Anh "Joseph" Cao in Louisiana in 2010. (Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Back in 2010, Rep. Joseph Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to serve in Congress, bungled his visit to Vietnam and was highly criticized for it.

First, it was a plain bad idea to go to the communist country just when that government increased its persecution of religious groups there, especially the Catholic Church.

Second, Cao was in such a hurry he whisked there without telling anyone and the world ended up learning about it through the (very self-serving) reporting of state-owned media from Vietnam.

Many called him a tool – knowing or otherwise – of the Vietnamese government, or at least of the Vietnamese propaganda machine. Others shook their heads and thought, boy, how naive can Cao get. They were most disappointed that Cao, a former Jesuit seminarian, didn’t even say or do anything to help the oppressed Catholics there.

Now, a diplomatic cable disclosed in the WikiLeaks database finally (but only partially) vindicated Cao.

The note written by the U.S. Ambassador to Hanoi reveals that Cao did speak out for freedom of religion in the country, going so far as a to call for placing Vietnam on the list of Countries of Particular Concern on religious rights.

But that note also reveals Cao as a political lightweight who was no match for the seasoned government officials that he met on his trip, and anything he might have planned to do about human rights in Vietnam was easily neutralized.

For sure, Cao had a good time on his trip, as part of a 3-member delegation with Eni Faleomavaega (a nonvoting Congressman from American Samoa) and Michael Honda (D-San Jose).

Cao and Honda got to Saigon first. Accompanied by consulate officers, they met with the External Relations Office and then, on their own, they visited the largest and best known maternity hospital of Vietnam, the Tu Du (Từ Dũ) Hospital.

Then Cao went to visit his hometown, Trung Chanh, which is in the far end of Ho Chi Minh City.

The next day, Faleomavaega arrived and the three flew to Hanoi, where Ambassador Michael Michalak took them around.

In the evening, the delegation was hosted by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Vice Chairman, Ngo Quang Xuan.

That was when Cao spoke up. According to the cable,

Congressman Cao offered his personal, frank assessment of the current human rights and religious freedom situations in Vietnam, including a recommendation that Vietnam be returned to the CPC list.

“Not surprisingly,” the note said, “the Congressman’s statements prompted a strong rebuttal from Vice Chairman Xuan, who strongly defended the GVN position on human rights and religious freedom with well-known talking points.”

And … that was it from Cao!

Hit by a barrage of “well-known talking points,” Cao shut up. The whole religious freedom thing was never brought up again. No more CPC talk.

The next day, meeting with even bigger cheese from the Vietnamese side, Cao became utterly meek. The cable made him out to be close to apologetic. Meeting with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee:

Congressman Cao, speaking in Vietnamese, assured [Nguyen Van] Son that he did not intend to overthrow the Vietnamese Government. All political disagreements should be expressed openly in order to find common ground on issues of concern. “It is important that we continue to talk together and address any differences,” he noted.

Ngo Quang Xuan, Vietnam's former ambassador to the WTO, vice-chair of its National Assembly's foreign affairs committee, and apparently the man who mortally wounded Cao's advocacy.

Meeting with the Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (a position which makes him something of the sworn enemy of Vietnamese-American anti-communist protestors):

Representative Cao stated that many Vietnamese-Americans are vocal about issues facing Vietnam because they want to see the country prosper.

Meeting with the Vice Foreign Minister (who’s now the Foreign Minister):

Cao thanked the GVN for granting him a visa and allowing him to return to his country of birth. Congressman Cao noted that he continues to have a strong affinity for Vietnam even though he left when he was eight years old. Congressman Cao said he would continue to express his personal opinions on issues facing Vietnam, but only with the intent of making Vietnam a stronger, more stable and prosperous country.

Somehow one dress-down from a second-tier official was enough to drain Cao of all advocacy energy.

A scene from “A Village Called Versailles”: The Vietnamese community protest against a landfill placed right on top of the Vietnamese area

A film chronicling the travails of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans after Katrina, has been nominated for an Emmy award. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York in September.

The film A Village Called Versailles, helmed by Leo Chiang, was nominated in the category “Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a New Story”.

“Totally psyched!!” – wrote Chiang on his Facebook.

“We are incredibly honored to be nominated,” he wrote in response to the Bolsavik’s email interview question. “It’s been two years since the release of A Village Called Versailles. The film just seems to have a life of its own, finding new audiences through word of mouth.”

The 75-minute documentary follows the rebuilding of the Vietnamese are in New Orleans, a former apartment complex called Versailles. Practically everybody there is Vietnamese, mostly Catholics who worship at the Mary Queen of Vietnam church.

