About a year ago, I wrote a story about a campaign sign for failed Congressional candidate Tan Nguyen that stood on a phone pole on the corner of 17th and Durant streets in SanTana long after losing to Loretta Sanchez.

The sign stood for months after we published article--like, this past fall afterwards. Like, I didn't have any doubt about where that sign would be when I walked by 17th and Durant today. Imagine my surprise, then, when the Nguyen sign was no longer there. But, in his campaign's everlasting ineptitude, a sliver of the South Vietnam yellow-colored sign remained, along with the letter N.

Even in defeat, Nguyen can only half-ass his way out of our lives once and for all.

Tan Nguyen strolled across the parking lot of the Santiago Community College District headquarters while wiping his brow. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, and Nguyen was asking anyone entering the polling booth located inside to vote for him.

Nguyen approached everyone who passed with a smile, including a small boy. "You don't look like a voter," Nguyen said to the boy. "Hopefully, you'll vote, too."

"I can't vote," the boy replied. "I'm only eight."

To Nguyen's side was a friend from San Diego, who said he hadn't seen police raid a campaign office like they did with Nguyen "since when the blacks wanted to vote" during the 1960s.

A car suddenly zooms past Nguyen. Democratic Party of Orange County chair Frank Barbaro emerges with his executive director, Mike Levin. They storm toward Nguyen, stone-faced.

"We got a report saying you're electioneering closer than 100 feet to the voting booth," Barbaro told Nguyen. "That's illegal."

"I know the rules," Nguyen shot back. "I'm trying to stay 100 feet away. If you tell me 100 feet is here [pointing at one spot], I'll stand there. If you tell me it's another [he points farther away], I'll stand there.

"I think the Registrar of Voters is supposed to determine what's 100 feet away, not the Democratic Party," Nguyen tells an onlooker. "Barbaro just wants to be on TV." Indeed, KABC-TV Channel 7 cameras catch the exchange.

Levin gets on the phone and makes some call. Barbaro tells me the district attorney's office and Registrar of Voters is on its way. Meanwhile, Nguyen's friend makes another observation.

"Measurements are so subjective," he says. "You know when you talk about your thing [referring to one's penis] and you exaggerate, but when you actually measure it, it's something else. That's what's happening here. Measurements are subjective."

A voter tells the Weekly that the Tan Man has a video camera and is questioning voters as they go to vote at the Santiago Community College District offices in SanTana. Going to scope the scene meself...

Just came back from the Santiago Community College District headquarters, and it turns out the Tan Man wasn't interviewing voters, as a voter asserted earlier. Tan Man, in fact, was getting out the vote to the final, desperate hours. More to come, but first: Tan Man was handing out bilingual fliers--this coming from a man who earlier accused opponent Loretta Sanchez of racial pandering. And his translation problems continue: in one section, Tan Man states he picked chiles with his parents in Gilroy; however, the Spanish version reads (translated here), "Tan picked chiles with his parents is Gilroy, California." Tan Man: fire your español speaker, stat!

Sergio Ramirez is a double major in environmental studies and political science at Long Beach State. In March, Ramirez and a friend attended a meeting of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform for one of their classes. The two signed in, talked to some folks and took some pamplets back to their professor. They were the only Latinos.

Last week, that Long Beach State professor called Ramirez and asked if he was the Sergio who signed the infamous Tan Nguyen "immigrants can't vote" letter that used fake CCIR letterhead. He wasn't, but Ramirez can't help but to think that the people behind the letter stole/borrowed his name from the CCIR sign-in sheet he signed this March.

"I don't know how many Sergio Ramirezes there are in Orange County, but I don't think it's a coincidence that I went to that meeting and then my name shows up on a letter with CCIR letterhead," Ramirez says. "I really do think that's what happened. When [my professor] called me, she sent me the letter. I was shocked. It makes sense that Nguyen's people would grab my name from a CCIR list of people who signed in to their meeting. They probably picked up the most Latino name and used it. Maybe it's a far-fetched idea, but it's just too crazy a coincidence for it not to be true."

Ramirez's professor, Leah Fraser, confirmed that he did attend a March CCIR meeting for a class project and brought her pamphlets as proof. Ramirez also faxed the Weekly the agenda for CCIR's March meeting.

