Six Reasons Why Latinos May Stay Home on Election Day
There’s more news on the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Mr. Obama and Latinos. A constituency that, just two years ago, handed over 67 percent of their vote to Obama is now protesting in the street, as occurred during President Obama’s recent trip to Los Angeles.
But to understand just how bad things have gotten, and to put it in context, you have to know six things:
1) The criticism that Obama caught from Latinos in the first 18 months of his administration for breaking his promise to make immigration reform a top priority is a love tap compared to what has rained down upon him more recently for his atrocious behavior with regard to deporting illegal immigrants. That includes using the 287g program to allow local law enforcement to round up, and give to the feds, as many illegal immigrants as possible with the surgical precision of a meat cleaver;
2) One thing that has really irked many Latinos is the fact that the administration is so cavalier about its record number of deportations — nearly 800,000 in its first two years — that it sends Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano out to brag about the take like a proud fisherman posing for a picture with the daily catch;
3) The reason for that is because Latinos — whether naturalized citizens, or eighth-generation residents of the Southwest — take deportations seriously. More to the point, they take them personally. Most of them won’t bat an eye if you remove a 20-something single man with no family. But when you start uprooting and deporting grandma, grandpa, mom and dad — people in which other people’s lives are wrapped up — look out;
4) There is always a group of Latino voters out there who are just waiting for Democrats to betray them, as if to confirm their cynical belief – from the old countries — that all politics is corrupt and all politicians beyond redemption. And so when a Democratic elected official betrays them, they’ll pounce;
5) Ever since 1994, when Republicans threw the very first immigration piñata party, demonizing and scapegoating immigrants and all Latinos to scare up votes here and there, Latinos have been on edge. It hasn’t helped calm fears any that, in the 17 years since then, there have been – at the state, local, and federal level – dozens of similar attempts to score points on their backs. They’re always waiting for the next one; and
6) The debate is not over whether Latinos would be so angry with Obama that they even contemplate voting for a Republican — not after how despicably that party has behaved toward them. The real concern for Democrats is that disillusioned Latinos will be a no-show in the 2012 election, and that this could hurt the incumbent’s re-election chances.
“…as if to confirm their cynical belief – from the old countries — that all politics is corrupt and all politicians beyond redemption.”
Cynical? Do you mean “realistic”?
“from the old countries”? Yeah, old countries are corrupt, here we don’t have “briberies”, we have “campaign contributions; we don’t have “kick backs”, we have “earmarks”. We may not be as old, but we surely can speak Orwellian better.
Don’t forget that we don’t have “Voter fraud”, we have “famous voters like ‘Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck’”, “Voters 6-feet under pushing up daisies” and last but certainly not least, the almighty “ACORN”.
And the Attorney General turning a blind eye at thugs intimidating the “wrong” voters at the polls…..
ACORN Convicted
http://www.thenationalpolicyinstitute.org/2011/04/19/acorn-convicted-in-massive-voter-fraud-conspiracy-legacy-media-yawns/
If a radical group closely associated with the president of the United States and known for its efforts to undermine American democracy were convicted in a massive voter fraud conspiracy you’d expect to hear something about it from the mainstream media, wouldn’t you? Wrong. Except for the odd FoxNews.com report and a few local reports there has been a media blackout.
On April 6 the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), that is, the organization itself as opposed to its employees, was convicted in Las Vegas of felony “compensation” for registration of voters. Sentencing is scheduled for August 10.
Los Angeles and California are in Obama’s bag. These Latino protesters could scream until their face turns blue and convince a few thousand fellow Latinos to abandon him, and Obama will still win the state handily.
I think Ruben won’t admit what he seems to acknowldege privately – that despite their growing presence, Latinos cannot be weaponized (yet) as a voting force for either party. Only a relatively small percentage of them are registered voters. Other minorities make up even less. Whites are still the most likely voters, and open borders policy isn’t hot for moderates and independents in their ranks. Obama is sucking up to whites for the very reason why Ruben wants him to pander to the Latino crowd.
The Latinos really do need their equivalent of tea party to realize Rubern’s dream 2012 scenario. They have to abandon D candidates who aren’t committed to stopping deportation or amnesty, even at the risk of losing other voters.
That’s not gonna happen.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-IL
The only reason that this loathsome congressman is pushing back against Obama is because Gutierrez stands for one thing and one thing alone.
Pure identity politics. He squeals that Obama does not pander, pander, pander to every single far left wing, latino/hispanic victim mentality issue, either semi valid or entirely fabricated via the lens of leftist distortion.
Unfortunately a few too many latinos drink the koolaid that Gutierrez so readily serves.
Speaking of “one thing and one thing alone,” Ruben could have written a one-word essay: IMMIGRATION. He could have changed his title, too; these aren’t six points, they’re the same point over and over, as usual, for one-issue Latinos who judge American politicians solely on what they will do for the citizens of Mexico.
Amen.
Couldn’t have said it better.
I’m a “latino” and Ruben Navarrette doesn’t speak for me.
What latinos need to do, if they have a ounce of honesty, is to recognize they came here fleeing tyrannies and social decomposition in their home countries. The worst error a latino can do is to bring the vices from those corrupt countries to America. This doesn’t mean one has to forget the traditions and other folkish things, I still eat food from my country, I like to dance salsa and merengue, when I have time I go to visit my relatives, I like to receive friends at home. Listen, most of latinos family oriented, we came here because we were longing to be free, free to work and produce without a tyrant seizing all the products, regulating and taxing the hell out of our lifes.
