Janet re-translated

Claudio Gallegos had the much-talked-about Janet Nguyen mailer translated by what he’s calling an “independent Vietnamese translator,” which I believe is his wife’s friend who has nothing to lose by being honest here.

First, the comment “She also has votes from other ethnic communities, women, seniors, Republicans who do not like Mexicans” is somewhat of a mistranslation. The translator believes what she is trying to say is that she has votes from people who normally would not VOTE for a Mexican-American candidate. OK so some are now saying it is not as bad as OC Blog claims.

Last night I was having a chat with a friend who is a Janet Nguyen fan.  This friend said that he thought this entire thing was getting blown out of proportion—politicians tailor their message to the audience they are speaking to, he said.

But as Claudio points out, Janet’s mailer is stirring the pot of anti-Latinoism in the Vietnamese community.

I really hoped she would not drink from the Van Tran kool-aid Lan Nguyen and Truong Nguyen have, but it appears she has. Even though the quote is not as malignant as presented, it still has a role in creating more tension between the Latino and Vietnamese communities. I think Janet owes us all an explanation and a promise to engage in causing tension between the Vietnamese and Latino communities. One more point, why did her original English translation differ so much from the original Vietnamese version.

Then again, her consultant is Dave Gilliard, who loves to play the anti-immigrant card in every race he does. Guess what Dave, being anti-Mexican is getting old and people are not going to continue to take it. Janet will lose next week and then will have to explain in her re-election campaign to east Garden Grove Latinos why she is proud to go after voters who hate Latinos.

There is a candidate’s forum tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Santa Ana Council Chambers.  Perhaps Janet will clarify the message of this mailer at that time.

[Claudio’s post at The Orange Juice]