Redistricting Watch: Democrats Lose, Latinos Win
I love the redistricting process. Sure, it can be corrupt, unseemly, and full of sharp elbows. But it also brings something we don’t get enough of in politics: clarity.
Specifically, it clarifies the exact relationship between Latinos and the Democratic Party.
For the rest of the decade, America’s largest minority can go around telling itself that Democrats have its best interests at heart. And where would they get that idea? It’s partly from tradition; the “Viva Kennedy” clubs that popped up during the 1960 campaign represented the first time that a presidential campaign made a direct effort to reach out to Latino voters. And it’s partly because Democrats still make a habit of promising Latino voters the moon and stars to get their votes, even if they rarely get around to delivering.
But during redistricting, it becomes clear that Democrats only care about their own interests.
It’s a role reversal. Nine times out of ten, it’s Republicans who misbehave, play politics, and selfishly put their interests ahead of the interests of Latinos. That’s how it is with immigration, English-only laws, bilingual education, affirmative action, and other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues.
Welcome to the tenth time — where Democrats misbehave, play politics, and selfishly put their interests ahead of the interests of Latinos. That’s how it is with that once-in-a-decade ritual known as congressional redistricting.
Every ten years, we conduct a Census where we get a rough — sometimes very rough — count of how many people live in the United States and who lives where. Once we have that information, we can reapportion the seats in the House of Representatives so that money and representation goes where it is needed.
The 2010 Census figures are now starting to roll in. They show us that there are approximately 308.7 million people in the United States — and that a big chunk of them live in Texas. The population of the Lone Star State is growing faster than that of any other state. This means that Texas will get more House seats than any other state: four.
The other winners in the census lottery include Florida, which picked up two new seats in Congress. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, South Carolina, and Washington all picked up one extra seat. (It is a bleaker story in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Massachusetts, which lost seats.) In Texas, the job of carving out those four new districts will fall to the members of the state legislature, which is controlled by Republicans. Naturally, they’re going to want to carve out those districts in a way that is advantageous to their party, just as Democrats are going to want the same.
Here’s where it gets tricky. There is no question that much of the growth in the Texas population over the last ten years is due to the growth of the Hispanic population in the state. In fact, demographers say that more than half of the growth in Texas is due to Hispanics. That means that Hispanics are likely to claim that one, and possibly two, of the new seats should be majority-Hispanic — increasing the chances of electing one or two Hispanic representatives.
Now, here’s a pop quiz. Which party do you suppose is more likely to go along with the demand for Hispanic districts?
Democrats? Incorrect. The best scenario for Democrats in a state like Texas is to sprinkle the Hispanic population across several districts — say 30 to 40 percent Hispanic in each district. Because Hispanics tend to be dependable voters for Democrats, that would ensure the election of Democrats — and probably white Democrats — in multiple districts.
And now for your PJM weekly entertainment,herrrres Ruben!
“That’s how it is with immigration, English-only laws, bilingual education, affirmative action, and other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues.”
Can you tell me how stopping bilingual education and English only laws hurt Hispanics, when it helps to speed their linguistic, cultural and economic integration into the country?
Is being Latino here like being Muslim in Europe, in that we are supposed to make special efforts to indulge your culture that we don’t make for other immigrant groups?
“when it helps speed their linguistic, cultural, and economic integration into the country”
It’s more than this. English also opens doors to other worlds. It is the language spoken at international scientific conferences in Beijing, at economics summits in Davos, and in Mumbai and Johannesburg. Any kid with the opportunity to learn two world languages organically is lucky. Denying kids the opportunity because of a phony acting-white or speaking-gringo restriction is wrong. Give the kids wings and let them fly. There is no better way to ensure that they will treasure their heritage.
I agree with you. I live in an area with many Asian immigrants; they do not insist on store signs being written in Chinese, Korean or Hindi. Their kids learn fluent English AND learn the ancestral language at home.