What latinos need to do, when looking at the tendency to grow of the US government, is to fight for the Principles that made us come here in the first place: Life, Freedom and Pursuit of Happiness; and the Private Property which is the tecnology to implement all the aforementioned Rights. We need go out and vote, vote for the party that fights for Capitalism, against the tyranny of the left, the one that promotes bussiness and private initiative, the one that wants to put stops to a growing bureaucracy, the one that struggle for going back to the basics, the good ol’ America, land of the free.
If there are no groups willing to fight for what is right, then we should still go out and voice the only reasonable demand from latinos:
More freedom and less latino-style tyranny for America.
More Rule of Law, based in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, and less corrupcion for America. It’s in the interest of every latino to fight the evil we left behind.
And God bless America.
God bless you, pelao y-y
I think you deserve a regular columnist spot here more than Ruben does.
I’ll second that motion!
Right on Paleo y-y
Pelao – thanks. Fortunately in Texas many of us identify with each other as Texans, instead of our ethnic origins. We are supporting Ted Cruz for Senator Hutchison’s seat, as he is conservative and smart. We recently replaced democrat Edwards with our new representative Bill Flores for the same reason….
Why don’t we see each other as human beings with a love for America, instead of allowing politicians to divide us up into ethnicities?
Hopefully Bilgeman is logging in – there seems to be Tejanos, Texicans, Texians all kicking about.
What a great note!
That’s the RIGHT Spirit Paleo…one for all, all for America! We honor our former countries and traditions and work together for a better tomorrow for all.
Americans listen to pelao y-y! This was a great read – THANK YOU!
Great post! Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Ruben Navarrette isn’t the unquestioned leader of the Latino portion of the population in the US; he seems to write that way most of the time, at least. You used a great phrase to start many of your points; “What Latinos need to do…” May I suggest another idea? What Latinos need to do is follow the laws of the United States. Whether you want to come here (or are here) because of strife in your birth country, or you truly believe there’s a moral laxity in ICE, deportations, etc., or even if you’ve entered the country legally – your responsibility as a human being is to follow the laws of the ground upon which you stand. Doesn’t matter if that ground has living on it politicians who don’t keep their “promises” (you’re naive if you think that’s in their job description), or folks who believe we need to secure our borders, or even if you think your group has a rightful voice in who becomes President; if you don’t follow the laws of this country, you don’t deserve its’ benefits. That’s true for everyone, not just immigrants. Ruben doesn’t seem to understand that, given his writings. It isn’t about what you have once you get here (by whatever means), it’s about what you’re entitled to by law – and if you don’t follow the law, you’re NOT entitled.
Amen…and what I have been preaching. I think you will find, that the vast majority of Americans welcome immigrants. However by simply raising their voices against the illegal immigration issue or asking why people are immigrating and then refusing to intergrate and instead demand we respect the customs, language, and traditions from where they fled, automatically earns you the brand Racist.
Ruben is a one trick pony…and a “Racer”
Thank you for your valuable comments! I have said it before and I will say it again: we are BLESSED by our immigrants from “south of the border”. These people are generally hard working (that is why they are here), family oriented (it is a disgrace for a man not to support his family), generally focused on social advancement for themselves and their children, and God-fearing (mostly very honest people except for the drug cartels which is an entirely different story.) I realize there are many different and varying “Latino” groups, but if one has to come up with stereotypes, they are mostly good ones! Interestingly, this kind of social profile seems to mesh nicely with a Republican philosophy of “up by your own bootstraps and keep what you make” rather than “mindlessly bail out the feckless and let pathologies replicate themselves generation after generation.”
Obama… lied to you? (gasp)
Navarette, the voice of pro-illegal immigration, claiming that Hispanics are fed up with Obama. Shyahright. Minorities are stupid voters. Navarette is a stupid shill for stupid voters. They will always vote Dem, so pardon Obama thinking he owns your sorry behinds. What are you gonna do, really? Vote Republican? “No, we’ll stay home in 2012.” What? You won’t consider voting against Obama? Just stay home? I guess you are not upset enough at him, are you, dumbasses?
Come election time, Obama will not be quivering in his boots about you not voting for him. He’ll drum up some phony charge, like Allred did against Whitman, and you idjits will be voting for him again. Predictable as the sunrise. You cannot fix estupido.
No, just cross over to the Republican primary in the states where you can cross over and vote for the least objectionable Republican. That way you have real options; it would have been interesting to see the 2008 McCain-Obama come down to Florida or Wisconsin/Indiana, if Mexicans have given in to their “Piolin” prejudices (and no, Sarah did not kill it for McCain with Latinos).
…. South and Central American Indians and Portuguese and Spanish Immigrants and their descendants (AKA: “latinos”) May Stay Home on Election Day ….
Most of us will be ecstatic if just the several millions of criminal aliens and/or felons among them will stay — or better yet, go — the Hell home!
It is in the best interest of anyone, latino or otherwise, who is here legally to vote against Obama, or anyone else for that matter, who puts up with anyone being here illegally. But the way to get rid of the millions of criminals who have invaded our country is to deny them a place to work, deny them a place to live, make it to difficult for them to stay and they will go home on their own. I have no doubt that, with the record numbers of deportees these last few years, like in the cheech & chong song, many have been deported illegally. I hate that. But anyone picked up who isn’t here legally should be required to leave along with everyone else not here legally. That’s the only reform we need. Really. Would you allow a burglar to remain in your house because he brought his family with him? How is this different?
Bingo, Chris! Why is it the best ideas are usually simple? Maybe that’s why they don’t appeal to more folks these days. IMHO, we seem to be mesmerized by and in love with complexity.
