The Villaraigosa Tour
Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor-elect of Los Angeles, seems to have some star power working in his favor. The Los Angeles Times reports (“Villaraigosa Wins Over Crowds in Nation's Capital,” by Patrick McGreevy):

Los Angeles' new political celebrity, Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa, took his victory tour to the nation's capital Wednesday, receiving rave reviews for appearances that included a national conference of Democratic activists and a lunch with some of the nation's most influential Latinos.

The city councilman does not take office as mayor until July 1, which limited the substantive opportunities in his daylong swing but not the reaction he earned. Everywhere he went, supporters fawned, many of them asking him to autograph their copies of this week's Newsweek magazine, which bears his smiling face on the cover.

Our Man in Uzbekistan
Lawrence A. Uzzell, president of International Religious Freedom Watch, takes to the op-ed pages of The Christian Science Monitor to excoriate the human rights record of Bush administration pal Islam Karimov. A pull quote from “The dangers of being Uzbekistan's best friend (May 31): “The Andijon atrocities follow years of repression that have increasingly alienated the Karimov regime from its own people. The regime makes no serious effort to distinguish between Islamic extremists and moderates, imprisoning thousands on trumped-up charges of "terrorist" activity. Karimov's secret police are champion users of torture in investigative proceedings -- reportedly including the torture of foreign captives delivered by the CIA.”

California Republicans Block Gay Marriage
The California State Assembly yesterday voted against a bill that permitting same-sex marriages in that state. Horrified sound bites from the right: "This has nothing to do with discrimination. It has everything to do with the destruction of the moral fiber of this nation," said Assemblyman Jay La Suer (R-La Mesa); "They want my children to be taught that this is OK, that it is natural. I'm here to tell you that it's not OK. It's not natural. I will not have my children taught that," said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia); and "All these arguments here should be brought before the people. That's the place to change their minds, not to use some sort of technical arguments to change the law. The people have spoken," said Assemblyman Mark Wyland (R-Del Mar).

Impeach Bush?
A group of Philadelphians is seeking support for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and will stage a demonstration to that effect on June 14, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Federal Building at 6th & Market Streets, Philadelphia.

[Note: Additional items may be posted to “Political Notes” after initial publication but only on the day of publication, excluding post-publication addenda. Such items, when posted, are designated by an asterisk.]

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