Click here to see a slide show with over fifty pictures from this event!
Over 1,000 union supporters and their families showed up today at the Santa Ana Zoo for the Annual Labor Day celebration, which included free hot dogs, chips and soda, as well as snow cones (raspados) and cotton candy for the kids. There were also several games for the kids and an inflatable jumper.
The event featured numerous politicians and candidates including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who gave a fiery speech that merited several ovations. There were also numerous local elected officials, including Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Santa Ana Council Members Michele Martinez, Sal Tinajero and Vincent Sarmiento.
Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez also spoke passionately, primarily about health care reform, and she introduced several congressional candidates including Beth Krom, who is running against an inept Republican incumbent, John Campbell.
Assemblyman Jose Solorio also took the podium, where he introduced numerous Assembly candidates, including Melissa Fox, who is running in the 70th A.D., where she is trying to defeat the uber-conservative Don Wagner; and Phu Nguyen, who is trying to defeat Mexican-basher Alan Mansoor in the 68th A.D. Solorio also gave out free “Solorio-Brown” t-shirts which were a real hit.
Then the man of the hour, Brown, was scintillating as he said, several times, that he isn’t going to Sacramento to play politics but rather to be everyone’s Governor and to do what he can to fix our state’s budget problems.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
It’s great to hear Jerry Brown begin. California deserves expert leadership and a thoughtful guide. Governing is NOT the same as giving orders and buying commercials. Money can buy a lot of things, but it can’t buy integrity and a vision of the future that’s especially sensitive to US Californians!
I really support a pro-active attitude that engages our strengths instead of negative polarization that encourages more division. The season of hate must end. People want help seeing the changes through we started two years ago. The younger-thinking voters united and scared older voters into screaming tea-baggers. They hog the media with their shrill cries and they have created a lopsided wing of rhetoric so unbalanced it will never serve the people justly. Let’s slip some decaf to them while us less senile resume the positive way to make headway for our next generation!
Great photos Art. A couple of things that won’t fit into my upcoming report:
Assemblyman and Democratic Insurance Commissioner candidate Dave Jones gave the first major speech. His excellent and important bill requiring health insurance companies to justify and receive permission for excessive rate hikes was shot down last week by our Senator Lou Correa, who is the second largest Democratic recipient of insurance money in the Senate.
As Dave railed against these obscene, unjustified, exorbitant rate hikes of Anthem, Blue Cross and others, I searched the crowd for Lou, who I knew was there. Was he temporarily ducking down, trying to shrink to the size of Jose? Did his cabeza pelon turn a new shade of red? Probably not.
There were half a dozen protesters out front – Barbara Coe and a few of her immigrant-bashing CCIR crowd, and that silent chubby flag waving dude who comes to all the anti-war protests. Having some allies for once, this guy found both energy and his vocal chords, running up to the chain link fence, peering through at the labor crowd, and triumphantly shouting (incorrectly) “JUST AS I THOUGHT! NO FLAGS AT ALL! NOT A SINGLE AMERICAN FLAG!”
But what is the connection, between hatred of Mexicans, and unquestioning reverent love of endless war? And what does any of that have to do with protesting a Labor event on Labor Day? Except for knowing there will be a crowd there, I mean.
Each time I passed them (for a cigarette break or whatever) I would holler at them, “Thank a Democratic Latino Union member for your freedom!” At least that probably confused them for a moment.
Vern,
The OC Register reported the same figure, at http://www.ocregister.com/news/brown-265162-whitman-state.html.
I believe that one of the folks who was at the podium referenced that a thousand people were there. May have been Berardino. That is why I reported that figure. I guess the Register reporter heard the same thing.
I met by the way with Senator Correa later that evening, at a private party. He said he was out precinct walking on Saturday morning, with his volunteers. I noted at the Labor Day event that there was a lot of applause when his name was mentioned.
Yeah, just got rid of that part of my previous comment once I saw that the Reg agreed with you. Friends of mine thought it was less. You know us Democrats always trying hard to be as careful as possible not to exaggerate or stretch the truth. But a thousand it is!
Applause for Correa? No doubt. He’s been good for Labor a long time, and is very likable and popular. Not everyone pays attention to individual votes and bills, even a real important one like Dave Jones’ Health Insurance Affordability Act. http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/08/senator-correa-dont-sell-us-out-to-the-big-health-insurers/
Vern,
It did not feel like there were one thousand people there. Perhaps Berardino was exaggerating. But there were a lot of folks there and there was a lot of positive energy. I had a good time catching up with so many of my friends.
And thus the mighty Nick creates the truth. Let us learn at his feet.
Meanwhile next door, there is no “challenging” could it be that some of chips take was shared with the LOC to not QUESTION queen Meg?
That certainly will make the merger of Meg County and the LOC easier for Matt.
DKMFAN,
LOL!
And we scooped all the media with our coverage. To my knowledge no one else put Brown’s speech up, as we did.
WEE ROOL LOL LOL ROTFLMAO 🙂
Hope he wins. Meg will balloon the deficit and let corporations rule California.
*Downtown Jerry Brown! You have our vote – no doubt about it! “I’ve been Governor…
and it’s not that much fun!”…..no question; the greatest line of all time!
Anyway, in the words of the Arnold: “I don’t like the way she says CAL-if-ornia!”
Jerry Brown had his time, let him have his whine! He developed the grotesque architecture of PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS to themselves become GOVERNMENT, obscene schedules of compensation and pensions, whether or not even funded and to the exponential as “public liabilities” as the “unwashed,” the “underclasses,” those made social derelicts because 80% of funding for Social Services goes to PUBLIC EMPLOYEES not even competent to deliver those services to those genuiinely entitled beneficiaries. Ah, JB.
Anyone unable to comprehend the commanding tenets of business management well honed by Meg Whitman should be on medication under management of a professional. That is a ton of money .. her own money .. JB is akin to the “dummy” propped upon the knee of the UNION
VENTRILOQUIST … HE HAS BEEN PAYING THEIR BILLS WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS THROUGHOUT HIS “CAREER.”
What happened to “Term Limits”?
Jerry Brown all ready has done his two terms.
Sometimes it takes 30 years for the damage done by failed policies to fully manifest itself.
Its been 34 years since Jerry Brown was 1st elected governor of California and 27 years since he left office.
The accumulated damage is self evident, It would be fitting if he is re elected as the next governor, then he can be the governor who files the biggest governmental bankruptcy by a state. At least that way he can take the blame for what he started 30 years ago.
Cook. Mr. Brown is grandfathered on his prior service as governor. The best Term Limits is to send him to the showers on Nov 2nd.
Hey, we would take Reagan…..but he isn’t around to run. We would take Hiyakawa too…
but we haven’t heard from him since 1992…darn it.
“If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it.”
S. I. Hayakawa
We would also have voted for George Murphy: But he also passed away in 1992! Meg is
not it fellas and gals. 4 years to train and then 4 years to sell out! We will take the Catholic
Jesuit……who understands the word “redemption”! ….and Employee Unions!
Damn, everyone you two know is dead huh.
I like hearing your stories of the old days.
If you ask me, I”ll tell you a true story about your friend Allan Beek and Earl Warren, and how they’re connected. Do you know that?
*Editor Vern – 1st of Happy Labor Day! 2nd….please don’t tell us you have the original video
and/or photos of those two together! Don’t burst our bubble!
Here is someone that is not old or gone – that might make your day however:
http://www.meredithwhitneyllc.com/ You might still be able to catch her interview on C-Span
with Brian Lamb…..very enlightening!
rw