I just watched chilling new LA Times footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and am reminded that we have a candidate running for SLO County District 3 supervisor who participated in it. Maybe Stacy Korsgaden didn’t wield a spear or a Confederate flag to violently break into the U.S. Capitol but she did answer the call to stand with those who hoped to overthrow a democratically elected president and illegally reinstate an oligarchical thug.
Though she downplays it in a 2021 CalCoastNews op-ed as merely personal choice, as concern over voting fraud “regardless, as a private citizen, I didn’t feel my attendance was news.” It became “news” because she had run for office and decided again to run for office. And though she condemns the violence, the fact that she joined a crowd made up of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, “boogaloo bois,” Q-anon anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists, and myriad others—who would gladly take away her right to marry another woman, who believe their white skin and maleness gives them egregious entitlement over women’s bodies, over the planet, over everyone whose skin is not white, who pledge allegiance to a murderous, capitalist patriarchy—begs a few questions: Does she pledge allegiance to anti-democratic ideals or is she just incredibly, dangerously naive?
Something encouraged Stacy Korsgaden to fly five hours to Washington, D.C., during a pandemic to contest a fair election. And though protest “by the people, for the people” is the lifeblood of a democracy, it stops being a healthy protest when it becomes an insurrection, when it becomes a violent attempt to overthrow the government, when it becomes a murder scene. (Five people died on Jan. 6, 2021, and four have committed suicide since the insurrection.)
As the District 3 supervisor race heats up, let us consider what is reasonable. Can someone who stands with those who would take power by force be a reasonable choice to serve the public?
Dian Sousa
Los Osos
This article appears in Volunteers 2022.
Cheers to you, Dian! Thank you for reminding the residents of SLO County about what lies beneath the surface of this candidate. “Birds of a Feather” holds true!
Jeannie Miranda
Village of Arroyo Grande
Thank you for articulating the problem with Stacy Korscaden’s background. I hope these questions about her participation at the jan. 6th insurrection continue to expose her lack of leadership potential. I remember a photo she posted on facebook showing her smiling beatifically while “protestors” clashed with police in the background. She claimed she only saw a peaceful demonstration.
This person, Stacy, is unfit for any public office and her participation in the treasonous Insurrection is a stain on her community and a betrayal of all who throughout our history fought for the freedoms we now enjoy, whether it be military or civilian service.
As long as she broke no laws – and there’s been no assertion that she did – she’s entitled to demonstrate in support of her opinions. However I, for one, could never vote for someone whose opinion is that a lawful election should be overturned and an autocrat should be installed to replace an elected President. Someone who takes our democratic form of government so lightly should not hold elective office at any level.
Wasn’t it the Left which praised the “mostly peaceful” riots of 2020 which left many of our cities burned and looted, and people murdered? Indeed, liberals can’t even bring themselves to call the participants “rioters”, insisting upon the term “demonstrators” . Yet, now they are outraged about peaceful attendance at a rally because the message offends them? They seemed to have no problem supporting a 2020 message of “murder, arson and looting are good because we’re just so darned upset”, and spent 4 years disputing the legitimacy of the 2016 election. I will take their criticism of Korsgaden with more than just a grain of salt.
Thank you Dian Sousa for informing our community. Stacey Korsgaden cannot be trusted with minority issues nor Veteran concerns. Several disabled veterans and local law enforcement have complained she blocked them or censored their concerns on her Facebook page. Stacey won’t allow the general public, including Native Americans, Hispanics, and Disabled Combat Veterans to attend her campaign events. Stacey is not inclusive. Korsgaden and her violent teabaggy cohorts are not capable of harvesting any sort of harmony within our ethnically diverse veteran and law enforcement community in Oceano.
What is “chilling” about Ms. Diane Sousa’s letter is that she not only opined but that she exposed her real intent to slander Stacy Korsgaden and deny her constitutional right to assemble, the right to protest, the right to petition the Government, the right to travel across the country for five hours and the right to support our then lawfully elected President of the United States….PEACEFULLY!
You ignorantly wrote she “joined a crowd made up of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, “boogaloo bois,” Q-anon anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists, and myriad others” your words. You slander and tragically are filled with falsehood. Stacy Korsgaden’s attendance at the January 6 rally was an act of patriotism in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave and that’s how she runs her campaign. If you’re not a true American she doesn’t need your vote. since you feel so glacial about the riots at the capital, you must be outraged about the protests and riots that gripped our country in 2020, oh, but of course not, the New York Times and main stream media reported the destruction, fires, looting and anarchy as peaceful protest, so you probably believe there was an insurrection. Your opinion is nothing more than “group think”. You wrote about the “lifeblood of our democracy’ being protest “by the people, for the people” I will add that Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness belongs to we the people. I hope you find yours. Stacy Korsgaden is living hers.
You posted a lot of words, Becky, but never once explained how the letter was slanderous. And no one is “denying” Ms. Korsgaden’s right to protest and peacefully assemble.
She made the choice to support the overturning of a free, fair and secure election in the name of supporting “election integrity.” She didn’t enter Capitol grounds, but she supported an attempted coup. That’s not patriotism.
“If you’re not a true American…” Who is supposed to be the true American, Becky Garcia? You, Mija? LMAO.
Dain Souza is doing everyone a service by vetting a new candidate’s political background and personal character. This is a requirement for a HEALTHY Democracy to flourish. An unlimited exchange of different viewpoints are necessary. In Mexico, residents threaten their neighbors or use violence to settle differences of political opinion. Stacy Korsgaden is no different. Stacey Korsgaden was willing to fly across the country to rally and support her Republican Party during an violent insurrection where fellow Americans lost their lives by the hands of her political party, while hundreds others were charged with serious crimes. This happens often in Mexico. Perhaps you should learn the difference between slander and opinion. Again, here in America we are allowed criticize political candidates without fear of reprisal. Try not to refer to people as ignorant when you disagree, because this is not Mexico, this is America. We try to respect our neighbors in America. That’s being a real American. Class Dismissed. Signed: US Marine