Kudos To Greenhut For Article On Little Saigon Mobs

When it comes to the angry mobs of professional protesters in Little Saigon most people have shied away from publicly offering any sort of criticism.  Amongst Vietnamese politicians only First District Supervisoral candidate Hoa Van Tran has shown the courage to stand up and speak out against these folks.  Janet Nguyen, Dina Nguyen, Van Tran and the others have all taken to playing both sides of the fence using the Constitution as their shield.

In the blogosphere and especially in the mainstream media virtually everyone has remained silent.  Bloggers such as Bolsavik, myself and ironically Art Pedroza (he is a rabid Janet apologist and regurlarly condemns all but Janet on this issue) have regularly taken these mobs to task.  The Register’s Frank Mickadeit and now Steven Greenhut are the exception within the mainstream media.  Mickadeit has on numerous occasions criticized these folks in his daily column and Greenhut offered up his opinion on the Orange Punch blog yesterday.

Click here to read Greenhut’s article.  Great job Steven!  Thanks for having the courage and the decency to speak out on this issue when so many of your fellow journalists have remained silent.  I hope you are ready to face the wrath of Gordon “Bootlicker” Dillow.

14 Comments

  1. There have been frequent disruptive protests on Main Street in Garden Grove in response to a single article labeled as communist leaning. Below is an editorial I wrote for the weekly local newspaper, the Journal. At the Tuesday City Council meeting Councilmembers Mark Rosen and Dina Nguyen have stepped up to mediate the problem. Hopefully, they will be able to resolve the situation.
    Dear Editor,

    “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost” quote by President Thomas Jefferson. I agree with our honorable Vietnam Veterans who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to freedom, [Counter-Protests on Main Street, April 10]. Peter Katz and John Scott are revered and respected in our community for their service to our country and their actions to ensure the freedom of the press here at home. The Viet Weekly published an opinion article, by an outside columnist, nearly a year ago. The protestors are treading on the rights of both the newspaper owners and the business owners to prosper and conduct business.
    The First Amendment Rights freedoms include: the right to exercise religion, free speech and press, peaceably assemble and petition. The loud slogan chanting protests have gone on too far, for to long in their efforts to close down the newspaper. A democratic society welcomes varying views and debate. You do not have to agree but you must respect the right to hear an opposing viewpoint. The Viet protestors could constructively choose to boycott the Viet Weekly newspaper or better yet create their own newspaper to publish their views to be scrutinized by the public. It is one thing to chant noisy slogans and quite another to take on the responsibility of running a newspaper.

  2. Robin,
    The First Amendment guarantees a peaceable assembly. Unless the protesters violate that rule the economic benefit can’t trump their rights. In addition, Vietweekly or Bolsavik has its own channel to express its view. You may not agree with the protest

  3. robin, why do you think dina nguyen can help in this little problem when she herself is part of the problem? i wouldnt give her helping out much hope.

  4. Dear Jose and Antedote,

    I agree, yet wanted to give credit for any attempt to resolve the problem. Rosen quoted case law stating that our noise ordinances can be enforced without infringing on the First Amendment Rights. Thanks for your interest in Garden Grove issues.
    Thoughtfully,
    Robin

  5. Don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I do have a link and marking to the video where Mark Rosen and Dina Nguyen are talking about mediating the protesters vs business owners. In that same segment was where Rose cited case law that GG noise ordinance may be modified to be applicable to the protests and, as Robin said, still not infringe on First Amendment rights.

    http://bolsavik.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/dina-nguyen-mark-rosen-work-to-viet-weekly-protests/

