I bet if we looked at the website we'd find programs in China or France. By the way, the students pay the full cost for the trip, not the college district.
I'd be the first to recommend studying abroad in Italy - I did so myself in 2001 and had a wonderful time. I was there on 9/11 and was impressed with the solidarity the Italians showed towards us Americans. There were some malcontents though. The communist party sponsored several rallies in Rome that fall to protest America's war in Afghanistan. Once a group of friends and I were waiting for a bus in Rome and young Italian whose gender I could not determine (!) started yelling at us, calling us "assassini." If the Afghanistan war, which many of the anti-Iraq-war liberals I know supported, upset the Italian commies so much I can only imagine how PO'd they are now about Iraq. I hope the commie/socialist parties in Italy do not manage to gain power like they have in Spain and Portugal. It would be horrible to lose Italy as an ally.
Actually, the story says that the district approved trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, China (!), and New Zealand. And even trips to Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.
What a stupid comment. Fuentes criticism is of the present day government...not the landmass, or the nationality.
I know Tom. He's a decent man, a devout Catholic, and a patriotic American.
Thanks for all the latest and greatest breaking news from the red hot OC Weekly News OC Boy!
What'll they think of next?
The Orange County Republican Party is stagnating with RINOs. That's what happens when you try to pander to the Left.
I think you meant to say "Red OC Weekly"!
Nah, the current spineless Spanish government came to office in a gesture of surrender to terrorists who now rage unckecked there.
And yes, LA would be the best option for them.
The biggest foreign currency income for Spain is in pounds of sterling, as far as I know. The Brits just love that place and go there in hundreds of thousands.
They also love to settle there after retirement - or when they'd pinched some not so kosher money (Spain doesn't extradite them).
Yes, I saw that. Obviously this is personal issue. Fuentes does not like to be humilated in public.
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