http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/06/04/news-lowery.php




‘The Don King of Cockfights’
He whipped Bob Dornan. Now Latino activist Nativo Lopez turns his attention to cocks of a different sort


by STEVE LOWERY


The location of Nativo Lopez’s mind has become a subject of interest for those aware of the former political heavyweight’s recent crusade: cockfighting.

Yep, the man who went toe to toe with Bob Dornan and won, the man who five years ago seemed on his way to becoming one of the region’s leading Latino power brokers, was spotted recently using his position as president of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) to push the agenda of those who enjoy and profit from cockfighting.

Lopez’s obsession with cockfighting came to our attention when colleague Gustavo Arellano wrote in a Sept. 2 “Ask a Mexican� that Lopez was leading opposition to Senate Bill 156. That legislation would make repeat cockfighting offenses punishable as a felony. Lopez had called the bill “completely oblivious to the cultural, economic and social realities of our community.�

A lot of people, myself included, thought Arellano and Lopez were using cockfighting as a metaphor, you know, as for that thing men do to test each other, to see how they measure up, as it were, you know, the reason men buy big trucks and start land wars, all of it best summed up by the Richard Pryor joke about two gents unzipping while standing on a bridgeâ€â€