(Cross-posted at Ditch Crazy Dana and Trash Dirty Gary)

What do you think of when you think “Fourth of July”? The American flag, perhaps? Fireworks? Independence? Apple pie? Ice cream? The beach? A parade? Well, what if I told you that you can experience all of that AND MORE on Wednesday?!

Yes, my friends, this Wednesday is July 4th. And yes, this means it’s time for the Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade, THE LARGEST INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER! And guess what? The Democratic Party of Orange County will once again have a fantastic float in the parade! Oh yes, and our fabulous Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez will be marching with us! Oh yes, and we need more people to march with us in the parade. Come on now, don’t YOU want to be a part of the parade?

So would YOU like to be a part of this world-famous All-American celebration? Follow me after the flip for more…

For the past 28 years, OC Democrats have been a part of this VERY OC tradition. We’ve had local elected officials like Former State Senator Joe Dunn and current State Senator Lou Correa join us in the parade. We always have the Young Democrats dancing on the float. Oh yes, and how about that float? Live music. Festive decorations. The American Spirit. What more could you possibly want?

So why NOT go? Join in on the fun. Just remember to COME EARLY TO FIND PARKING. Here are some details on what will be happening, courtesy of The Liberal OC:

The parade begins at 10:00 A.M. and ends at 12:30 P.M. Democrats begin gathering at 7:30 A.M. to march. We will have shuttle cars to take you to the staging area or to the handicap cheering section.

Shuttle Starts: 7:00 A.M.
Last Shuttle: 9:00 A.M.

Please come early, the traffic gets very busy and we cannot transport everyone at the last minute.

For parking and shuttling, drive to Seacliff Village, located at Goldenwest and Yorktown. Look for the Del Taco fast food restaurant. Then look for the signs saying “Democratic Parking.”

Oh yes, and before I forget, we should all remember that all marchers with the Democratic Party of Orange County entry must wear red T-shirts or polo shirts and blue jean or dark/navy blue shorts or pants. Get it? Got it? Good.

Well, I’m picking out my red shirt and blue jean shorts. How about you? The Fourth of July Parade may only be once a year, but it’s something that give us great memories to last us all year long. Why not be a part of these great memories?

To participate, simply show up!

If you have any questions, please contact Caren Bolinger at 310-293-8320 or email her at [email protected]

: )

Remember when Susan Davis’ amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill passed the House Armed Services Committee? Remember that this is the amendment that ensures that the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), Orange County’s toll road authority, complies with state environmental laws, which means that a toll road can’t be built through San Onofre State Beach to Trestles? Remember that the bill moved on to the US Senate after it passed the House?

Well, we have a new problem. One of our own Senators, Dianne Feinstein, is undecided on adding something like the Davis Amendment to the Senate’s Defense Authorization Bill. I guess she’s not sure yet whether California state environmental law is important enough to be enforced. Follow me after the flip to find out what YOU can do to ensure that Senator Feinstein votes to enforce the law, protect our coast, and respect the integrity of our parks…

So what can YOU do to convince Senator Dianne Feinstein to save Trestles and urge TCA to extend the 241 toll road legally? Why not send the Senator an email? Why not send a fax to the Washington, DC, office at (202) 228-3954? Why not contact one of Feinstein’s state offices? Let Senator Feinstein know how you feel about preserving the integrity of our parks, and how important saving this unique coastal park truly is.

So what can you say if you send an email or fax? How about saying something like this…

Dear Senator Feinstein:

Please join us in supporting the addition of language to the Senate Defense Authorization Bill that repeals riders designed to exempt the Foothill-South toll road extension through San Onofre State Beach from state and federal law.

In addition, we urge you to repeal the additional rider that authorizes the Marine Corps to grant an easement for the Foothill South Toll Road that permanently encroaches into Camp Pendleton and compromises their mission.

The proposed Foothill South Toll Road is one of the most environmentally destructive projects in California and sets a dangerous precedent for the intrusion into state park lands well beyond Orange County.

At minimum, this project should have to comply with all the same laws as any other similar project – just like those reviewed at the local level every week. Allowing the federal government to override the Coastal Act sets a disastrous precedent, the Marine Corps should use its own professional judgment in how best to safeguard Camp Pendleton from encroachment, without pressure from Congress one way or the other.

