The Arrogance Of Ted Lieu

With a week to go before the general election, it looks like California Democratic state representative Ted Lieu will win the U.S. House seat of retiring Congressman Henry Waxman. Recent polls show he has a 17 point lead over Republican candidate Elan Carr. With a congressional district that draws heavily from the limousine liberals of the Westside and beach communities, the outcome of this campaign isn't really a surprise.

However Ted's arrogance during this election cycle is especially annoying. He has already dismissed Mr. Carr as a viable opponent. He has already met with Congressional insiders in Washington to discuss his role after the election. He is already talking about this seat as if it is a lifetime appointment. He tells the newspaper that he told his wife, "If we win in November, my first priority is to live as long as I can. Congress is like the military--it's just pure seniority." So Ted not only has brushed off the candidacy of Mr. Carr, he has already carved his name into his presumed office door on Capitol Hill.  He is so audacious that he doesn't for a second believe there could be another candidate who could successfully vie for the Congressional seat, maybe as early as 2016.

You would think that since Ted is having such an easy time cruising toward his victory party he would be more bold and daring with his ideas. But once again, he proves to us how vacuous his so called leadership will be when he ascends to the Hill. He has already parroted Mr. Waxman's position that his number one priority will be passing environmental laws, particularly cap and trade legislation to decrease emission of greenhouse gases.

Really Ted? You think that's what your constituents in Los Angeles are most worried about? What are you going to do about illegal immigrants flooding our borders and using up our limited resources in schools and hospitals? How do you plan to make healthcare affordable when Obamacare subsidies begin to dry up? What should the U.S. do about Ebola? ISIS? Russia? How do you plan to raise the standard of living of thousands of your constituents without using the job killing gimmick of raising the minimum wage? Are you going to keep pushing for a bullet train to nowhere even though most Californians now oppose its construction now that we have realized what a white elephant Gov. Jerry Brown's pet project has become? How are you going to fix the public pension crisis that is bankrupting cities all over California? There are so many issues that are of more immediate concern to the average voter yet he professes he will go to the Hill and legislate climate change. What an out of touch Democratic idiot.

It's too bad Mr. Carr declined to be interviewed by the local newspaper because it has decided to endorse Ted. If only voters knew more about him, I think his mature leadership as a former prosecutor would have given people a clear choice about who to vote for. It seems that the more we know about Ted, the more diminished he becomes.

Madison Bumgarner's Racist Move

Madison Bumgarner is
a. The San Francisco Giant's ace starting pitcher
b. A binge drinking alcoholic
c. A racist?

Anybody who was watching the first game of the National League Championship Series in St. Louis last weekend will surely remember the seventh inning. At a crucial juncture of the game, St. Louis Cardinal Kolten Wong hit a short ball into the infield. Bumgarner then received the ball from the first baseman and raced down Wong to first base to tag him out. But instead of the usual tap with his glove, Madbum practically body checked Wong and pushed him off his running path. It looked more like a football tackle than a baseball tag. The move was so flagrant that the Cardinals's coach asked for a review by the umpires, who inexplicably confirmed the out despite the interference with the base runner.

I can't help but wonder if Madbum pulled this stunt because he is a huge hulking white guy who thought he could get away with pushing around a smaller Asian American player. Bumgarner is 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds according to his bio on MLB. By comparison Wong is a relatively diminutive 5' 9" and 185 lb. Would Bumgarner have contemplated pulling the same stunt against somebody like the Cardinals's first baseman Matt Adams, who is 6' 3" and 260 lb? I bet he wouldn't dare. Adams would probably have body checked him right back and sent him sprawling back to the pitcher's mound before allowing somebody as uncouth as Bumgarner, not to mention dishonest, to push him around like that.

But Wong didn't do himself any favors by meekly accepting the ump's bad call. In the usual Asian American fashion, he quietly accepted their verdict without so much as a protest, thereby confirming to everybody that he too thought he was out instead of being illegally shoved aside. Again I bet Matt Adams wouldn't have been so agreeable when somebody so obviously attacks you like that during play.

Of course Kolten was the hero the next day in Game 2 of the NLCS when he hit the game winning home run in the top of the 9th inning. Maybe it's just karma that helped him deliver that powerful swing to tie the series. Go Kolten!

