Tossers.
I was just reading the Emerald’s story about the Oregon Action Team’s victory, and I noticed this interesting little tidbit:
“It’s easy to buy an election,” Sen. Nate Gulley, a Rock the Yellow supporter said after hearing the results.
The Commentator wonders if Senator Gulley can provide any evidence whatsoever to back up his statement, or whether he’s just speaking from personal experience.
For his part, Diego Hernandez was quoted as saying that he hadn’t “even processed it yet,” which probably stems from the fact that he’s spent a significant portion of his processing power lately fulminating against white people in the comments section of the Daily Emerald, producing such gleaming pearls as:
Diversity, in the mind of the average white, heteronormative male is obviously or should be non-European…White people suddenly want to be included in the term diversity. This is why Affirmative Action is becoming weaker and scholarships that are meant for people of color are going to white people because diverse means something different.
and leading off with:
Wake is an idiot, he needs to wake up and stop being a racist, uneducated baboso.
I am guessing your not educated about “race,” especially because Wake’s comment is obviously ignorant and racist, and because you used the term “Hispanic.” I don’t get my definitions from the encyclopedia, especially socially related terms. Race and Racism is so complex that you can major on it and get a Doctorate from the topic. Suddenly, I have to stay silent when I speak about race, because if I talk about it then it might loose it’s meaning. [emphasis added]
After someone in the comments section (whom Hernandez claimed was “Sean Jin himself or someone associated with him or the neoliberal, neoconservative, ignorant Oregon Commentator” [Gosh, it’s so nice that you’re always thinking of us!!]) pointed out that his sentiments were coming dangerously close to breaching the University’s definition of “discriminatory harassment,” Hernandez suddenly made an about-face, claiming:
But anyway if you read what Wake said, it is obviously not racist, but I thought I should just do it to see what kind of dialogue would come of it. Very interesting stuff… [emphasis added]
Between churning out such confused vitriol and denouncing Sean Jin’s “hate speech” about the Multicultural Center, it’s no wonder that Mr. Hernandez has been suffering a dearth of CPU power needed for processing the Oregon Action Team’s victory, leaving it to Nate Gulley to instead insinuate election fraud and further drag what remains of the ASUO’s reputation through the mud.
Congrats to the Oregon Action Team for shaking these tossers up a bit.
I think winning the ASUO Election is about like being the fastest midet in the circus.
If someone wants to win bad enough, they will do all they can to make certain that a win happens. And frankly, in my opinion, it was damn worth it.
I get a feeling they took a “L” on 25 cent slices of pizza. Next years campaign should probably go with 25 cent top ramen.
$14,000? Shit, that’s like two years worth of tuition.
I saw Nate’s comment before I read the article, and dismissed as fairly standard post-election angst. And hey, I’ve been there, too.
But I read the updated article this morning, and my eyes just about came out of my head.
Almost fourteen THOUSAND dollars on an ASUO presidential election? There are state legislative campaigns that don’t spend that much money. I don’t even know what I’d have done with that kind of money. And some of it coming from businesses (what the fuck?)
I mean, look. I helped run campaigns, I placed a ton of advertising in Eugene publications for various reasons. And unless the OAT folks were buying TV time, I can’t figure out how you’d burn through that much cash. Or for that matter, where you’d get it.
Jared: First of all, I was not speaking to the ODE on behalf of the OAT campaign. Hell, I was pretty shocked to see myself quoted in their story at all.
As to the substance of my claim, it would be abundantly obvious to everyone had the ODE actually covered the grievance process at all this year. I understand their decision not to: campaign grievances are typically petty, irrelevant and uninteresting. But this year (probably because the ODE was not covering them) grievances were unevenly heard, ruled on and enforced. A few examples of this are available on this blog, but there are more that the OC didn’t even cover.
None of this should come as any surprise. Kendall Tylee was McLain/PAC8’s most dedicated campaigner last year, and was Kari/RTY’s most partisan advocate this year… despite being the supposedly neutral elections coordinator. The Constitutional Court was likewise subject to partisan influence by people both on and off the bench… both bodies published opinions written by partisan advocates and passed off as their own work.
Do I have (in hand) smoking gun evidence for this? Of course not. With OAT’s victory and a new generation of independent leadership set to take over the ASUO, there’s no need to go through the legal processes by which these assertions could be proven. Moreover, Sam and Johnny have told me that their experiences this year have made them understand the importance of reforming the elections process so as to avoid the kinds of partisan influences they have struggled against.
Ultimately, this win by total outsiders proves that the ASUO can be redeemed from the shadiness and soft corruption that have ruled it for so long. When Gulley said “it’s easy to buy an election,” he was speaking from experience. His brand of politics involves buying elections through runaway spending on favored programs in return for votes in the spring. Sam and Johnny did not “buy” this election any more than McLain, Axelrod, et al bought their elections. The difference between OAT and the party of business as usual at the ASUO is that OAT did not buy the election using student money.
the people have spoken
It really is comments like Diego
I think it
When you’re facing a loaded gun…what’s the difference?
Good, bad, I’m the guy with the gun.
Oh don’t act like the oblivious insider-turned-outsider now Jared. And Ted, don’t succumb to his “let’s play stupid” attempts to bait for information.
While I can’t comment on Nate’s comments and claims, while we’re on the subject of the ODE article, I had a question about another quote in there.
Ted- I was wondering if you could elaborate on your quote of, “‘(Rock the Yellow) rigged the elections board,’ he said.” I was just hoping you could provide some evidence of this as well. I’ve known you for a while now, and I know you’re not the type of person that would throw around accusations without having something to back it up with.
It really is comments like Diego’s that force a wedge between people of different racial, ethic backgrounds. Further, I swear there is a word list called “adjectives of the oppressor” that Diego and his ilk draw heavily from. They include such gems as hetronormative (whatever the hell that means), patriarchal, sexist, etc.
I think it’s pretty awesome that Hernandez considers us both neoliberal and neoconservative. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a neo-moderate, though.