The blogs are buzzing about the appointment of Harald Martin to Anaheim Union High School District. Read the buzz here, here, or here. And tonight The OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano posted on their Navel Gazing blog a good narrative/conspiracy theory/explanation. From his post:
“… And for the political conspiracists wondering why a Latino like AUHSD trustee Thomas “Hoagy” Holguin would support Martin’s return, never mind that self-hating Latinos are as Orange County as oranges? Holguin is merely repaying his political papi. In late 2000, Holguin was appointed by the AUHSD board to replace a trustee who resigned. That fall, Holguin had placed fifth out of six candidates in the general election. On the board at the time of Holguin’s appointment? None other Harald Martin himself, who placed seventh out of eighth in last year’s election. What goes around comes around, eh?
Final point: The only other AUHSD board member that remains from the batch that appointed Holguin in 2000 was longtime Martin ally Katherine Smith. You can look it up. Mystery appointment, my ass–it’s called cronyism, cabrones.“
Read the entire passage here.
Harald Martin scares me. He doesn’t like brown people, and he blames girls when they get sexually assaulted. Why would the other members of the Anaheim School Board want him on there?
Gustavo (OC Weekly) is absolutely right on in that what is really driving this movement is “cronyism.” There are folks from all parts of the district, from all parties, and from all ethnicities, including many mainstream Anglos, who are angry and fed up with politicians who are so out of touch and so arrogant that they treat American citizenry as if it’s some sort of mindless pet poodle (see Tony Blair) that will always be grateful to be patted. The board members (excluding Anna Piercy) who voted for Mr. Martin have seemed to gone to the same facist leadership school as Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. But to go back to my analogy of the pet dog, folks, the dog is about to bite back.
Gustavo’s post on Navel Gazing is first-rate. It gave me chills.
I think he’s right that if a single person becomes an activist as a result of Martin’s appointment, it will have been worth it.
So do I. I guess that’s Harald Martin’s one good contribution to society. It doesn’t justify his appointment to the Anaheim School Board, but it does allow this tragic mistake to serve a good purpose.
Martin resigned tonight (8/30) before the AUHSD board meeting