Art Pedroza: An Appreciation

For those of you Luddites who still rely solely on dead trees for news, the top three political blogs (in no order) are OC Blog, The Liberal OC, and Orange Juice!. Each roughly correspond to a local newspaper--OC Blog is conservative like the Orange County Register (except much more hackingly so), the Liberal OC is much more liberal than the Los Angeles Times, while the Orange Juice! is usually very much like the Weekly: unpredictable, hell-raising, and oftentimes jes' plain weird.

Has to be in the blood. Little known fact: OJ founder Art Pedroza (pictured) once worked for the Weekly--the way former editor Will Swaim used to tell me, as an ad rep either just before or just after the paper's 1995 start date who didn't last long. Will always mentioned this tidbit back in the days when Pedroza was a Hispanic outreach director for the Republican Party and an all-around conservative loon. I still remember Art one time at a conference at Chapman University, immaculately dressed in a suit, rambling about the Holy Father and his stance on abortion or some other conservative canard. After the jump, a Pedroza oldie-but-goodie and the reason behind this post!

Pedroza on gays, in 1999:

While I am personally of the opinion that homosexual Americans have every right to lead whatever lifestyles they choose, I do not think that they have the right to force the rest of us to accept their sexual choice. As a Christian, I believe that homosexuality is a sin. That means that I cannot condone said practice. Does that mean I hate homosexuals? Of course not. Instead, I pray that they will find some measure of happiness in their lives, that they will eventually come to accept the Lord and his forgiveness.

What a difference nine years make. Now, Pedroza is for gay marriage. Now, Pedroza blasts the county's crazy conservatives, especially the cretins whom he once campaigned for, namely Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Rosemarie Avila and Lupe "Mexican immigrants are Nazis, Americans are Jews" Moreno. Instead of aligning with the establishment, Pedroza proudly bucks it. That's why we named Orange Juice! last year's Best Political Blog. That's why we're excited that Pedroza is taking on Busty Bustamante for Busty's seat on the SanTana City Council. It'll be difficult to take out an incumbent even as despised as Busty for Pedroza, being that the establishment won't get near him for his hell-raising ways, but you can bet Art will muckrake entertainingly and free of partisan overlords like few candidates ever have in Orange County. Good luck, Art, and bring back Sean Mill as a blogger!