Please support Representatives Davis and Sanchez in their efforts to ensure that the Foothill-South Toll Road complies with all laws of the United States and the State of California. In addition, we hope you will go a step further and remove the riders that currently create unprecedented legal exemptions for the construction of the Toll Road through Camp Pendleton.

Thank you for your past support for California’s unparalleled natural resources, and for your willingness to carefully consider the impacts of the Foothill-South Toll Road on our Southern California coastline.

Sincerely,
Your Name Here

Or this, if you’d rather not be so loquacious…

Dear Senator Feinstein:

I am a supporter of the Susan Davis amendment to the Senate Defense Authorization Bill, which repeals the legal exemptions for the 241 toll road extension through San Onofre State Park. I’m writing to ask you to vote in favor of this amendment, and also to vote to remove the riders that give the Transportation Corridors Agency so many legal exemptions for construction of this road.

I believe the builders of the toll roads should follow the same laws that everyone else follows and should not be granted special rights or privileges.

Thank you very much for considering this issue, and for your outstanding and long service to our state and nation.

Sincerely,
Your Name Here

Now you don’t have to write something like this or the longer letter. Just use these as ideas for whatever you’d like to say to Senator Feinstein about supporting the Davis Amendment. Just allow these to inspire you to make her heartfelt sentiments about Trestles and our state parks known to the Senator.

Susan Davis and Loretta Sanchez did what needed to be done in the House to save Trestles and our state parks. So now, it’s up to the Senate. And right now, Dianne Feinstein can make the difference between preserving one of our most popular state parks for generations to come and setting a dangerous precedent for state and federal environmental laws to be ignored if they get in the way of a new highway and/or toll road and/or residential development. Dianne Feinstein can make a difference in the Senate this week, and she needs to know that we want her to make that difference.

But first, we need to make a difference. I need to make this difference, and so do YOU. I plan to write to Senator Feinstein about including the Davis Amendment in the Senate’s Defense Authorization Bill. Would you like to do the same? Do you care about keeping our parks open for us to enjoy for many years to come? If so, then please ask Senator Feinstein to support including the Davis Amendment in the Senate’s bill.

Senator Feinstein can make a difference for the better this week, but first we need to make that difference to urge her to do the same. : )

So, we get it, there’s no problem with the Democratic Party of the OC. Cool, there are no ego problems with Loretta Sanchez fearing the sheer power of SF’s elected representative, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I get it. And now I see OC Democrats are uniting behind Loretta Sanchez for another fundraiser.  Excellent! That’s great to hear.

So, I assume Rep. Sanchez will be giving at least half of that money that she’s raising to the OC Dem. Party and/or the DCCC. Right? Flip it:

Back to that fundraiser invitation:

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is one of our finest and most respected elected Democrats.

Congresswoman Sanchez is not only a great leader in Orange County, but also in the United States Congress. We must do our best to ensure that a leader such as her is elected and re-elected to represent Orange County to Washington DC.

Please join former Senator Joe and Diane Dunn at their home, for a Lobster Bash honoring Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez!

Congresswoman Loretta SanchezSaturday, June 16, 2007
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
1911 Heliotrope Dr.
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Live Music by The Lost Boys!!!

Kids Welcome!

Suggested Donations:
$150 – Individual
$1,000 – Table
$2,300 – Sponsor
$2,500 – PAC
Please RSVP to Kelly Martinez at 714-832-4431 or [email protected]

Sounds fun, right? Yup, but it sure is strange that the max individual contribution asked for is $2300. What’s the significance of that you ask? Well, that would be the max contribution to a Representative. I mean, she could ask for more for money to go to the OC Democratic Party and/or the DCCC.

So, here’s the deal, I can point to opensecrets.org and show you Loretta Sanchez’s huge cash disparity in her post B-1 Bob Dornan Elections. I’ll leave that data out, but suffice it to say the disastrous Tan Nguyen campaign was the best financed campaign for a long time.  And Sanchez already has about the same amount of money as Nguyen spent against her in the bank.

