Too Late for Little Saigon

Comments

1. Having moved from the Bay Area, I like to read the news over the internet just to see what’s going on in my old stomping grounds. I don’t usually “write comments,” I just read a lot. I’m not sure if this is an editorial column, but it’s written from a NEWS persepective, and I found it to be interesting. I grew up in San Jose, and the Council’s antics have always provided a degree of amusement. Anyway, I was reading what I thought was NEWS, and it was interesting. Then I read the very last sentence: A complete OPINION. That discredits the very story, and Vu-Duc Vuong loses all credibility of his/her (?) telling of this story. I don’t know if there’s a “fanatic fringe,” and frankly, this issue doesn’t interest me. We probably AGREE, actually, but I just can’t trust a “news source” as being unbiased after such a strong opinion. So goes the slant of the entire story, and credibility is lost. For shame, because the author is a TEACHER??? Wow, I learned the difference between an EDITORIAL and a NEWS report in high school. It doesn’t matter, really, if this IS an editorial column in the AsianWeek or not - it’s written as a NEWS story. And it doesn’t matter if I have “no business” reading an “Asian Week” story. It came to MY computer. I DO have an opinion, and here it is: I (at first) didn’t really HAVE an opinon! However, having grown up in San Jose, I have seen the “melting pot” effect and because I have an “opinion” I suppose the only legit “response” would be to call me a racist. I don’t care, really. I can only IMAGINE going to Vietnam and trying to force MY agenda down THEIR throats. Turnabout, fair play. If you want to live in “Little Saigon,” then the real deal exists - don’t let the door hit you on the way out. This is SAN JOSE, and even as you clamor for your “name” you are depriving the Mexicans of THEIR name. Has the Chavez crowd realized they have a new potential “cause?” I’m tired of all the various groups that feel a need to rename various parts of the country. I didn’t serve in the military for “Little Saigon,” and I don’t much care for people who leave THEIR country and go to an ESTABLISHED country with a set government and try to instill their prior culture. And don’t give me the “white man did it here” stupidity. That’s tired. It’s a sad excuse, and I’m 50% native american and 50% “import” myself. So I actually can make an argument either way. The fact is, Europeans didn’t come here to a functioning government and try to chisel away. They came, and they didn’t try to weasel their way in. They fought, died and lost. If you want to rename it “Little Saigon,” then put your fighting clothes on, come with a vengeance, take it over and plant your flag. Unless and until, act like grateful IMMIGRANTS, never forgetting that you LEFT your precious “saigon” for one reason or another. If the name is that important, stay and fight for it - and your culture. Funny how the “Brown Act” and demonstrations on “Black Tuesdays” are being enacted by the…. never mind. Have your community… be grateful you were INVITED… Not many other places would invite you, and fewer still would even entertain the notion of you coming over and renaming their communities. But Americans as a whole have allowed themselves to be castrated in the name of being “politically correct.” If there IS a “fanatic fringe” of this community, they should be reminded of their manners and should show some gratitude. How easy was it to protest in the “real” Saigon? If it wasn’t all that grand, why rename a land someone else occupied? Are your guests THAT polite, or are YOU that rude? Again, spill some blood, take some lives - and THEN you can name it whatever the hell you want! I LEFT Kalifornia because of crap like this. Too many species in a small fish tank - Hell, DARWIN gets it. Incompatible immigrants will end up being bloated on their freedom and forget what it is they left… It is probably the same “fanatics” who made their country of origin so screwed up they had to leave. It’s like going from a smelly bathroom to a clean one and then fouling the air. Flush, for God’s sake. Display a little common decency and realize it’s not all about you. People came over and fought HONESTLY and without agenda. They didn’t try to weasel their way past the native americans. Sneaky rodents, no! So if you must expell your gasses, do so in the quiet of your own pants, in your own room in your own house. Hang a sign in your room, if you wish to pretend your “homeland” and culture are so great you wish you never fled. Conversely, grow a pair and show up in your “stretch” of San Jose and if you can secure it - you can plant your flag and call it Viet-whatever. You’ll have MY respect. I am sitting back, because you fools don’t seem to get it… All this multiculturalism has not, nor will it EVER work. You’ll piss off the Mexicans, they’ll start protesting, then Jesse and Al will show up because they always feel THEY are the true victims - there will be riots (guess who will be doing the looting?) Then the quiet pockets of immigrants who settle in and work to enjoy life will scratch their heads and wonder, was it WORTH it? Hard-working immigrants everywhere are trying to figure out if you people with a cause are bored, or just plain lazy with too much idle time on your hands. Are you starting with the “easy” victim? Kalifornia? Don’t have the gonads to go to, say…. ALABAMA and try to “invent” a “little Saigon” in the middle of… say, DECATUR? Or is it part of a deeper agenda to try and re-create what you couldn’t control wherever it is you came from? See, I don’t want people “renaming” the USofA unless you do so with more honor than the Founding Fathers - no agenda. And when they realized they LEFT the land of silly wigs, they adapted to the cowboy hats - and WESTERN CULTURE was born. Now, if you ENJOY said culture - thank an Indian for their failed stands and a European with colonial descent for their victory.
   Now let that boiling blood and elevated pressure cause you to lament on my “clear racism.” Whatever. You people can’t get along with each other, (you people, meaning IMMIGRANTS) and I don’t have a problem grouping - it’s something we learn with shapes and sizes in kindergarten. Whoever doesn’t group or otherwise stereotype is a liar. We all do - it’s an inherent part of surviving (being able to make a quick decision based on past experience and recognition). I know I could “edit this down,” but the beauty of the internet (or any writing) is that you made a CHOICE to read this far. I read about your trials and tribulations as you suffer this great country that opened its doors to you even as you set about trying to rename it… because you segregated yourselves into a little community instead of integrating…

