Rohrabacher surf into Newport Harbor

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Congressman Dana Rohrabacher prides himself on calling

it the way he sees it. On Sunday he brought this straight-shooting style

to a talk before the Newport Harbor Republican Assembly.

In it he covered a variety of domestic and international topics,

including global warming -- which he called “global baloney” -- and U.S.

relations with the Chinese government, whom he called “gangsters.”

Before a group of 30 local Republicans, including Mayor Dennis O’Neil and

councilmen Tod Ridgeway and Tom Thomson, Rohrabacher also touched on the

local hot topic of El Toro.

“If we were a Third World country we’d be on our knees thanking God for

this asset,” Rohrabacher said, adding that El Toro supporters need to

remain active in order to ensure that the proposed airport materializes.

He said the airport would contribute immeasurably to the economic health

and prosperity of Orange County.

In terms of national issues, Rohrabacher was particularly adamant about

what he views as the government’s unnecessary involvement in areas such

as the arts.

“Government shouldn’t fund the arts,” he said. “Things go haywire when

government is involved in things it shouldn’t.”

He added that the issue of global warming was “someone’s” subversive

effort to hand even more power to the national government. By frightening

citizens’ with an untruth such as global warming, the government gains

greater authority Rohrabacher said.

Rohrabacher recalled a time when the government denounced cranberries as

carcinogenic, citing that incident as an untruth similar to the concept

of global warming. This misinformation was later withdrawn and now,

ironically, he said, cranberry flavors are ubiquitous.

On the issue of foreign policy, Rohrabacher said that “America’s job is

not to be police of the world.” However, the country should not shirk

pivotal confrontations. He called defeating the Nazis and the Japanese

militarists in World War II and the Communists during the Cold War period

a tremendous achievement.

He said America’s current threat is communist China, which Rohrabacher

believes is trying to dominate Asia. The congressman compared himself to

Britain’s famous World War II leader Winston Churchill, whose early

warnings of Nazi Germany -- in this case China -- fell on deaf ears.

“Communist China is what the Japanese were in the 1920s and 1930s,” he

said.

Republicans in attendance seemed to enjoy the discussion and were ready

with a number of questions and comments for the Congressman.

“I like Dana, he’s a nice guy,” said Barry Allen, the event’s host. “He

started out as a speech writer for Reagan and is a surfer.”

Jeff Petry, the Newport Harbor Republican Assembly Treasurer said that it

was a good turnout despite only having a week’s notice that the

Congressman would come and speak to the group.