Because I apparently did something nice for somebody recently, and this is God’s way of showing His appreciation.
Seriously, this is amazing: “Known for navigating the state Capitol’s backrooms and this city’s complicated political landscape, state Sen. Leland Yee now is accused of consorting with notorious felons, accepting money for his cash-strapped political campaigns in exchange for favors and promising undercover FBI agents he could deliver connections to international gun runners.” They actually noted his political affiliation (Democrat) – note, though, that as per this article by my RS colleague streiff they apparently had to be prodded into doing it – and favorite hobby-horse (gun control*), and you will find very little in that article that is dull. But there is one item that needs to be pushed back on: “Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, called the allegations against Yee “shocking” and “surreal.””
‘Surreal,’ I will grant. But ‘shocking?’ In 2011 SF Weekly described Mr. Lee (who was then running for Mayor of San Franscisco) thusly:
Leland Yee is a political lifer who has served on the school board, the Board of Supervisors, in the state Assembly, and now in the state Senate, where he represents the Eighth District. He has built a public facade of earnest goodness that, if it were as much his essence as it is his veneer, would make him Sacramento’s top Eagle Scout.
But during that time, Yee has produced a series of possible ethical breaches so numerous and bizarre that voters might feel compelled to seek out extraordinary accomplishments to balance out his weird record.
It would appear that many people on the Left have known for some time that Leland Yee was dirty. They just didn’t realize that he was trying to run automatic weapons into the country. And while I will admit that I wouldn’t have myself guessed that somebody who once tried to go after video games for their ‘violence’ would get caught making shady arms deals, I feel that some of the shocked looks on California Democratic faces are just a bit, ah, disingenuous.
Via @qixtqatl, who could not believe that I was not on top of this story already. …Which is fair: this sort of story is like catnip for me.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: If you’ve ever wondered what the Lefty equivalent would be to breaking news that a family values politician had just been caught with a teenage Thai ladyboy in a campaign contributions-fueled love nest, well, now you know.
*From that article: “In an interview on KPIX 5, Yee said that he was not going to be intimidated, because he believed so strongly in keeping guns out of the hands of bad guys. “This is not an easy issue,” Yee said. “But I am a father, and I want our communities to be safe, and god forbid if one of these weapons fell into the wrong hands.””
“god forbid if one of these weapons fell into the wrong hands.”
.
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So I’ll need to sell them to the right people…?
Like Muslim Rebels? In the Philippines, whom are our good friends and allies in the GWOT? Think about it, connect the dots.
Dang it, I forgot “it’s for the children”
Ah, my state Senator.
I’d note that Yee was one of several Asian state legislators who recently decided that the good graces of the state party were more important than their base, and voted to support SCA 5 – a state constitutional amendment to repeal Prop 209 and embed racial preferences in the state constitution.
Since the most immediate and obvious effect of this bill would be to slam the gates of the best schools and state universities in the faces of ethnic Chinese kids, it’s pretty much considered an existential threat by that community, and they responded as you might expect.
Since Yee was (I think it’s fair to use the past-tense now) chasing statewide office he might have been able to survive that, but some of the others would not. In any case the uproar killed that measure, for now. I would not bet it will not come back.
I’m now wondering how much his selling out the ethic asians on SCA 5 had to do with these revelations.
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There’s a story in there somewhere that actually makes the triads/tongs/yakuza look noble–at least compared to the government.
It’s clear this investigation’s been going on for a while, and it wasn’t leaked before the FBI went in and made their arrest, and it appeared to be the Democrat day of the long knives around the country, so I don’t know.
I mean, it’s not like the ones purged yesterday are the ONLY corrupt Democrats in state office, you could purge three a day nationwide for the next four years and barely scratch the surface.
I do see something of a tussle coming in state politics between those who assume Hispanic supremacy in the party and other groups with more money and more motivation – the Chinese and Indians. They are Democrats because they’re largely in urban areas and that’s where the power is in those places, and because they want to spend money on schools, but their interests do not necessarily coincide with the broader party power structure.
Thank you for providing the info on Yee’s position on SCA 5. I had been wondering if this was a Dem crack down on the opponents to make them understand what not toeing the Dem line could mean! LOL
I’ve considered that, that this might be an effort on the part of the Dem leadership to put the Chinese back in their place and make them toe the line, in which they’d probably get at least some support from the DOJ bosses.
But in reviewing the indictment and the time and effort that’s gone into it, I’d now be surprised if that were a factor in this particular case.
He was against citizens owning guns so that he could sell them to the really bad guys. Typical jackass logic.
No, no…he sold illegal arms because he wants to “open a dialogue” about how easy it is to buy “assault weapons.”
I don’t think Yee really gave a damn about the gun-running. That wasn’t his end of it. He just wanted the money and the connections that came through Shrimp Boy.
For an example of Chow’s history and relationships to other ethically-challenged politicians and their money, check this one out:
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?id=5643329
Very possibly. ‘Course, I don’t think that he really gave a damn about gun control or video games, either.
No question. The very public anti-gun thing comes across as an exercise in aligning himself with Feinstein et al.
Honestly, Moe, when I read that, the first thing I did was check to see what your take was, and when you didn’t have anything to say about it, I fully expected your reply to my query to be some variation of “That story is bull$#!*”. The whole point of bringing it up to you was to find out “Is this crazy $#!* for real? This can’t be real, can it?”
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Yee is, like, the #2 man in the DPoC (or CDP, whatever), and he’s conspiring to run guns to the freaking Chinese mafia? This $#!* is waaaaaaaaay beyond partisan politics, but how could the DPoC not be aware?