I wish Ruben (whom I remember as being a middle-of-the-road type before he became consumed with immigration/Hispanic issues) would understand this. Catering to Latino linguistic needs keeps them an underclass, and thus dependent on the Democratic Party.
I am also afraid that this will turn certain parts of the country into miniature Spanish Quebecs, where Spanish will become dominant by law, and the ensuing cultural divide leads to separatist movements.
Is anybody else thoroughly sick and tired of Navarette’s myopic racial politics and racism?
Most of us are. Reuben is clearly PJM’s fairness doctrine hire. And, frankly, he’s providing nothing useful to PJM. Just another race-obsessed loud mouth.
I rather like his analysis. It rings more or less true. Any discussion that can illuminate, or support criticism of, the points he makes would be welcome in the interest of broader understanding.
After the valid arguments have been made several dozen times, one begins to suspect that maybe, just maybe, Reuben is not interested in debate and that he much prefers to nurture the chip on his shoulder and his mantra.
What the h*ll rings true about his argument? He says that politicians “selfishly put their interests ahead of the interests of Latinos”
Why do Latinos have special political interests? Why do politicians have special interests? Why does any sub group feel that they have a right to politic for their private needs? Isn’t it sufficient to simply demand equal treatment under the law, freedom to work hard and prosper and the minimum needed common services efficiently managed in exchange for taxes paid?
And why do we “draw” districts anyway? Just put pins on a map and enlarge each circle until you get to the average voter populations. Our whole problem is due to thousands of special interrest groups constantly petitioning, threatening and buying off government officials to recieve special treatment. It has to stop – and that means everyone from ExxonMobil to Reuben’s Latino coalitions.
I’d just be happy to read a column on a subject other than Immigration and “Latino rights.”
News Flash, Reuben, the first Latins were the Romans. Do you include those of Italian descent in your definition of Latino? Or do you narrowly define it as Mexicans?
exactly–
all of those that desire the balkanization and babalization dont want people to realize that most western languages spawned from latin (greek was the forefather of all western languages)
english is a curious mish mash of germanic, greek, and latin influences
that make it not as symmetrically interchangeable/understandable with other “romance” languages but, therefore, make it a candidate for learning nonetheless…
extrapolate this to the current state of education in our country and i would think that a thorough examination of English, Greek, and Latin should be a priority next to mathematics (im iffy on science as the current crop of leftists “create” their own science to fits their needs) and history
therefore, persons that object to learning english are hindering rather than helping
Yes, I am.
Looking up and down the streets of the middle to upper class neighborhood where we live I see parked car after car, and pickup truck after pickup truck with their windows and windshields smashed out, entire sides and rear ends crushed by the whatever it was that destroyed them and I think to myself, “Another night living in the big city.”
Ah yes, the big city where thousands of single family houses average 15 – 20 occupants; with each one paying $800.00 to $1,000.00 cash per month “rent”, all of which goes into the landlord’s pocket who doesn’t pay a dime of taxes on it.
And each of these occupants has to have something to drive to work, which means there are late model, or new luxury cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, vans and even dump trucks parked everywhere often making it impossible for my wife and I, or any member of our family to find a place to park our own vehicles.
A few years ago I quit calling the police and responsible zoning offices about these situations because most of the people that answered the phone couldn’t speak English and there wasn’t a “push the button to select menu” like McDonalds and other fast food restaurants have installed.
After several mild cases of food poisoning we quit going to those places too. Well, actually we quit after my wife spent 12 hours laying on a cold metal gurney in a hospital emergency room waiting for someone who worked there to help, that could also understand and speak English. It takes a lot of effort and hard work to make sure that all of those cases of uninsured sniffles and “Welcome to America” planned pregnancy’s get the best medical care possible.
But I digress to let Mr. Navarrette know that he is definitely onto something with his “Hispanic Population Sprinkling” concept. We live in Virginia, Prince William County to be exact, which is a long way from Texas.
