Feeding Time for Costa Mesa Latinophobes

Here's a little red meat for all you latinophobes out there.




A SYNONYM FOR TEX-MEX
My Google alert system coughed up an interesting item under "Costa Mesa" this morning. Usually I see news items, or someone's blog comment about some place in Costa Mesa... pretty bland and, quite honestly, uninteresting. They usually get a rapid "delete". This morning, though, was different.

I found a link awaiting me from the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader which provided a restaurant review for a Mexican restaurant in that heartland city called - you guessed it - "Costa Mesa". I've included a link to the story here. I'm sure all you rabid anti-latino folks out there are thrilled that our city has become synonymous for Mexican food in other parts of our country.

ADIOS, MUCHACHOS
Then, the Orange County Register Immigration Blog provided us with a little interesting news, here. There's a report from the Department of Homeland Security that says illegal immigrants are spreading out, moving away from historical venues like the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for locales north and east. As you'll read in their article, the unauthorized population rose 37% between 1/1/2000 and 1/1/2006, to 11.6 million. California's share of undocumented immigrants dropped from 30% to 25% due to the geographic dispersion.

If you visit this site you'll find a couple other links that will take you to the foundational report. It's interesting reading.

As you gnaw on these two items and feel your blood pressure rising, I hope you will have a safe and happy Labor Day holiday.

"Your Neighbor" Blows A Gasket - Again!

AND NOW, THE NEWS...
Over at Hypocrite Central, the CM Press, the guy who very much resembles my theoretical character, Your Neighbor, published a long, vitriolic diatribe about a column written today by Tony Dodero, Director of News and Online for the Daily Pilot and the Daily Pilot management in general.

CLEARING THE AIR
In response to recent and frequent critics - mainly in the Daily Pilot blog - Dodero goes to great lengths to explain the Pilot's position regarding the way they present news, rejecting the accusations of biased reporting. Typos notwithstanding, it was a good piece and certainly timely. I happen to agree with what he said.

RIGHT-WING RANTS
However, the guy at the CM Press - a fellow I've described in the past as The-Brain-Who-Ate-Costa-Mesa - uses his pathetic pulpit to shred Dodero and publisher Tom Johnson for his perception of their liberal bias. Keep in mind that this guy sits so far out on the right that ANYONE will seem liberal compared to him. This is a man who apparently has made it his life's work to spread his philosophy of racial intolerance as far as possible through his prolific internet essays, books and - closer to home - his crusade to expunge the Latinos from Costa Mesa's borders.

SEARCHING FOR DIAMONDS
A truly smart guy, he wastes his prodigious intellect appealing to the most base of human emotions. Every once in awhile he will come up with a good idea - like placing an airport at Camp Pendleton. However, discovering those infrequent good ideas is like digging through a pile of dog poo and discovering a diamond - the stench you must endure searching for it makes you retch and sticks with you a very long time. Apparently, though, there are more than a few folks in our town who don't mind all that doo-doo-diving - they just lap up (so to speak) the vile pontifications he purveys.

DEFINING "INFLUENTIAL"
I'm not surprised he's used this opportunity to give himself a literary enema and dump out this pile of criticism of the Daily Pilot. He's been the subject of criticism by the editors in the past - well-deserved, in my view. When you read his rant you'll find a little comment about him having been selected as one of the Daily Pilot 103 most influential persons last year. No matter what you think of his views - I actually detest them - no one in our city can refute the fact that he has been "influential" in matters concerning our town. That isn't necessarily good. But, as I wrote to the editors last year when I nominated him - the word "influential" is their word, not mine. To me, it's like saying Adolph Hitler was "influential" in world events in the last century.

ACTOR? HA!
He also mentions that he "appeared in a Woody Allen movie". Well, I've seen that "performance". Trust me, not only is this guy a "bad actor" when it comes to activities in this city, he's a bad actor, period.

TRAIL OF FAILURE
In fact, it seems that he's had a trail of failure in his life, because he crows about having been, in addition to an actor, a lawyer, real estate agent, author, Marine and who-knows-what-else. Perhaps that's why he seems to have chosen to become the reincarnation of the most despicable man in world history - he's looking for meaning in his life and has chosen the cause of Aryan purity. Perhaps he gets great satisfaction from being admired by the poster boy for racism in this country for the couple decades, David Duke. This quest has gotten him on the watch list of organizations that track hate groups - quite a badge of honor for him, don't you think? Yep, that's sure the kind of man I want "influencing" the future of our city!