Well, that’s exactly what happened in the 1950s under Eisenhower (probably the last president to take his oath of office seriously). Only about 20% of the illegals were actually rounded up and deported; the rest saw the handwriting on the wall and left on their own. IOW, they self-deported. There’s nothing to prevent a repeat — all it takes is the moral and political will.
If indeed any of this was true, it would be hilarious confirmation of leftist special interest groups finally starting to seriously fight between themselves. As the basis for all this, Lawrence Auster at View From the Right blog has put forth a reasonable theory of liberal/progressive society:
“Liberal society requires three groups or classes to operate. First, there is the liberal white elite, who embody the liberal ideals of the system and for whom the system really exists. Second, there are the putatively non-liberal whites. In fact, they are not necessarily non-liberal at all (since almost all white people in modern society are actually liberal), but they must be seen as non-liberal in order for them to play their assigned part as non-enlightened, bitterly clinging to their guns and Bibles, etc. And then are the various designated minorities and non-Westerners.”
So what happens when the second group becomes so powerless that it is finally obvious to everyone in the third group? My extension of the theory is that they start breaking down into their natural tribal-like subgroups, who finally realize it is no longer necessary to be under the control of the first group white liberal oligarchy. At that point these disparate tribes start to war with each other as it also becomes apparent that it is now time to stake out their own turf and climb to the top of whatever remains of society.
Various recent news events are starting to expose tribal warfare with specific conflicts including:
- latinos versus the white oligarchy
- feminists versus Moslems
- blacks versus transgendered
- Moslems versus gays (well, actually, Moslems are against all non-Moslems)
- blacks versus latinos
It can all only get worse. I absolutely mistrust Mr. Navarrette Junior, but in this case he may actually have a true inkling of something going on.
this is so true
the coalitions within the dem party are held together by some very weak links—> most notably HATE; and this needs to be exploited in my opinion
ah…identity politics and all it’s attentdants, how I loathe thee.
The reason I left the Dems and never looked back. couldn’t stand the hypocracy
You mean the Latinos are angry that Obama lied to them just to get their votes? Say it ain’t so! You can always tell when Obama is lying. His lips move. Well, you can do something about it in 2012. Throw him out of office. Really, what have you got to lose? Also remember, the last president who actually tried to do something about illegal immigrants was George W. Bush. It didn’t work and he failed, but at least he tried. Obama hasn’t even tried, and THAT is the difference. Republicans are willing to at least try and solve tough issues. Democrats will say anything to get your vote and then do what they please once in office. So unless you enjoy feeling like a chump, don’t vote for this guy again. Simple, right?
Obama only cares about the unions and screw everyone else. welcome to the club.
Obama’s “Latino” problem is significantly worse than this article makes it out to be. You see, there are also Hispanics like me, who are CONSERVATIVE, and who now, finally, thanks to the overt Leftism of Mr. Obama are starting to get other Hispanics to open their eyes and realize that Democrats do not represent their decidedly social conservatism, and that the fiscal and economic ideas of the Democrats threaten to turn this country into another Banana Republic, like the one they or their parents left. So, we actually applaud the enforcement of law, including deporting those who enter the country illegally, but we realize they are simply token activities, and attempts to hide the leftist activities of this administration. So, Mr. Obama is losing the liberal Latinos because he’s not destroying the country fast enough, and he is also losing Hispanics to conservatism, because he is actively working to destroy this great nation. There can’t be too many Hispanic votes remaining between those two realities.
Mr. Munoz,
What an impeccable analysis. I hope you, and M. pelao y-y @7 above, post widely and often.
Mayberry;
I agree.
Jose…you got it brother! As long as you are looked upon as property and not a human being, you are subject to the whims of the holder of said property. And Democrats look at minorities as their property. Dont believe me? Look what happens when just ONE minority that gains national attention says something not from the written talking points and Democrat playbook. They are targeted as sell outs just to keep that 95% black, and high percentage of Latino voting base. Successful minorities and role models are torn apart…and for what? Because they dare to speak out? They also demonize and continue to group us as citizens? Patriots are now categorized as “Teabaggers”, also code for racists which they have spoon fed to their base very well. And keep us infighting to deflect whats really going on and to attain power for themselves!
“Patriots are now categorized as “Teabaggers”, also code for racists which they have spoon fed to their base very well…”
Can I safely assume that you don’t know the definition of a “teabagger”?
At least the accepted and generally know definition by Anderson Cooper, Olberfurher or the 12 year old boy….Maddow?
If you really don’t realize what these filth think about you…then please Google the definition and then tell us how you like it.
I think that deporting 800,000 isn’t even a good start. Deportation should be in the future of every illegal alien no matter what country they came from. I find it hard to believe that Latino as a group consider avoiding detection for long enough to have children or grandchildren a free pass to break the law. I think an ICE agent in every emergency room and Principal’s office in the country a reasonable response to stealing services. If illegal aliens are given a free get out of jail card with ” immigration reform” (read amnesty)it is only fair to give every white male citizen a free get out of jail card and allow them not to pay taxes.
Your attitude is pathetic. They are coming here because of NAFTA. American corporations are pushing them off of their land and buying it up. This has now become a human rights issue, but the GOP has been very good at conflating poor people in search of work with criminals. And of course this is also a diversion from the real criminals, the banksters. They are the ones who got amnesty. Obama pledged during the campaign to fix this issue his first year in office, but he didn’t. Now he’a making it an issue even though he knows that a GOP controlled House will not pass it. That just shows cold blooded contempt.