This is noteworthy because our county gained national prominence when our Board of Supervisors clamped down hard on illegal Hispanics living here. And lo and behold, to everyones surprise little more than a year later the Board Chairman Cory Stewart was able to announce that because of a sort of redistricting we endured all of the illegal Hispanics are gone from our county and everyone living here now is peaceful, happy and legal.
So, as we drive around to do our shopping it is so comforting to know that all of those burly looking men that hang out in front of the 7-Elevens and gas stations scratching, spitting and gawking with missing teeth at our daughters and wives are actually gentle and harmless.
Now we all can listening to a month straight of “I Have A Dream” on the TV and radio and not worry a bit about getting a flat tire from all of the broken glass in the road or that our neighborhood, or house will be targeted and torched next.
I JUST commented about the dire consequences of PWC, Prince Georges County in another PJM article looking the other way in home loans to illegal and low income folks in said counties.
I live in Fairfax County, albeit the West side which hasn’t been effected NEARLY as bad as the other portion, as well as your county.
My only recommendation ‘WWWW’ is rather to attend City Council meetings, attend Governor and other Representative type meet and greets armed with lucid knowledge and the non-emergency Police/Sheriff’s Department numbers on speed dial.
I’m a 30-something but I’ll be damned if the area my family lives goes ‘Progressive’ (what an oxymoron) like Montgomery County and the like encouraging further down the rabbit hole is ‘utopia’.
Re: paul_unalaska
Mostly good advice which we already do, especially considering Governor McDonnell and Attorney General Cuccinelli.
The howevers are / seem to be that Cory Stewart got elected in great part attributable to the efforts and support of the Tea Party, but chooses now to drop those pearls while assuring himself that he can unseat Jim Webb come election time.
We strongly supported the Tea Party events and rallies; providing moments notice Pro Bono coverage as a community service until the Tea Party heads of state began to tell us to run our business their way instead of the way we’ve been operating since 1995. Consider my response to that crap as good, old fashioned West Virginia “Stick It!” political discourse.
Rotary or speed dial calls to PWC Police that can be even remotely tinged with the typical rubbish that is going on in this article will get you a , “Mind your own business, they have as many rights as you do!” response. No one seems able or willing to clarify whether or not the Chief of Police ended up living with, or married to a Latino woman after he divorced his wife, which might explain the matter. I guess that makes all of it hearsay in addition to none of your business too, among other.
‘WWWW’/Anonymous – My heart goes out to you. Though I too feel Webb and all his backward thinking/actions will win his re-election.
Heck, we have ‘Representative’ Jim Moran for our district. The same, ‘I don’t know where the *uck Obama is..’ Moran. http://www.ontheissues.org to see Stewart and our ‘wunderboy’ voting history. Scary, tyranny-like acts IMO.
As for the illegals, 14th Amendment abuse and its associated descent of public safety, education and P C replacing the already vetted and success of assimilation/upward mobility as a society.. agin, let knowledge, fact and reasoning combat emotionally ridden good intentions and falsely accused bigotry/racism.
Hi-ho Ruben – The 1 trick pony strikes again..
‘..the new seats should be majority-Hispanic — increasing the chances of electing one or two Hispanic representatives’.
‘Latinos get what they want (majority-Latino districts where they can elect their own)..’.
Ruben, THANK YOU again for proving time and time again what you and the Illiberal base truly are: Persons who DO judge one’s ability by the color of their skin.
What makes you think LEGAL Americans with South of the border ancestry/lineage in Texas are as race obsessive/racist as you? To look BEYOND those traits is truly advancing socially, intellectually etc., Your thought process is stuck in the 60′s, bub.
P C, ‘Progressivism’ is counterproductive in ANY society.
There you go again, Rubén. Tagging what you call Republicans with being on the racist-bigot-bully side of “immigration, English-only laws, bilingual education, affirmative action, and other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues”, and using “white” to distinguish from “Latino”. Sure sounds racist to me.