Here everything is in Vietnamese, and the people there even grow their own Vietnamese vegetables that they sell to each other at an open-air market on weekends.

After Katrina, Vietnamese were among the first to return. They were rebuilding Versailles even before the government did anything.

When the government did get around to it, however, they drew a reconstruction zone that stopped right short of Versailles. And, needing a landfill, to dump trash from the ravaged city – asbestos and whatnot – they placed it 2 miles out side of Versailles and right on top of the village’s source of water.

That’s where A Village Called Versailles concentrates its coverage: Efforts by the parish priest Nguyễn Thế Viễn and of the people to fight against the landfill and the potential hazards it poses.

The very first screening of A Village Called Versailles took place in Southern California, at the 2009 Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) in Irvine.

The director showed up, many people who appear the film flew in from Louisiana, and Bishop Mai Thanh Luong of the Orange Diocese, who was actually the person who founded Versailles, also came to the ViFF screening.

Director Leo Chiang (right) at the 2009 ViFF in Irvine, at the sneak preview of A Village Called Versailles

The Emmy nomination, Chiang said, is “a testament to the power and universality of the Versailles story–people are moved by the struggles and achievements of the New Orleans Vietnamese Americans no matter what their backgrounds are.”

Chiang told the Bolsavik, “I have stayed in touch with folks from the film like Father Vien, Mimi, and Minh.”

Mimi is Mimi Nguyen, a volunteer shown in the film. She told Chiang “her parents are hopefully visiting from Vietnam, and they are looking forward to seeing the Emmys on TV.”

Unfortunately, the News and Documentary awards for the Emmy are not shown on TV – because there are no celebrities to fawn over. Chiang said he’ll be “hanging out with Katie Couric and Anderson Cooper instead of the cast of Glee.”

(Story in Vietnamese on Ngưoi Viet)

Across the country, except for a few bright spots, most Viet candidate fall flat, losing their races, sometimes spectacularly.

Now, of course, there is such a thing as a “Vietnamese bounce” – late absentee ballots cast mostly by Vietnamese – which has caused people (including the Bolsavik here) to sometimes prematurely announce the demise of some campaigns.

But, from the way things look, even the Vietnamese bounce won’t help this time.

Starting with the highest ranking Viet elected official, U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao, he of the claim to fame as the only Republican to vote for health care reform.

Two years ago, Cao won in a year where most Republicans lost. Now that most Republicans are winning, Cao lost spectacularly, 34%-64%, and conceded early in the night.

Another Viet Congress hopeful, California Assemblyman Van Tran, ended the night trailing Rep. Loretta Sanchez 42%-51% with all precincts counted. The distance to be made up is 4,993 votes, a spread widely considered too wide for late absentees to cover.

And the man who had hoped to replace Tran in the Assembly, Democrat Phu Nguyen, fought valiantly in a district with 1/3 more Republicans than Democrats and in a Republican-leaning year. Phu Nguyen got all the way up to 44%-56%, and fell 8,000 votes short.

Two groups lost big in Little Saigon. One is an organization calling itself, well, actually, not sure what its English name is, but it held a public voting all over Little Saigon earlier this year, resulting in a committee of 7 that’s supposed to be the official representatives of the community. Its grandiose Vietnamese name translates into the Committee of Representatives of the Community.

The Vice-President of the group is Bruce Tran, owner of VHN-TV. (Click here for all entries tagged Bruce Tran.) Tran ran for mayor of Westminster, and lost big time, 19%-71%.

The spokesman of the committee that organized that public voting, Charlie Chi Manh Nguyen, ran for the Huntington Beach Union HSD, which reaches into and covers parts of Westminster. With 3 positions available, Nguyen ended in 4th place with a little over half the votes the 3rd place person got.

The other group that lost big is SBTN-TV, the media giant that had backed Hoa Van Tran for OC Supervisor. This time, SBTN stands behind the Westminster City Council race for Khoa Do, a show host who’s well thought of in the community, having volunteered for several popular community events. Despite the might of mass media thrown in, Do ended up next to last place.

It’s not as if other Viet candidates for council fared any better. Incumbent Andy “DUI” Quach burned tens of thousands on the race, and ended up 48 votes behind the other Viet incumbent, Tri Ta. It looks like there will no longer be a Viet majority on the Westminster city council, as challenger Penny Loomer – almost a winner two years ago – took the first spot, leaving Quach and Ta sort out among themselves the 48 votes plus-or-minus whatever late absentees, for the second position available.

