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If You Think Politics In D.c. Are Rough...

...be glad you don't live in San Jose, California:

The bitter community dispute over what to name a Vietnamese retail area in San Jose has become so acrimonious that the mayor wants to pull the issue off the ballot and leave the one-mile stretch of Story Road nameless for the time being.

Ever since the City Council voted last November to name the area west of Highway 101 the "Saigon Business District," hundreds of angry residents have demanded it be called "Little Saigon." One man went on a hunger strike to protest the fact there was a controversy at all. ...

"Shakespeare said, 'What's in a name?' Now I know," said [city councilwoman Madison] Nguyen, who at one point was being threatened with a recall campaign. "I did expect a lot of passion about choosing a name, I just didn't expect it to blow up like it did."

--Josh Patashnik