BTW: “white” Democrats brought you Jim Crowe laws and Segregation laws to counter the excesses of the Yankee conquerors. It’s how the current Demorat Party got its power. But you’re happy with that, I’m sure.
This is one issue where I would actually like to see partisan and racial issues wholly ignored. The issue should be dealt with by population equality and contiguous districts with natural boundaries, i.e., rivers, city limits & county lines, highways, railroads, etc. that have naturally divided neighborhoods and cultural activities for centuries. These are set up by nonpartisan commissions.
Because of natural neighborhood concentrations, you would have natural majority minority districts, and rural voters would have a more representative voice. Suburban districts would be naturally separated from urban, inner city districts, instead of the silly serpentine gerrymandered monstrosities we see now.
A happy result of such districts is more competitive elections, more representative of the tenor of the times, and less safe seats for incompetents.
I doubt that the GOP will do what Ruben wants them to do, which, boiled down, is grant amnesty to any Hispanic here illegally. Evidence of that attitude on his part is legion. Most of his columns refer to illegals simply as “immigrants” and claim that the reason the GOP isn’t making inroads in that community is an “anti-immigrant” bias. That’s NONSENSE, of course. Conservatives don’t have the least thing against LEGAL immigrants…we just don’t want to reward those who’ve sneaked across our border ILLEGALLY by giving them amnesty, “free” college tuition, drivers licenses, welfare, “free” medical care or ANY of the benefits of our free society simply because they want them. If Ruben could just get that through his thick head, I might be willing to listen to his advice. He’s a “progressive” and a Democrat shill who most assuredly does NOT have the best interests of either the GOP OR the country as a whole in mind.
Ethnic based districts? Hell, no. The states need to be divided by population of American citizens. Gerrymandering is a sign of a corrupt political class. Time to throw the bums out.
Two utterly incorrect arguments by Mr. Navarette:
1)He actually favors bilingual education as pro-hispanic. Bilingual ed is a racket, designed to provide employment for semi-competent hispanic teachers and keep poor hispanic students in an educational, jobs, income and opportunity ghetto, fit only to vote for Democrats who claim to have their interests at heart. End bilinual ed (except for a 1-year transition) and free the hispanic kids to succeed!
2)He thinks that packing all hispanic voters into a few hispanic supermajority districts is good for hispanics and good for Republicans. Wrong on both counts. Hispanics (and the GOP) would be best off with a larger number of districts that would have a reasonably large hispanic percentage (to satisfy the DOJ) and a good percentage of middle class working people, not welfare ghettoes. The GOP could win those districts with credible conservative hispanic candidates (as just happened in TX US house races, FL US senate, NM and NV gov races). Hispanics would be infinitely better off with political leaders who actually favor job creation and not just more and better welfare.
Suggest the author take a course in logic and logical fallacies. He will learn about prejudice and its lack of clear thinking and self-examination. Prejudice’s symptom is grouping diverse individuals into groups, about which the bigot makes statements. Unfortunately, people who suffer from prejudice have closed minds, and rarely are able to overcome the malady of thought. It prevents one from ‘walking in another’s moccasins’, as my Cherokee grandmother advised us to do.
Also suggest the author study Texas history before judging any of its inhabitants, as it has always been a place where people relate to each other as Texans first. The list of hispanic names in early Texas government (Check out Lorenzo Gonzales) is proof that people in the culture could care less about national origins. People originally came to Texas to escape all kinds of tyranny, and the culture that ensued lasted for a long time; it still is prevalent outside of the big cities. Unfortunately for the old culture, many progressives have flooded in from places like California and the northern states, who brought their prejudices with them.
It’s about shared values, not ethnicity; the Texas culture has always bonded because our ancestors had suffered from big government’s heavy hand.
“He will learn about prejudice and its lack of clear thinking and self-examination. ”
He COULD. But he won’t.