CCIR chair Barbara Coe has repeatedly denied her group's involvement with the Nguyen letter, but there's a definite connection between the two besides the faked letterhead. Last December, Nguyen was a featured speaker at a CCIR meeting. A press release for the meeting gushed that Nguyen, "believes in America as a 'nation of law', has made a commitment to uphold and defend our Constitutional rights and freedoms, has courageously publicly praised the Minuteman Project and publicly opposed any illegal alien 'guest-worker' program or amnesty." And now the possible Ramirez connection.

And what does Sergio Ramirez think of the Sergio Ramirez-authored letter? "It's ridiculous, it's not good," he says. "It's scaring people. It's nuts."

Our favorite Demopublican (or, conversely, Republocrat) had a chance to endear himself to a national audience this morning on The Radio Factor, home of loofa-loving Bill O'Reilly. KABC-AM 790 morning guy Doug McIntyre filled in and was ready to give Nguyen an on-air hummer. Then Nguyen actually spoke.

Nguyen began by correcting McIntyre about his Vietnamese surname's proper pronounciation--"win" as opposed to "Nu-win," which ticked McIntyre off. Nguyen then went to claim recent polls show him beating 47th Congressional District incumbent Loretta Sanchez, polls that the boyos at OC Blog dismissed in a post I can't find (help, Jubal!). "I don't care about that," McIntyre told Nguyen. McIntyre then asked Nguyen if he was behind the infamous "immigrants can't vote" letter, to which Tan replied with his stock statement that he neither "authorized" nor "approved" the letter. McIntyre asked the same question again, to which Nguyen said no one connected to his campaign was behind the letter--this despite Nguyen admitting earlier that his office was behind the letter and him holding a press conference defending the letter.

Nguyen then insinuated Loretta was behind the letter, adding that "someone" was "fueling the hysteria." An exasperated McIntyre tried keeping Tan on the subject, but he wouldn't answer questions. And then Tan trotted out another stock phrase, but quickly tempered it with a caveat (I'm paraphrasing here 'cause I took notes while driving 90 on the 5 South toward San Juan Capistrano toward next week's entry of This Hole-in-the-Wall-Life):

"I'm going to tell it like it is, but my hands are tied.

McIntyre quickly ended the interview. When he returned, McIntyre told a national audience he "wasn't happy" with Nguyen's answers--this from a man who thought Nguyen did nothing wrong.

Summary: Tan Nguyen either lied to McIntyre or he's a moron. My vote: both.

Many of you, including KFI-AM 640's garrulous JohnKen and idiot John Ziegler (we'll never forgive Ziegler for his unceremonious swipe at us Coast to Coast listeneners) keep insisting Tan "Hate The Republicans, Love their Candidacy" Nguyen had a legitimate reason to send out his infamous letter to Latino voters because everyone knows 47th Congressional District incumbent Loretta Sanchez stole the 1996 election from Bob Dornan with the help of illegals.

Conduct your Google searches better, pendejos. Find the Weekly's 10-year anniversary issue. Read the first blurb, where we recount how Moxley laid that myth to rest quickly. Then find all the articles Moxley did on the matter. Thank you.

Listening to L.A.'s favorite boors and heard that Tan Nguyen will appear this Wednesday--maybe an in-studio appearance. As a preview of what may come, JohnKen spelled out Nguyen's last name to their listeners. JohnKen also praised my earlier post examining La Opinión's translation games, then went on to blast the "activist" who offered his Spanish translation services to Nguyen at yesterday's press conference
. Um, pendejos: That was me.

Our favorite xenophobic Vietnamese hasn't yet renounced his Republican candidacy for the 47th Congressional District, even though GOP chair Scott Baugh has demanded his resignation and Nguyen blasted Baugh at yesterday's press conference. Yesterday, Nguyen also passed out his latest mailer to the press corps. It urges voters to "Choose the person not the party" and tells 'em "Finally, we don't have to end up voting for the 'lesser of two evils.' Here is the mailer (one page in the original but in two separate images here so you don't have to crane your neck). Click on thumbnails, por favor!:

I agree with you, Tan: the Republicans and Dems are full of it. So when are you going to renounce your Republican Party nomination?

For more Tan Nguyen posts, read our Tan Nguyen archives

Rebel Girl over at the always awesome Dissent the Blog weighs in on OC's Keyser Soze, the man who signed the infamous Tan Nguyen "immigrants can't vote" letter. Turns out it might be a Sandinista!

Full Tan Nguyen coverage:

Why is La Opinion Changing the Tan Nguyen Letter?

Tan Nguyen: The New Bob Dornan!