   –montgomery on Mar 18, 2008

2. The only reason the Confederate flag was placed over the SC State House was to commemorate their war dead during the Centennial of the War Between the States. Nothing more!

   –Arnold on Mar 18, 2008

3. Quote from article:

   The action reeked of the way die-hard politicians in the South still insist on flying the Confederate flag over their statehouses a century and a half after the end of the Civil War.

   *************

   So does this mean after a “century and half” that the “vietAM” community will do us a favor and become obsolete, as well? What, pray tell, IS your “integration” schedule, or are you elitist seperatists who find the government kind enough to take you not worthy of its current nomenclature? If you can go down to Dixie and plant your “vietam” flag, good luck! And if you succeed I’ll respect it… after all, the strongest dog rules the yard. One can only appreciate why Australia didn’t fight for their government, and then open its borders for runaways to come in and pretend it’s their “old country.” You must prove value-add to Australia. I kinda like that. Freedom is too free for those who have never fought for it. I’m happy to see California finding out first-hand what it’s like to have such an “open-door” policy. Nothing like inviting guests in and having them rearrange your furniture as though it’s their “right.” hahaha.

   The Confederate Flag is a part of many American’s history, and they shed the blood of their heritage on the same soil. Why does the author use it as a reference when he/she obviously does not know what it stands for. KUDOS to the Vietnamese who know they are in the UNITED STATES, now. Feel free to take a history lesson (If you don’t already know our government will teach you for free - novel, isn’t it?)

   Sigh… Special-needs people are fascinating. We are “VietAMese. Wow. Clever play on words. Would that be like, Afram? Mexam? Honduram? Here’s a good one: Italyam? How about good ‘ol AMERICAN, and if you don’t like it, don’t move here. I have a beef with people who don’t help MAKE the bread telling those who DID how it should be served. If you don’t like, go home and cook your own. I’m glad when my grandfather came from Holland he demanded his children learn ENGLISH, and respect their NEW country. They still hung their wooden shoes, but they didn’t raise the dutch flag and as a result my mom doesn’t need a “special ballot” printed in Dutch. Man, the Kalifornia ballot was getting to be hilarious with it’s multi-linguistic, paper-wasting interpretations. If the candidates speak English, and you don’t understand English… what the hell are you voting on? Your “leader’s” interpretations? Minions.

   Keep asking for attention, special-needs people.

   –montgomery on Mar 18, 2008

4. Nothing like inviting guests into your home and having them rearrange the furniture they neither bought nor fought for, huh?

   –montgomery on Mar 18, 2008

5. Nothing like inviting guests into your home and having them argue amongst themselves on how they want to rearrange the furniture, huh? Australia’s immigration policies continually strike me as being intelligent… The “vietAM” community should be more concerned (and embarrassed) that despite this intense “pride” they need English-speaking politicians to have their campaigns translated because otherwise they wouldn’t have a clue on what they are voting for. So, what’s it like voting on issues you don’t understand? Do the minions choose who best tells them how to vote?

   –Dixie on Mar 18, 2008

6. This community censors submissions. Very Communistic, and not very Democratic. Isn’t that why you fled your homeland? For freedom? You take, but don’t allow? No wonder you have a permanent North and South. I can only IMAGINE what side you fled from, coward.

   –Dixie on Mar 18, 2008

7. Mr. Vuong, do you remember when you were an executive director of Southeast Asian Community Center in San Francisco and you spend times to promote for Vietnam Socialist plus in an interview you said most of the Vietnamese Re-Education Camp Prisoners (HO)are mental, not fit in the American society…etc.., the City got complained and fire you. But you still come to your office to work and the Police had to carry you out.