I live is San Antonio Texas which is over 50% Hispanic. Yet in the most recent election, the republicans swept all the Judgeships. I think that most people tend to put Hispanics into a political box. Big mistake in my mind.
I agree, because Latinos seem to me to have many of their interests more closely aligned with Republicans than Democrats. Socially, they’re more conservative, and it seems to me that as soon as they move into the middle and upper-middle class they are more than happy to jump party lines. I think that scares their self-styled intelligentisa to death, and that’s why they champion such racist concepts as a “Latino district” because it keeps that same group in power.
I lived most of my life in an area that was/is heavily populated with Hispanic people. People like Ruben would have you believe that they all think alike. They don’t. Many of them have been legally born and raised in the USA, work hard, pay their taxes and represent true Americans. The others can’t cut their ties with the Motherland, resent white people, expect to be taken care of by the taxpayers and feel that we should give the southwestern states back to Mexico. I call these people “liberals” pure and simple. Politicians make a big mistake by lumping Hispanics into one group. We are already seeing evidence that these Americans with Hispanic origins are turning to conservatives with whom they more readily identify. Ruben and his ilk know this and are nervous about it, as well they should be.
I’m of the mind that the Dems need to watch out what they wish for- because getting Latinos out from under the thumb of their self-serving, racist elites will allow a whole lot of them to think for themselves. There is a HUGE difference between middle-class Americans of Mexican descent and illegal immigrants, and the economic needs as well as social inclinations of the former really are more aligned with the Republican party. Redistricting to evenly distribute their vote would also mean they’re going to be exposed to candidates that have to fight for their vote, not assume it belongs to them. How can that be a bad thing?
Furthermore, redistricting the way the Dems want it only dilutes out their vote. This last election demonstrated that well. The only districts that the Dems held on to were blue, blue, blue AND in areas of the country that lost population. Net result- it’s now going to be set up for the conservatives to win just as big the next time around, because it’s not the mythical “Latino vote” or “black vote” that’s been concentrated, it’s the “Dem vote.”
I want to qualify my statement by first saying this; I grew up out west, living in CA, NM, AZ, TX and less to the point CO until I went into the Navy at 18(I’ve now lived in GA for over 30 years). I’ve known(and disliked) way more white trash than Latino folks in the last 50 years.
I live outside of Gainesville, GA. Per capita, outside of Miami, one of the highest Latino populations in the south.
I’m starting to see some of the less pleasant signs of the politically catered to, non-productive parts of the Latino “Culture” in America show up. The Cholas spray painting gang markings(which is about as classy as a dog peeing on a hubcap) stripped out cars and worse yet…
I was involved in an fall where I hit my head on concrete. Cracked my orbital bone in three places and gave me a nasty concussion. I was out for 5 mins. I was only 5 mins from the hospital, and it takes 45 mins for an ambulance(just to show up), so my wife threw me in the truck and took me into the emergency room. We walked in the ER 30 mins after the fall. It took 20 mins from there to get my insurance stuff(I pay for and have great insurance)filled out. Now it’s been a little under an hour, and they ask me to sit in the waiting room. By this time the blood had started pooling, and I looked SERIOUSLY BAD.
The room was full of the usual. Mostly white trash and Latino families, suffering from the sniffles, but without insurance(or didn’t want to wait for an office visit…this was a Sunday). A couple of them seemed genuinely injured(the true emergencies in which ER’s are intended, although a Doc-in-the-box would be appropriate). One group of four Latinos(One injured with a finger cut from playing that knife game that “Bishop” played on the movie Aliens)sitting next to me, and complaining about the wait.
I sat in that room for less than 10 mins. I hear from behind the electrically closed(and locked) doors, “Get him in an exam room, NOW!” And out pop two nurses with a wheelchair. The head directly to me, load me in a chair and roll me towards the doors. Did I mention I looked,like, car wreck, bad? I was still only talking in single syllables at that time.