Issue 900-series Social Security numbers to non-doc people, supported by their digital photo & fingerprints and birth/baptism record. Ask them for all numbers and employers before. There is 0.5 Trillion in SSA’s Suspense Fund that cannot be allocated. This info will help track it down and credit it to the 900 number belonging to the applicant. Then that identified tax amount can be credited to the Retirement, Disability, and Medicare funds. Their 900-number is bulletproof ID as any employer can send in a digital photo of someone claiming that number and the Social Security office can go on line and confirm/deny in a few clicks. Ignore non-doc people working under 900 numbers. Congress will handle it. Have ICE concentrate attention on all who would rather not have a 900-number – warrants outstanding? Fleeing suspect from US or elsewhere? Otherwise having primary loyalty to a foreign power not friendly to the US? Or what? That would get best use out of the tax dollar. 900-numbers would eliminate blowing giant bucks on a bulletproof ID for all people inside US borders.
The Latinos are deluded if they think any president, Democrat or Republican, is going to hand out amnesty while 10 million Americans are unemployed.
Immigration “reform” will not equate to instant amnesty for every illegal that’s here.
“demonizing and scapegoating immigrants and all Latinos…”
When and how exactly did this happen? By simply stating that illegals have killed more people in the last ten years than died on 9-11? Is that demonizing and scapegoating? And when has the Republican party denigrated “all Latinos”.
That’s a broad, cheap and nasty brush you paint with. But that’s what happens when you deal in racial politics.
Sorry Rooben, but amnesty isn’t happening in my lifetime. However, you can take solace in the fact that hundreds of thousands of anchor babies are being born every year that will further dilute the fabric of American culture. They will some day vote for corrupt socialists just like their parents did in South America. The Latino democrats rallying cry is similar to that of Longshanks in the movie Braveheart. “If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out”
What kind of immigration reform would Latinos accept which, after naturalizing current illegal aliens, would thereafter prevent this situation from re-occurring?
I mean, aside from having permanently open borders and unrestricted immigration, now and forever more.)
the only reason that Navarette doesn’t like Obama is because the administration hasn’t LEGALIZED crossing the US mexico border without permission yet. oh wait….if that happens, then Navarette wouldn’t be an illegal immigrant advocate…his audience might dry up!
let’s face it, Navarette is a racist. condoning amnesty for illegal aliens is racist! what makes them better than law abiding immigrants and law abiding Americans? preferring one ethnic group over another – isn’t that what racism is?
It’s also possible that Hispanics consider themselves Americans first and Hispanics second. They could be just as upset as everybody else about how our country is failing, economically and politically. They could just be disinclined to vote for an ineffective failure as the rest of us.
That doesn’t fit the narrative, but Mr Navarrette wasn’t elected oracle by anybody.
Michael Barone wrote a book in which he compared immigration groups of 100 years ago to the immigrant groups of today. One comparison he made was the Italians of the early 20th century to the Hispanics of today. (As he put it they both lived under the emperor Charles V 500 years ago, so they have something of a common heritage.
After World War II the Congress passed the McCarren Walters Immigration Act which restricted immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe. (Both sponsors were Democ-rats.) This law, passed by a Republican Congress was supposed to chase Italian-Americans into the Democ-rat Party forever. It didn’t turn out that was, especially in New York City where whatever strength the Republican Party enjoyed was in Italian-American neighborhoods.
As one of the foregoing commentators opined, deportations of illegal immigrants actually helps those he played by the rules, waited their turn and work legally holding either legitimate Green Cards or citizenship. It’s time for the Democ-rat Party to end its demagoguery on this issue and join America in calling for enforcement of our laws. And who know–employer sanctions may actually work in their favor.
A bit off topic, but I am always curious who sets the quotas for legal immigration. I would be interested to know if it/they are political appointees, and if so, to see how the quotas allocated to each country of origin have changed over time…..
I hold the sincere hope that someday I will read a real piece of journalism from this anti-American, pro-anarchy lunatic.
I am utterly tired of reading these articles that wail and scream about illegal immigrants being deported. They are deported because they are breaking the “law”. Law as defined by Merriam-Webster: “A binding custom or practice of a community: a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority.”
Now, said controlling authority in this instance is the federal government, as outlined in its multiple doctrines and judicial decisions. By means of the Immigration Control Enforcement agency the -law- states to deport anyone who is not here under legal pretenses of either natural citizenship, visa, or naturalization.
Ruben, I may be speaking for many of the readers here at PJM by requesting one well-thought out response to this:
Of the 800,000 people being deported, how many of them are here legally? No semantics, please. How many of them are here legally? The stipulations for “legal” are as follows: Born in the United States, obtained a visa in the United States, or obtained citizenship through immigration paperwork.
No fathers who are illegal but have a child born on US soil. No grandfathers who has slipped through the cracks for 40 years. No family relations of any kind have anything to do with who is legal and illegal. Either you meet the three criteria listed above, or you leave by choice and / or force.
Are we clear Ruben? These people you keep wailing and screaming for would be shot and killed without regard to anything if we were in their home countries. If we had Mexico (the so-called great nation) advise us on immigration, it would go something like this:
1) Are you a Mexican citizen?
A) If yes, please carry on with your business. Make sure you do not disrupt the ethnic balancing of our country. If you upset said balance you will be deported whether it is your fault or not.
B) If no, you will be sent to prison or possibly executed for illegally entering our country.