   –John Nguyen on Mar 18, 2008

8. Dixie, Montgomery:
   It’s never too late to get an education.

   Mr. Vuong, you are really a “Vuon”. Shame on you. You’re turning your back on millions of your own people who’re suffering under communism daily. You’re turning your back on millions of little under aged Viet girls and boys being sold to brothels everywhere in Asia. You’re turning your back on hundred thousands of young Viet women, who are selling themselves through the arranged marriage with foreigners for few hundred bucks so that they can help their families out. Etc.
   A guy with such “credentials” like you, I really wonder what kind of morale values you’re bringing to the table for your students?

   –sansname on Mar 19, 2008

9. Mr. Vuon(g), this article is for you and people like you to read.

   Vietnamese regime scripts its political oppression

   BRIDGET JOHNSON

   When pressed last year on human rights during his historic visit to D.C., Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet passed off violations as a “different understanding” that needed to be taken in context of “historical backgrounds and conditions.”

   Pro-democracy Vietnamese, however, understand well the conditions in place to systematically keep their voices silent. Now an apparent memo from the top tells the story.

   The top-secret, just-leaked Vietnamese government document urges Communist Party officials to become more conscientious in their quest to “limit the spread of false ideas in the population about democracy, human rights, religious freedom, which impacts negatively on the Party and the State foreign policy,” and work “to institute effort to neutralize these organizations and individuals who conspire to maneuver against the country and socialism.”

   The document titled “NOTICE: Conclusion of the Political Party, concerning raising the bar of quality and effectiveness in the execution of the political trials in the face of new development” and dated Sept. 12, 2007, was distributed to provincial authorities, party officials and leading technocrats, as noted in the memo.

   Signed off and stamped by Standing Secretariat Member Truong Tan Sang, the Politburo sent out numbered copies on a recall basis. Yet a copy of the document was leaked by a Communist Party member to the People’s Democratic Party of Vietnam, which advocates a multi-party system and is thus banned by the Vietnamese regime.

   Reading the document — the English translation provided by the PDP — is a window into a regime that systematically conspires to silence dissidents and fears international scrutiny could derail its attempts at global acceptance.

   “The quality and effectiveness of the execution of the political cases have not met the requirements to enable the struggle to prevent and deal with these crimes,” the memo reads, complaining that “the charges and rulings in a number of cases have not been appropriate” and trials have been “allowing the accused excessive responses.”

   ” … To fight and defeat the attack plot of the enemy forces is our first line of defense, urgent and immediate.”

   After I showed the State Department a copy of the memo, an official responded, “We’re not in a position to confirm the legitimacy of this document.” The official, who asked not to be named, quickly added that the U.S. regularly brings up human-rights issues with Vietnam. But Vietnam was removed from the Countries of Particular Concern list in November 2006 after supposedly meeting benchmarks for expanding religious liberties.

   Tell that to Father Ly.

   On March 30, 2007, editor of “Freedom of Speech” magazine and Catholic priest Father Nguyen Van Ly was sentenced to eight years in prison for his pro-democracy, pro-religious-liberty activism. A leader in the human rights movement, Father Ly, unlike some other dissidents currently behind bars, reportedly is not allowed to receive visitors.

   “The tasks of communication and propaganda have been untimely, lacking in shrewdness,” the Politburo memo states. “They have not been focused on the dangerous principal leaders of the pack.”

   The PDP — one of the Vietnamese pro-democracy groups that met with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney before Bush welcomed Triet to the White House last year — pointed out how Vietnamese officials maintain that there are no political prisoners.

   “If that is the case, we don’t know what to make of political prisoners in Vietnam such as Father Nguyen Van Ly, lawyers Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, (lawyer) Nguyen Bac Truyen, (cyberdissident) Tran Quoc Hien, Doctor Le Nguyen Sang, reporter Huynh Nguyen Dao, (Thang Tien Vietnam party President) Nguyen Phong, (dissident) Doan van Dien, (labor activists) Tran Thi Le Hong, Doan Huy Chuong also known as Nguyen Tan Hoanh, etc.”

   On an online question and answer forum in July 2007, then-U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Marine said in response to a human-rights concern that “we remain hopeful that the Vietnamese people themselves will recognize the importance of these basic rights as well.”

   Vietnamese know the importance of these rights; they just get tossed in prison when they speak up for those rights. And change will come when the people receive support in their struggle.

   It’s time to put Vietnam back on the CPC list, and to consider other punitive measures against the country for its scripted decimation of the basic human rights of its citizens.
   Bridget Johnson is a columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News; bridget.johnson@dailynews.com.

