Big Mouth Bob Meets Killer Dana

Posted on January 17, 2004 in Campaign 2004 The Orange

“Big-Mouth Bob” Dornan’s back in the running for a congressional seat. Democrat Loretta Sanchez proves to be too formidable an opponent to take on, so Bob’s going after fellow Republican Dana Rohrbacher. His platform? Terrorism:

Huntington Beach Republican Dana Rohrabacher could be in big trouble. His health is fine and, despite persistent rumors, he’s avoided sex scandals. But the congressman has direct connections not only to a recently arrested Islamic terrorist suspect, but also to Muslim Americans who’ve professed allegiance to such terrorist groups as Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda—groups that have aided suicide bomber missions around the world and have been identified by President Bush as threats to national security….

In September 2002, OC Weekly revealed that Rohrabacher had not been honest about his relationship with the pro-bin Laden Taliban. These days, Rohrabacher touts his opposition to the Taliban, but in 1996 he told the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs that Taliban leaders are “not terrorists or revolutionaries” and that their “takeover of Afghanistan would be a positive development” for the U.S.

This being Orange County politics, the Weekly treats the race as pretty much finished by the time the March California Primary decides who will be the Republican candidate. Given the Democrat’s propensity not to challenge stink bombs like Rohrabacher and Dornan on their home turf, the race may result in returning one of two extremists to Congress. Does it have to be this way?

There’s too much being taken for granted in this Mad County of mine where you have to buy your way onto the fast lane of the freeway; where the District Attorney holds boozers using public funds and the local daily paper, the Orange County Register, says nothing; where millionaires treat public parks as dumping grounds for their oversized, pedigreed curs; where gated communities act like countries unto themselves; where the idea of voting for a “liberal” is tantamount to treason. Dornan and Rohrabacher seem little more than the bitter fruits of the Darkness of the Orange, a place where sacred cows like the free market rove freely, where the local government works with Industry to turn the People into just another opportunity to make a buck.

Big Mouth Bob and Killer Dana get away with the outrages they commit against sanity by serving the interests of Industry. Vichy Democrats don’t believe they can take on such beloveds of financial filisbusters. One wonders, against DLC reasoning, if the time is ripe for a shift. The rise of the Dean Machine may or may not signify that a challenge can be made to the Republican status quo of Orange County. I meet young people who are tired of the meanness they hear around them. They are joining Dean. If they are not disenchanted by the results of the Iowa Caucuses (they are trying very hard — this I hand to them!), they may turn into a force to be reckoned with in local politics.

Their nausea may lead to our better mental health as a county.