DODGING DUCK DOO
In his diatribe he poo-poos the assignment of intolerant motives to actions he's taken or words he's written in the past. Well, my friends, if it waddles like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... I don't know what he thinks, beyond what he writes and does. Actions certainly do speak louder than words, and this guy's actions scream racism at the top of their lungs. For those who follow his view, carrying that "duck" metaphor a little further, if you follow one long enough you will eventally step in some very gooey, slippery, nasty residue of his presence. Trust me, there is a great similarity between that duck and the guy at the CM Press. Watch your step.

NO ANSWERS ALLOWED!
The racist hypocrite ends his blog entry by asking several questions of his readers. Of course, he doesn't really care what they think. If he did, he would provide a venue for them to actually answer the questions - as I do here. No, this guy doesn't care - he has his own agenda and he's sticking to it. Just as he takes the coward's way out by posting comments on the Daily Pilot using several fake names, he won't give you a way to respond to his questions for fear that someone will tell him precisely what they think.

GOOD JOB, DAILY PILOT!
For my part, I'm grateful to the Daily Pilot management for providing us with consistently well-balanced reporting of important issues in our communities. They occasionally miss a story, and sometimes I disagree with an editorial position they've taken, but I still think they do an excellent job for us. I'm grateful to them for the opportunity to provide letters to the editor for their consideration and for the ability to post comments online. In that arena, they have been particularly tolerant of opposing viewpoints, as The-Brain-Who-Ate-Costa-Mesa knows all too well.

A LOSER'S LEGACY
As I read the pathetic rant by the guy at the CM Press I just have to shake my head. What a waste of an intellect. I find myself wondering if, once he's long departed from this earth, his children will sit back and say, "Yeah, I'm proud of my father because of the way he spread hate against everyone not white." That will be quite a legacy...

Contemplating What Might Have Been

Thanks for the heads-up from our friends over at the Newport Beach Voices blog for this sad little bit of information. The Orange County Register Police Log contains the following entry:

W. Balboa Boulevard, 1300 block: arrest, Aug. 26. Todd Marvin Marinovich, 38, of Newport Beach, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance.

Anyone who follows football, particularly those who are University of Southern California fans, know the name well. They also won't be surprised to see it on a police blotter.

There is probably no sadder story of unfulfilled potential than that of Todd Marinovich. While a pretty good summary of his life can be found on Wikipedia, the short version is that he was molded from birth by his father, former Trojan and NFL lineman Marv Marinovich, to become the perfect quarterback. Marv almost succeeded. He created a perfect physical specimen - a kid who was the best high school quarterback in the country while at Capistrano Valley High twenty years ago. He was an outstanding quarterback at USC during his brief career there. Somewhere along the way, though, Marv apparently forgot the mental part of his creation. He forgot to teach Todd that personal discipline is a cornerstone to a successful life, regardless the profession you choose.

Since leaving USC after his freshman year to sign with the Raiders, his career was marked by a couple brilliant moments, overshadowed by frequent mental and moral lapses.

As you read through his biography you cannot help wonder what might have been. While in high school he passed for nearly two miles - 9194 yards! In the twenty years since he left high school Orange County has produced many outstanding quarterbacks, including Trojan Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert. Anyone who saw them all play would tell you that Marinovich was better than either one of them. If he had stayed at USC for a complete career - or even three years - he likely would have set collegiate records that would stand for decades. In the pros, you had visions of greatness for him.

For the past decade it seemed like the only time you saw his name in the newspapers was when it was linked to a drug arrest or other infraction. The above entry from The Register is just the most recent in this long, sad tale.

I'm sure there's a message in here for young athletes today. I suspect, though, that the broader message is for the parents of those athletes and deals with the priorities in their lives and those of their kids. I just know that every time I read about the most recent episode in Todd Marinovich's life I look around my neighborhood and am grateful for the wonderful parents who have given their children outstanding guidance. They've taught them that it's important to be a good person first, a good athlete second.

Todd Marinovich lived the first half of his life in the spotlight an athlete of his skills and potential deserves. He's spent the second half of it in a different spotlight - one that is also deserved. Each time he's arrested I shake my head and wonder just when the light will go on for this young man - and I, once again, contemplate what might have been.