   –NguNhuVuon on Mar 19, 2008

10. Sans-name. You are right. It’s NOT too late to get an education. You can pick up some writing skills and learn some basics about conjunctions and other grammar necessities. You sound quite the hypocrite. Why chastise the author for “turning his back” when you have done the same thing? Go there and help out, if you think there’s a cause worth helping out. It’s awesome that instead of disputing an opinion, you simply voice dissent with the “education” of another. You need look no further than the mirror to see what’s screwed your country up. Complete hypocrisy. I love it when somebody doesn’t have the ability to make a counterpoint other than to say “you need education,” followed up by a complete butchery of basic grammar. Montgomery is my name, and I used Dixie because the forum wasn’t taking a further response - at no point was I so cowardly that I felt a need to say “sans-name.” I understand completely your need to operate “under the radar,” however; it also explains why you look for others to solve your problems. Here’s your free tip of the day: Whore is a prostitute - which you seem to be familiar with. You can’t put an apostrophe between the letters to give the meaning “who are.” We have taxpayers here who make it possible for vuons such as yourself to study ESL… for FREE. All the same, it’s better you put an apostrophe in the middle of the whore, rather than a period… That would have been a bloody mess. How ashamed are you to talk down to the author about “turning his back” on Communism. Whether I agree or not, he has his name stated clearly - while you cower under the banner of “sans-name” and can only speak out about communism because you yourself - fled instead of fighting. Shame on YOU for leaving those poor girls behind. You skipped out to save your own hide, and are the most despicable type of coward there is - someone who knowingly leaves children in a bad situation to save his own skin. Of course you are “sans-name” - you’ve disgraced the one you were born with. Now take your shot and run and hide - you obviously have mastered THAT skill.

    –montgomery on Mar 19, 2008

11. As an American of Vietnamese descent, I watched this whole Little Saigon ordeal in dismay. I find it disturbing, if not right down disgusting, how some people of my very own blood behaved. In the name of fighting Communism, these people actually spit on the very country that opened its door to welcome them. Their loyalty is not with the US, but with a DEAD country that never stood for neither freedom or democracy, namely, the Republic of South Vietnam. Its flag, as far as I know, was the flag of the traitors who sold their country to the French. These traitors are not anti-communist, they are anti-Vietnamese. They even have the gall to call themselves “Nationalists”. What a joke. Listen carefully to what they say and take a closer look at what they do, and you’ll see them for that they really are: cowards and traitors.

    –NgoXuanPhuong on Mar 19, 2008

12. Dear Montgomery:
    I am more than ambivalent about this response to your er, ah, “literate” AND “reasoned” tirades above.
    At least they read like tirades to me.
    In point of fact, I actually “agree” with your take on the original point of contention?, the failed naming of one mile of urban mall-mileage as “Little Saigon,” in San Jose, CA, the heart of that “valley of heart’s delight.”
    You left San Jose, Kalifornia, because the place was being overrun by ungrateful aliens, “invited” but rude AND disrespectful of place names. Have you consulted any descendants of the friars and the mestizos who accompanied them when the region was “Mexican”?
    Is the Spanish for St. Joseph acceptable?
    I too find the nouveau-vague of latterday newcomers with strange names and disquieting abilities to climb the socioeconomic AND political ladders — my generations of dissimilarly “invited” “aliens” far too docile and “model” to protest or “push,” pushy types notwithstanding — discomfiting. I worry about them turning into a Southeast Asian version of the strident anti-Castro Cubanos in Florida, who helped put our current idiot administration in power.
    By the way, did you note el Busho yesterday: insisted that the Iraq War was/is “honorable” and must be “won”?
    That, compared to a mile-long Vietam boulevard of bargains, is IMPORTANT, kiddo.
    But what really struck me about your input herein, aside from the obvious hostility cum condescension, is your assumptions, presumptions, to wit:
    1: Journalistic “opinion” vis-a-vis “news reports”? What dailies or weeklies or monthlies or cable channels or so-called MainStream Media are you referring to, forgive the participle dangling? The MSM have been a blight on that journalistic escutcheon before 2000 and a weaselly receptacle for Establishment handouts since.
    2: You baldly invoke the might-makes-right and dog-eat-dog calumny as a given. I’m likely wrong here, since “the meek” are obviously inheriting the whirlwind of the “mighty” these days, including the Dalai Lama, although, here, I wonder if he isn’t the pawn of the end-game neocon theorists, the Olympics not even a real factor.
    3: May I ask “who” invited “them,” and, more to the point, “why”? The “guests” you seem to disinvite were our “allies” in that “lost” “war” against “godless Communism.”
    And may I add the alienated and disoriented Hmong among us are ditto, invited and ignored, except when some are brash enough to suggest place names and others demonstrate, likely?, CIA-trained hunting skills.
    4: I would not accuse you of racism here, but I DO accuse you of “immigrant”-bashing.
    My father was an immigrant, like the generations of recruited and imported cheap labor a long long time ago. My mother was born in a Sierra mining camp and raised in San Francisco “Chinatown,” an appellation I think bestowed by the “hosts” and not the “guests.”
    My generations of “Chinese-Americans” were long “integrated,” well, socioculturally that is, maybe socioeconomically as well, BEFORE “you” invited these new “guests” and now berate them for a bit of nomenclature hubris.
    That “integration” has proceeded to and beyond, in the new generations of mixed-race that is, the verboten, the “miscegenation” laws.
    As for “assimilation,” I challenge you to match my 88 years of same, and I was BORN in San Jose, CA, at 32 Cleveland Ave., Aug. 20, 1919, “educated” at the Horace Mann “grammar” (pardon the pun?) school on Sixth and Santa Clara, Francisco Jr. High and Lowell High in San Francisco, and, ultimately, a bare B.A. in International Relations from U.C. Berkeley.
    What I mean to sayhere, “Montgomery” and “Dixie, is that BOTH integration AND assimilation are processes that take not only effort, but TIME, baby.
    Actually, the decades, centuries?, of literal slavery has yet to be “integrated” in this nation’s history and psyche, as witness this weekend’s Obama speech on “race” and divisiveness and fears and hatreds and the healing hopes opposed.
    Finally, my fine-feathered “correspondent”?, is my comma properly placed?, I challenge your assertion and assumption that America today is either a “great” nation OR, more to the point, a “democracy.”
    And don’t tell me to go back where I came from. I KNOW whence I come, the same place you fled. Is that an admission of “defeat” and revulsion at change you can neither stomach nor forefend?
    Frank Eng

