Don’t drop it in the mail

Paul Clinton

Rep. Chris Cox huddled with Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge

on Wednesday to discuss national security issues in his oversight

role as chairman of the newly formed Homeland Security Committee.

The noontime meeting in Cox’s Washington office lasted about one

hour.

Also this week, Cox offered some handy tips for Newport-Mesa

residents who want to express their support for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Cox discouraged locals from flooding the Pentagon with cards,

letters and packages for American soldiers.

“Instead, I’m advising that we take full advantage of advanced

technology and direct Internet mail delivery to get our message

across,” Cox said.

Cox offered five ways to show support for the troops, including

donating to Operation USO Care Package (www.usocares.org), giving

long-distance calling cards so soldiers can call their families

(www.operationuplink.org), sending an online greeting

(www.operationdearabby.net), purchasing gift certificates for

military dependents (www.commissaries.com) or using other Web

resources (www.usafreedomcorps.gov).

ROHRABACHER JOINS CRITICISM OF PROFESSOR’S COMMENTS

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher joined 103 of his House colleagues on Friday

in calling for the immediate firing of a Columbia University

professor Nicholas De Genova, who criticized U.S. forces in Iraq.

Costa Mesa’s congressman signed his name to a Friday letter the

lawmakers sent to Columbia’s president, Lee Bollinger.

Rohrabacher called De Genova’s comments “crazy enough, malicious

enough” to trigger the strongly worded letter and call for the

professor’s job.

“Columbia University is a private university, so it was a

suggestion, not a mandate,” Rohrabacher said. “We’re not advocating

that he be thrown in prison for saying what he said ... It’s just a

kook spouting off.”

De Genova, an assistant professor of anthropology at the

university, ripped on U.S. forces at an antiwar rally, calling for an

American defeat in Iraq. De Genova called for “a million Mogadishus,”

a reference to the 1993 ambush that resulted in the deaths of 18

American servicemen.

“The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the

U.S. military,” De Genova is reported to have said. His remarks first

appeared in Newsday.

On Friday, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) wrote a letter to

Bollinger. In it, Hayworth called De Genova’s comments “racist,

hateful, seditious words.”

Rohrabacher signed his name to the letter, which called for the

professor’s immediate firing. Newport Beach’s representative, Chris

Cox, did not sign the letter.

University officials have said the remarks “properly invite anger

and sharp rebuke,” but that De Genova should not be censored.

NEVER TOO EARLY TO GO ‘NEGATIVE’

Assemblyman John Campbell, a candidate for Newport-Mesa’s state

Senate seat, fired off a political volley at opponent Assemblyman Ken

Maddox on Tuesday.

In a memo from his campaign office, Campbell cited Maddox’s

support for a worker compensation bill and asked, “When is Ken Maddox

going to stop catering to the public employee unions?”

Maddox lent his support to Assembly Bill 136, which would expand

benefits for police and firefighters injured on the job. The bill was

proposed by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) and passed

the Assembly’s insurance committee on April 3. Maddox was one of only

two Republicans to support the bill.

When contacted Wednesday, Maddox said he was surprised by the

critique.

“I was a little surprised that he is beginning to go so negative

so early,” Maddox said.

Campbell cited a Sacramento Bee editorial condemning the vote, as

well as the bill. The newspaper called the bill “one of the most

irresponsible” of those introduced this year.

ENDORSEMENTS KNOW NO CAMPAIGN SEASON

More endorsement news keeps coming out of the 70th Assembly race.

It’s the latest in the ever-flowing pipeline of news from that race,

which is still nearly a year away.

Cristi Cristich, an Anaheim businesswoman who lives in Corona del

Mar, unveiled a partial list of business leaders who have supported

her campaign. Some of the luminaries include William Lyon, the

chairman of Newport Beach homebuilder William Lyon Homes; Paul

Folino, the chairman of Costa Mesa technology company Emulex Corp.;

Dwight Decker, chairman and chief executive of Newport Beach

semiconductor maker Conexant Systems; and Ted Smith, the founder of

Costa Mesa software producer FileNet.

Chuck DeVore, a Republican Party stalwart and Irvine resident,

also joined in the endorsement game. He announced he had pinned down

the support of Assemblyman Ray Haynes (R-Temecula).

Other candidates in the race include Don Wagner, an Irvine

businessman, and Marianne Zippi, a Newport Beach businesswoman and

former City Council candidate.

On Tuesday, Cristich announced she had been named to head the

Orange County Davis Recall Committee.

Calling Gray Davis “the worst governor in California’s history,”

Cristich said she joined the effort out of outrage over how Davis has

“overspent and mismanaged our state into fiscal ruin and lied about

it.”