By Doug Porter
San Diego’s Lincoln Club does a great job of proving just how racism and sexism are tools used by the wealthy to attack candidates and divide voters in elections.
The right leaning group used photographs doctored to imply mayoral candidate David Alavarez was a Mexican gang member earlier this year.
Now they’re going after District 6 City Council candidate Carol Kim, crudely photo-shopping her face into the image of woman with multiple shopping bags on her arms in New York City. Voters are encouraged to be afraid of her (non-existent) “New York City” tax plan.
Kim only lived in upstate New York for a couple of years after graduating from college, but with the Lincoln Club the truth is irrelevant.
From the City Beat biography published last January:
…Kim figured she’d be a stay-at-home mom when she relocated to San Diego from upstate New York in 2006 with her husband, who’d been hired by a software company here. The couple’s son, Rowan, now 8, was just a baby then. But housework just didn’t suit her.
And of course the Lincoln Club doesn’t want voters to know that their candidate, Chris Cate, re-located into the district from Carlsbad to represent their interests in this race. His history with the San Diego County Taxpayers Association is also carefully been airbrushed from his campaign biography.
Run Women Run’s President Barbara Bry says the mailer perpetuates stereotypes of women that have no place in campaigns. “Would the Lincoln Club use a picture of a man grinning happily with shopping bags on his arms in a political mailer? I seriously doubt it,” she said.
Since both candidates in the D6 council contest are of Asian descent, the race card wouldn’t do. So it was no problem for the overwhelmingly white male leadership of the Lincoln Club to play upon existing prejudices. And just like last time out, they’ll deny their intention while smirking in the background.
USS Reagan Sailors’ Fukushima Lawsuit to Move Forward
US Navy Photo
A class action lawsuit seeking damages from exposure to radiation from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster got the go-ahead in United States District Court in San Diego this week.
Several hundred sailors, many of them assigned to the locally based USS Ronald Reagan are suing the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) along with General Electric, EBASCO, Toshiba and Hitachi, the builders of the Fukushima nuclear reactors.
The plaintiffs claim TEPCO deliberately lied to the public and the U.S. Navy about the radiation levels at the nuclear power plant at the time the Japanese Government was asking for help for victims of the March 11, 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami.
From the Japan Times:
Citing the 2012 Diet Commission report on the Fukushima disaster, lawyers Paul Garner and Charles Bonner say the utility knew the plaintiffs were going to be exposed to unsafe levels of radiation because it was aware that the plant had experienced a triple meltdown, but chose to keep it secret.
The plaintiffs are dealing with the consequences, say Garner and Bonner, “with illnesses such as leukemia, ulcers . . . brain cancer, brain tumors, testicular cancer, dysfunctional uterine bleeding . . . and a host of other complaints unusual in such young adults.” The plaintiffs include a baby born with “multiple birth defects” to a servicewoman seven months after the meltdown.
“The injured servicemen and women will require treatment for their deteriorating health, medical monitoring, payment of their medical bills, appropriate health monitoring for their children and monitoring for possible radiation-induced genetic mutations,” says the lawsuit, which was filed in San Diego on Feb. 6. “Some of the radiological particles inside of these service personnel have long half-lives, from six to 50 to 100 years.”
Following the humanitarian mission, The USS Reagan was blocked from entering ports in Japan, South Korea and Guam because of radiation fears.
The servicemen and women face an uphill legal battle.
From the Guardian:
A peer-reviewed US navy medical study, conducted at the request of Congress, concluded there was no evidence that the sailors aboard the Reagan or at other US navy sites in Japan had received radiation doses that would put them at higher risk of cancer and other diseases.
Local Churches Demand Abortion-Free Health Insurance Plans
The La Mesa Courier reports two El Cajon based religious groups, Skyline Church and Alpine Christian Fellowship have joined with other organizations to file a discrimination complaint against the State of California with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights.
The complaint says the state’s Department of Managed Health Care is discriminating against health insurers that want to provide churches with abortion-free insurance plans, in violation of the federal Hyde-Weldon Amendment, which prohibits such discrimination if a state is receiving federal funds.
Skyline Church did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article.
The churches “believe that abortion is a grave moral evil and object to being morally complicit through the provision of insurance coverage for abortion to their employees,” said the complaint, filed by the Life Legal Defense Foundation on behalf of the churches.
Though the churches do have the option of not providing health insurance plans to their employees, that option relegates church employees to “second class citizenship,” said Dana Cody, executive director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation.
Hillcrest Diner Makes it Official
After…via Facebook
The owners of Harvey Milk’s American Diner have announced it will not be re-opening. The online statement by Frank Lechner also said all employees have now been paid.
Like many other things having to do with the business, that statement should have been served up with an asterisk.
From LGBT Weekly:
LGBT Weekly did speak with employees who indicated they had been paid but were asked to sign a document releasing Harvey Milk’s American Diner from any legal action.
One source indicated that each person was offered two days “bonus” pay if they signed the legal document which also indicated that the employee was paid in full.
Sources indicate that some employees refused to sign because they had begun action with the San Diego Labor Board. According to the Labor Board Web site, Harvey Milk’s may be liable for one day’s pay to each employee for each day beyond 72 hours after closure that the employee did not receive their wages. That means the diner owed many employees 16 days additional pay not the two days of bonus pay offered.
Meanwhile, 10News reported yesterday that Phil Pace, owner of the Phil’s BBQ Restaurants, is negotiating to buy the diner. He told the TV station if he does buy the restaurant, it would not be a Phil’s BBQ location.
One thing that won’t change if Pace buys the location will be its use as a fundraising vehicle for conservative causes.
DeMaio, Over Easy
I always found it rather odd hearing congressional candidate Carl DeMaio citing former city councilwoman Donna Frye as an example of his bi-partisan skill set.