    –Frank Eng on Mar 20, 2008

13. I left CALIFORNIA, not the USA. But I’m not out here in Ohio whining about renaming the streets, “Surfer Boy Lane,” do you see? Does that sink in despite the aged mindset?

    It’s less about the comma PLACEMENT than it is your double punctuation.

    I do not have feathers.

    You can challenge my “assertion” that America is a “great” nation all you want. How many people do you fine RUNNING from here, as opposed to these fleeing TO here. I’ll let the math make THAT argument. Forgive the stereotyping, but I hope I’m not going TOO far out on a limb to assert that your math is probably FAR better than your writing (and probably speaking) skills.

    Piss and moan about the US all you want, ingrate. Your parents came here and washed laundry in a sierra mining camp. Maybe they cooked. Maybe they stacked the rocks to define the borders. You think you have the corner on hard labor? But they gave you your abacus and instilled in you the value to better yourself, and learn your math. And as a result, you had ONE generation of ass-breakers in your family in this country. And the result was you were allowed to go to Berkeley. How far would you have gone back in your regime if you didn’t opt for goose-stepping? So yes, this IS the best country. If it wasn’t you wouldn’t be here.

    P.S. As you bloviate about your educational achievements, did you ever serve in the military in THIS country? 88 years to give something back… I’d be more interested in THOSE references than where you failed to learn how to write. Are you a taker?

    I left California for something BETTER - if it was worth renaming streets after, silly man, I would have STAYED there.

    Slavery in this country is GONE. Don’t invoke it to make your claims that we’re a screwed up nation. Racism is still alive, but the two are quite different. Slaves are commonplace in the orient, and other places - but nobody in THIS country is owned. So it’s over. Smart cookies have built a bridge and gotten over it. Look at the Jews. Are they still whining about what happened to them FAR MORE RECENT than slavery in THIS country? No, they have gotten over it, and now call more shots than ever, because those that weren’t killed became stronger. You whiners would do well to follow the Jews’ example of how to get OVER it. The vocal black community (Jesse, Al, et. al) make a LIVING from keeping black people oppressed, uneducated and unsuccessful. It’s come full circle, “baby.” As blacks originally rounded one-another up and the STRONGER sold the WEAK off, so has it come full circle. Now the empowered blacks in THIS country make their living from maintaining a WEAKER black base (uh, their constituency). It’s not slavery, it’s willingness to have an excuse to not succeed. And it’s not ALL blacks, just the fools who buy into that scam. Despite what you say, slavery in this country (you even use the term LITERAL) slavery) is indeed…. HISTORY. You don’t even KNOW my story, and you can believe I wasn’t privileged to go to Berkeley, not that I feel I missed out on anything from that bastion of liberal sheep production. So don’t use the “racism” card. I’ll call you a wwaaaaaambulance if you need one. You piss someone off by not knowing how to drive, then they kick the shit out of your car in anger and call you a “gook,” right? Yes, it’s happened, you KNOW it. Is it THEM? Or is it YOU for fulfilling yet another stereotype? I go BBQ with my friends in ‘Bama and we’ll have that butt smoking all day while we play Hank, Jr., and shoot guns off the back porch… They call us “rednecks,” white-trash, and you know what? We don’t CARE. Big deal? The last thing you’ll ever hear is a redneck whining about hurt feelings or “racism.” YOU stereotype, too, Frank. Here’s a little test:

    WHO do you think of when you think of rap-music, pants held up at the knees, and gold colored “teeth” as they shove a (probably non-working) gun up into and steal whatever they can? WHO do you worry most about ripping you off in your little “shop?” Thought so.