So Ruben, I have an excellent solution to the immigration problem that will mirror Mexico’s -glorious- rules to a tee. We will hold a demographic survey of all the border states and determine what percentage are “Latino”. Once we have that information, we will compare it to the percentage of European ancestry and African ancestry present in said states. If the percentage of Latinos exceeds that of either Africans or European Americans we will refuse entry of ALL “Latinos” into the United States until the number is fair and balanced again. Oh and if the number refuses to drop with such measures in place we will simply start deporting whatever Latinos are available until the quota is met.
There’s your “Latino” solution Ruben. Enjoy.
We Americans have to face our hypocrisies.
We like cheap labor, cheap vegetables, cheap gardening, cheap maids, etc … and then we rage about all the services we have to provide with our tax dollars to illegals.
We can’t have it both ways.
Don’t need cheap labor, grow my own vegetables, don’t have a maid/gardener/nanny so I don’t need any of those things. What I do need is a closed border so my high school educated friends can find a decent blue collar job instead of being priced out of it by illegals. How many citizen Americans do you see doing framing, roofing, masonry, etc. anymore? Not damn many cause they’re priced out of the market and can’t afford to work at a rate that won’t pay the mortgage, insurance, etc. I’m talking people who’ve been working for twenty years at the above trades, not the useless young we have right now who expect their boss to be their mommy. Stop talking about the damn splinter in other people’s eyes. Blue collar folks, the vast majority in this country, don’t have freaking help. They ARE the help!
Sir I totally disagree with you. Under the present situation…I have Unions who have strong armed their way into corporations and buisnesses to set up “Union only” work and on the other end illegals and other doing work for half my cost because they shack up three families in a two bedroom apartment! Not only that, is it ethically even honest to pay these folks so little that they are forced into those living conditions in the first place? So there goes “Cheap Labor”. Maids, gardeners??? Who other than the true rich can even afford these things? SO that a throw away right there!
As long as those apartments have running water and do not have dirt floors, it is a big step up from where some of these people came from.
Anonymous;
Maids, gardeners??? Who other than the true rich can even afford these things?
Hotels rely a lot on immigrant room maids.
Where I live (and it is a middle class neighborhood), garden service is very common. The laborers are usually hispanic.
My disabled aunt has a hispanic maid to clean her house. My aunt says she doesn’t care if the maid is illegal. The price is right.
We Americans have to start looking in the mirror if we’re going to resolve this.
“We like cheap labor, cheap vegetables, cheap gardening, cheap maids, etc….”
Boveine excrement. We were quite happy with our gardeners and veggies before any illegal came on to the scene. Fact is….it’s cost us less that .25 cents for a head of lettuce if every illegal picker disappeared tomorrow. And whatever the business scum that hires them might gain…it’s all lost on social services welfare, lees payment of income taxes and fraud.
Me….for the past 25 years I’m managed to have the same lawn guy….a common white guy in the neighborhood…..Billy is his name…not Jose.
Abdul;
The fact remains that they come because we hire them. At lower prices. As long as you’re in denial, the problem will continue.
Voter turnout in the “Latino Community” is always lower than that of other (rival), uh, communities. The statistics are what they are, and they’ve changed very little over time.
Interesting. We have a Democrat president, James Polk, to thank for the seemingly eternal aftermath of his invasion of Mexico and capture of the southwest territories. Now just like the party of Jefferson Davis owns the black vote, the party of Polk owns the latino vote.
Now republicans have to justify Polks actions, and pretend that the southern border is not a special case? Why is that? Not our fault.
Latino and/or Democrats spiteful that Obama did not cater to their every whim? What’s new? Typical ‘gimme,gimme,gimme’ handout cultures
Latinos are famously racist.
One thing is assured. Come around fall of 2012 when Obama finds himself in a tight political race no matter the Republican opponent, the bruising commentary of Barack Obama by Ruben Navarrette Jr. will magically change in a flash from critic to fawning adulation of Obama’s humanity and brilliance. Bring out the Styrofoam Greek columns and boring stories of Obama’s seeking out the Chicano college chums. Ruben will wet his pants with hope and change.
As predictable as the sun rising in the East.
The American future would look much brighter if we had far more of pelao y-y and Jose Munoz, and a lot less of by Ruben Navarrette Jr.
LOL True. You should keep this post and post it again in 2012.
Navarette is predictable; is he related to Geraldo Rivera, the other guy who loves to hear himself talk and believes he is actually a good analyst?
If Obama does that, he’ll pay a price during the election — especially from white voters, many of whom probably somehow find the idea of mass deportations oddly reassuring and consider it a viable strategy to reverse demographic trends.
According to the 2010 census, white people make up 53% of the Hispanic/Latino population in this country. “Hispanic” and “Latino” are not racial terms. So this is not about “whites” versus “Latinos.” This is about “right” versus
wrong“left.” Surely Latino immigrants don’t want Obama and the Leftists to turn this great country into whatever it was they left behind. They’re not interested in a President who apologizes for and weakens this nation. Latinos aren’t the problem. The policies and ideology of the Left are the problem.Can you think of 6 reasons why Latinos even know what “home” means?
How about the absence of a word for “border” in Spanish? That “frontier” one isn’t really working out. They think it means “empty land” or “gold rush” or something like in the wild West.
How about the absence of a word for “border” in Spanish? That “frontier” one isn’t really working out. They think it means “empty land” or “gold rush” or something like in the wild West.
Really? How do you know? Mexicans often call it la linea (the line), and it’s my impression that they do so in situations where “la frontera” strikes them as being too formal.
