Political Human Sacrifice

[Cross-posted to the-lonewacko-blog.redstate.org/story/2004/10/27/155338/04 and the Command Post]

If you live in Southern California, you've probably heard about Political Human Sacrifice by now. That's the attempt by KFI AM 640 talk jocks John & Ken to unseat two Congressmen who refuse to do anything about our incredible problem with illegal immigration. These are the same talk jocks who played a major role in getting former governor Gray Davis recalled.

The goal is to send the message to politicians in Washington: either do something about massive illegal immigration, or lose your job.

If you aren't familiar with how much illegal immigration is a hot button issue in SoCal, I'd suggest listening to their show. You can listen live over the internet here; they're on from 3pm to 7pm Pacific time M-F. They have a segment on Political Human Sacrifice every day at 5pm Pacific time. And, they freely admit they're doing this for ratings: their ratings have gone up since starting the sacrifice.

This effort is controversial and has national implications because one of the Congressmen is David Dreier, the third most powerful Republican in the House. The other Congressman selected to be "sacrificed" is Joe Baca, a Democrat.

John & Ken are encouraging their million-plus listeners to vote for their challengers.

In Dreier's case that's Cynthia Matthews, and in Baca's case it's Ed Laning.

Dreier appears to be worried. He's spent around a million dollars on the campaign so far, and he's even gotten Arnold Schwarzenegger to record a message that's being phoned to his district. Dreier claims that his record on illegal immigration has been misrepresented, but a little research shows that's not the case.

Dreier also has the assistance of a local newspaper chain that's going to bat for him. Details here, including an example of a blatant lie by Dreier. As for Baca, read more about him here. The Washington Times offers older coverage here and here, and this has received national coverage in other papers as well. See also this site from a supporter of the effort. KFI producer and blogger Justin Levine has posts about this here and here.

To see what prompted Political Human Sacrifice and how angry many citizens are about this issue, read about the Temecula townhall meeting. And, to read about the administration's heavy-handed tactics to influence John & Ken's coverage of illegal immigration, click here.