Political Winds Blowing Jindal’s Way
September 3, 2008
Mother Nature knows no political timing. If Hurricane Gustav had hit the Gulf States last week, the Republican National Convention’s Labor Day start in Minnesota could have been spared, and it could have given GOP presidential nominee John McCain a running mate other than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Hurricane disaster preparations last weekend blew a take-charge Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal into the national spotlight and would have given McCain more of a glimpse of him as a VP candidate. Last July, Jindal raised Read more
‘Breakfast’ is Out to Lunch
August 27, 2008
Where San Francisco and San Jose have failed in recent years, Sacramento saw the light. Sacramento Vice Mayor Steve Cohn cancelled an outdoor screening of the 1961 romantic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s on August 23 after protests condemned the film for the racist yellowface portrayal by Mickey Rooney.
Rooney played a tenant, Mr. Yunioshi, agitated at neighbor Holly Golightly, portrayed by Audrey Hepburn. The film, based on Truman Capote’s novella, played on Asian stereotypes—Yunioshi sported thick, horned rim spectacles, buckteeth and babbled in a faux Asian accent. Read more
Lusty Ladies and JROTC
August 20, 2008
Prostitutes & Kids at the Party
Would parents allow their teens or infants to attend a meeting with whoops and screams for hookers talking about sex? In the presence of APA teens who were mostly advocating for keeping JROTC in the schools, speakers at last week’s S.F. Democratic Party’s endorsement vote were freely talking about rape, pimps, clients, drug addiction and worker conditions at the “Lusty Lady Theatre.” As one supporter said to the laughter of county committee members, the measure would “benefit the sex workers and their clients Read more
Harmony for Carmen
August 13, 2008
Like the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, “Harmony” is a theme with Supervisor Carmen Chu’s campaign. Out of San Francisco’s last three District 4 (Sunset) supervisor elections, Chu’s campaign will be the least fractious, at least among Asian Pacific American insiders. Major APA political leaders like State Senator Leland Yee and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma have rallied behind Chu. For her campaign at least, the two have put behind differences with Gavin Newsom, the mayor who appointed her. Former Newsom police Read more
Specter of Lavender Revenge
August 6, 2008
Will today’s filing deadline, 08/08/08, be lucky for Chinese American candidates? With S.F. Democratic Party and political club endorsements in the coming weeks, supervisor candidate David Chiu will be haunted by his July 23 vote against re-electing Scott Wiener as S.F. Democratic Party’s county committee chairman. Ironically Wiener had appointed Chiu to the committee in 2006. But Chiu’s vote ran against the powerful Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, of which Wiener was formerly co-chair… LAVENDER ACCOUNTABILITY: Read more
Sue Lee Tells Supes To ‘Play Nice’
July 30, 2008
It wasn’t choreographed. Sue Lee would not kickoff the campaign at the Richmond District Neighborhood Center without mom, Belva. When it started, Lee emphasized foremost her parenting qualifications for S.F. district supervisor. “I raised a 19-year-old boy in the city, and I can tell people to go to their corners and chill out and play nice together,” said the Richmond resident. “We need to stop some of that nonsense at the board of supervisors. As a mother, I am well experienced to do that”… The Chinese Historical Society of America Read more
Matchmaker Julie Lee and Freeway Politics
July 23, 2008
When I started writing this column in 1996, I tracked San Francisco’s highway housewives - Julie Lee and Rose Tsai. In her heyday, realtor and neighbor Lee would call me at home to offer a tidbit or invite me to a press conference. If my mom answered, the two would chit-chat in Cantonese about finding me a wife and bringing some photos of prospects.
Although gregarious, Lee and Tsai would deride on Cantonese radio people like Supervisors Michael Yaki and Mabel Teng for being “shoe shiners” for powers-that-be like Mayor Willie Brown (who as a kid polished shoes Read more
Shinseki Vindicated
July 16, 2008
He didn’t have to write a book, like former White House press secretary Scott McClellan’s What Happened, to attract universal denunciation by the White House and Republicans. Former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki attracted his own flack with prescient pre-Iraq invasion remarks in 2003 calling for “several hundred thousand” troops to invade and occupy Iraq. Former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz called them “off the mark,” but Rumsfeld’s 2007 resignation vindicated Shinseki … Adding to the Read more
Next APIA Town Hall Must Be Strategic
July 9, 2008
The National Association of Latino Elected Officials got the national media spotlight and attention of hundreds of thousands on June 28 in D.C. with appearances by presumptive party nominees, Democrat Barack Obama and the GOP’s John McCain. Both will speak again at the NAACP national convention in Cincinnati on July 11. Latinos buoyed Hillary Clinton’s White House run and are up for grabs. … PREZ TOWN HALL: The APIA Vote Presidential Town Hall organizers should aim for the NALEO and NAACP forums. The Read more
Eric Mar’s Mahjong Tile and JROTC Kids
July 2, 2008
Eric Mar kicked off his November campaign for District 1 supervisor with more than 150 supporters last Saturday at Argonne Elementary in the Richmond. Eight-year old daughter Jade, adorned in a pink “Richmond” sweatshirt, scooted around on her skate shoes as daddy and his political allies - like emcee and school board candidate Sandra Lee Fewer and former student representative Alan Kenny Wong - spoke …. “I carry around good luck charms and other things, but I’m not superstitious,” said Mar, pulling from his Read more
School Labor Pact Called ‘Blatant Theft’
July 1, 2008
APA contractors denounced the S.F. School Board and S.F. Labor Council for “negotiat(ing) behind closed doors,” and reneging on promises by voting on a Project Labor Agreement restricting non-union APA small businesses’ work on a quarter billion dollar school bond. Asian American Contractors Association Director Matthew Huey, on behalf of President Florence Kong, called the PLA a “blatant theft” of employee benefits, bond funds and property taxes “for appeasement of trade union relations.” Huey’s contractors argued that Read more
Family Affair
June 24, 2008
WE ARE FAMILY: “Tonight, it’s family,” said Andrew Sun, husband of District 1 supervisor candidate Alicia Wang. “We’re about family; we’re about friends; we’re about taking back our city,” Wang added. The teacher, who has touched hundreds of ESL students at the North Beach/Chinatown City College campus, hosted a Clement Street D-Day (June 6) fund-raiser for more than 125 of her best friends and family. Don’t expect Wang’s take to be high, given that she set the dinner prices deliberately low. She’s seeking to qualify for matching funds from the city. … Read more