Via Wonkette:

CA Republicans Sue Hispanic Dem Candidate For Being Too Inspirational

The Fresno Bee reports: In a pointed new challenge, a Sacramento law firm is asking a judge to block Hernandez from describing himself as an ‘astronaut/scientist/engineer’ on the June ballot. The lawsuit notes Hernandez has left NASA.

What a fun trend this could be, minorities having to go to court for permission to publicly associate with their life’s work! There’s some job creation for you: Hernandez says on his Facebook page that it will cost $20,000 to hire lawyers to defeat the lawsuit.

Disgraced megalomaniacs like Newt Gingrich will still be referred to by their former titles such as ‘Mr. Speaker,’ but only as a special reward for being forced to resign his post in shame.

Also from the Fresno Bee excerpt:

‘Hernandez’s attempted use of ‘astronaut’ violates the Election Code’s unambiguous requirement that a candidate’s ballot designation reflect one’s current profession, vocation, or one held during the previous calendar year,’ the lawsuit states.

I don’t know if this is true or not, that it’s a violation of the Election Code here in California, but it seems like a childish quibble to me. [addendum]

As the article notes, he is the son of migrant farm workers. Inspired by the words of his father, he took American education seriously and eventually became what I consider to be a hero. (C’mon, a freaking astronaut qualifies as “Hero” in my book.)

This is what I read about him recently in Vida en el Valle.

Former astronaut motivates Latino youth

Hernández, who is now running against incumbent Congressman Jeff Denham in the 10th Congressional District, emphasized how his parents influenced his education and career.

“I see a lot of me in you,” Hernández told the students who took part in the ‘Dream to be a Hero’ motivational talk organized by the Club Laitnoamericano del Valle Central. “I am not that different than you are.

We can’t have that, now can we?/

This is also part of what pisses me off about hard-core anti-immigrant assholes. Would that they had their way, we’d be minus one inspiring astronaut right now, and our nation would be lesser for it.

UPDATE: H/T Wrenchwench (thank you for this): Here’s Jose Hernandez talking about how he became an astronaut and why he’s running for Congress.