    WHO do you think of when you think of smelly, hairy taxi-cab drivers? Thought so.

    WHO do you think of when you think of being barely able to drive, hitting various cars backing up in parking lots, and slowly weaving over without signaling? (You get a pass on that one, so you don’t take it personally.)

    WHO do you think of when you think of picking strawberries in 100 degree heat while wearing hooded sweatshirts for 10 hours a day? (Think, Watsonville, CA)

    WHO do you think of when you think of a group of men hanging around a Home Depot looking for day work? Thought so.

    Who do you think of when you think loud, obnoxious, four-wheeling, pig-roasting, confederate-flag waving, Hank Williams Jr. loving person? Thought so.

    And you know, I didn’t EVEN mention COLOR, so how is that RACIST? You know all these groups because it’s the TRUTH. So while you may not like my MESSAGE, you can’t argue that it’s TRUE. I don’t bury my head and use the “I don’t want to offend….” crap. I don’t CARE if I offend you. I respect anyone who loves this country and isn’t a taker. I respect anyone with enough balls to join the military and serve. I respect ALL immigrants who come here and DESIRE to learn English (both written and spoken) and don’t demand “special language ballots” because of their illiteracy issues. After all, what candidates CAMPAIGN for the presidency in foreign tongue? See? So I only have disdain for slackers, takers and ingrates who would talk down this country. You are HERE, it’s FREE and if you thought it better anywhere else you would have GONE there. So by your very presence, you not only agree with me in prose but in action - because you remain here. See? Why ELSE would you be here? Is this the “least evil” place for you in the world? Because if that’s your attitude then you pissed away 88 years of life not making the world a better place. I didn’t see USAF, 349th MAW/MAC anywhere in your sig line. Proud to have served, if not along side you then at least FOR you…. You’re welcome -

    (P.S. You really DON’T want Osama in the White House - because if you have an issue with racism, you haven’t seen NOTHIN’ YET. You think the now-stirring Black Panther Party is doing anything BUT building up “race, divisiveness, fears and hatreds?” Those are YOUR buzzwords… When you don’t deal with REALITY, you people will realize that while you were quibbling over the renaming of a stupid STREET from a country not good enough to STAY in - and speaking out against THIS country (professional “dissidents”) professional “oppressed people” are trying to find a new Uncle Tom…. one that THEY can try to control. So call me a racist, or whatever. I don’t care. You won’t be alive long enough to see the legacy of your pacifism. But I hope you get your street renamed. You’ll be calling for the good ‘ol boys waving the Confederate Flag to come to your rescue when you finally realize that homey ain’t playin’ your game.

    –montgomery on Mar 20, 2008

14. NgoXuanPhuong:

    I usually write TOO much. You humble me with your clarity, dignity and wisdom. I feel that when all people here acknowledge they are AMERICAN of whatever descent - and show PRIDE to be here… we can be the greatest nation ever. That is TRUE unity, my friend. This country welcomed my mother, and conquered my father (indian). I know the half that’s been here for generations needs nothing more than your gratitude to know that you make a difference - and represent the mindset of people who come together to make this nation GREAT. I believe it is only the few who are outspoken and spit against this country, and there are more people who have been here for GENERATIONS who are far more “anti-US” than most immigrants. It is immigrants who helped make this country great, and continue to do so. We are now rotting from within, and most people are aware of that. Anyway, you instill a sense of pride, and what it is all about to be an American. I’m glad my grandfather did not allow Dutch to be spoken outside the home when they came over from Holland… to live HERE.

    I would be proud to have you as a neighbor, and would do everything I could to be the best neighbor to you. It is people like you who can come to this country and educate those who have been here on how fortunate they are to have known nothing other than freedom. Unfortunately, it is the “take-for-granted” crowd that is America’s cancer within. Anyway, I don’t want to ramble. A million different ways, my friend - thank you for a post that didn’t make my yawn.