So, let’s start Use it Or Lose It 2008 in time to build field organizations, grow the grassroots, and develop opportunities in California’s 18 Republican Districts. Because while I’ve heard Loretta is fabulous, I think we’d be a lot better off with some of the money from that fundraiser going to other opportunities in the state (Gary Miller…Jerry Lewis…John Doolittle…the axis of corruption) and into organizing field through the Orange County Democratic Party than with the money going to raise Ms. Sanchez’s name ID for a possible statewide run in the 2010 election in the LA Media Market.

So, let’s not wait for election to bear down upon us. Let’s use it before we lose it right now, here in California.

It’s over! It’s over! It’s finally over! The Liberal OC has the last word on the crazy rumor about the Nancy Pelosi fundraiser, and the Republican spinners at OC Blog have clearly failed in their attempt to create civil unrest among Orange County Democrats. Horray, the non-scandal has died! ; )

OK, and now for more scandaliciousness… Bill O’Reilly now claims that the liberals have declared war on the white, male Christians! Cheese louise, when will these crazy right-wing folks learn to stop stirring up s**t over non-scandals?!

So what “scandals” are happening in your neck of the woods? What non-issues are the Republicans trying to stir up in your area? And is Bill O’Reilly crazy, or is he just talking nonsense? Go ahead. Make my day. Fire away! : )

OK, so you’ve probably seen this by now. Or perhaps, you’ve seen this. Wherever you saw Matt Cunningham’s post about the cancelled Nancy Pelosi fundraiser in Orange County, don’t believe it.

Yes, the fundraiser was cancelled. But no, Loretta Sanchez didn’t “put the kibosh” on a chance to raise money for the Democratic Party of Orange County. No, Loretta Sanchez isn’t against a stronger, better-funded DPOC. No, the Democratic Party is not weak and incompetent.

Follow me after the flip to get to the truth of this matter…

Here’s what Matt Cunningham said on OC Blog and FlashReport…

… Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s ego got in the way.

Sanchez adopted a proprietary view of the dollars the Pelosi/DPOC event would raise. Rather than seeing a stronger, better-funded DPOC as a benefit to her continued representation of the 47th Congressional District, in Loretta’s view the fund raiser would take money away from her.

And here’s why this is completely wrong. The fundraiser actually was for the DCCC, not the DPOC. The fundraiser was on April 29 in Newport Beach, even though many OC Democrats were still in San Diego for the state Democratic Convention. And even though the individuals that scheduled the dinner promised that Loretta Sanchez was already on board with the fundraiser, they did NOT contact her to make sure that she was actually available for this fundraiser.

Basically, this fundraiser was just a disaster waiting to happen. So you don’t believe me? Believe Wylie Aitken. He knows what he’s talking about when he talks about Loretta. Wylie Aitken has been with her since the beginning as a campaign adviser to Loretta. But of course, he also knows what he’s talking about when he talks about the Democratic Party. He has always been a good friend of the DPOC. Read what he said to Total Buzz about that fundraiser.

The cancellation of the event had little or nothing to do with Loretta Sanchez.

The event would have been primarily for the DCCC. Well-intentioned individuals scheduled the evening without making sure Loretta would be available as well as many others within the Democratic donor community.

Loretta did what she should do — in addition to scheduling problems, to give her honest assessment to the Speaker, as to whether the event was properly planned and would be a success.

So there you have it! OK, so you’re still not believing me? Believe Mike Lawson at The Liberal OC. Here’s what he was told about that fundraiser:

The DPOC (with the help of “local Democratic insider”) solicited Pelosi for this dinner. One of the selling points was that Loretta was already onboard.

After Pelosi accepted the invitation she spoke with Sanchez, who hadn’t heard of the event. Once Loretta looked into the benefit, she noticed that there were some people (like the friend of “local Democratic insider”) that were angling to make some good money off of the event; Sanchez, who was never officially onboard with this benefit, backed out. And so did Pelosi.

Maybe Matt Cunningham was right when he said that “ego” stood in the way of this event, but it wasn’t Loretta’s this time. Perhaps the “local Democratic insider” shouldn’t have guaranteed Loretta’s attendance.