Also, they say that we stole states from them in the Mexican War. That certainly shows understanding of political borders.
havent we seen this article before?
getting deja vu again
Most of the Hispanics I know are small businessmen, or work for small businessmen. Those small businessmen are painters, roofers, landscapers, carpenters, and other self employed. Gas is a big expense. And they send money to Mexico and South America. Except now they are spending a lot more on gas, and the money they send to their families back home doesn’t buy as much as it used to.
They feel Obama’s policies in a visceral way, in their wallet.
Good! The rest of us feel it in the wallet too, but then we expected this from the anointed one, after all he did predict it during his campaign and some of us listened.
So, what Ruben is saying is that Latinos are racists who look to the Democrats to reward them for breaking the law and that they are mad because the Demcrats won’t break the law further for them, because all Latinos think alike and are racists who only think about the color of their skin when it comes to responsible citizenship.
Or, is the racists really Ruben?
Could we get away with having a little club if we named it La Raza (The Race)??? Oh I think not.
Provided that the GOP candidate doesn’t do something really stupid like Mitt Romney’s “I’ll deport them all in 90 days” boast on 2008, or Sharon Angle’s TV commercials in 2010, many, many latinos will vote Republican. Unemployment in the latino community (among citizens!)is brutal, almost as bad as among blacks.
one doesnt even need to bring up deportation yet
seal the border first then go to step two
If you are illegal, you should not be allowed to work. Use SS number verification. Just GO HOME.
Call me crazy, but maybe, ju-u-u-st maybe, if people weren’t here illegally, they wouldn’t need to concern themselves with deportation.
Wacky idea, I know. I’m nutty like that.
So you’re saying that it’s fine to be an illegal if you have fmaily in the US? That is doesn’t matter that you’re breaking our laws? That we have no right to make laws about people coming into our country?
Lawlessness. That’s the ticket.
This reminds me of the story of the nino who cried lobo.
“I’m telling you…this time I really mean it…if you do “X” and you don’t do “Y”….THIS time, I’m really, really, really going to teach you a lesson.”
“I’m not kidding, this isn’t like last time, or the time before that…or even the time before that…this time is different…you wait and see”.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…blah, blah, blah. Obama and the Hippie Doofus crowd don’t believe for one minute that their special interest, “victim” whiner parade, and “oppressed criminals” are going to do anything other than stay on the gravy train they have been riding for forty years.
These “one issue weaklings” have been totally emasculated and can’t stand on their own two feet or on their own merit. They have a leftist umbilical chord attached to everything they say and do and stand for and against.
They have been made weak and dependent. Just the way the leftists like them. It keeps them obedient and in their place, just the way the leftists like them.
They march on demand, protest on demand, bark on demand…and roll over on demand. When the propaganda newspapers are done spreading lies about America and non-leftists…they can roll up that same newspaper and use it as a training device.
For anyone that actually wanted to stand on their own two feet and actually become a contributing member of this society, they would have abandoned the leftist tripe that has kept them a permanent underclass for the whole of their lives. And…they would recognize that it needs to…it’s the only way for it to survive and thrive.
So, blah, blah, blah all you want…then back to the leftist doghouse where, if you are lucky, they will let you fetch their slippers.
+1 this…pure awesome
Masterful! I know a few myself, they blab and blab and in the end they all fall in line.
Leftest tripe is for losers! Has a certain ring to it…..;)
I LOVE the term “Immigration Reform”. The ONLY immigration “reform” I INSIST upon is that the United States abandon its present immigration policy which states:
“If you can land on 2 feet inside the U.S. border you’re home free, AND we’ll give you a voter registration card for your efforts.”
Navarrette, you want “reform”? How about a national law to the effect if you’re in this country illegally – GO HOME.
Please quit pandering to Latinos for their votes
The sad thing is all the brain dead’s that will vote for that evil Muslim in the Oval Office !!
Want to make a lib’s head explode with cognitive dissonance? Refer to it plainly, and accurately, as immigration deregulation.
Here in Texas many of us Hispanics are American first, last and always and are also conservative. Like the Tea Party, we are also patriots that hate what Obama is doing to our great country and feel that a second term for Obama would be a disaster for America. We no longer get our news from the liberal media but instead enjoy listening to Fox News, Oreilly, Hannity, Rush and other conservative outlets. We also are against illegal immigration and amnesty and see the real need to secure our borders. we do not agree with the liberal platforms and contrary to what Navarette says, will have no problem voting Republican.
Thank you for your comment. You are a great American!
Yea…blah blah blah….just drop the Tejano for Texan would be all right with me.
Point 3 burns my butt.
If a person knows they are living under the sword of Damocles because they are here illegally, I have zero sympathy for them or their family if they are sent back.
If I sneaked into Mexico or Canada tomorrow to look for a job (I am unemployed), I certainly would not have a leg to stand on if I got caught, and to introduce kids into the equation on top of this would be the height of foolishness.
You wouldn’t have to sneak. You’d be let right in.
So let me get this straight Rueben. The only objection Hispanics have to a particular deportation is if he or she is related to the deportee? I’ll bet everybody who breaks the law is related to somebody.
As for singling out blacks for complaining about illegals taking their jobs. MORE POWER TO THEM they have every right to complain. Your relatives who are stealing their jobs are here ILLEGALLY what part of that don’t you understand?
Go ahead dont vote for Obamao.Then the best G.O.P. candidate will be elected and then the train (deportation) will really get rolling.
