Lydia, Oh Lydia and Then Some Other Political Stuff

Lydia Gutierrez is the Republican candidate for the office of State Senator for the 25th District.

Her Democratic opponent is Mr. Rod Wright.

Lydia and a few other candidates spoke at a forum sponsored by the three San Pedro Neighborhood Councils, on Tuesday evening.

Ms. Gutierrez introduced herself individually to everyone that came early to the forum and she spoke about her candidacy with my wife, Terri.

Ms. Gutierrez and Terri have very different views on a whole host of topics.

Ms. Gutierrez was provided the chance to address the forum as a candidate and she spoke about her upbringing, her family, and some other things, but there was little in her comments that dealt with what she would do, if elected.

Ms. Gutierrez also spoke fairly quickly because she reminded everyone that she had another appointment to get to.

When the time came to ask questions to Ms. Gutierrez, my wife Terri asked about what propositions were important to her.

Terri already know which one proposition Ms. Gutierrez was passionate about and they both knew they disagreed with each other view.

Ms. Gutierrez began her response to the question by stating to the audience, "Thank you Ms. Wells for that set-up question. She said it in a sarcastic tone that we frequently hear from Republican candidates far too much in this election.

Ms. Gutierrez went on to state her strong support for Proposition eight. Ms Gutierrez stated, "I support Proposition eight because I am a Christian."

Lydia, oh Lydia, are you stating that there can be no Christians that oppose Proposition eight?

Ms. Gutierrez, is it your true belief that you cannot be a Christian and still differ from your views concerning Proposition eight?

Who on this planet provided you the right to claim who is a Christian and who is not and why might opposition to one Proposition cause those to be cast out by you from the Christian religion.

I think my wife has strong beliefs and I don't think you can decide for her whether she is a Christian or not.

As Ms. Gutierrez finished her comments and walks towards the exit, she again thanked Terri for the 'set-up' question.

Was it a fair question Terri asked? Terri wanted to make sure the whole audience learned what Ms. Gutierrez's thoughts were about the major issues that Ms. Gutierrez is interested in.

Terri's question did not mention any particular Proposition, by number or title.

But Ms. Gutierrez provided a sarcastic response directly to Terri and then seemed to state that Christians support Proposition eight and opponents apparently do not qualify as Christians, if we listened to Ms. Gutierrez correctly.

Let me repeat what Ms. Gutierrez stated; "I support Proposition eight because I am a Christian."
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Now let me provide you with a wonderful account of a member of the Republican Party that spoke during the forum.

Mr. Brian Gibson, (No relation to John Gibson) is the Republican candidate attempting to unseat Congresswoman Jane Harman in the 36th District.

Mr. Gibson also introduced himself to everyone individually and spoke a little about his ideas.

When it was time for Mr. Gibson to get up and speak, told us about his life, his education, his career, his family, and his thoughts on major issues we are all interested in.

Mr. Gibson was a perfect gentleman during the entire time and I was very refreshing to find a person from that political party that was open, honest, and willing to share ideas about issues.

Of course I don't necessarily agree with many of Mr. Gibson's positions, but it sure was good listening to them anyway.

Mr. Gibson talked about drilling in the ANWAR area and how folks in the U.S.A. might be able to use the oil extracted from there.

That point is something I differ from Mr. Gibson for two reasons; there is really not much oil there and the oil under the ground is not of the quality of oil that can be refined for use in the U.S.A. All oil extracted from ANWAR would have to be sold to foreign countries and none of it can be used by motorists in the U.S.A.

Mr. Gibson favors more Nuclear power plants as a way to help with dependency on foreign oil for the U.S.

I could agree with having many more Nuclear reactors being built and fired up if our country had a better safety record with Nuclear reactors.

Everyone knows about Chernobyl and that was, by far, the deadliest calamity relating to Nuclear reactor power.

Back in the 1950's an experimental Nuclear reactor blew up in the United States and one of the three victims was impaled through part of the concrete shell around the reactor.

It was in the early days of Nuclear power production, but it still marked the first deaths associated with the production of Nuclear power for generating electricity.

And then there was Three-Mile Island. Unfortunately our country's history with Nuclear reactor power production does not meet standards met by many other countries.

I do not live in the 36th Congressional District but I thank Mr. Gibson for providing a good face to a political party that seems to be running on hate, fear, and distrust.

Now getting back to the meanness of some Republicans, Mr. John Stammeranch (sp? sorry John), the leader of the Central Committee of the Republican Party in our area got into it a bit with the President of the San Pedro Democratic Club.

John stated that Senator Obama continues to state he "WANTS" a tax cut for folks making less than $250,000 per year. John claims that Senator Obama is unwilling to promise the tax cut and that his unwillingness to promise the tax cut is somehow bad and should create mistrust in the candidate.

Well John, I would rather have a candidate be honest with his "wants" than dishonest with his promises and guarantees.

John certainly knows that Senator Obama cannot promise something he cannot personally deliver.

John, Senator Obama will need the Congress of the United States of America to adopt laws to create new tax codes and provide tax relief that Senator Obama cannot force onto the population after he is elected President.

Perhaps John believes that Presidents should be able to enact laws much like "W" has done so many times with his signing statements that actually change the enforceability of laws enacted by Congress, according to "W's" whims.

John McCain has repeatedly stated he "knows" how to get bin Ladin. If that is true, why is he currently protecting bin Ladin by not letting "W" know what he knows about getting the scumbag?

Is it that McCain will only get bin Ladin if McCain is elected President.

I would imagine that if someone isn't currently working hard at getting bin Ladin, even with the knowledge McCain claims he has, isn't that more like being a terrorist to protect the worst terrorist?

When John McCain guarantees something like he knows he will get bin Ladin, then he should have told "W" what to do when he (McCain) finally figured out how to get bin Ladin.

I didn't stick around long enough to ask John S. whether San Pedro was part of the "real America" because there are so many Democrats in the area compared to Republicans.

Janice Hahn spoke as a private citizen about Measure A on ballots of folks living in the city of L.A.

She spoke passionately and clearly about the need for passage on the measure that would charge parcel owners about three dollars a month for gang prevention and suppression measures.

I believe that she made everyone understand the issues, and the need for the 'tax' and I think she was speaking to a receptive audience.

I don't get to vote on that measure but that didn't stop me from asking a loaded and set up question that I wanted Ms. Hahn to respond to.

I stated to Ms Hahn that of the three ballot measures, Proposition R-sales tax increase for transit, Proposition Q-seven billion dollars in new school bonds, and Measure A-gang intervention tax, I could only vote for one new added "tax".

I asked her opinion on which one of the three I should vote for. Her answer was exactly what I was hoping for........Support Measure A, for gang intervention and not for the 1/2 cent sales tax increase for transportation or Prop Q, the seven billion dollar school bond measure.

I am glad that Ms. Hahn seems reluctant to support Proposition Q and I hope it fails, at least in the Harbor Area where we have not received our fair share of bond monies for too many years.

Thank you Ms. Hahn, for your take on the issues and I hope Measure A passes by a wide margin and both Props R and Q fail miserably.