Tan Nguyen's Only Friends…

We Defend Barbara Coe--Again!

We Defend Barbara Coe!

The Infamous Tan Nguyen "immigrants can't vote" letter

La Opinión is the dean of America's Spanish-language dailies, dating back to the 1930s. Its owners, the Lozano family, are tireless advocates of Latinos, and the paper's Pilar Marrero is one of Southern California's best political reporters, damn the language.

But their coverage of the Tan Nguyen scandal (read previous Blotter posts below) is inconsistent when considering the infamous letter's most infamous passage--that illegal immigrants and resident aliens can't vote. The Spanish-language letter states, "Se le avisa que si su residencia en este país es ilegal o si es emigrado, votar en una eleción federal es un delito que podrá resultar en encarcelamientó, y sí sera deportado por votar sin tener derecho a ello ("You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are a non-citizen immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time, and you will be deported for voting without having a right to do so.")

However, in this article, Opinión writer Araceli Martínez Ortega writes that the Nguyen letter says, "Estás advertido que si tu residencia en este país es ilegal o eres un inmigrante, votar en una elección federal es un crimen que puede dar como resultado la cárcel." And in this second story, Martínez Ortega says the letter (sent to 14,000 Latinos in the 46th Congressional District) reads, "Te advertimos que si tu residencia en este país es ilegal o si eres un inmigrante, votar en una elección federal es un crimen que puede resultar en cárcel." This article, however, has it right.

We're not going to translate the Martínez Ortega's two versions (mix-and-match with the original Spanish above!), 'cause it essentially translates word-for-word, sentiment for sentiment. Except for one word--inmigrante. Means immigrant, of course. But the original said emigrado.

So why the change? As reported earlier, emigrado refers to immigrants who are legal but not citizens; inmigrante refers to immigrants without distinction to legal status. The original letter tells readers non-citizens can't vote; La Opinión's version spins it so that readers think even former immigrants who are now citizens can't vote.

You can excuse the English-language press for mistranslation--we're just a bunch of gabachos y pochos, after all. But why would La Opinión change the content of Nguyen's letter. Honest mistake (twice)--or deliberate misdirection?

P.S. to Adam Probolsky: Cut the "Tan was a Dem" shit out. Readers: Probolsky said that in the first Opinión article. And same goes to the rest of the Republicans who are saying this (that's you, Chuck Devore). Ustedes weren't saying that before Nguyen turned stupid.

UPDATE: Today's Opinión article on Nguyen has yet another offering of the letter, this one now stating, "un residente con la tarjeta verde (green card) (a resident with a green card). But the letter said no such thing. Implied? Sure. But why not just print what the original letter said, not implied? Or is the nation's most prestigious Spanish-language paper in need of a Real Academia Español dictionary?

Much more tomorrow on today's nutty press conference held by Tan Nguyen, the man who proclaimed this afternoon he would defeat Loretta Sanchez and blasted the Republican leadership for abandoning him (Tan Nguyen is the new Bob Dornan--we said it first until someone proves otherwise!). Nguyen and a campaign spokesperson claimed their infamous letter to Latinos in the 47th District warning that illegals and immigrants can't vote was wrongly interpreted--the Mexican Spanish word the world took for "immigrant" in the line, emigrado, actually refers to an immigrant who hasn't become a citizen but is in the country legally. We originally dismissed the semantics as laughable, but a call to mami y papi proved Nguyen right--but even then, the debate between my parents was loooong. Point is: Mexican Spanish is full of it.

However, we noticed something strange in the English translation of the letter that Nguyen distributed to an impatient press corp (more tomorrow) and insisted was the correct version that should've been translated into Spanish. A line in the Nguyen camp's translation states, "Private anti-immigration organizations may also bring a law suit to have access to this new computer system."

Problem is, there is nothing even close to that in the original Spanish letter. The sentence in question that corresponds to the above translation states, "Organizaciones en contra de la emigración podrán pedir información de este nuevo sistema computarizado." The literal, mami-approved translation of this is "Organizations against immigration will be able to ask for information from this new computer system." (The computer system in question, according to the letter, will verify all new voters in the upcoming election). Nothing about lawyers, nothing about "private," nothing about "access." Nguyen said a "respected" Spanish translator did the work for him. Awright, Nguyen folks: care to comment? (Probably not: neither Nguyen or his camp took many questions about much at the conference--more on that tomorrow).