    –Dixie on Mar 20, 2008

15. Montgomery/Dixie:
    This is a “farewell” note, of sorts.
    I herewith recant my mistaking your original post for either literacy or, more especially, “reason,” forget “logic.”
    Your subsequent posts are narcissistic, wildly random, unfocussed but for juvenile protestations of power and dominion, like that of the theoneocons, and thank whatever gods may be that you are merely a ranter and not anything substantive to others.
    Don’t bother to respond herein, since I, for one, know better than to waste time and energy trying to decipher your future maunderings, here or anywhere else.
    Frank Eng
    P.S.: Not that it mattered or does, but I DID “serve” and consider “giving” far the better part of “taking.” Oh, why do you hide behind Montgomery/Dixie? Never mind, almost forgot I won’t get past your next online squib thus ac”credited.” It’s obviously because you are brave, as well as strong.

    –Frank Eng on Mar 20, 2008

16. You are an idiot, and it is people like you who made life DEADLY for their kin in REAL Saigon and Communist China. You will piss off the Mexicans, and they will respond in a true “race war” because the names are THEIR history that you are trying to replace. THEY fought here, NOT you. They, along with the Indians, lost their land to the “white man.” The white man created democracy here, and allowed YOUR parents to flee here. Some Mexicans, like a few of your ilk, are embittered because they feel inferior because they’ve never won a battle. They feel “oppressed” everywhere. They feel discriminated against. What they really wish is that they would have WON something so they would satisfy their inner “warrior spirit.” It must be important to them. So they try to find/create battles to embrace their “inner warrior,” see? Is that “short” enough for you? Don’t blame your inability to read a lengthy discourse on my ability to write one. But I’ve “dumbed it down” for you.
    Many in “your” community don’t want the contention. They know what happened when the Koreans went up against the Mexicans in L.A. See, at least the Mexicans will FIGHT. That’s kept them from turning into oppressed minions of a Communist regime. You don’t come from a lineage of warriors, Eng. You come from a Chinaman who came here and let “his” homeland go the way of Communism. A pissed off Mexican Mafia hombre isn’t going to care if you are Chinese. They will just take issue with “slant-eyes” and go after the lot of you. You don’t have the chutzpah to combat them. Your little chinatown gangs are controlling in small areas, but are no match if the Nortenos ally with the Sorenos and just go after every yellow person they see. And they will say YOU started it, because you didn’t “respect” their names. See, it’s not a “white” thing. Racism, yes. But you’re pissing off the brown people, not so much the white people. White and black racists will encourage both of you to wipe each other out. I wish you’d all just be SMART and realize that. But you’re a puppet for the master puppetears who want you to remain a minority. You just don’t get it.
    You fail to make any counterpoints, because you CAN’T. You just don’t like MY points. You can’t argue, so you whine about how I’m “angrily” ranting. My “wildly random” thoughts are at least written literally. Your inability to comprehend a lengthy discourse does not preclude my ability to write one. You struggle to match the “witty quotes” game, and fail miserably. You’re no match, “baby.” But I’m trying to educate you as to the REALITY, so you don’t BLOW it for the generations of contributing members of society. Your own admission that it takes “generations” to assimilate is ridiculous. Take a lesson from the many cultures, including your OWN, who realize that if they come here and embrace the UNITED STATES they become the first generation… and their children will be BORN here and need no “assimilation.” In the rare cases such as you, where your parents came here and were chinese coolies, and instilled nothing but anti-U.S. sentiment in you…. you will pass that on to YOUR ilk, and of course you will perceive that as requiring “generations to assimilate.” So you hopefully see that you will mouth off, people will get pissed, and your own kind will suffer. Many in the Vietnamese community have seen this play out before, and they know to better pick their battles. But you will see that this has precious little to do with the “government.” Indeed, you will be the first to call “911″ when you are suffering the wrath of some pissed off Americans… of MEXICAN descent. You are a user and a taker, and have always done so. You lied about serving the military, but that is in your nature. Any true military man PROUDLY accredits his branch/unit. You don’t have the first CLUE about one. You have failed in 88 years of existence to make a difference ANYWHERE, Eng, so why not go quietly on your angry little deathbed of non-achievement and solve an engineering problem on your last days. Leave as much opportunity for the young immigrants who are appreciative of the United States, and are respectful for the already-established names of this country. You have done a fine job of talking down the United States in your previous posts. You NEED a dose of communism to appreciate what REAL military have fought for. You are a typical sloth who just wants to activate because you’ve never won a cause (see earlier “failed-warrior syndrome.) Of COURSE you will continue reading, and of COURSE you haven’t bid “farewell.” I do, however, want to point out how ridiculous you make yourself look after pointing out all your “degrees and education,” followed up by lying about military service. Your EXACT words:

    I herewith recant my mistaking your original post for either literacy or, more especially, “reason,” forget “logic.”