This group of four I had been sitting next to(who were more than a little drunk) stand up and start voicing loud complaints about the unfairness of me being taken before them them, as they had been there first.
As I am being rolled through the doors, another Latino woman has taken up the cause, trying to get through the doors with her kid while they were still open. The last thing I saw was two hospital staff preventing her from entering, telling her to take a seat, and that I was being seen next because of the severity of my INJURIES.
I was taken back, got pumped full of morphine and everything kind of gets hazy from there.
But my wife, still in the waiting room reported to me that there was a near riot in there after I left. Security had to be called. The guy with the cut was allowed to stay, but his friends were removed, the woman with the sick kid was forced to leave and one other woman(I have no idea who she was there with) was escorted out by two security guards, one on each arm, while she was screaming about the “preferred” treatment I got because I was white. A whole lot of profanity being yelled in spanish.
My point here is this. Race had nothing at all to do with my treatment by hospital personnel, but by my condition(BTW, my left eye was permanently injured, and won’t ever be right). But those folks felt that they had a RIGHT to that “free” medical care(you should have seen MY bill from the incident. I can tell you there is nothing free about medical care. Somebody pays for it). Nobody rides for free.
Artificially grouping that demographic together politically may score political points, but will do nothing positive for our society.
All people should be treated, and represented, equally. Racial gerrymandering is just that, racist.
And that incident is another reason why the Obama care thing scares the crap out of me. But that is another story.
Ruban’s essay has more than a whiff of being self serving and I’m a little surprised at Roger Simon for publishing it on his website.
what’s a LATINO? or HISPANIC?
this is a BS made up thing- here in MIAMI we have CUbans Venezulans Argentines Salvadoreans Guatemalans and more, none particualrly fond of being lumped into one homogenous group-
many burned by commies and definitely not inclined towards liberalism-
we already have a totally bi-lingual city—-no Spanish means no job for you in sales, as receptionist or cashier – I am now disenfranchised and the MINORITY in my own land now- can I demand special treatment?- free SPANISH classes like we offer English to “Hispanics”- NOPE
Why is is illegal to put an employment ad that says no blacks/gringas need apply, but perfectly OK to place ads that say ONLY BILINGUAL (I am bilingual in French)- that is code for no SPANISH NO JOB- it is pure discrimnation on those of us who sharedour city and country- and they DO speak ENGLISH – the language burden should not be on US- I did not choose to move or emigrate to a non ENGLISH nation
we do have many elected people like our Senator Rubio whose PARENTS may have been from Cuba or S Amer but who are AMERICANS, raised in USA and speak ENGLISH well, and have the same concerns as non SPANISH speaking AMERICAns.Most of our local pols are Cuban descent too- not lacking any representation.
Naverette uses code to describe Mexicans and Mexican Americans- what a racist
According to your beliefs Hispanics must be a political party. What is a Hispanic and how does that differ from a Latino? Are the two different political parties? Do Mexicans and Cubans join the same party. Why would they even want to talk to each other much less vote together? Is La Raza a racists or criminal umbrella organization? Just asking.
Excellent questions Mr. Block. I am sure that Mr. Navarrette will never have the courage to answer these questions honestly.
Typo in previous post. Meant to say Mr. Forgotten Man, not Mr. Block
I think the Mexican-Cuban antipathy is more conservative dream than practical reality. The relationship between the two is probably more akin to the Marin County situation – whites in a liberal wealthy enclave (the Cubans) and the dark proletariat (Mexicans, centros, more indian-looking SouthAms): “As long as you dont move in next to me, I dont mind you guys being my patients, my students, my clients and subscribing to my media outlets.”
Of course I rather be the guy that says to Marco Rubio “I’ll volunteer my school bus if you repudiate wet-foot/dry-foot”. I would also rather not be packed into a Latino supermajority district. I’d rather be a swing vote.
