There is a reason beyond the obvious as to why Sen. Bob Menendez could be the most important HispanicLatino politician in the country today. Yes, being a member of the Senate and of its majority party helps. But Menendez’ strength is not simply institutionally derived. Rather, he can speak in a credible way in English and in Spanish that eludes other prominent HispanicLatinos and being able to do so bequeaths him with the most important tool that all political leaders must have: The power to communicate. Money might be the mother’s milk of politics but the ability to communicate effectively is its currency. As such, Menendez could be one of President Obama’s most important tools for re-election. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Hispanic
Another Front in the War Begins in Arizona
Back when Richard Nixon began the culture-wars that have led America to its current political paralysis, he and his cynical advisors used the friction between a generation bent on change and the so-called silent majority to win elections. Thus came to be the modern-day Republican Party that exploited the nation’s fears about a new culture dominated by acid, amnesty and abortion and then took advantage of the resentment against movements seeking to affirm women’s rights, the civil rights of minorities, protection of the environment and the rights of gays and lesbian. The culture-wars were anchored by the infamous “southern strategy” that was – and is – racist to its core.
Instead of incorporating the change that a generation born of television, openness, wealth and mobility were going to bequeath on the nation and bending it to produce a positive result, the Nixon cohort sought to abuse the divisions of a culture-war that after so many bitter years has been won by the generation of change on every front. Nothing punctuates the victory over reaction than the pre-Christmas lesbian couple selected in San Diego for the traditional kiss by which the Navy celebrates the returning home of a ship. Seen around the world, the kiss should be seen here for what it is: The end of the Nixonian culture wars. Nevertheless, a new war is being stoked by Nixon’s political descendants who put HispanicLatinos in the cross-hairs of history. Continue reading
Well-dressed by the Depression
The advertisements for Joseph A. Bank, the men’s clothier with its ubiquitous advertising, scare me. Buy one suit, get two suits, two shirts and two ties absolutely free. I do not know what the first suit costs but two additional suits, two shirts and two ties at no charge? Hardly seems possible, unless we are heading for an economic depression. Continue reading
On Iran, North Korea: Little Input from HispanicLatinos
It would seem we are headed for a national security moment with Iran almost certainly and with North Korea by happenstance probably. One or both of these nuclear-charged events might take form during the presidential campaign. The timing would probably help Barack Obama win re-election, most of the country rallying behind its commander-in-chief. A national security crisis – especially one dealing with Iran – in which the United States either participates in militarily or is thought to support the actions of any ally – would encumber serious repercussions on American foreign policy and set it on a course for decades to come.
On Iran, not one credible HispanicLatino is known generally or publicly to have been engaged in developing any of the provisional strategies to deal with an armed conflict or its aftermath. Since HispanicLatinos already fight – often disproportionately – in the nation’s wars and will do so in greater numbers as their population grows, the decisions that might generate future conflicts must be developed with the active participation of qualified and credible HispanicLatinos lest any policy of war or peace adopted lack credibility as it unfolds or lose it over time. Unbeknownst to most policy decision-makers the war in Iraq was hugely unpopular within the HispanicLatino community. Continue reading
The Soldiers Return, the Soldiers Vote
All the left-over hubbub about Iowa yesterday left me thinking about a truck that drove by on a freeway near Dallas with white-washed lettering splashed across its rear cab window. It was not a new truck. It had the weathered look of real work. The driver was not displaying his support for a team involved in the high school football playoffs. Instead, the ghostly lettering proclaimed, “Welcome home! Merry Christmas!” On either side of the window, a red and gold decal of the Marine Corps framed the message.
I have no idea how the returning soldier population and their immediate families are going to vote in this year’s election. I wonder if any or all of them will remember that Barack Obama brought them home from the useless and costly lie that was Iraq. I think about those who died, were maimed or are now psychologically impaired, and I am thankful that Obama defeated John McCain. Had he been elected, McCain would not have ended Iraq and might have expanded military operations there. That is what military men do. Continue reading
Rick of the Saints
It seems so long ago that in the 1960 presidential election a Catholic candidate was fighting for his political life. John F. Kennedy won by a whisker, fending off religious bigots. Probably 75 percent of the country has been born since then and Catholicism no longer matters, for the most part, to a vast majority of voters. It means more to people today that Mitt Romney is a Mormon, yet it says as much that a Catholic, Rick Santorum, might be the choice of evangelical Christians when the conservative wing of the Republican Party makes its stand in the South against Romney – whose forebears were the ones who feared Kennedy the most.
The fact that the South might block Romney’s push for the nomination says more about the Catholic Church than it does about the Republican presidential circus. That a Catholic candidate like Santorum (whose name in Latin means “of the saints”) is so right-wing in his philosophy tells us how the Church has changed – and how it intends to grow its role in national political affairs. Continue reading
After Iowa, a GOP for the Future?
Iowa Republicans today will begin to decide which version of the Republican Party will prevail for this election year but more so the immediate future. Not really understanding how the world has changed around them, Republicans have allowed anger to walk them into a social and demographic trap. In almost every way, Republicans do not understand that their perception of the world does not remotely comport with reality – and that most people are tired of nastiness. Continue reading
Eleven Months of Dithering?
So as the new year starts, where do we stand? It seems like things are poised to stay about the same or get worse. Nothing on the horizon suggests that the economy will start moving again on its own. All of the long-term factors and components of a changed structural economy are in place and will remain in place for a long time, mimicking an economy in recession. What is true this week was true last week. And with Congress dithering on the payroll tax cut extension and undecided on continuing aid to the long-term unemployed, the signs are not encouraging. Add to that the presidential campaign that officially starts tomorrow in Iowa and that will not be resolved for another 11 months – tempting businesses in and outside the United States to hold back from investing in their own growth. Hard to make a new year’s resolution to remain optimistic. However: Continue reading
A Very Chávez Christmas, and it’s not Hugo Boss
Another gift from Hugo Chávez to the United States and the rest of the countries of the Americas. How touching. Just in time for Christmas. Not just any kind of gift, but one with long-term strategic complications: His announcement that the Chinese have loaned Venezuela another $4 billion in loans on top of the $26 billion already outstanding. The loans, secured by future sales of Venezuelan oil, ordinarily would be a normal transaction between sovereign nations, but, of course, it isn’t. The Chinese also have pledged to invest another $40 billion in other energy-related projects. Continue reading
Etched in Stone: The Mayan End of Time
A year from today on Dec. 21, 2012, time in our world is going to end. This is attributed to the Mayan astronomers and priests who are not around to explain themselves, much less to defend their letting us in on the secret of an attendant possible demise. What a really nasty thing to do, letting people know months ahead that the end is near. Like knowing that your beloved pooch is going to get run over by a car next year. Hurtful and insensitive.