It never ceases to amaze me how simple the solution would be for Latinos to get their wish for immigration reform. All they have to do is collectively support securing the border. (build the damn fence) Quit codling the gang bangers and drunk drivers in the illegal community. Get serious about supporting Hispanic children in gaining an education. Get serious about making single motherhood an unacceptable lifestyle. Turn down that god awful music you play as loud as you can all day and night. Don’t you know that your kids can’t get a job because illegals have them? When you as a community decide to do these common sense things I will then support granting some type of legalization. However, until you make an effort to change I’ll never accept you and will do everything I can to keep you where you are!!!!!!!
“ The debate is not over whether Latinos would be so angry with Obama that they even contemplate voting for a Republican — not after how despicably that party has behaved toward them. ”
How EXACTLY has the Republican party “behaved dispicably” toward Latinos’s Mr. Navarrette? I must have missed that.
Being located In SoCal and active in community politics…a large percentage of the “Latino’s” I come in contact with are conservatives (including my childs Godfather).
Of course, they’re also all Legal.
I think what you meant to say was Republicans are against Illegal migration to America from ANYONE….and they welcome and encourage legal immigrants.
Does that help?
Ruben – You talk about the way Republicans have treated Latinos? Give me a break. Republicans want to enforce our immigration laws. We’re a country that has borders, Mexico will enforce their immigration laws, why can’t we? Secondly, why not push for a guest worker program where you register for the program, come in and work, and if your employer can keep you here for an extended period of time you stay. After a period of time, you can apply for citizenship and make it all legal. I believe most people, Democrats and Republlicans will go for that. The problem is we HAVE to enforce our borders so people have to apply to get in and not sneak across the border.
The people who are taken advantage of the most are the people who are here illegally. They’re not in the open and people take advantage of them, as far as employment, housing, medical care, etc. go. If they’re here legally, all of that goes away. The Democrats want them here illegally, they want to get them to vote, they want to use their numbers to boost their underpriviledged class, and they want the votes of other Latinos, who haven’t figured out how the Democrats are using them.
The Republicans are the only honest ones in this debate, so let’s get that out right now.
“Open Borders” Navarratte – I feel your pain. You supported The One. He would “free” your people. But it’s election time again. Get to the back of the bus.
Oh, and Ruben, I’d remind you one one more thing. Before your time. 1986..
“There will be NO MORE AMNESTY. We will SECURE OUR BORDERS.”
See, you weren’t the only one lied to.
At least the Republicans told you the truth. You didn’t like it, so you voted for Hope and Change……..and got SCREWED. Suck it up pal.
I am a Latino and could care less about deportations. The more, the better.
I am no fan of Obama, but I could hardly fault him in the deportation department.
This country needs more Germans. I am mad at Obama for enforcing emigration law when it comes to Germans.
What I do not understand is, it has always been the Republican Party that did more for the minorities than the Democrats. The Democrats will promise you anything to get your vote and money. Please to all Latino`s just look at our history, and see for yourself who has helped the poor in this country. Just ask the blacks in our inner cities if Obama and the Democrats have made their lives better. Please listen to all sides before you make your decisions.
When’s that Latino team scheduled to blast off in the La Raza spacecraft? Or is that still on the drawing table next to the corn meal, mortar and pestle?
Hey! Ya wanna buy some privilege? I can get some for you – real cheap, brother. It’s how we did everything, yeah man – it’s real valuable.
You get that privilege thing goin’ for ya and you can innovate string theory, parallel universes and all that there, bro’. Clocks and air conditioners too.
Ora le, carnalito. We havin’ a meeting round up in my place Thur. We gonna discuss algorithms and that stuff there and wave packets too. Maybe some quantum low rider cosmology. Peace, I gotta run. I’m homeschooling my nephew in post net code and php.
Hi there, you might enjoy a movie called “Stand and Deliver”. It is the true story of Jaime Escalante, a math teacher in a majority-Latino southern California high school. He got his mostly-Hispanic students to ace the AP Calculus exam year after year. One of his great lines in the movie goes roughly something like this: “You should be good at this! Your Mayan ancestors invented it!” Sadly, Jaime Escalante died a few years ago, but you can Google him and find out more. Good stuff.
Nobody ever implied that Latino`s are dumb but just like other minorities, they all have to do is apply themselves. Instead of thinking the American government owes them something for nothing. Nobody owes you anything and until you understand that you will wear your chains of slavery forever. The Latin culture has a lot of rich history learn it and build on it.
Where are you getting this idea that people think they are owed something for nothing? Does it make you feel superior to believe that? It doesn’t even make sense. They’re the ones doing all of the farm work. If they all left tomorrow our economy would crash big time.
If grandma, grandpa, baby, uncle, auntie, mom, and pop are all illegal, uproot and deport them all. Latinos have to enshrined right to be illegal in the U.S. Sorry if they’re miffed about the uprooting and deportations, but the solution to that problem is to observe U.S. law and remain in your own country unless you have the proper visa; leave the U.S. when your visa expires and is not renewed; don’t have anchor babies in a country in which you are not a citizen and then cry about breaking up the family. We don’t have to grant amnesty to people who violate our laws and then try to gain our sympathy for it. These comments apply not just to Latinos but to any illegal alien (to be and existing) who acts as though they have a right to be in this country and insist we change our laws to accommodate their demands.
Ruben:
What part of the word “illegal” do you fail to understand?
Frankly, I couldn’t care less what ‘Latino’ voters think about either party. If they’re so mono-focused on their own set of issues, I hope to hell that they DO stay home on election day! The only thing I care about on election day is what AMERICANS think–and whether we have adequate controls in place to ensure that only LEGAL CITIZENS vote in our elections. I have had it with identity politics, and Navarrette is a one note horn who gets media play solely due to his ethnicity. We must fix our immigration situation, but it is a low priority right now. We will get to it later, assuming we’re still a country after the Federal Reserve and the idiots in Congress and the White House are done destroying us financially.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Latinos will vote for Obama before they vote for ANY right-wing Republican.
