Asian Americans know best about the evils of Communism

An Asian American local councilman is getting both praise and severe criticism for his one-man protest recently. The Democrats in Orange County held a dinner, and controversial Councilman Steven Choi of Irvine showed up with a photo-shopped photo of Nancy Pelosi as Josef Stalin pinned to the back of his suit.

The Scavenger from SFGate explains:

Last Friday, a group rented a room at the Irvine Hilton to protest the Democratic Party of Orange County's 15th Annual Harry Truman Awards and headliner House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Joining the demonstration was Irvine Councilman and Assembly candidate Steven Choi.

An OC Register photographer caught Choi roaming the Hilton lobby before Pelosi's address. Choi is seen in a suit, tie and a depiction of Pelosi as Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator who killed millions under his Great Terror campaign. Another photo shows Choi posing with a woman who is wearing a Pelosi-SS guard illustration.

Choi was quoted by the OC Register:

"I'm a Republican Party member and went there to express my disapproval of her policies. I have big concerns with what is going on with the government pushing down the mandated health issues... As a small businessman it would impact me."

One Democrat attendee, a Jewish Rabbi and liberal columnist David Hirschfield commented:

We seem to have endless appetite for comparisons to Hitler, Nazis and the Holocaust, and like all forms of gluttony, it's making us very sick. It's neither a Democratic thing nor a Republican thing, it's a simply and disturbingly a tragic fact of contemporary American life.

But the popular libertarian-leaning Orange Juice Blog defended Choi:

Choi is well thought of in Irvine. He has a great background in education. The blue boys can rail all they want, but Choi is a real threat to them – and their ridiculous attack isn’t going to hurt him. Will it peeve Democrats? Sure. But who cares? He has to win a GOP primary in order to take DeVore’s seat. This story will only help Choi in that primary.