Ted Lieu, The Airheaded Reactionary

California State Senator Ted Lieu has just been shown to be the empty headed reactionary politician that he really is. The California Supreme Court has disallowed his proposal from being placed on the ballot for the November election. The senator, who is running to replace long time U.S. Representative Henry Waxman on the Westside, wanted to put Proposition 49 in the state general election. Prop 49 would merely ask California voters whether they approved or disapproved of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing businesses to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign donations. That is probably the most populist and vacuous proposal ever granted a place in California elections.

The CA Supreme Court rightly stated that California's proposition system allows voters to directly decide new laws of the land, since our state representatives are too cowardly to make any laws on their own that might be deemed controversial ie/ Prop 8. It is not there for any Tom, Dick, or Harriet to put up bogus statements simply for grandstanding. Even California's governor disapproved of this nonsense. Said Gov. Jerry Brown, "we should not make it a habit to clutter our ballots with nonbonding measures, as citizens rightfully assume that their votes are meant to have legal effect."

Of course none of this is a surprise for anybody who has followed Mr. Lieu's career. He has trademarked the qualities of being a politician who has no personal convictions, somebody who uses his position as a lawmaker to make up whatever bills he deems popular at the moment that will bring him votes. Remember his anti-swatting bill from last year? At the time there was a rash of celebrities getting prank calls to 911 and having a platoon of emergency vehicles show up at their front doorsteps. Mr. Lieu, sensing an opportunity to curry favor with Hollywood and getting his face in front of the cameras, wrote this bill to increase criminal penalties of anyone caught swatting. Ironically, his own residence was swatted shortly after he introduce this bill. Of course it was another one of those faddish activities like the Harlem Shake that people got tired of quickly and nobody bothered with a short time later. Mr. Lieu's bill just prolonged the publicity these stunts craved and helped it gain more life than it otherwise would have.

While Mr. Lieu is the favorite to win his election in November, since he is the Democrat running in a heavily Democratic district, the voters should know what kind of person they are getting. He has already shown his jelly spine to the Asian American communities who used to support him strongly until he stabbed them in the back by supporting affirmative action for University of California student admissions. I have no doubt that he will do the same thing in the future to any future constituent if he thinks he can get more votes or publicity by supporting a cause that runs directly against his voters' wills. Caveat emptor.

Is Global Warming Pessimism A White Man's Conspiracy?

The Los Angeles Times has another story about man's destruction of nature leading to global warming, or now called under the PC label, climate change. The paper's article uses a chart compiled by the National Weather Service to point out that 2014 had the hottest January through July of any year ever recorded in California. They highlight that singular peak way over on the right hand side, with an average temperature of 60.2 F this year. That compares with an average temperature of 57 F in the past century.

What I find more profound was how cold California has been since 1900. While the Times wants to look at only the red bars from the last twenty years, it appears to me that about 80% of the time, the state has been running below, way below, the mean temperature of 57 F. In fact, in the mid 1950's, the state's average temperature dropped to 53 F, four degrees below the mean. That makes it the polar opposite (pun intended) of today's climate which is only three degrees above the mean. Yet I don't think there were screaming headlines sixty years ago about the need to reform the world economies to compensate for the cold weather they were experiencing.

I have a theory about why that is. Is it because white people, who control the major political parties and media companies of the developed world, like cold temperatures? Most of the WASPs who hold the levers of power came from northern European climes, and thus prefer frigid cold temperatures. Look at any ski slope during winter. Virtually every face up there is as white as the snow they are standing on. Who hold stupid polar bear swim meets in the dead of winter? White people. The rest of us brown people are shivering our asses off and looking at these pinkish white idiots incredulously.

We brown people love warm climates. My father used to wear long sleeve flannel shirts in mid summer during the hottest days of Missouri. Town folks used to think he was crazy. It is 95 F outside with 90% humidity but he was driving around town in long sleeves and no air conditioning. In the meantime, white people were dying by the hundred every summer from heat stroke. But when the seasons changed, we would have on our thick jackets and gloves at the slightest chill while Caucasians were still running around in T-shirts and shorts. Most non Caucasians come from warmer countries. We love our days warm and nights cold. Who wants to walk around wearing a sweater in August like they do in Seattle or London?

So maybe this whole notion that the world is about to end because of global warming is another way for white people to stay in control. They don't like warm temperatures so they are demanding that developing countries, who are mostly of browner complexion, curb their industrialization to decrease the release of greenhouse gasses. This of course will slow down their economies and keep the developed countries superior, who just happen to be mostly run by Caucasians.

Marijuana Vs. Gay Marriage. Liberalism's Conundrum

This week the New York Times is publishing a lengthy editorial on why the regulation of marijuana should be taken out of the federal government's jurisdiction and handed over to the states. They note that marijuana is legal in one form or another in 37 states. They can be used as everything from "medicinal" purposes with a doctor's prescription all the way up to free-for-all recreational use in the states of Colorado and Washington. The NYT ridicules the Drug Enforcement Agency's classification of marijuana as a Schedule One substance, as dangerous as heroin or LSD with no known medical use.

The paper wants to decriminalize the sale and use of marijuana by the U.S. by allowing the individual states to decide for themselves how pot should be regulated. They obviously see the hypocrisy in their position by noting the difference between marijuana and other liberal ideologies. Says the Times, "Consuming marijuana is not a fundamental right that should be imposed on the states by the federal government, in the manner of abortion rights, health insurance, or the freedom to marry a partner of either sex." They go on to restate a mantra conservatives have been making about the right to decide whether gay marriage should be allowed, "(Marijuana legalization) is a choice that states should be allowed to make based on their culture and their values."

Since when did the Times rediscover states' rights? Gay marriage has been banned in 31 states by their citizens and their state representatives. Some of these laws are even enshrined in their states' constitutions. Yet the federal judiciary has been slowly dismantling the states' rights to self determination one court district at a time. The NYT have been one of the loudest proponents of this destructive fiat by unelected officials. Yet when it comes to drug use, suddenly the states have the right to decide which of their citizens can get a legal high? Last time I checked, marriage is actually an official function of the state government, "By the power invested in me by the state of X, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Marriage is not mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution but that hasn't stopped the third branch of government from imposing its values on the general population. Meanwhile drugs are clearly regulated by federal laws. Otherwise this country will have fifty different rules for drug manufacturing and distribution. Yet we should make an exemption for pot?

The problem with labeling something as a universal right, like their classification of gay marriage, is that universal rights mean different things to different people. Homosexuals may believe that same sex marriage is a universal right, but more than half the American population would disagree. I would bet that more people believe owning guns is a universal right than believe in gay marriage. And possessing a gun is actually something that is specifically written in the U.S. Constitution, not any of the other "rights" the Times lists as universally desirable. Yet the Times would be the first to sign on the dotted line if it ever has a chance to repeal the Second Amendment.

So come on New York Times. Try to stay consistent with your message. You say citizens should have a say in how they are governed, but only if it conforms to your liberal viewpoints. If they prefer a less progressive state, then somehow they need to be educated about what is right or wrong by the feds. That kind of condescension is what makes people suspicious of liberal motives. At least conservatives in general are consistent with their opinions. Individuals are allowed to decide for themselves how they are to be governed. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Conservatives don't deviate from this principle based on the subject at hand. If the citizens of the states have the right to decide how they want to deal with marijuana drug laws, then they should have the right to determine how they should live with all state laws that aren't superseded by the U.S. Constitution.

My Asian Privilege

There's been a lot of talk lately about white privilege. However, race privilege is not confined to white people alone. While minorities like to bemoan their lack of white privilege they too have qualities that only white people can dream of. Here is a list of my Asian privileges that makes me superior to white people.

Asians are rarely suspected of being criminals. When I go to L.A. International Airport, I am usually allowed to breeze my car right by the security stand at the entrance to the facility. I have never been asked to drive to the side to open the trunk of the car. Passing through the TSA is also effortless. Though we have to remove our belts and shoes like everybody else, the TSA agents couldn't be more bored when they see an Chinese-American family walk through. East Asians couldn't possibly be terrorists, right?