They will vote to keep Madicare and Social Security alive, just like any patriot with common sense. Republicans are the rich and the lackeys of the rich, bribing their way into the legislatures.
Is there water, a mop, a pail handy, so that this vomit can be cleaned up?
Looks like some pieces of GM, GE and Name Your Financial Institution there too. Must have come out the other “talking” end.
“vivo” vete al demonio tu y tu cabroncito de obamao. Tu no eres “vivo”, eres mas bien pendejo.
Ruben,
So long as you choose to vote your ethnicity you are going to stay a slave. A slave to the MSM “message”.
Just as those who follow Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton stay slaves.
If you want to be a slave then go back to whatever other nation you want.
The United States of America is for free people, not slaves. We don’t want slaves and we will destroy those who seek to enslave us.
Leading free people is like herding cats. They don’t form a voting block that can be counted on to pull a lever the same way every time.
Assuming that you and the other self-appointed “leaders” of the Latinos who vote their ethnicity can deliver a voting block to the candidate you anoint then you are merely selling them into slavery.
If you are ok with that then you are the one who is wrong, not me.
Hi Ruben,
You seem to want to beat this “I speak for Latinos” thing to death.
How about you get back to us when you finally decide if you’re an American or a Latino.
M’Kay?
I continue to be puzzled why Pajamas Media publishes the racist ramblings of Navarette.
Me too! I guess it is for diversity.
Pumps up the traffic, doesn’t it?
If a family is deported that included three generations, as this writer suggests is happening, then you’d have to wonder if they aren’t already American citizens by birth already.
I know illegals who have citizen children. Why not go back to Mexico and apply for the green card that you can easily get because your child is a citizen? They should set up facilities to do this over the school breaks.
Because all three generations have come here illegally?
Ruben provides a valuable service in giving Americans a candid insight into the minds of identity politics voters. Blacks, too, are supposedly abandoning The One in droves. Presumably many of them are also disappointed that the long-promised booty of identity politics has not come their way fast enough.
Democrats and their identity politics mouthpieces like Ruben, have done their best to promulgate a narrative wherein “Latinos” are somehow uniquely entitled to enter the U.S. in as many numbers as can get here, by any means necessary, and are then entitled to free education, health care, affirmative action and the entire panoply of leftist entitlement culture. As we see from many of the comments on this thread, many “Latinos” already here don’t buy that narrative any more than most non-leftist Americans of other ethnicities do. That is because the argument has no moral foundation. And the ability of illegals, liberal Democrats and identity politics “Hispanics” to ram amnesty through the Republican-controlled House in the next 18 months is a fantasy. Democrats’ dream of flooding the zone with illegals and advocates of illegals at the voting booths is not going to happen at least this cycle. If the illegal immigration advocacy lobby and their minions want to stay home and pound sand in 2012, so much the better. I think their narrative has reached in high water mark in American culture.
Victor said it far more eloquently than I could. Well done, sir.
This is not without precedent. In New York City David Dinkins got elected with an overwhelming Hispanic vote which did not show up for his re-election. When Dinkins lost to Giuliani it was a racist vote. Identity politics tends to break down when the identity politics player actually gets power. Its no longer about fairness or opportunity for all. Its about getting while the getting is good. The coalition tends to fall apart.
Many of the comments from Latinos are amazingly well informed and are using good principles and ideals to make their case. However, I also find many of them berating Mr. Navarrette mainly out of misunderstanding of the basic points that he was trying to make – much of with tended to agree with precisely what they espouse.
Maybe Mr. Navarrette can make a second attempt to make his point from the angle that many of these conservative-Latinos hold.
Great part of the Latino Voter problem is that 67% of them cast their vote for those that can hurt them the most. A piece explaining this quandary is found at
http://robbingamerica.blogspot.com/2010/10/los-verdaderos-amigos-de-los-latinos-en.html
“after how despicably that party has behaved toward them.”
In other words you La Razian dweeb…..that the conservatives want to uphold the rule of law? And make citizenship meaningful , earned and deserved?
Rather than a bogus, ridiculous claim that because somehow they “overcame adversity for a better life” and eluded our authorities, and didn’t bother with obtaining legal status for legal entry…these criminals are hero’s deserving citizenship because they’re disposed?
Get a grip. Americans are not falling for your faux “racist” rhetoric and lies any longer.
If I had the finger on the button…90% of you would be deported within 6 months.
Article in the WSJ today talks about how the Dems are losing Hispanic support big time.
Re: “These Latino protesters could scream until their face turns blue and convince a few thousand fellow Latinos to abandon him, and Obama will still win the state handily.”
I’m not so sure about that. Meg Whitman was even in some polls and ahead in others until Latino voters mobilized against her. In fact, she won the majority of white voters, but without enough Latino voters, she lost. If Latino voters do not mobilize, then CA is up for grabs. And if they are living in fear of their family and friends being dumped into for-profit private prisons for the crime of working, and also facing the possibility of harassment in Arizona, Utah and a growing number of states, then I don’t see why they would mobilize for Obama. Remember, these immigration laws do not just affect illegal immigrants. They open the door for the police to harass anybody with brown skin and a Spanish surname, even if they are a US citizen. There have already been instances of US citizens being deported because they were suspected of being here illegally.