Tony Rackauckas Hunting Commies in Little Saigon?

• Dear Mr. Schou: We regret to inform you that your claim to having been called pro-commie is hereby denied, on the ground that not all of you had been called pro-commie. In particular, at least one of your arm has not been called pro-commie. We wish you best of luck in your endeavor.

• Hey Bolsavik, Does being depicted (in take2tango.com) as a one-armed puppeteer pulling the strings on the pro-commie Viet Weekly count as being called pro-commie? http://www.ocweekly.com/features/features/caricature-assassination/28260/

• "And you'd also know that OC Weekly, the only paper in the county to ever put Ho Chi Minh on the cover, is the only local paper that really deserves being called pro-commie." Oh no you don't. You're not pro-commie until somebody CALLS YOU ONE. So there! Pthh!

• Is this the long, awkward pause before Schou and Greenhut move in for a kiss? Warmly yours, Pete Fundy Senior Editorial Writer OCLegend.Com

• Bob S: You must be reading a different thread. Government is about force and power, whether we're talking about democratically elected ones, right-wing police states, Islamic states or totalitarian communist regimes (few of which still exist, and the Vietnamese and Chinese communist regimes aren't totalitarian any more, but authoritarian). It's all a matter of degree. The more unchecked power a government has, the worse it is. I would agree that our own government, with its increasingly unchecked executive power and ability of the president to invade any country for any reason, definitely fits in the bad category.

• I will only feel better when Orange County, California, has rid itself of political, self-serving, above the law, arrogant, discriminatory and evil-motivated elected officials and law enforcement! Until that happens, there is not one child, adult, family or accused individual that is safe from ILLEGAL ACTS of corruption! Until that happens, let's hope that the dedicated officials and law enforcement officers will assist in ridding this County of FILTH!

• From what I've read thus far in this blog, the gist of the conversation seems to be "Communist = Bad" & "Anti-Communist = Good". Of course, never mind the fact that our own government is becoming just as oppressive (if not more) as those "evil", "pinko", "commie", "Ruskies" used to be (Jewish proverbs states "Choose your enemies wisely, for you'll become like them"). Like Dina Nguyen, I'm now going to pull a "Goodwin's Law" (see Gustavo Arellano's 4/14/08 blog on Dina Nguyen): Adolf Hitler & the Nazis were (dare I say) fervent anti-communists, need their historical legacy be further discussed? Yes, most of the communist governments (e.g., China) are oppressive. Unfortunately, there are also non-communist governments out there, that are just as oppressive (e.g., Argentina, Saudi Arabia). People, all I'm saying is let's PLEASE stop this narrow-minded view that ONLY communist governments are oppressive & bad.

• Exactly, Nick. In a right-wing police state or a communist one, guys like Carona -- i.e., the most degenerate among us -- would rule the roost, along with their cronies, and the rest of us would all be in very big trouble! I think it was Hayek who said that in bad governments, like dirty rivers, the crap floats to the top. Not sure why I launched into this little tirade, but I feel better now. :)

• Rackauckas knows exactly how to play the game... if he can place doubt in anyone's mind that someone or something is a threat to national security, then guess what??? The Patriot Act clicks in.. Rackauckas then has the power to wiretap, snoop in places that he should stay out of and the list continues. This is how the OC Republican GOP will keep their power in OC... label their political enemies as communists, then they can LEGALLY wiretap and violate privacy. All of this happens in the interests of justice and the United States' Patriot Act. Sadly, us non-politically connected have no clue we are being violated..., there is too much corruption in this county!!!!!

• I think we can agree that life in a communist ruled country pretty much sucks unless you're part of the ruling party, and then only so long as you remain in favor with whatever clique happens to run the show. And old habits die hard. Besides Iraq, it seems the most dangerous place for reporters right now, with the possible exception of Bush-aligned Colombia--is post-commie Russia.

• Nick: I agree with you about Vietnam. I visited in 2000 and attended the big celebration of the fall of Saigon. The country's top leaders were there and the security seemed modest. I got home and a week later went to the GOP convention -- this is pre-9/11 mind you -- and we were subjected to bomb-sniffing dogs, etc. Vietnamese people laughed when we mentioned the many restrictions on life in the U.S. such as no-smoking rules. But, realistically, the government still has a heavy hand in the press there and has many unchecked powers. It still is an authoritarian state. But while disappearances certainly are a feature of those awful police states Reagan and many Republicans like, you can't deny the millions murdered by totalitarian communist regimes and the stifling, Orwellian destruction of the human spirit under such utopian regimes. I recommend the Black Book of Communism, which was produced by some liberal academics but documents the crimes in harrowing detail. Journalists didn't disappear as much in communist states because the authorities killed them before installing their own government agents in top editor posts.

• Don't let the Victor Charlies pollute our precious bodily fluids.

• I dunno, Nick. Maybe Rackauckas is onto something. When I was in Miami, we always used to speculate that some of the more rabid right-wingers were actually agents of Castro, working to make the exile community look event loonier than it actually was. And there's five Cuban spies in prison right now for infiltrating hard-right exile groups. Your Commie has no regard for human life. Ever heard of fluoridation?

• Steven: Who said I was joking? We'd have a blast. Just think about the possibilities. Ask a Maoist, anybody? E.g.: Fish is to sea as armed revolutionary is to what? Answer: Peasant class. But seriously, journalists disappearing is more akin to quasi-fascist states like Reagan-era Guatemala than post-war Vietnam. Having been there myself during the civil war, I can say I'd feel much safer in the Hanoi Hilton.

• Is there a reason why Rackauckas has so much time to investigate personally in Garden Grove BUT cannot seem to find the time, resources or staff to fight REAL CRIMES in the OC? I would be careful about mentioning the word communism in this County... your DNA will end up in a criminal database, your career, finances and reputation will be DESTROYED behind political closed doors of course -- never with guaranteed due process of the law, and by chance you get thrown into the OC jail, you will be targeted as a molestor. murdered and forgotten.

• Now, Nick, you guys shouldn't even joke about being "pro-commie." In a communist world, you would be in jail, your newspaper would be run by a party hack, Moxley would have "disappeared" years ago and folks such as Carona and Rackauckas would have absolutely no check on their power. The situation in society at large would resemble the situation in the OC Jail.

• Nick, Oh well, guess who is sleeping with the enemies of the current Nguoi Viet Daily News. The url contains few pictures showing Janet and her cohorts hip-to-hip with the protesters. Too bad it is in Vietnamese, but one can recognize their faces, Janet, Bill Dalton, Andrew Do and Nick Lecong. http://www.vietnamexodus.org/vne/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3397

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