Also running in the area is former Councilman Tony Lam, the first Vietnamese-American to win public office. Returning to politics seeking a seat on the Midway City Sanitary District, he ended dead last.

There is one local bright spot. In the city of Fountain Valley, businessman Michael Vo, owner of a traffic school, finished ahead of two incumbents to win a seat on the city council. (In this same race, another candidates reputedly also supported by SBTN ended in the single digits.) This marks the first time an OC Viet candidate wins without the votes of Westminster/Garden Grove.

And there’s an out-of-state bright spot. State Representative Hubert Vo in Texas held off a powerful challenge by his Republican opponent and is leading by around 1000 votes when the election office there went to sleep and stopped updating its web site for the night.

Ly Tong, the man who spent the last 14 months or so on the fringe of Vietnamese-American society, thrusted himself back in the limelight by dressing up as a woman and pepper-spraying a singer from Vietnam at a concert in Santa Clara.

It’s not the first time Ly Tong made news with a spray can and women’s wear. Last year, he spray painted an artwork and glued lingerie panties to it.

Nguoi Viet Daily News has a detailed story here (in Vietnamese), including accounts from an eyewitness.

According to the witness, she was sitting 3 seats away from Ly Tong at the concert featuring Dam Vinh Hung, a singer who frequently goes by the name Mr Dam.

Ly Tong came in drags, accompanied by a woman. The witness told Nguoi Viet:

“He was wearing a dress but his legs were all spread out. I and my friend were telling each other, ‘That guy’s so gross, dressing as a woman.’ At first we thought maybe Dam Vinh Hung is gay and this gay guy has a crush on him.”

Halfway through the show, Ly Tong came up and assaulted the singer. A press release from the Santa Clara Police Department says:

Ly accomplished the assault by posing as a woman. He purchased a ticket at the door to gain entry to the event and approached the stage acting as if he was going to give Hung Dam a flower. When the performer approached to take the gift, Ly sprayed him with the chemical irritant.

Ly was taken into custody immediately after the assault by Santa Clara police officers who were present at the event. Ly’s motive for the assault is thought to be political in nature.

The spray affected not just Mr Dam but also another singer on stage with him, Mỹ Tâm, and members of the audience.

The police’s press release says, “the audience of several hundred people had to be evacuated temporarily. The show resumed after the venue was ventilated and Santa Clara Fire Department personnel administered first aid.”

The audience member who spoke to Nguoi Viet also said the chemical was spreading throughout the room. “When he sprayed it, everybody knew it’s just pepper spray. At first, the people in the front row, the VIP row, were coughing. Then it spread and me, in the cheapest seats, next to the last row, also coughed.”

Ly Tong is being held in Santa Clara County Jail “on several charges.” Attempts to raise funds to bail him out failed, so Ly Tong announced that he didn’t want to be bailed out.

As news of Ly Tong’s actions spread throughout the web, on Facebook and on the listservs, right-wingers rejoiced.

Many applauded Ly Tong and professed their admiration of him. Which goes, of course, to prove that Vietnamese love children.

One man who’s probably not amused is Congressman Joseph “Anh” Cao. He appeared at the protest outside the concert, but now he’s totally upstaged.

Meanwhile, Mr Dam showed up in Orange County and spoke with members of the local Viet press. He’s scheduled to be part of a concert at Anaheim Arena on July 24, and Mr Dam said he’d be there despite threats of protest.

Said he, “The older people are determined to destroy my show this time, destroy it once to be a lesson to other singers. On the side of the promoters and organizers, including myself, we are equally determined to be there to serve our public.”

The promoter, however, isn’t so sure. Dung Taylor told Nguoi Viet’s reporter that next time he may not ask Dam Vinh Hung to appear.

The quote was accurate, not altered in anyway. Printed in a big box on the envelope, the fundraising direct mailer quotes New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond praising Cao for “standing solidly for the values espoused by Jesus and the church in spite of personal criticism.”

The statement was made months ago after the Congressional vote on the health care reform bill. That it should appear on a campaign fundraiser mortified the archbishop, who said “he was distressed when he saw the mailer because he read it as an implied personal endorsement,” the Times-Picayune says.

The Archbishop called the Congressman’s office, and the Congressman called back and apologized.

Rep. Cao is in an uphill battle to keep his seat; most pundits expect him to lose this year.

For his part, Aymond said he will release a clarification through the Clarion Herald, a Catholic newspaper, underscoring the church’s neutrality in the November election.

