Another Story of Clinton Cash

The opening paragraph was a dead giveaway.

Something remarkable happened at 44 Henry St., a grimy Chinatown tenement with peeling walls. It also happened nearby at a dimly lighted apartment building with trash bins clustered by the front door. An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton

Sometimes you just have to call it what it is: racism. Rep. Mike Honda spoke out on that very issue after the LA Times unleashed their screed
on Hillary Clinton’s cash, which her opponents and their allies gobbled up, proclaiming another “fundraising scandal.” Word to the unwise: unless it breaks the law it’s not a scandal. It is simply raising money, lots and lots and lots of money. However, when you go after people of a certain race, while also getting the story wrong by a mile, that’s something else entirely.

“While I sincerely hope the reporting is airtight, the story lacked responsible sensitivity and, at times, even strained to turn the commonplace into the mysterious. For example, the story describes “…a woman named Chung Seto, who came to this country as a child from Canton province…” Anyone who has ever spoken with Ms. Seto, who I’ve known for many years, knows that she’s as New York as one can get. The story, however, paints her as a mysterious foreign figure, when in fact she has been a longtime established leader within the New York Democratic Party and is well respected in Democratic circles nationally. … .. … .. “Many times it is not so much what a story says, but what it insinuates, such as a link between Asian Americans and organized crime. The aftertaste of this story is that campaign financing is an Asian problem. If this was about fundraising, I failed to see anything about Mitt Romney’s campaign co-chair Alan Fabian, or other non-Asian American incidents. Why are Asian Americans being singled out? Unquestionably, there is room for improvement in campaign finance and the vetting process in this country and we should address this issue. However, this is a bi-partisan, American problem, not an Asian American problem. To characterize it as such does injustice to our democracy. … .. Honda Statement on L.A. Time Campaign Donor Story

If the LA Times had done a simple Google search on Ms. Chung Seto, they could have saved themselves a lot of embarrassment. Do one yourself. One of the things you’d find out is that Ms. Chung Seto was the former Executive Director of the New York Democratic Party. In 2005, when she was spokeswoman for the National Women’s Political Caucus, she attracted attention of The Volokh Conspiracy. This past August Seto was featured at a DNC event in Nevada, bringing together five different caucuses for a “constituency summit.”

What did the Times say about Ms. Seto? You’ll see below, but one thing they certainly tried to do with much effort is to make Ms. Seto seem like someone from a far off land, with only tangential ties to this country. “Out of the periphery” was the section title in the article. That hardly describes someone who was the Executive Director of the New York Democratic Party.

A key figure helping to secure Asian support for Clinton is a woman named Chung Seto, who came to this country as a child from Canton province and has supported Bill and Hillary Clinton since the 1990s. She called Fujian natives’ support for Hillary Clinton the beginning of civic engagement for an immigrant group that had long been on the periphery. She said she stationed translators at the entrance of one event to try to screen out improper contributions.

It likely doesn’t matter that Rep. Honda actually knows Ms. Seto. After all,
this is about Hillary Clinton and her massive outreach for campaign riches, where nefarious connections to foreign lands are spun into gold.
Cue the machine.

In earlier times, New York politicians from William “Boss” Tweed to Fiorello LaGuardia gained power with the support of immigrants. So did politicians in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and other big cities. Like many who traveled this path, most of the Chinese reported as contributing to Clinton’s campaign have never voted. Many speak little or no English. Some seem to lead such ephemeral lives that neighbors say they’ve never heard of them. … ..

Note to the LA Times: You really should employ people who can tuck their Randolph
Herst hyperbole in when talking about Clinton and campaign fundraising. Because
when you start using historical analogies of William “Boss” Tweed
in an article targeting Clinton it’s obvious to everyone, except those whose
candidates benefit from promoting such drama, what you’re trying to do.

The system is awash in cash, something that we all often talk about and hate
for obvious reasons. We’re also talking about $50 million in contributions. But when Clinton’s campaign has found donations that smell
they give the money back. However, this immigrant slandering fetish of reporters,
especially where Clinton is concerned, is revealing more about the news organizations
than the candidate. Clinton has lots of money. She’s getting it from every legal
means she can. Politics, American style. Alert the media. Seriously, someone
alert the media and while you’re at it send a memo to her opponents. There were no laws being broken. The LA Times did a sloppy hit job complete with racist overtones and everyone picked it up with glee. Just another day in the ’08 primary cycle, with Clinton in the target zone.