Sunday, July 28, 2013

Kevin James Displays Chauvinistic Streak


MEMO

From:  Mr. Charles

To:       All Interested Parties

Re: Kevin James Displays Chauvinistic Streak

Since after my last e-mail it became clear that the community of Los Angeles does not know who the real Kevin James is, I decided I wanted to continue shedding more light on his deplorable comments. I wrote to City Councilmembers, CHIRLA and PICO. Now I am adding Representative Hahn, LA NOW, Close the Gap California, NWPC and California List.

There will be more to come tomorrow.

Appointment Made in “Interest of the City”
As someone who Mayor Eric Garcetti believes is “qualified for the work that will devolve upon him,” Kevin James does not represent what everyday Angelenos stand for. Mayor Garcetti also said in his letter that Kevin James’ appointment was made “solely in the interest of the City” (Mayor Garcetti Kevin James Appointment Notice, July 12, 2013)[i]

Today’s feature will show how Kevin James attacked one of two City Councilmembers who were women at the time, using a three-year-old story that had been debunked in the past by none other than the Daily Breeze’s Gene Maddaus.

False Story Dredged Up on Janice Hahn by Opponents . . .
Councilmember Janice Hahn ran and won the privilege to represent the citizens of the 36th Congressional District. However, the Republican smear machine was in full force, with none other than Kevin James as cheerleader-in-chief.  They dredged up a three-year-old story on Councilmember Hahn, about how she funded gangs and helped gang members get out of jail free. FOX-11 was asked repeatedly to not run the story due to its libelous nature, but they ran it anyway. Kevin James was more than happy to re-air the feature on his radio show. After hearing the names of the gang members making statements, he stated:

She’s [Hahn’s] got quite the list of friends. Remarkable.
(Kevin James Show, 07-07-11, Segment 2)[ii]

. . . Which Was Debunked . . .
Now, Gene Maddaus had written a piece three years before the story was resurrected during Hahn’s Congressional campaign. He was working for the Daily Breeze and debunked every claim made by the erroneous news story by FOX-11. You can read it here, but in short:

Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn continues to take fire from talk radio hosts and conservative bloggers, two weeks after a television news report accused her of providing city funds to active gang members under the auspices of gang intervention programs.
But a review of the Fox 11 News story found major flaws that undermine its central allegations. Most notably, records and interviews show that the gang intervention workers identified in the report have not received city funding. Additionally, a convicted rapist was wrongly identified as a gang intervention worker, and Hahn was mistakenly accused of providing funds directly to gang workers.

The story was largely based on the allegations of two Los Angeles Police Department officers who contend that Hahn pressured the department to remove them from their foot beats in Watts due to complaints about their aggressive tactics. (The Daily Breeze, May 13, 2008)[iii]

. . . But Kevin James Ran With It
Kevin James took it a step further and wanted to fan the flames on the false allegations. In his radio show, he said:

So I would encourage you. Go online to Fox 11. And get the link to the story. Watch it. Make your own decision about whether Janice Hahn should be elected to the United States House of Representatives. Do a compare and contrast. Compare the Craig Huey campaign. His website is craighuey.com. And e-mail this Fox 11 story around. Anyone, especially that you know lives in the South Bay area and the 36th Congressional District. This is the kind of politician, professional politician that wants to move from the Los Angeles City Council to the United States House of Representatives.
(Kevin James Show, 07-07-11, Segment 2)[iv]

Where James really gets out of hand is when he tries to continue a gag where he mocks Janice Hahn and her voice and continues under the false assumption that Janice Hahn was representing gang members (mocking voice in italics):

“Can you believe these names? Can you imagine what Janice Hahn’s rolodex must look like? Can you imagine Janice Hahn to her assistant, ‘Uh hey Mary, get Busybones on the phone? And then after we’re done talking to Busybones, get Bow Wow for me please?’ You’ve got to be kidding.”
            (Kevin James Show, 07-07-11, Segment 2)[v]

Sound Familiar?
Now the question you need to ask Kevin James is, would he have changed his voice and spoken in character if it were a man? It’s no wonder Janice Hahn did not want to go on his show to debate her opponent.

Previously I had mentioned that Kevin James was auditioning to become the next Rush Limbaugh. It is clear he mimicked this technique from Rush Limbaugh who has mocked women's voices over the years examples include then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno.  

In this clip, you can listen to Rush Limbaugh mock LA's own Sandra Fluke voice when she testified on Capitol Hill on behalf of contraceptive rights for young women. (Media Matters, March 1, 2012)[vi]

Again I have to ask if Rush Limbaugh ran for Mayor of Los Angeles, lost endorsed Councilman Garcetti would we be here contemplating whether or not we appoint him to the Board of Public Works?

Kevin James Would Replace a Great Civil Servant
What makes his appointment so heinous is Kevin James is replacing a woman who is a leader in her community in uniting communities not dividing. Capri Maddox is an outstanding member of the community who has participated as a speaker for workshops about how to mitigate gang activity (LANI 2008 Workshop)[vii]. Ms. Maddox has also worked with Safe Passage, a group dedicated to allowing students to travel to and from school without gang confrontations. She wrote:

It’s an innovative idea to take on this challenge to make sure the children in the L.A. schools are safe. It’s great how it brings together so many agencies like the MTA, LAPD, Attorney General’s Office, City Attorney, LAUSD, etc. I’m impressed that the AG’s Office is spending resources to send people down to L.A. for meetings and supervision. (Safe Passage LA Summary, November 2007)[viii]
As always, I can be reached at 213-342-1317 or by responding to this e-mail. Thank you.



[i] http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2013/13-0881_RPT_MAYOR_07-12-2013.pdf
[ii] http://srnnews.townhall.com/talkradio/show.aspx?RadioShowID=34&ContentGuid=c064af8c-2939-46fb-809b-66014fe4e1b7
[iii] http://web.archive.org/web/20090111200157/http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9251653
[iv] http://srnnews.townhall.com/talkradio/show.aspx?RadioShowID=34&ContentGuid=c064af8c-2939-46fb-809b-66014fe4e1b7
[v] http://srnnews.townhall.com/talkradio/show.aspx?RadioShowID=34&ContentGuid=c064af8c-2939-46fb-809b-66014fe4e1b7
[vi] http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/03/01/limbaugh-mocks-sandra-fluke-with-baby-voice-pre/147576
[vii] http://www.lani.org/files/LANI08Program.pdf
[viii] http://socialwork.usc.edu/~rastor/relevant_literature/CCR_Safe_Passage_Partnership_report.pdf

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