CAD, ER CAAD, AND WAR
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
asbarez
Friday, February 17th, 2012
Last weekend was quite outdoorsy for me, but with strong political
flair.
Friday started out with a hike to scout a route from Burbank to
Griffith Park (in Los Angeles) for a future outing with one of
Burbank’s city council members. Then, it was off to REI to check
out their clearance sale for hiking and related gear and to buy the
infamous Adventure Pass, which is now required in the four LA area
national forests (Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, and San Bernardino).
Isn’t it great? We get to pay to park, even just on the side of the
road, on our own property. I understand various versions of this exist
throughout the U.S. now. After sneaking in the week’s grocery shopping,
it was off to Montebello and the Rio Hondo to scout another hike for
a city council member in that city. After that it was off to a new
(for me) map store in Pasadena, since Geographia in Burbank closed
down almost a year ago. I had to get maps for the Woodson Peak area
in San Diego County.
I was going to San Diego for the California Democratic Party’s (CDP)
convention, where the California Armenian American Democrats (CAAD)
was expected to receive its final approval as a chartered organization
within the party, the first one in half a century! Of course traveling
125 or so miles without getting in a hike would not do, so I planned
the Woodson hike with a friend who lived nearby. Unfortunately,
pneumonia got his daughter, and he had to care for her and ditched
the hike. I recommend doing this hill.
Saturday was very cool and pleasant (though the views, reportedly quite
impressive, were largely compromised by the clouds) and the hike up
Woodson fairly challenging at a good pace. It has “potato chip rock”
(also called the “diving board) near the peak-a strangely shaped
rock with a long protruding ledge that people stand on to have “hero”
pictures taken of themselves in all kinds of comical poses. The actual
summit is a huge boulder that must be climbed, but the first step is
not easily accomplished. People had a two-by-four propped against it
as an aid. Unfortunately, my weight would probably have snapped it.
Luckily, another hiker arrived at the same time. We chatted, realized
we were both in San Diego for the convention, then he recognized me!
We’d hiked Mt. Baldy a dozen years ago. A boost from him enabled me
to summit.
Then it was back to the car and my friend’s house. Lunch was dispatched
(from a Greek place called Pegasus-really liked the name) and as I
was about to leave, his wife arrived. The “perils of politeness”
kicked in, I ate some more, and proceeded to be late to the CAAD
meeting. Luckily, I made it in time for two important items.
First, elections were being held. This was very important since much
negotiating (bickering?) led up to a unified slate of candidates.
Unfortunately, the group of people who jumped first and worked on
creating CAAD (after many people had discussed and advocated it over
the last few years) seemed very hesitant to be broadly inclusive. This
was a manifestation, partly, of some of the divisions we have in
our community, so it came as no surprise. We can, and did, work
things out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only factor at play in the
proto-organizational squabbles. Unfortunately, some elected officials
and others within the party seem to want to have CAAD replace the
Armenian community’s existing advocacy/political organizations. Only
cads would take such an approach to CAAD. These inclinations, largely
unspoken, contributed to the difficulties I referred to above.
Hopefully, everyone involved in CAAD will act in a way that is
beneficial to both the Armenian community and the Democratic Party,
not just one at the expense of the other. Similarly, I hope CAAD’s
creation will lead to the inception of an equivalent organization
within the Republican Party, and even the minor parties, too.
The bombshell at the CAAD meeting, for me anyway, was no part of the
above. Rather, when it was announced the Cenk Uygur was going to be
the featured speaker at the CDP Progressive Caucus’ meeting, a yelped
in shock and incredulity. In case you don’t know, Uygur (whose first
name means war) is host of the now-online talk show “The Young Turks”,
and an Armenian genocide denier. I’d written, almost six years ago,
about a similar incident when he and his co-hosts were to moderate
a panel of Democratic Party candidates leading up to that year’s
primaries. Our community’s pressure back then led him to pull out.
And, here we were again, faced with a very similar situation.
The ANCA got wind of this about a week before the convention and got
to work, publicly and privately, to prevent Mr. War from being given
this platform. CAAD also got to work within the party, resulting in
a last minute Saturday powwow (6:00pm, with the program scheduled to
start at 8:00pm). Unfortunately, denier Cenk Uygur ended up speaking
that night. That led to the Armenian activists carrying out the
backup plan of distributing leaflets exposing Uygur’s denialism to
those attending the program.
However, some good may have come of this mess. The Progressive Caucus’
chair, in her introductory remarks, reaffirmed the group’s agreement
with the CDP’s affirmative position on Armenian Genocide recognition.
She also said the caucus would cooperate with CAAD to put on an
educational program about the Genocide sometime early this summer
(part of this she said to me in conversation after the program was
over). Her sense is that Uygur is a “changed man”, though that was
not in evidence when he spoke.
The program consisted of reports by members of the progressives’
executive committee members, followed by Democratic candidate for
Congress in California’s second district, Norman Solomon. Solomon
vigorously affirmed the necessity of Armenian Genocide recognition,
but corrected one point, that it wasn’t the first genocide of the 20th
century, rather, that “honor” went to the massacre of Congolese by
Belgians in the years straddling the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.
He invited Uygur to clear up the matter. When the latter finally
spoke, he referred to the matter of the Armenian Genocide, and
even the offensive name of his show, as something that needed to be
addressed. When I asked a question, requesting he simply recognize the
Genocide, he again demurred and evaded, arguing that night was not the
forum for it, and the topic was different. He clearly implied he would
address the matter. Consequently, throughout the program, the Armenian
contingent stood, in silent protest, with backs turned to the podium.
Afterward, Uygur was quickly whisked out by “security” folks. These
people were absent from the other events held at the San Diego
Bayfront Hilton Hotel (though there was evidently heightened security
at the Convention Center, supposedly because the “Occupy” movement
had said it would take action at the CDP convention). The implication,
of course, is that Armenians were a threat to this denier. It reminds
me of when previous U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Yovanovitch spoke at
the Ferrahian School and had security types present, whereas they
were absent at other events in her Armenian community tour. Talk
about adding insult to injury.
After all this, it was a late night/early morning drive back to
Burbank, to catch some sleep and mountain bike up the Mt. Wilson Toll
Road. This was fairly challenging, though luckily the weather was
cool, and much of the ride was spent ensconced in clouds. The effort
and environment were sorely needed balm for the nerves generated by
the lack of cooperation on display the night before.
Despite all this, I think we may actually have an opportunity here.
First, there’s a woman named Ana Kasparian who is a cost and producer
on The Young Turks. She’s been there for as long as I’ve been aware of
the show. This is either a problem or long delayed opportunity. For
what Armenian would openly work with a Genocide denier for years and
tolerate such an offensive program name? Yet, she is there and may be
of some use if she’s not an Uncle Tom. Second, we have Cenk Uygur’s
own public remarks from that Saturday February 11 panel. He spoke
to the need for addressing the Armenian community’s concerns both
about his position on the Genocide and the name of his show. Third,
we have some momentum from the very public nature of the interactions,
discussions, and meetings that occurred over Uygur’s speaking that
night. This enables all concerned to follow up, and quickly, taking
advantage of the pressure.
The ANCA should get on this immediately, marshalling all interested
forces to clear the air of Cenk Uygur’s denialism, one way or the
other, coupled with the changing of the program’s name. You can start
writing to the program, just go to the website, ,
and write your dissatisfaction.
www.theyoungturks.com