Update: August 28, 3:51 p.m. On today's broadcast of KCRW-FM 89.9's Le Show, Harry Shearer referenced Alvarez's stupidity. I don't listen to the show because it conflicts with Breakfast with the Beatles over at KLSX-FM 95.5, but I guess it came out during one of his bits where he reads bullet points about the news.
After cracking a non-Mexican joke at the city (“Yes, Santa Ana has a downtown,” Shearer said), the voice of Ned Flanders and many other Simpsons characters summed the story for his Santa Monica listeners, ending with word that Alvarez apologized but that gentrifier Irv Chase had no comment.
“That's almost as much restraint as I had in referring to reading you the story about Ms. Butt Roast,” Shearer said.
Um…okay. But, hey: anyone who ridicules Alvarez is a friend of mine! Listen to Le Show here, with the Alvarez mention somewhere around 52:00.
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Update: Aug. 26, 2:54 p.m.: The Anti-Defamation League just put
out an open letter to Alvarez that not only says her apology last night
wasn't good enough, but also questions whether she's fit to serve as a
deputy district attorney.
“Your statements also call into
question your ability to serve as a Deputy District Attorney for the
City of Orange County,” wrote Kevin O'Grady, the regional director for
the Anti-Defamation League's OC and Long Beach divisions. “While the
First Amendment entitles you to your personal beliefs, your conduct
raises doubts about your judgment and your ability to enforce
California's laws fairly.”
See what I told you, Claudia? Once you
get the ADL involved, the game is over–at least if you once had some
level of respectability
O'Grady also wrote that the mealy-mouthed apology she offered yesterday–which she refused to say to Voice of OC reporter Adam Elmahrek after she uttered them–just isn't good enough.
“Your apology during a television interview last night was inadequate and did not illustrate an understanding of why your statements are so offensive and hurtful,” the letter wrote. “We call on you to retract the remarks you made at Wednesday's meeting, and urge you to offer a personal apology to the Chases, to the Jewish community and to the people of Santa Ana.”
Here's the video from KCBS-TV Channel 2…and if it doesn't show, click on the link here.
Oy, vey…
Update, Aug. 26, 6:11 a.m.: Late last night, Alvarez apologized for her remarks in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“What
I said was inappropriate, and I let my emotions get the best of me,”
she told reporter Nicole Santa Cruz. “I obviously need to learn how to
keep my cool.”
Really? WOW…you just learned this?
But why is she apologizing now? Could it have been because the Anti-Defamation League blasted her for her stupidity–and while the ADL doesn't endorse political candidates, the last thing a politician wants is to be on their bad side? Again, Claudia: thanks for nothing. Thanks for now making any charges of gentrification against the Chases nigh-impossible to stick without them crying anti-Semitism when it's totally not the case. Babosa.
Original post, Aug. 25, 5:42 p.m.: Our beloved county has
inspired anti-politicians of almost every conceivable
stripe–anti-Mexican, anti-gay, anti-logic, anti-black,
anti-liberal–almost everything except anti-Jewish (save a couple of
choice John Schmitz quotes and the demons who harassed Joel Dvorman to death). You just don't go against the sons of the covenant–not only because it's wrong,
but because there's nothing to go against locally: when the
most-prominent Jewish politician in recent Orange County memory has been
former Supervisor Harriet Wieder, you know a group doesn't have much
power (sorry, Jon Fleischman).
It's because of this, and the
simple fact of stupidity, that SanTana councilwoman Claudia Alvarez's
recent citation of Hitler in a rant against SanTana downtown
developer/gentrifier Irv Chase–a member of the Tribe–now deems her the
stupidest politician in Orange County history.
The scandal happened last night, at SanTana's city council meeting (which yours truly no longer attends because he likes sending invisible source in his place). Alvarez started going into a rant against Chase (and his son, Ryan), for willfully kicking out wab tenants in favor of hipster ones, following the whispers of Brave New Urbanist Dennis Lluy and others. That's an absolutely legitimate stance, given it's true. But Alvarez–notorious for her temper and lack of tact (more on this in a bit)–blew whatever moral ground she had in two stupid, pendeja mistakes.
First, Alvarez charged the Chases with practicing “ethnic cleasing”–and you know you're on the wrong side if you're using the exact words once used by Nativo “Larry” Lopez. Claudia: what's happening in downtown SanTana is NOT ethnic cleansing; it's class warfare. Chase and others are replacing poor Mexicans with hipster ones, hipster ones with disposable incomes and no politics other than self-serving liberalism. ¿Qué tan pendeja eres que no puedes mirar lo obvious?
But Alvarez's biggest sin is bringing up Hitler during the council meeting to Chase, whose parents are Holocaust survivors. At one point, Alvarez–noting the Chases' generous subsidized rent to their favored children–rhetorically asked, “”So if Hitler rents you a place, gives you a great deal, you take it?.”
Hoo boy, where to begin? False dichotomy, Godwin's Law, ad hominen–what other rules of logic did she break? Oh, yeah: DON'T COMPARE A JEW TO HITLER. This allowed Chase to play the victim, even though no one up to Alvarez had ever whispered a ZOG conspiracy in Chase's gentrifying march. Thanks a lot, Claudia, for now making criticism against the Chases nigh-impossible. All they'll do is trot out charges of anti-Semitism, and the conversation is over.
I must say I'm not surprised by Alvarez's stupidity. As I've written before, I used to know Claudia a bit, before she sold out to the dark side. She used to be cool people, until she got high on power and developed a nasty, bitchy temper. Best example: I used to be involved with a non-profit. When I started writing articles critical of Alvarez's ethics, Alvarez went to the non-profit and threatened to withhold city funds if they didn't sever their connections with me. Talk about PETTY and downright immature: Alvarez is actually on the right side of the gentrification battle in downtown SanTana, but she's so damn chillona that she doesn't know when to shut the fuck up.
Oh, and Claudia? Your recent turn as the champion of the proletariat considering your entire career has been funded by mega-developers like Dick O'Neill, Mike Harrah, and Robert Bisno? WEAK SAUCE…