    Study that…. Carefully. Read YOUR words… You have me busting a gut, laughing. In your attempt to match my witty style (obviously something else “foreign” to you) you do nothing other than state my post was reasonable, logical and literate. And YOU would do nothing in your post other than critique MY writing? I mean, you DIDN’T make any points. You are familiar with proverbs, right? Little sayings in the American-invented fortune cookies? Here’s one you should consider: “It is better to keep one’s mouth closed and have others THINK you are foolish, than it is to open it and remove all doubt.” Don’t critique another writer, “baby,” unless you are superior. Lesson 88-14 in Common Sense 101. Why don’t you pass something down from your “heritage” other than cowardice, before you die. On behalf of those who honestly served in the military, and don’t just lie about it, you are STILL welcome for your right to make an ass of yourself. USAF, 349th MAW/MAC

    –montgomery on Mar 21, 2008

17. montgomery ,

    1. Quick Google search, it showed about… 10 million entries of “who’re”.
    2. Your writings tell me that you have the brain of a 5 years old with no reasoning skills whatsoever.
    3. “…strong dog rules the yard”: Not necessary so! A strong dog with a stupid head worths nothing: With the growing of Latino population, your very Dixie soon becomes another Tijuana(?). That’s the beauty of the so called “DEMOCRATIC PROCESS” Strong dogs, weak dogs…quelle chavrogne ! Comprehende, amigo???
    4. Talking about “WHO.ER” I think people would prefer blonds over brunettes. What’s yours?
    5. If you shut up, nobody KNOWS that you’re retarded, nappy-headed hos.
    kiss my b.a

    –J.J.S on Mar 22, 2008

18. Dear GOD… You write like you talk, and you are NOT black… A quick google search does NOT show “about 10 million entries… It shows less than 1.5 million. I have the “brain of a 5 years old”? You have the speech of somebody in DIRE need of ESL. Strong dog rules the yard - not necessary so [sic]? Definitely so. Reference your parent’s country of origin. You’ve never been to Dixie. That’s obvious. You use spanish and ebonics, and succeed only in Oriental pigeon english. You are neither spanish, NOR black - but BOTH will run you out of California because they think you are a sneaky, cowardly species. Statement 4 - that makes NO sense; WHAT people prefer blonds over brunettes. And what does that have to do with MY preference? I can’t POSSIBLY be a “nappy-headed hos.” That’s something your oriental television station didn’t make clear to you - he was talking about MULTIPLE people. I am just one. I can’t possibly be “plural.” And you are supposed to be good at math. LOL Kiss your “b.a?” You fool nobody. But it is understandable that you are ashamed of your own heritage. You are forgiven, san. hahahaha

    –montgomery on Mar 22, 2008

19. To Professor Vuong,
    I can’t believe as a Vietnamese professor you have shown such a lack of understanding and compassion for the name Little Saigon. It’s not just symbolic but a whole reason why Vietnamese refugees like you left Vietnam decades ago because fear of Communist. Communist is not just a name isn’t it. So does Little Saigon. Why don’t you care to spend a little time and educate your readers the significance of the name Little Saigon instead of bashing yours own kind indiscriminately.
    Yes, life does move on but what you are saying is just like asking the Jewish people to move on and forget about the Holocaust and embrace the Nazis. We first generation Vietnamese Americans still want to distinct ourself with the Vietnamese communists. There must be people like us to keep the other side in check. Moving on is not the same as forgetting.
    To all others who are not understood the root cause of and the Story Road naming conflict please just ask yourself why the City Councils keep on refusing the name Little Saigon if they keep saying they only care for the Vietnamese community. And the proposal for the Story Road name change was not initiated by Little Saigon supporters in the first place, but Madision Nguyen herself. Ask yourself what was her motive to name the section as Vietnam Town and claiming it for strong Vietnamese community there, but it’s not. There is only 50% of Vietanamese businesses there. Why the name is so conviently match with the Vietnam Town shopping center under development by Lap Tang. I careless for Vietnamese Americans doing business with the Communist as long as you assert human right for Vietnamese people and don’t invade on Vietnamese-American communites aka Little Saigons.
    I hate it when people like professor Vuong here keep prefer to the silent majority as the only voice while they are not even educated or even care about the issue. Don’t you think it is such an oxymoron, a silent majority.
    Anyway, the people have spoken. The name Little Saigon is finally approved by the City.

    –Andrew Tran on Mar 22, 2008

20. I can’t wait until the Mexicans get the picture that their heritage is trying to be replaced by sneaky little sewer rats. This will be fun to watch. Cowardly little people who couldn’t defeat communism in their own country becoming the new pinata for the hombres. That’s some future you’re leaving for your children (the ones you don’t sell into prostitution). Then again, if the Mexicans don’t care, then neither do I. I wrote that whole area off as pure trash in the ’70s. But I have faith the Mexicans will wake up and provide a new Cesar Chavez.

    –montgomery on Mar 24, 2008

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