After all, Frye called him a political sociopath during the 2012 mayoral contest.
Yesterday the former councilwoman appeared at a press conference to call DeMaio out for besmirching her good name.
From UT-San Diego:
“I don’t want him to get any votes using my name,” Frye said at a news conference at Peters’ campaign headquarters, a session she says she called for. “Don’t use my name, Mr. DeMaio. Stop it.”
DeMaio has invoked Frye a couple of times in the campaign, including during a televised debate. In one case he said that shortly after joining the City Council in 2008 he reached across the political aisle to work with her on open-government issues.
But Frye said working with DeMaio soon became “an effort in futility and frustration.”
But there was part of Fry’s commentary that didn’t make it into the UT.
From LGBT Weekly:
Frye stated that she believes DeMaio engaged in behavior unbecoming to a public servant. “In Council meetings he would get up and leave and then come back when it was his turn to speak,” Frye said. “He attended few meetings; he takes credit for things he didn’t do and he’s disrespectful of others, who disagree with him,” continued Frye.
When questioned about the sexual harassment allegations against DeMaio, Frye responded, “I believe there are other victims” and “where there’s smoke there’s fire.”
On Ben Hueso’s allegations concerning inappropriate behavior in the Council’s restrooms Frye said, “I have no reason to doubt Mr. Hueso’s story.”
Claire Trageser at KPBS has done an excellent comprehensive recap of the maybe scandals from the DeMaio campaign.
County’s Greenhouse Gas Plan No Good
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, has upheld Superior Court Judge Tomothy Taylor’s December, 2012 ruling holding that San Diego County’s long-term transportation plan violated state law by not taking climate pollution sufficiently into account.
From UT-San Diego:
Attorney Cory Briggs represented the Sierra Club at the trial court level and said the ruling issued Wednesday affirms the plan’s failure to achieve specific greenhouse gas reductions by 2020.
“The county did not live up the standard it set for itself,” Briggs said. “Its plan required things to be enforceable and the county promised to do a plan that had enforceable components, but what they ultimately did is all voluntary and fails to achieve the goals.”
The appellate court ruling said the plan does not fulfill the county’s commitment under the California Environmental Quality Act by specifically lacking detailed deadlines and measures to ensure emissions are reduced.
Thomas Jefferson Law School Lives On
NBC7 is reporting the Thomas Jefferson School of Law has worked out a deal allowing it to continue operating in exchange for giving up ownership of their $90 million Gaslamp Quarter building.
With the reduced debt, the San Diego law school said it cut its annual debt payments in half from $12 million to $6 million, which includes $5 million in rent, and $1 million in interest expense.
Thomas Guernsey, Jefferson’s dean and president, said the restructuring is a major step. “It puts the school on a solid financial footing and will enable Thomas Jefferson to continue to fulfill its mission serving a diverse group of students in a collegial, supportive learning environment.”
On This Day: 1975 – The New York Daily News ran the headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The headline came a day after U.S. President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City. 1986 -Ed Meese, attorney general in the Ronald Reagan administration, urged employers to begin spying on workers “in locker rooms, parking lots, shipping and mail room areas and even the nearby taverns” to try to catch them using drugs 1988 – Kurt Cobain smashed his very first guitar.
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Doug Porter
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Re: CD6 strategies: these deplorable tactics can bounce back and cause voters to choose differently. I was characterized in similar ways in my 2004 campaign- lots of “illegal immigrant” smears etc. (As one friend noted at the time: it can backfire. In my case, it did.)
Re:the latest CA52 news conference: Wow. That’s it?
It’s very troubling to see sexual harassment allegations continue to be hyper-politicized in this campaign. If this keeps up, “What I believe” is: San Diego will become known as a model of “politically expedient sexual harassment allegations based on rumors and innuendo.”
Worse: If they don’t fit a political game plan: ignore them.
If they do: exploit them to the fullest.
Both responses do little to address the reasons men (and some women) engage in this pattern of behavior, and could make survivors unwilling to come forward and risk repercussions beyond what they desire.
Re: San Diego County’s flawed Climate Action Plan: Please note that attorney Malinda Dickinson and engineer Mike Bullock are Sierra Club volunteers who also deserve credit/praise for their hard work and determination to see this case through.
After the initial ruling in April 2013, they worked to reach a settlement agreement with the County to avoid an appeal. (As a co-author of the state’s landmark Greenhouse Gas Reduction act, I attended a few of these strategy meetings and discussions with the County before resigning as Sierra Club Chapter Chair late last year)
Let’s hope the county doesn’t fight the bad fight and appeal all the way to the US Supreme Court, as they’ve done with other similar cases.
RE: “Lincoln Club Plays the Sexism Card in District 6 City Council Race” If Kim is Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex in the City,” Cate must be Carlsbad’s Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.” City workers, you’re fired!
Just know, Republican women, this kind of sexist junk reflects poorly on, and insults you because Republicans are reflecting what they believe.
I find this imagery profoundly offensive, not just to smart, hardworking Carol Kim, but to frugal, financially savvy, hardworking me. And I vote.
“Voters are encouraged to be afraid of her (non-existent) “New York City” tax plan.”
Only problem, Mr. Porter, is that the mailer clearly has New York THREE times — NOT New York City, as you have written.
While the printed hit-piece may be unfair, and may not correctly portray Ms. Kim’s position, the New York part is not untrue.
And I suppose that’s not the Manhattan skyline in the background, either. The word “city” may not have been there but the intent was obvious.
True and true. But, that’s not what you originally wrote. I’m just keepin’ it honest.
And actually, that could be almost ANY city skyline. No structures that are obviously NYC can be seen. The image makes its point totally by implication
And it’s point is New York City.