So do you believe us now? Oh yes, and look who’s supporting that fundraiser for Loretta this month. So, there! Loretta still cares about us in Orange County. The Democratic Party here is doing a great job in building the party in Orange County. Everyone is doing great, and we’re all looking forward to that fundraiser at Joe Dunn’s house on the 16th.

So much for that rumor! Cheese louise, the OC Republican insiders at OC Blog can’t even come up with a credible runor against us! I guess if this is the worst they can throw at us, then we’re doing a great job here! : )

My member of Congress, Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), did something pretty amazing yesterday. She voted against four additional months of funding for Bush’s failed war in Iraq. She actually stood up and voted against keeping our brave troops in the middle of someone else’s civil war for any longer. Loretta did the right thing, and as a constituent I am proud.

(After the flip for more…)

Now unfortunately, she was not in the majority. The Republicans were nearly unanimous in voting to continue George W. Bush’s failed war. In the House, they were able to pull away enough Democrats to succeed in passing a bill that gives Bush four more months of carte blanche. That was enough to send the bill to the Senate, where it passed with bipartisan support.

This is a bittersweet moment for me. I am proud that my Congresswoman did the right thing yesterday. I am proud that the vast majority of California Democrats did the right thing in the House yesterday. I am proud that Senator Barbara Boxer was one of fourteen in the Senate to do the right thing. However, I am NOT proud that Congressional Republicans would not budge in allowing Democrats to override Bush’s veto of legislation that would have actually put an end to this ridiculous war. They enabled Bush to succeed yesterday in temporarily thwarting the will of the American people.

Even though I am proud of what my Congresswoman did yesterday in listening to what the wishes of Orange County voters and the will of American voters, I am ashamed that most of Congress would not listen.

Now this is not the first time when Loretta Sanchez has demonstrated real courage on the House floor. She voted against the “PATRIOT” Act that has done nothing to secure this country, and everything to destroy our Constitutional rights. She voted against authorizing that invasion of Iraq that Bush so wanted. She voted against the “Partial Birth Abortion” Ban Act that did nothing to save lives, and only succeeded in destroying women’s reproductive rights. She voted against the “PATRIOT” Act again when it came up for reauthorization in 2005. She voted against a “Secure Fence” Act that did nothing to solve our immigration problem. And last fall, she voted against the Military Commissions Act that allowed Bush to completely disregard the Constitution. When others took the easy way out, Loretta Sanchez stood up and made the tough choices. She voted her conscience, and voted for what’s best for this district and this nation.

And of course, Loretta’s courage doesn’t fade away when she leaves the House floor. She has stood strong against human rights abuses in Vietnam. She even traveled to Vietnam to meet with the wives of jailed political dissidents, only to have the Vietnamese government block them from even seeing her. She stood strong for preserving our precious natural resources when she helped pass the Davis Amendment in the Armed Services Committee, ensuring that Trestles beach is protected and that TCA obeys state law in extending the 241 Toll Road. Even when the Orange County business lobby was putting pressure on her to vote against this amendment, Loretta fought for the rule of law and for the protection of our coast and our environment… AND SHE WON (and so did we)!

Sometimes Loretta wins the fights, and so do we. Sometimes, we don’t. Unfortunately yesterday, we didn’t win. However, Loretta stood strong. And I am still proud.

This failed war and bungled occupation of Iraq has been a complete disaster for this nation, and for Iraq. George Bush has now created a humanitarian crisis in Iraq. He has caused so much pain and suffering for all the families who have lost loved ones in this war. Iraq has descended into complete civil war, and this occupation is doing nothing to help the situation. This war needs to end. We cannot allow Bush to simply “shift tone” on Iraq while he only continues his same old failed strategy.

So I hope Loretta Sanchez continues to work to end this war. I hope that all her Democratic colleagues do the same. When the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization bill comes up in Septmeber, I hope that they turn up the pressure on the Congressional Republicans to not enable George Bush to continue thwarting the will of the American people. The people want this war to end. Loretta Sanchez knows this, and so do most Congressional Democrats. I guess I also hope that more Republicans start to realize that, too.