Is 'Villaraigosa' Spanish for 'Village Idiot'?

Is “Villaraigosa” Spanish for “village idiot”?

Claro que no, but it might as well be, considering the remarks of the Los Angeles mayor, a sleazy party hack who — as most Angelenos know — spends more time chasing skirts than doing anything for this city, which is in by far the worst shape it has been in any time since I arrived here in 1968. And those who are suffering most are the Hispanics and blacks Villaraigosa relied upon for his election and pretends to help.

To set the record straight, yes, I know Antonio Villaraigosa’s name is actually a combination of Vilar and Raigosa, taken when Antonio Vilar married Corina Raigosa back in 1987 to affirm their “lifetime of fidelity.”

According to The New Yorker, Corina first filed for divorce in 1994 when she, in the midst of treatment for thryoid cancer, discovered Antonio was having an affair. They reconciled two years later. Multiple affairs thereafter Corina finally dissolved the marriage in 2007. Not surprisingly, Villaraigosa’s serial philandering continued with other partners after the divorce. (You can check the sorry history on Wikipedia, if you want to bother. The Villaraigosas have four children and eighteen grandchildren.)

So why are the Democrats trucking out this smarmy creep — who has the knowledge base of a high school junior with absolutely no genuine accomplishments of which I am aware — for the election?

Because he’s Hispanic, obviously. If Villaraigosa were an Anglo, they’d be hiding him under the bed.

This is yet another example of the deeply destructive race politics game played by the Democrats. Since they have no real ideology or program anymore, Keynesian economics having been shipwrecked off the coast of Greece, the Dems are reduced to exploiting racial and ethnic groups while accusing Republicans of racism that even a few Democrats must know does not exist.

(Andrew Breitbart, as will be recalled, offered 100K to anyone with concrete evidence of Tea Party racism and never got a single taker. Of course, some, like Lawrence O’Donnell, are so around the bend they claim acknowledging that Obama plays golf is coded racism. I better stop drinking those Arnold Palmers or they’ll be after me next.)

This race politics is a form of sadism that is only marginally unconscious. The more these groups are exploited, the worse their condition becomes. All the way back to the “Great Society,” minorities have been seduced by the Democratic Party into a permanent dependency situation, which, as most would recognize from their personal lives, only encourages negative self-worth and depression. It certainly hasn’t improved their economic position in any significant way.

But it does get the Democrats votes. In fact, it is the primary thing that gets them votes these days, now that union membership is dwindling.

So Antonio Villaraigosa could be a cross between a pederast and a serial killer and the Dems might still bring him out, given the effectiveness of the strategy. And, alas, it has forced Republicans to play the same game, bringing forth minority after minority at the convention.

Of course, the likes of Marco Rubio, Condoleezza Rice, and Susana Martinez are by several degrees (1000?) superior to Villaraigosa. But never mind — in true Catch-22 fashion, Republicans are accused of racial pandering for highlighting these people.

Unfortunately, there is some truth to this. Race and religion should have nothing whatsoever to do with our politics or who speaks at a convention. Policy and accomplishment should. But if they were, the current election would be Armageddon for the Democrats. They have no discernible policies and their record is disastrous.

But speaking of racial/religious politics and Los Angeles, I would be remiss (ducking the question?) if I didn’t mention the role of my co-religionists who permeate, if not dominate, the politics of West L.A. — you know, those folks who famously “live like Episcopalians but vote like Puerto Ricans.”

Although some are skeptical, this year, for the first time in recent memory, there are hints they will not vote so monolithically Democratic. It’s not just Obama’s attitude toward Israel (still kept in a locked box by the Los Angeles Times) but also the obvious fact that Jews too have been hurt by the economic downturn. (Well, perhaps not Steven Spielberg.)

The laudable part of Jewish liberalism was always concern for the other. That was a good thing. But these days it no longer makes sense, if it ever did. Why vote like a Puerto Rican if, in so doing, you actually hurt the Puerto Ricans? Some Jews are starting to learn that lesson. When even more do, we may reach a tipping point and, who knows, Jews could even follow the path of Governor Martinez.

The sooner the better.