Posted on 10/23/2006 9:45:46 AM PDT by DocFarmer
Tan Nguyen -- Fat, White, Rich, Anti-Immigrant Racist?
Written by Doc Farmer
Monday, October 23, 2006
ChronWatch.com
Well, you can certainly tell that we're getting close to an election. Claims, counterclaims, ads about a candidate's record which are called "attack" ads (gee, telling the truth is an attack?), heated arguments, high-profile congressional leaders going into hiding, photos of candidates in bed with a cigarette and a handsome farm animal (with the emphasis on the evils of smoking, apparently), etc. Folks get pretty sick of it pretty fast and, like parents in August who pray for Christmas to just get over with already, there is a wish for the peace and quiet that finally hits the airwaves on the WEDNESDAY after the first Tuesday (following the first Monday) in November.
I don't follow California politics too much, mainly because I don't live there. Thankfully. Yes, I was born there, but these days it's kind of like having a distant relative who lived in Cheese-Eating-Surrender-Monkey-Land. You're loathe to admit such a thing in public. However, there's apparently a big stink going on there because of a letter sent out to a bunch of voters. The letter, in Spanish (Okay, I think it's Spanish. It has those funny looking accents over some of the vowels, don'tchaknow) has been called racist and illegal.
The guy whose office sent the letter out, one Tan Nguyen, is a US citizen born in Vietnam -- a legal immigrant, a naturalized citizen. He's also the rep/con/tair candidate (which automatically turns him into a fat, white, rich, anti-immigrant racist) for the 47th Congressional District of California, which encompasses parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim and Fullerton. Frankly, it should have been redrawn to encompass Anaheim, Azusa and Cuc---amonga, but it is painfully obvious that these district drawers have no sense of comedic history.
Anyway, Mr. Nguyen's area has a lot of illegal aliens in it. This is Southern California we're talking about, y'know. Therefore, one of his staff drafts a letter to immigrant voters in his district. As a result, the contents have raised a major stink. Some even call it a 'scandal'.
Yet in all of the Google News searches of the reports going around, I had a hell of a time finding the actual letters themselves. Luckily, Mom taught me the fine art of tenacious research (and that was before the Internet!) so I did some further digging. Eventually, I found the letter. I'm including both versions -- the original Spanish, and the translation that was included in a Department of Justice request from some activist groups.
The Letter in Spanish (don't forget to roll your R's while you read it....)
Quote:
Saludos ----------,
Se le envia esta carta debido a que recientemente ud. fue registrado par votar. Si ud, es ciudadano de los Estados Unidos, se le ruega a que participe en el proceso democrático de la votación.
Se le avisa que si su residencia en este país es ilegal o si es emigrado, votar en una eleción federal es un delito que podrá resultar en encarcelamiento, y se será deportado por votar sin tener derecho a ello.
De la misma manera, se le avisa que el gobierno de los Estados Unidos está instalando u nuevo sistema computarizado para verificar los nombres de todos los nuevos registrados que voten en las elecciones de octubre y noviembre. Organizaciones en contra de la emigraciónes en contra de la emigración podrán pedir información de este nuevo sistema computarizado.
No cómo en México, aqui no se aporta ningún incentivo para votar. En los Estados Unidos no hay tarjeta de registro para votar. Por lo tanto, es inútil y peligroso votar en qualquier elecció si ud. No es cuidadano de los Estados Unidos.
No le haga caso a ningún politico que le diga lo contrario. Éstos sólo velan por sus propios intereses. Sólo quieren ganar las elecciónes, sin importarles en lo más minimo qué le pase a ud.
Atte.
Sergio Ramirez
http://www.theliberaloc.com/pdf/theletter.pdf
The Translation Into English (don't forget to move your lips while you read it....)
Quote:
Dear ----------,
You are receiving this letter because you have recently registered to vote. If you are a U.S. Citizen, I urge you to participate in the democratic process of voting.
Be advised that if your residence in the United States is illegal or if you are an emigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that can result in incarceration, and possible deportation for voting without the right to do so.
In the same way, be advised that the U.S. government is installing a new computerized system to verify names of all the newly registered voters who participate in the elections in October and November. Organizations against immigration will be able to request information from this new computerized system.
Not like in Mexico, here there is no benefit to voting. In the United States there is no registration card to vote. Therefore, it is useless and dangerous to vote in any election if you are not a citizen of the United States.
Do not pay attention to a politician who may try to tell you otherwise. They only care about their own interests. They just want to win elections and it doesn't matter to them what happens to you.
Sincerely,
Sergio Ramirez
http://www.theliberaloc.com/pdf/theletterenglish.pdf
Okay, where's the part of this letter that is illegal? What statements were made that were racist? Why is the rep/con/tair leadership in California condemning it? I was going to ask "why are the lib/dem/soc/commies complaining about it?" but we already know the answer to that -- they complain about EVERYTHING.