Fenn French, Cao’s campaign manager, said in an interview that using Aymond’s praise out of context was a mistake.

“We should have been more clear. We do take responsibility for the misunderstanding,” French said. “We did not intend that it look like a political endorsement.”

The Catholic Church, like others, cannot take partisan positions on behalf of particular candidates without risking their tax-exempt status.

In 1996, retired Archbishop Philip Hannan famously announced “that no Catholic should vote for” President Bill Clinton or Mary Landrieu, then running for the Senate, because of their support for abortion rights. But within hours of that announcement, the archdiocese issued a statement asserting that it is neutral regarding candidates in elections and that Hannan, in retirement, was speaking for himself.

Clinton and Landrieu both won that year.

Watch:

Yes, you heard it right, the man just asked another human being to go kill himself.

WTF.

Gives whole new meaning to “spilling his guts”!

Rep. Anh Joseph Cao (pictured) was among the 178 Republican members of Congress who unanimously voted against the package of the Senate bill and a series of amendments that passed the House 219-212 earlier tonight.

Like the previous time in November, abortion was the obstacle for this former Jesuit seminarian.

In November, Cao had gone along with the House version of the bill based on amendments offered by Rep. Bart Stupak that, to Cao, guarantees no federal funds are used to pay for abortions.

This time, he didn’t think the Senate’s language offers enough assurance. Whereas Stupak thought an executive order signed by President Obama is good enough for him, it isn’t for Cao.

“The executive order is not law; it can be changed by the next administration, it can be overturned by court order,” he said.

“The issue of abortion is so personal to me that I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that has the legal impact of using federal funding for abortion,” Cao said in an interview, explaining that he participated in a late-night meeting with Stupak and the White House on Saturday.

Last November, when Cao voted for health reform, the Republican Party turned on him, and the House minority whip Rep. Eric Cantor pointedly refused to shake his hand.

Voting on principle can be costly. U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao is hit with a backlash for being the lone GOP vote for the health care reform bill, even as the party’s leaders are denying they’re osctracizing him.

After the vote, a GOP colleague, minority whip Eric Cantor, refused to shake Cao’s hands, according to the Orlando Catholic Examiner.

Cao has also had two fundraisers canceled on him, and some contributors are demanding their money back, reports the AP.

Rep. Cao had always said that he supports universal health care access, but had a problem with abortion funding in the law’s previous version. Once abortion was taken out of the bill, he voted for it. After the vote, Cao told CNN’s Betty Nguyen that his vote was a “decision of conscience.” (See first video below the jump.)

Lobbying for Cao’s vote was intense, with President Obama and Cantor both vying for the man’s attention, reports The Hill in details here. 

Cao later told the AP that he had asked the White House for help with rebuilding Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, but rejected the claim that there was horse trading: The White House did not promise anything, said Cao, and vice-versa, “I’m pretty sure that if I were to vote no against the bill the president would still continue to work with me to address the needs of my district.”

That, however, didn’t stop conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh from giving the only Vietnamese-American in Congress the moniker “Cash Cao” on his radio show.

Well aware that a backlash against Cao can cause a backlash-to-the-backlash, Republican leaders argue they are not taking revenge on Cao.

Cantor, the man who had refused to shake Cao’s hand, was in Cao’s hometown of New Orleans for a fundraiser for Rep. Bill Cassidy, whose district is somewhere else, in Baton Rouge. Cantor insisted that, “No,” retaliation is not planned. “Because I am well aware that Anh Cao is a thoughtful legislator. He weighed the pluses and minuses of the bill in his vote,” Cantor said.

Cao himself told CNN’s Don Lemmon (second video below) that his GOP colleagues have been “professional” about each other’s votes.

In California, Assemblyman Van Tran, a GOP stalwart who’s been a party faithful all his adult life, told Nguoi Viet Daily News (here, in Vietnamese) that he’d spoken to top party leaders and they “understood” Cao’s vote.

Tran declined to state whether he supports health care reform, dancing right around the question. Asked of Cao’s vote, Tran said, “we understand and respect (Rep. Cao’s) decision,” and said he hope Cao extracted from President Obama some “privileges and polices in the interest of his Louisiana district” for his vote.

Meanwhile, angry rank and file Republicans are still going after Cao. The above Wanted poster is from the Mad Conservative web site. The Freedom Post blog calls the anti-communist refugee legislator ”Joseph ‘Mao’.”

Here’s Cao on CNN with Betty Nguyen:

And here he is again on CNN with Don Lemmon: