Oregon’s David Wu: Another Opportunistic American Congressman That Takes An Anti-Italy Stance

Comments

This comment posted by a fellow New Yorker (not by me!) below the post and that letter quoted above rang very true.

QUOTE

It’s completely obvious to me that the pro Amanda opinions put forth here (in this particular article) are not from NY Daily News readers. Sorry, but I can tell.

I am New York born and bred and am very familiar with the kinds of letters the NYDN receives.

Normally letters are strongly expressive, many of them over the top, rude - way out.

These letters I’ve just read here, don’t ring true for the most part. I would say they come from either her prep school teachers I would think or possibly students.

I can picture them all meeting beforehand to discuss their responses to the Daily News article.

If you read the other message boards, the ones in Seattle, you will find an entirely different type of supporter: angry and poorly educated.

I also read some letters today in U.K. papers that are from the prep school committee that sound like these, but exactly.

Preppies: Amanda Knox has been found guilty by a court of law. She was sentenced to 26 years initially; after her appeals run</ul>

UNQUOTE

Prep school?! It does look like people are onto Deanna Knox - widely rumored with some evidence to be one of the most avid pro-Knox posters - and her frenetic little band!

Italian businesses here in NYC go gangbusters. Italian restaurants are often hard to get a table in. We shop every weekend in Corrados, a huge Italian deli in Jersey, which is always packed.

Italian high-end fashion products fly off the shelves. Italian Frerraris and Lamborghinis are the cars that people like, well, me want to own.

Perhaps because we have so many Italian-Americans,  who are invariably much loved (my barber Adolfo from south Italy just confirmed it) we don’t seem to have anyone around New York who believes Knox is anything but guilty.

Congressman David Wu really should hop off the anti-Italy bandwagon.

Wu does he think he is?

David Wu should read Ted Simon’s earlier comments about the evidence against Amanda Knox before he was hired by her family.

He should also acquaint himself with the facts of the case. He’s probably completely unaware the fact that Guede doesn’t have any criminal convictions for drug dealing.

I asked myself why the heck David Wu would be concerning himself in something like this, that doesn’t involve anyone he represents and which he doesn’t actually have any business commenting on in an official capacity (in a personal capacity, of course, he has the right, as do all of us, to say what he likes).

So I did a quick google news search on his name.

The headline of the article below in the Taipei Times is the ultimate in “Say No More” revelations.

So, say no more about Daniel “I Wanna Be Re-Elected” Wu, and his sudden conversion to the “let’s help the poor blue-eyed American girls overseas, even if they’re convicted killers” mindset.

******************

David Wu facing US re-election battle

By William Lowther
Staff Reporter in WASHINGTON
Friday, Jul 30, 2010, Page 3

David Wu, the first Taiwan-born member of the US Congress, is in a tight race for re-election.

“It’s a very serious situation,” he said on Wednesday.

Wu, a Democrat from the state of Oregon, has been in Congress for 12 years and won his last re-election bid with a substantial 71 percent of the vote, but in this anti-incumbent year with US President Barack Obama falling ever lower in the popularity polls, there are growing signs that the Republicans could recapture the House of Representatives and threaten even the once-safe seats of long-serving members such as Wu.

Born in Hsinchu in 1955, Wu’s family moved to the US in 1961 and he has a law degree from Yale.

A member of the Taiwan Caucus and supporter of pro-Taiwan legislation, Wu is only a few percentage points ahead of Republican opponent Rob Cornilles, a wealthy Oregon businessman who is married to a Chinese-American woman.

With the election just over three months away and with Republican momentum growing across the country, the Wu-Cornilles race is considered too close to call.

At a press lunch held at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters, Wu made no secret of his discomfort.

“If there was ever a time to help, this is it,” he said.

The right-wing New York Post recently reported that most of the relevant public polling indicated that Republicans were in a position “to compete” for the 40 seats they need to take the House and the big race to watch as an indication of what could happen, the newspaper said, was Wu’s re-election bid in Oregon’s First Congressional District.

“Cornilles has access to personal wealth and is considered by national Republicans to be a solid candidate who has thus far run a very professional, credible race,” the newspaper said.

As it heats up, the race could get both personal and dirty.

The Cornilles camp has already released a video of Wu driving a big black “gas-guzzling” SUV and contrasting it with his votes for tougher fuel-efficiency standards.

During the press lunch, Wu said that he was confident a resolution calling on the Obama administration to push for observer status for Taiwan at the International Civil Aviation Organization would pass this week and that it would have an impact on White House policies.

He also said that he had been disappointed with the outcome of a meeting held earlier this week with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to discuss the participation of Asian-American and Pacific Islander funds in Treasury Department programs.

Wu accused Geithner of displaying a “cavalier and insensitive attitude.”

“The days of an all-Ivy League financial leadership in lock-step, both in attitude and background, are over. America is the land of aspiration,” he said. “We are at our best when we encourage the aspirations of all, rather than the chosen few.”

Washington State Judge Michael Heavey along with the three opportunistic politicians, Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. and Oregon Congressman, David Wu have injected themselves into this case for their own self-serving gain.

While greedily hitching a ride with the FOA PR media bandwagon to support the convicted murderer, Amanda Knox, they are also grasping and tearing at the coffin of innocent murder victim, Meredith Kercher.

Only in America.

@Janus - thanks for that link. It does say it all. I quote:

“At a press lunch held at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters, Wu made no secret of his discomfort.

“If there was ever a time to help, this is it,” he said.”

I wonder who his PR team are?

I bet that he was contacted by the Knox PR team and offered a “strategy” to help raise his profile.

Building on Janus’s amazing find about David Wu in re-election trouble above and Lilly’s endorsement.

US Congressmen do have to be re-elected every two years, and they are invariably scrambling for money and votes. They are hyper-sensitive to criticism and losing face.

So it might actually be quite easy to force Mr Wu to see the light.

And if he did withdraw his remarks, or reverse himself, no other congressmaen would sell out. to the ludicrous and very nasty “Knox wuz framed” cause.

If readers want to above themselves an entertaining and fruitful time, please try lighting some fires under this guy’s feet.

His district includes Portland - and it includes many Italian Americans who don’t know about his xenophobic, anti-Italy stance. Many, many more Italian Americans than idiots support the ludicrous “Knox wuz framed” stance.

So any message you choose to send to any Portland media outlet (TV stations and newspapers) could have a major impact. Any messages to Portland-based blogs. And particularly, any message to Italian-American voters, businesses, and associations.

Also ESPECIALLY a diary post on the immensely influential Daily Kos website which might inform many new thousands of what we are fighting for here.

I was an avid poster there in its early days (2003-2006) and know that readers there are very much like us: highly educated, humane, pro-justice, pro-Italy, and anti sliming, xenophobia and dishonesty.

The link to include with a message about David Lu being anti Italy is the one now at top in the address bar. Please keep us in the loop on this one?

Oh and please let Congressman Wu and his constituents know that THIS was the amazing new evidence that will release Amanda Knox that he burbles on about.

TonydelBalzo, the poster of the letter is a rabid pro-Amanda poster who can be found all over the internet on practically any website that has a Knox story, whether it be in the US or UK media. Simply google the name + Knox and you will see the posts everywhere.

However, like many pro-Amanda posters, Tony just can’t quite be honest about their position and extent of involvement. Others call it lying.

If Tony thinks that telling a lie or presenting an apparently objective / innocent / impartial involvement to add to the expression of shock and indignation might help sway the debate, Tony’ll do it.

As we see here on the Guardian UK website on 26th February 2010; “I am not a particular supporter of Amanda Knox, nor an outraged American, but…”

However (you guessed it - there’s a however) Tony posts this just days *after* making public appeals for posts to Amanda on Valentine’s Day on *several* website including here.

“Lets flood her cell with Valentines on February 14 (after Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14. He was imprisoned and buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14.) Please mail soon and packages will NOT be allowed into the prison:
Amanda Knox
c/o Casa Circondariale
Strada Pievaiola
06100 Capanne (PG)
Italy”

And then, if you look at the google search, you will see Tony is *everywhere* - “Not a particular supporter”. Right.

The top 2 page of google searches show Tony posting on westseattleherald.com, nowpublic.com, independendent.co.uk, wowowow.com. cbsnews.com, nydailynews.com, oregonlive.com, guardian.co.uk, tryku.com, democraticunderground.com, slashfood.com, wikio.co.uk, easydeliciousrecipes.com, crosscut.com, thestranger.com, topix.com - need I go on?

Not a particular supporter?

Then a wonderful piece of hypocrisy which shows Tony up just for who Tony is. Tony posts to the Washington University Website the same Valentines request with the following ending paragraph from the home team;

“Be civil and resist the temptation to trash Italy.”

And yet we find Tony posting 14 total denigrations of Italy and particularly Perugia here.

Starting with “I have heard that Perugia is an unsafe city for work, study and tourism.”

And over here we have another assassination of Perugia.

“Kellie, I hope that you are right about Perugi (sic - SA) but I am not convinced. Just last week a writer for Newsweek named Barbie N was explaining how widespread group sex was among the students. The courts recently recognized how many students get into trouble during their first days of independence in Perugia. Prosecutor Mignini claims that there is use of some hashish type drug, which when combined with some unnamed alcohol will cause the users to commit murder of a close friend. It sound like it is a city with a drug problem…or Magnini (sic - SA) and the courts are totally out of touch. I will NOT be coming to Perugia to find out!!” (Great! I’m going right *now* - SA)

And to finish, the glorious sight of Tony posting back to back with the first post re-exhorting us to stay civil and resist the temptation to trash Italy with *the very next post* saying “I value the opinion of 19 monkeys over your Italian judges”.

Lying and misleading is just endemic to these people. Makes you wonder where Amanda learned it from and who Tony really is. Such rabid posting, the undermining of Italy and Perugia all over the web. Looks like someone with a serious axe to grind.

And also someone who is highly connected to multiple *food* websites? Do we know anyone like that in the pro-Amanda camp? 😊

But neither Amanda or Tony were ever terribly good at avoiding getting caught out. And so history repeats itself with the misleading and lies of the pro-Knox camp. This took me 15 minutes. Owned again, sigh 😊

SA.

It really looks like the pro-Knox clan is extremely small.

Her family, a couple of White Knight hangers on, and vulnerable politicians the PR agency can buy.

It’s sad that someone like Wu doesn’t bother to read the background of this case before releasing a text based on copy he’s been sent by a PR agency (I would bet that’s what happened).

When you read the facts about this case (and this site has been instrumental in putting those out there in English for all to read, as has PMF) it’s clear that Knox was convicted on strong evidence, and had a meticulously fair and open trial.

I bet Wu is regretting not briefing himself on this case properly.

Agreed, Lilly. Very, very few. We know who they all are (most use several screen names) and they could fit in a large Volkswagen. 

Just a thought here. If David Wu’s opponent were to mysteriously pick up on how he handled this issue, with his contemptuous anti-Italy overtones:

1) David Wu could loose the election in November.

2) It would be reported WHY he lost it, probably nationally, and certainly on the Daily Kos mega-site where they despise xenophobia and have a deep thing for all victims.

3) The entire Italian American community across the US could pick up on why this fight matters for them too, as they havent really done yet (we do though have several great Italian-American posters and many I-A readers).

4) That in itself would pretty well be game over: not one prominent commentator or politician here wants to be labeled as reflexively anti-Italy. I-As are pretty successful in business; they are generally high-income.

That more than anything explains why (after we first rattled them) so many previously pro “she wuz railroaded” commentators have now switched off.

I wonder how many Italian Americans live in Seattle, and particularly in West Seattle? Any elections there? (Answer: yes of course. Remember, a weak mayor who blocked “Perugia Park” recently got bounced.

Might be worth getting in touch with these guys:

http://neco.org/index.php

ALLEGATION OF ASSAULT ON WOMAN IN 1970’s IN COLLEGE SHADOWS WU

reads this October 13, 2004 title from,

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/1244043/posts

Some excerpts:

“That summer, the 21-year old Wu was brought to the campus police annex after his ex-girlfriend said he tried to force her to have sex, according to Raoul K. Niemeyer, then a patrol commander who questioned him.”

“Earlier, someone had interrupted a scuffle in the woman’s dorm room. A Stanford professor said the woman told him the next day that Wu had angrily attacked her. An assistant dean who counseled the woman for two months said the woman called it attempted rape and that Wu used a pillow to muffle her screams.”

“Wu was not arrested. The woman ultimately declined criminal prosecution and did not file a formal disciplinary complaint, former Stanford officials said. But before the next school year began, Wu was ‘de-selected’ for a job as a dormitory resident assistant, a professor who would have supervised him said”

With Wu running for his fourth term in the 1st Congressional District this year, The Oregonian investigated a recurrent rumor that he had been accused of a sexual assault during his college years.”

@true north: if it is accurate about Wu’s alleged assault on an ex-girlfriend…in a word: disgusting. And revealing, in his callousness and insensitivity about the murder victim Merdith Kercher.

It’s interesting that Wu says “America is the land of aspiration,.We are at our best when we encourage the aspirations of all, rather than the chosen few”, while simultaneously promoting the aspirations of an American woman who, with her cohorts, snuffed out the limitless aspirations of an innocent, hardworking, ambitious young student. The hypocrisy of these people is appalling.

On a personal note, Meredith Kercher died on the same day as my mother. She was taken ill and I was flying back from Korea to see her in England when she passed away. I was several thousand feet above Eastern Europe at the time and found out about her death in a phone call to my sister from a London train station. Later that same evening, Meredith met her death. My mother was 60, still very young for a fit, healthy woman to die, but she had achieved a great deal and touched a great many people. She was very much like Meredith in many ways - hardworking, studious, caring and kind, she even resembled her physically. My mother was a child of the 60s and at her funeral, I said: “when she was a young woman, she wanted to change the world. It would be almost unspeakably tragic if she died without realising that she did”. The same words could apply to Meredith. Thank you to all the people on this site who try to give Meredith a voice. I hope you understand how important that is. I know you do.

Hi Peter,

Is this the same David Wu who just resigned over allegations of unwanted sexual advances?

Disgraced, Oregon Rep. David Wu Resigns

Hi Nell. Yeah one and the same. The curse of Knox as someone remarked in an email. Like dominoes the way they fall.

Thank you Peter.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Where next:

Or to next entry Anne Bremner Arrested, Locked Up, Now Complaining (Surprise, Surprise) The Cops Got It Wrong

Or to previous entry That Widely Watched LA7 TV Interview With Giuliano Mignini - Herewith A Full English Translation