Let's be clear on something. The letter is correct. It encourages people who are citizens to vote. It discourages people who are NOT citizens from voting. Why? Because if you're an illegal alien, trying to vote is (Shock! Horror!) against the law. If you're a legal resident but not a citizen, trying to vote is against the law. As to the claim that the letter is racist and threatening, what "race" is an illegal alien? Mexican is not a race. Salvadoran is not a race. Costa Rican is not a race. These are nationalities. I don't care what color their skin is, I don't care what language they speak -- if they're not OUR citizens, they have no business voting in OUR elections.
Despite that, somehow or other, the lib/dem/soc/commies have turned this situation into a controversy. This, from the party who thinks that EVERYBODY should have the right to participate in our elections and the right to vote. Convicted felons, illegal aliens, Buddhist nuns, dead people, fictional characters, dogs and cats, house plants, etc. But along comes an immigrant -- a man who as a boy came to America with next to nothing, became a citizen, and had the desire and drive to serve his country by representing his neighborhood in Washington, DC -- and suddenly, he's a racist and an anti-immigrant and a lawbreaker. When he is none of those things. He has broken no laws I've ever heard of. He's an immigrant himself -- one of the LEGAL ones. He is certainly no racist in positing the notion that folks who are here from another country (legally or otherwise) who are not citizens of this nation would break the law by trying to vote.
Yet even the GOP in California is demanding he quit the race. Despite the fact that Mr. Nguyen did not write the letter himself, and has since fired the staffer who did. Also despite the fact that the letter is correct.
It's truly a pity that the party bosses in California don't have the conviction or the courage to support their own candidate. In fact, it is rather pathetic to think that these idiots are what pass for leaders in the Republican Party.
There was a time when rep/con/tairs in California were actually brave enough to do the right thing. To vote their conscience. To put forward the notion that it was the country before the party, the law before petty politics. To say what they mean, and mean what they say.
Thankfully, there still are a few of them left in the Golden State. One of them is Tan Nguyen.
~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~
Oh, just one more thing. Perhaps you should take a look at the groups who have sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding an investigation of this letter. It may give you a bit of an insight as to whether this request (and indeed this entire 'scandal') is genuine and legitimate, or just more political male bovine excrement.
American Latino Voter Education Fund
Art Montez, President, Centralia School Board
Asian American Justice Center (AAJC)
Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC)
Benny Diaz (recipient of letter)
California Utilities Diversity Council
Latino Health Access
Latino Journal
League of United Latin American Citizens, California Council
League of United Latin American Citizens, California District 7
League of United Latin American Citizens Foundation, Orange County
League of United Latin American Citizens, Garden Grove Council
League of United Latin American Citizens, Orange County, District 2
League of United Latin American Citizens, San Benito County Council #2890
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
National League of United Latin American Citizens
Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
People for the American Way Foundation
Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project (SVREP)
U. S. Representative Loretta Sanchez
~~~~~oo0oo~~~~~
About the Writer: Doc Farmer is a writer and humorist who is also a moderator on ChronWatch's Forum. He formerly lived in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but now resides in the Midwest. Doc receives e-mail at docfarmer9999@yahoo.co.uk .
This Article Was First Published In ChronWatch At: http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=24511
Last night on the news he made the statement "hell no, I'm not going to quit over this" I like his fighting spirit. Hope he rides this out, over the fiddling of the local GOP party leaders *shmucks*
I can't believe that Ah-nuld gave this guy hell! Uh, isn't HE an immigrant too?
Wow, it was dead when I tried it 2 hours ago (CDT). I'll try his office number as well. Thanks!
I don't doubt that he may be on the razors edge. I just hope he hangs on. He was looking pretty fierce last night :)
Could somebody explain to me what is going on with the software here? I've put in a number of topics and they all disappear (plus you can only put in four at a time). Now a whole bunch of them are gone from the topics list. And how did this end up in the blogger category, when it's a news item and an election issue? Also, it appears that this thread is the ONLY one covering the Tan Nguyen situation (unless I did the search wrong, which is entirely possible).
You mean the great Girly-Man in Sacramento who called the letter "hate speech?" No, it couldn't possibly be our "Republican" Governor Schwarzen-Kennedy could it? It shows what this Malibu RINO's really made of. Unfortunately he's the only choice we California Republicans have at the moment.
*grits teeth*
What is really sickening is the Governor who is supposedly a Republican called this letter a "hate crime". The entire Orange County Republican Party office went against this guy because he defeated their GOP canddate during the primary.
What the California Secretary of State do is explain why he requires only the "four" digits of the social security number as a proof of citizenship - otherwise you can register to vote.
Mr Secretary why not require the entire "social secuity number". Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
bttt
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