More coverage at OC Blog, The Liberal OC, Orange Juice, and Andrew's Wild and Wonderful Blog.

...Yep: the anti-immigrant crowd. At today's raid/media circus at Republican congressional candidate/alleged anti-Latino letter sender Tan Nguyen's office, a contingent of fogies from the California Coalition for Immigration Reform--apparently forgiving Nguyen for faking their letterhead and sending a letter off to 14,000 voters--told anyone who would listen that Nguyen was right: immigrants shouldn't vote. Now another organization, the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC, has issued this statement. In part:

The Washington, D.C.- based U.S. Immigration Reform Political Action Committee (USIRP) reiterated its endorsement for congressional candidate Tan D. Nguyen and said it sees "nothing wrong" with a bulk-mail flier his campaign sent to the foreign-born in Orange County, Calif., warning that illegal immigrants cannot vote.

USIRP Communications Director Phil Kent said, "What is wrong with sending a message that immigrants here illegally cannot vote in elections? A campaign or individual has every right to disseminate that opinion under the First Amendment -- especially when you consider this is the No. 1 suspect district in the country because state and federal probes revealed over 1,000 illegal aliens voted in the 1996 November's congressional election."

Hey, pendejos: Nguyen's letter also said no immigrants can vote, which is a lie. It was also sent to Latino voters, which qualifies as voter intimidation, which qualifies as breaking federal law. For an organization devoted to combating lawbreakers, it's strange for you folks to support one, no?

Told you it wasn't the CCIR who sent out the letter telling Latinos immigrants can't vote. Turns out the California Attorney General's office fingered Tan Nguyen, who seemed like the ideal Republican congressional candidate--minority, immigrant-hating, and carpet-bagging. Jail time is rumored for the man, who was running against Loretta Sanchez but is now being urged by GOP head Scott Baugh to step down.

But we digress. 'Member how an alphabet soup of Latino organizations wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez demanding that he investigate the California Coalition for Immigration Reform as the letter's author? This despite the fact that, while the infamous letter bore a fake CCIR letterhead, it was obviously a fraud? The groups will protest that their suspicion of CCIR was legitimate because Barbara Coe's minions have a previous history of yammering about illegals, but that's the same logic the federal government uses when pulling Muslim aunties aside at the airport. So how 'bout it, Raza crowd? Are you going to apologize to Ms. Coe? Or at least pick up her legal bill as suggested by the OC Blog boyos? (sorry, boyos: you'll always be OC Blog to us, just like the Angels will forever be Anaheim, not Los Angeles)

And lest readers think I've gone Glenn Spencer all of a sudden with my defense of Coe, hear my skewering of Coe & Co. on this past Wednesday's edition of Patt the Hat Morrison's show on KPCC-FM 89.3. Best part: when Babs and I reminisced about her last SanTana appearance!

By now, everyone and their gardener has heard about the letter to recently registered Latino voters warning them of repercussions if they're illegal. No one is quite sure who sent the letter (read the English-language translation here), although the blame game has already begun: Democrats blame Republican carpetbagger (and 34th State Senate District candidate) Lynn Daucher, while Assemblymember Chuck Devore smells a Lou Correa operative, then gives the worst argument in history to support it. The open-borders crowd blames the California Coalition for Immigration Reform 'cause the letter was sent on CCIR letterhead--nevermind that the letterhead was fake and that CCIR head Barbara Coe denies any ties between the letter and her group. Nevertheless, an alphabet soup coalition of Latino groups (MALDEF, LULAC, NALEO, SVREP, NCLR, LHA--but where's MEChA?) sent a letter to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez asking him to investigate the "naked attempt to intimidate duly registered Latino citizens from exercising their right to vote." More specifically, they demand the FBI focus its investigation on CCIR and Coe based on them supposedly "circulating letters similar to the one at issue here in subsequent elections."

I know Barbara Coe. I've been covering her gnarled hate for nearly five years. CCIR members have subpoenaed me, physically threatened me and provided much racist merriment. Take it from me: neither Barbara Coe nor anyone associated with CCIR wrote that letter. For one, the letter sent out to voters was in Spanish--CCIR would never be caught dead speaking that devil tongue. More importantly, the letter doesn't have any of the code words that marks a Coe missive, namely illegal alien savages, cockroaches, INVASION (always in caps), reconquista, and many, many more. Alphabet-soup Latino orgs: drop the witch hunt against Coe; she ain't the one, for once. So who is it? Stay tuned!