We Asians are also very unthreatening. When I walk down the sidewalk at night, no woman is clutching her purse tighter to her body. No one is turning around to see if I am following them. The police car cruises by without giving me a second look. At the mall, no security guard or camera is focusing his attention on me as I browse through the shops. In essence I turn into the tall blond white guy with the preppy shirt and chino pants that couldn't possibly be out ready to commit a crime.

When I walk into a room, people instinctively assume that I am smart. While some Asian Americans consider this an offensive stereotype, I personally consider it a compliment. I would rather strangers think I am smart than not.

Yet, Asian Americans are also frequently mistaken for being illiterate in English, even if we have advanced postgraduate degrees from Ivy League universities. While that may not sound like a privilege, one can use that ignorance to his best advantage. When I get phone calls during dinner time trying to sell me something or asking me to vote for a certain candidate for the next election, just for fun I just start talking in Chinese and pretend I don't know what the caller is trying to say. This usually results in an awkward silence on the other end then a quick dial tone. Ha, the joke is on them.

Asian Americans are also privileged to know where the best ethnic restaurants in town are. Through a tight network of Chinese American friends, the best Chinese restaurants are frequently discovered and the information propagated. This informal structure can't even be replicated on rating sites like Yelp. In the meantime, white people think the best Chinese restaurant in town is the local P.F. Chang, or worse, Panda Express.

Most of us Chinese Americans are shorter than the average white American. While this may not sound like a privilege, it does produce certain advantages. In an airplane's ever tighter seating arrangements, I can still sit in my seat without bumping my knees up against the back of the chair in front of me. I can also lower the tray table without having to suck in my gut, not that I have one since Asians are all thin anyway, correct? At the movie theater I don't have to worry about squeezing down the rows of seats or accidentally bumping the one in front of me with my giant boats for feet. I can even comfortably cross my legs without hitting my foot or knee on the person's head in front.

Finally, Asians always look young for their ages. In a country where youth is so highly prized and billions of dollars are spent on drugs and surgery to look younger, my naturally youthful skin tone is a major privilege. Asians are infamous for looking years, sometimes decades, younger than their real ages. Asian women can be deceivingly girlish looking, especially in the eyes of other races.

So there you have my list of some of the privileges Asians enjoy over other races. Why should privilege be the domain of white people alone? Every race has its advantages and disadvantages. If white people want to trumpet theirs, we can certainly publicize ours. We should be proud and proclaim loudly we are the smartest, youngest looking, safest race in America. That's a privilege we should never apologize for.

Is Being Racist The Worst Crime In America?

Poor Donald Sterling. The owner of the LA Clippers was banned for life from being involved in the NBA after being recorded making racist comments to his girlfriend. Now he is trying to sue the league to retain ownership of his team. Unfortunately for him, it appears that no major law firm is willing to attach itself to this controversy.

Has being a racist in America become so toxic that not even a billionaire with nearly endless resources can find legal representation? While being a racist itself is not a crime, apparently having been stigmatized as one is worse than almost any other atrocity. None of the law firms wanted to be tainted with defending a racist as it might upset their African American and corporate clients.

For instance, murderers almost always get some sort of legal assistance in the courts, unless the accused refuses any. OJ Simpson had A-list celebrity lawyers on his side of the court bench for years during his trial. Music producer Phil Specter also didn't have any trouble finding an attorney to defend him in his murder trial. Seems like none of these lawyers were afraid of how these cases might have affected their reputations with white clients or musicians.

Confessed drug use is also not a crime so heinous that people can lose their jobs. Both Presidents Clinton and Obama have confessed to smoking marijuana during their youths yet they were elected to the highest public office in the country. Most infamously, former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry was convicted of using crack cocaine yet is still working in public office on the Washington City Council.

Child molestation, like racism, is also highly frowned upon in this country. However that didn't prevent one of the most famous child molesters of all time, Roman Polanski, from winning an Academy Award for Best Director in a vote by his directing peers.

What about infidelity? Everybody's doing it so it can't be that bad, can it?

Even 9/11 terrorist suspects can find lawyers to defend them in court.

Being a racist in America is so bad that Shelly Sterling would rather have people think her husband is demented than to consider him a bigot.

So yes, being outed as a racist in this country is probably the worst thing that can befall an individual. Unless it is being called a right wing conservative. Then you don't even get a voice in public at all.