Change & Latino Politics: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Week of January 27th 2009

 

 

The GOOD:        2^nd Annual Latino State of the Union

 

America’s premier Latino organizations – LULAC, NCLR and MALDEF – convened at the Hyatt Regency in Washington DC last week for a roundtable on law, policy and civil rights. Dubbed the 2^nd Annual Latino State of the Union, the groups held panel discussions entitled Priorities Under the Obama Administration; Putting a Quality Education Within Reach; Hate Crimes and Civil Rights Enforcement; The Economy in Retrospect: What Went Wrong to What’s Next; and Bringing It All Together and Taking Action in 2009.

 

During his address, MALDEF President John Trasviña mentioned that Latinos have “friends in high places” in the Obama administration, like the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; the Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; and the White House’s director of intergovernmental affairs, Cecilia Muñoz, formerly a vice president of NCLR.

 

The Latino political blog www.latinopoliticsblog.com reported on the 2^nd Annual Latino State of the Union as did last week’s New York Times politics blog. Except for these two news sources and a couple of Spanish news outlets, the gathering went unnoticed by mainstream media.

 

That these highly-respected advocacy groups would formalize a Latino agenda is commendable. That so few were part of the discussion and that even fewer know about the Latino agenda points to the challenge that lies ahead: The challenge of including Latinos in the life of our country.

 

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/immigration-tops-latinos-wish-list-at-dc-meeting/

 

 

 

The BAD:           No Regrets? Bush, Cheney and Gonzales, Oh My!

It seems none of the out-going Bush Administration has any regrets from their tenure in the White House. Not the war in Iraq, not the economy, not the handling of Katrina … no regrets.

BUSH - Columnist Ellen Goodman put it best, “The 43rd president is going home with less remorse and fewer regrets than my grandchildren express for spilling their cereal.

This is the tenor of the farewell tour being conducted across the landscape from ABC to the American Enterprise Institute. It’s the No Regrets Tour, the non-reflective “reflections by a guy who’s headed out of town.”

George W. Bush will be remembered with names such as Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and Katrina. With phrases such as “weapons of mass destruction” and “mission accomplished.” He came in with a budget surplus and leaves with a massive deficit. He blew the goodwill of the post-9/11 world. But being this president means never having to say you’re sorry. . .

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008561234_opin26goodman.html

CHENEY – In his first television interview since the presidential election in November, former Vice President Dick Cheney displayed no regrets and gave no ground to his many critics within America and around the world. He summed up his record by saying: “I think, given the circumstances we’ve had to deal with, we’ve done pretty well.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/17/dick-cheney-interview-guantanamo-waterboarding

 

 

GONZALES – “As for regrets,” says former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, “I’m not sure how productive it is to lament about things that went wrong. Maybe it was inevitable.” The former AG has had trouble finding new work since he left the Department of Justice. He told NPR that things are looking up: “Gonzales says he is writing a book, and he believes his job prospects will look up when the economy improves and when investigations into actions of his Justice Department are put to rest.”

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/26/alberto-gonzales-i-dont-t_n_160955.html

 

 

 

The UGLY:  Immigration Reform Headed for the Back-Burner

 

Taking to heart an inauguration speech that honored those who “traveled across oceans in search of a new life,” thousands embarked on a campaign last week to make immigration reform a priority for the new president.

Immigrants who lent President Barack Obama their support at the ballot box joined those who cannot vote in marches and prayers, writing letters and raising banners from Miami to Los Angeles to push the issue to the top of Obama’s long to-do list.

In spite of the president’s promise to tackle the thorny issue within his first year in office, even advocates recognized that with two wars and a floundering economy on the table, immigration reform was a tough sell.

Compounding the frustration with comprehensive immigration reform is Obama’s appointment to Homeland Security, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who became the first woman to serve in this post when she was sworn in January 21, 2009. Her record on immigration has leading immigration activists questioning her “smart” reform stance along with the fact that the state of Arizona leads the country in the number of immigrant deaths annually along the border.

It should be pointed out that the two Latino groups: Puerto Ricans and Cuban-Americans do not have an immigration issue as such. Both groups view immigration not an immediate concern: the Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens and the Cubans are paroled into the U.S. once they touch dry land. Hence, both have no employment issue for their newly arrived migrants or exiles.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11519751