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.
"And don't think Oh, this is just something that happens in the Deep South."
With the Bradlee Dean debacle still fresh in our minds, Sean Faircloth gives a very compelling speech on the subject of religious bullying of children, and how it is aided by the government and taxpayer dollars.
It is just a little over half an hour, but well worth watching if you have the time.
Sounds like a hilariously good idea to me. Anybody know how to knit or crochet?
Who Are We?
We are women, we are strong, we are smart. And we have a sense of humor.
We do not need government interference with our doctors or our healthcare.
We do not need government probing our vaginas to help us make decisions about abortion.
We do not need government to give us guidance about whether or not to take birth control.
We do not need misogynistic pundits calling us sluts and prostitutes.
We are half of the population and we will not be treated as children or a disenfranchised minority.
"That was a cultural mindset that the space program brought upon us and we reaped the benefits of economic growth because you had people wanting to become scientists and engineers who are the people who enable tomorrow to exist today. And even if you are not a scientist or technologist you will value that activity, and that in the 21st century are the foundations of tomorrow's economies and without it we might as well slide back to the cave because that's where we're headed right now, broke."