  6. today i went to fax something in little saigon because i live in little saigon and i decided to stop by the protest where our friend the bolsavik used to work. it was quite a display they had out there with all the pictures and posters and a shrine and of course food for themselves. people who sit around all day get hungry. so i started walking around the display and this guy comes up to me and asked if he could help me. i said i just came down to look around and see the display for myself. then i asked him pointing to the picture so this is all over this? (pic of the foot spa) he led me to the other side of the display to show me a picture of the former owner of the paper and pointed out the so called communists in the picture.myself i wanted to talk about the foot spa and he started to raise his voice to me and telling me i didnt understand. thats when some of the other guys who were there started to gather around us and listen to what we were talking about and i said i think this whole display is wrong and thats when this guy went nuts and started yelling at me “i’m trying to explain to you, you listen!” then one of the communists asked me how much i was being paid by the newspaper to come here and “make trouble” as he put it and that kind of pissed me off so i started explaining to them that i grew up here in this neighborhood and it their actions concerned me because they go against our rights and then i was just verbally attacked by a few of them one communist called me stupid and told me to “get out! you go now”! it just all happened so fast and i was quick to say to all of them that i would not allow anybody there to lay a hand on me or spit on me because i would not allow that because 2 of them came really close to me and were really angry. i can see why he was arrested he has such a short temper. and he had the nerve to call me a communist at that point! then he gets on his cell phone and calls the police and tells them to come to the protest site quickly because there is somebody “making trouble” i’m guessing the cops have been there plenty and are sick of him because they took forever to get there and he called 5 times at least. i stuck around for the cops to at the least tell them why i was there and it was wrong for him to call the cops and waste their time. so the cop shows up and he goes to the cop to shake his hand and the cop who was asian refused to shake his hand. who ever heard of a cop refusing to shake somebody’s hand? anyway, he had his say with the cop then the cop started asking me questions and this idiot kept interupting me the whole time until i told him to shut up and he actually did. it was so bizzare. i mean if these guys are gonna be out there they need to calm down and realize that people are going to come to this and disagree with them and ask questions. i told them that i saw a picture of a protester wearing the american flag with the south vietnamese flag in the form of a jacket and i found it offensive but because i’m an american i let it go and i think they should too but the guys response was “so!” “i dont care!” i think sitting around all day doing nothing is starting to get to these guys. one guy kept taking my picture but when i took a picture of him he didnt like it and told me to stop to which i politely told him no. anyway, the cops waited for me to leave so they could leave so i did. so thats my bizzare story of being in a nest of communists today in the oc.

  7. Dear Jose S.,

    Thank you for sharing your experience today. Sounds as though you utilized the socratic method, asking thought provoking questions, to encourage dialogue. Negative labels and naming calling reveals a weak argument/position. Keep asking questions! You are bound to continue to learn.
    Thoughtfully, Robin

  8. robin, bolsavik, thanks, it was wild! the thing is they kept calling me stupid telling me to get out and i admit i did lose my cool and called trong doan a communist while we were waiting for the cops to show up. he also called me a son of a bitch and said god dammit. now i’m not a religious person but i wonder if he is. not cool to use the lords name in vain if thats what you believe. the thing is i could see the hatred in his eyes and i really wondered if he might come at me. i’m not a violent person but i would defend myself if i had to. especially over something like this. i really think people should go over there and ask them why they do it. ask them to their faces why they disrespect our laws and our freedoms the way they do. tell them to their faces how wrong they are. i know i feel a lot better and i did promise him i would come back.

  9. Jose S or Bolsavik,
    If you be there, be sure that you bring a Point-and-Shoot Canon Digital Camera and switch it to movie mode. If Trong Doan gives you a punch or assalts you while you are being polite, catch him on video. The communist guy will be arrested once more. Let the black heroes in the O.C jail treat him so nice.

  10. Great story, Jose! As I said a few weeks ago: When a Viet disagrees with you on something, they just call you a communist. It appears to be easier than thinking.

  11. cheesong, i dont have a digital camera but i plan on bringing my 35 mm and doing a photo shoot. and yes gila, some people love throwing that word around but then so do i! and once again, i think people should visit that protest site at least once to voice our opinions.

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