What is wrong with preserving the fundamentally Anglo-Saxon cultural foundations of America, Senor? Civilizations do not evolve in a vacuum, so to pretend that America’s roots in English Common Law, the Magna Carta, Adam Smith, our adversarial legal procedures, etc, were simply coincidental to America is sheer dishonesty. Subsequent waves of non-British immigrants acculturated themselves to this baseline Anglo culture with relative ease, and in most cases were quite eager to do so because they recognized it as something they deeply wanted to become a part of.
Why, then, is it such a problem that we should have that same expectation of immigrants from Latin America? Perhaps more to the point, why don’t they have that expectation of themselves? They wanted to come here, after all.
Brava!!
There is one prominent thing missing in the analysis here.
That’s the so-called “Voting Rights Act” where every southern state has to submit its districts to the Department of [In]justice (but only southern states because no northern, eastern, or western states discriminate based on race) to be reviewed so that minorities are GUARANTEED a certain number of districts close to their percentage in the state population, but really not if their demographic is real young and cannot vote.
THAT, more than partisan politics, will cause the drawing of more hispanic districts.
I predict a Racist Latino 3rd Party coming into existence.
PS- Its about time to start drawing White European districts.
I am a Latino (ecuadorian) and Ruben doesn’t speak for me! I love america and I don’t want to be regrouped into a sort of hispanic ghetto. I am as productive and hard working as any other American, so I can be friends with any one. I think Ruben is too focused on the mexican question, indeed.. as if some other latino cares! Learn English and be man enough to deal with any American in English.
Dejate de h***adas racistas y segregacionistas! No me digas que ponernos a todos en un distrito all-hispanic no es segregacionismo! Abre los ojos! Si tu causa es de verdad latinoamerica entonces promueve la integracion, si lo que buscas es simpatía para los mezquinos intereses de Mexico, entonces conmigo no cuentes!!!!
And God bless America!
Thank you for your post. I think there are more people like you out there than Mr. Navarrette thinks there are. Or would LIKE to think there are!
“That’s how it is with immigration, English-only laws, bilingual education, affirmative action, and other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues.”
Well, let’s take a look at this list:
1. Immigration. Ah, yes, the favorite leftist talking half-point, carefully obscuring the vast difference between LEGAL and ILLEGAL immigration. Just one word to describe it all, hoping we won’t notice.
2. English-only laws. Now, here we can agree! English-only laws are certainly in the best interests of Latinos, Germans, Lithuanians, or any other immigrant, AND in the best interests of America at large. It’s nice when the best interests of America AND legal immigrants are the same.
2. Bilingual education. In the best interests of separatists, yes, but certainly NOT in the best interests of Latinos, Germans, Lithuanians, or any other immigrant, NOR in the best interests of America at large.
3. Affirmative action. A repeat of #2. In the best interests of separatists, yes, but certainly NOT in the best interests of Latinos, Germans, Lithuanians, or any other immigrant, NOR in the best interests of America at large.
4. Other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues. Hmmm. I think you mean, RACIST hot button issues, Mr. Navarrette.
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Ruben is not as bad as the former lefty colunist here who attacked the Tea Party some months ago, but as I stated above, this is not the same Ruben Navarrette I remember reading in columns 7-10 years ago. He certainly has moved well to the left.
I think the appeal of a Ruben Navarette and his POV depends how large of an impoverished ne-er-do-well Black population resides nearby. A lot of his earlier writing was of the simplistic We Work – They are on Welfare or the We Live In Our Parents Basement – They Live Off Of Section 8 Vouchers contrast making. This may have worked in Dallas (and still in Chicago) in the 1990s, but as a lot of the pathologies of ghetto blacks become picked up and practiced by many hispanics far and wide of California and the southwest, a lot of his arguments ring hollow.
(Rhetorical) Why on Earth should anyone care about what this individual wrote 7-10 years ago?!
His current writings are the stuff of racism, bigotry and nihilism.
“He wasn’t so bad long ago” does not make this screed any better.
#18 Misanthropy: “what is wrong with preserving the fundamentally Anglo-Saxon cultural foundations of America.” Nothing, as long as one realizes that our cultural foundation isn’t completely Anglo-Saxon.
As one example, 2010 marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe and the construction of the Palace of the Governors. The Spanish influence was here in the Southwest and in Florida (St. Augustine) before the English started arriving in great numbers.
#16 Anonymous raises an interesting point: what is a Latino or Hispanic? Good question as it is not a monolithic bloc. For example, Puerto Ricans are US citizens and can live and go anywhere they want in the country.
#15 JW: your hospital situation reminds me of my experience working in a government social services program for a few years. A lot of the hangers-on at your hospital expecting free treatment would vanish if there was a co-pay requirement. A lot of tax dollars now wasted in the Medicaid program could be saved.
In general, I enjoy reading Mr. Navarette’s columns here. They’re quite informative and provide a different perspective even if I don’t often agree with him.
Seize what oppurtunity?
Republicans don’t pander to your race and we like it that way.
We don’t put you on a pedestal. We don’t care what your ethnicity is. And we sure as hell aren’t going to give you free crap or preferential treatment just because of your skin color.
We also hate leechers, criminal lowlifes, foreign cultural imperialists and especially illegal immigrants.
The Democrats are exactly the opposite.
Are you hispanic? Here, have an unfair advantage over whites and asians when applying to colleges and jobs. And enjoy your extra school funding and la raza based ethno-centric curriculum.
And please impose your culture on us. We really can’t get enough of yours while destroying our own.
Have some free health care and education as well. Oh and a home, food, TV, phone, computer and high speed internet access.
We’re just gonna tax the crap out of the middle and upper class in America and give you their money through a plethora of government programs.
Enjoy!
How the heck are we on the Right supposed to compete with that? Harp on American patriotism? Pfft. Illegal immigrants could care less about America. They’re just here to leech off us.
The only way we could match what the Democrats offer hispanics is to do the same. Sorry, but we on the Right are not interested in going down that path.
What we really and ~finally~ need to do is to stop pathetically pandering to hispanics and stop letting them in our country by the tens of millions.
We also need to start seriously deporting the leechers and criminals.
That way, they’ll never have a chance to beomce the new majority of our population and we won’t have to worry about their “gimme gimme” “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” political attitude.
Right-wingers never win ethnic minority votes in any white majority country. So don’t even bother trying.
Instead, we should be actively limiting immigration to our countries as a counter to the left.
We just need someone with balls who will finally do it.
” That’s how it is with immigration, English-only laws, bilingual education, affirmative action, and other ethnic and cultural hot-button issues.”
Mexico’s standards in this, as in all La Raza matters, leads the world by example. Mexico’s fine bilingual education programs have produced a citizenry educated in local and world affairs and a governing class which weighs the needs of nation above its own petty interests; its affirmative action has abolished discrimination against citizens of indigenous heritage; its lack of xenophobia has led the Mexican economy to the most open to purchases of land, property, and corporation by foreigners who bring prosperity and free trade. Oh, wait.
Oh. You. Scamp!
Brakish, from your mouth to God’s ears! You have expressed my life-long opinion on the matter very well.
In the water desalination community there are some who think that the costs of water desalination will be 1/10 of what they are currently within 10 years.
http://www.rdwaterpower.com/membrane-research/2010-amta-conference-desalinations-future-has-arrived/
The effect of this will be to make it possible to turn the world’s deserts green–since most deserts are right beside the ocean. This will triple the size of Mexico. So Mexico will need her citizens back in the not too distant future.
When you hear republicans like Governor Perry of Texas or Heraldo Rivera of Fox news talk about invading Mexico to cure the drug problem–remember these people don’t know where America ends and Mexico begins. They are the opposite of democrats that don’t know where mexico ends and America begins. But they work out to be the same thing. They are people with bad boundary issues. They are dangerous to the republic.