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Beer is Nice but Equal Protection's Better
The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference while Democrats are basking in the contrast. Having nominated the first Latina to the Supreme Court and sending no end of speakers to the La Raza conference, they're in like Flynn with Latino voters, they hope.
But things are not so simple. The day after the La Raza affair there was another gathering in NY, to which Latinos came out. That was to protest at the Council on Foreign Relations -- where Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was talking up the Administration's anti-terror policy.
A slew of human rights and immigrant-rights organizations, including many Latinos, called the protest because -- for all the nice talk -- the administration's immigration policy has actually put more, not less power in the hands of law enforcement and done little so far to stop abusive raids and deadly detention practises.
Armed federal immigration agents are still illegally pushing and shoving their way into homes and taking people away, breaking up families, on suspicion and Latinos are getting the lion's share of the grief. The Cardozo school of law reports there have been hundreds of predawn raids in just two states (New York and New Jersey) in violation of agency rules as well as the Constitution. And that's not just happening under the big bad Bush crackers-down. It's happening under Napolitano and Obama.
The demonstration by the immigration groups outside the Council in New York is a wake up call. Obama allies and voters, like many of those gathered outside Wednesday, aren't happy.
A Latina on the Supreme Court's great. And a love fest at La Raza's lovely. But just as in the case of the wrongful-arrest of Harvard Professor Skip Gates, a beer in the White House is no fix for what ails us.
There's still a problem of inequality and discrimination in America and it isn't solvable by improving our personal (or political) relations. At the end of the day policy -- like policy governing policing and immigration -- is where the action needs to be. If Obama and the Dems are going to applaud themselves for "being on the right side of history" they need to back up their words with real work.
Again, beer and a chat is nice. But ensuring equal protection is better. ICE and police who abuse power need to be reined in at once.
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18 Comments so far
Show AllThe beer is for those who get served and protected.
The police are getting lead nightsticks.
Flanders sez: "... that's not just happening under the big bad Bush crackers-down. It's happening under Napolitano and Obama."
***
Can anyone give an example of ANY federal 'Bush' policy not also occurring under Obama's watch? No, seriously ... hammer me with your list, please.
Apart from Obama's typical blurt-out-then-waffle-'n walk-back comments on the Gates episode, my Crap Detectors just lit up at Obama's invitation to "Skip" Gates and the cop who hassled him to come to the White House, and sit down and clear the air over a beer.
The so-called "beer summit"-- right down to the cutesy label "beer summit"-- is still another example of Obama's Artful Dodging.
I suppose admirers, such as they are, credit this bright idea as another flash of Obama's alleged "community organizer" genius for conflict-resolution, consensus-building, etc.
OK, I admit that I'm not a beer-drinker. But I would feel the same if Obama had invited the men over to smoke a bowl.
The "beer" reference naturally reminded me of the Corporate Media cliché used with such success by the previous maladministration: the supposed Amerikan preference for a non-elitist head of state that the Average (beer-drinking, of course) Citizen would love to "have a beer" with.
Hoisting a brewski-- a liquid Flag Pin, as Amerikan as the Pledge of Allegiance!
Certainly Obama has enough on his plate to worry about without immersing himself too deeply in what is essentially a passing incident. It's not as if I hoped he would do a reverse "Jeremiah Wright" and militantly rally to Gates' side.
But I find offensive his patently phony tactic of "defusing" the situation by reducing the controversial and important issues revealed in this episode to the level of a fender-bender that triggered some unfortunate road rage on both sides.
I'm pleased that Laura Flanders has recognized Obama's hideous gift for TRIVIALIZING problems he's unwilling or unable to confront directly and rigorously. Thus, Obama's manipulative low-key implication that this is at bottom a Guy Thing best "solved" by the Manly Men settling down over a brew and hashing things out-- face-to-face, man-to-man.
Sounds like something Garrison Keillor would write-- that's how they solved the race problem in Lake Wobegon, instead of drowning in a tempest in a teapot, dontcha know.
Except in Lake Wobegon, they probably wouldn't all go out to a strip club afterwards.
· Yr Obd't Servant
"Obama's typical blurt-out-then-waffle-'n walk-back" -- Thanks for that. Puts into crystal clear words what I've been seeing in him.
Flanders is simply repeating a bunch of lies perpetuated by LaRaza and the rest of the business shills.
Any time you hear "breaking up families" you can ber sure whoever said it is in the tank for Busimness and its shills for their cheap labor agenda.
Its a flat lie and no one can give an example where a family was involuntarily broken up. Not one. Unless you are speaking of an illegal alien put into detainment and surely no one would advocate locking their family up with them?
Sorry Henry, but those families do get broken up terribly, and as much by the cheap labor agenda you're talking about as by anything.
They get broken up when the men (sometimes women) don't get sent home, and they get broken up when the women and kids do.
The kids get locked up, generally away from parents. I don't know as many as I did when I worked labor pools and contracting.
If you think a second, you can imagine why I won't provide you examples. If I showed you people, they'd generally lie to you when you asked about their circumstances, as they often have to me. If you go down to the Sierra Madre and scout around a little town someone might talk to you, though that usually takes a while.
But part of the tough part of banning and oppressing people is that they tend to stop doing that.
"The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference while Democrats are basking in the contrast. Having nominated the first Latina to the Supreme Court and sending no end of speakers to the La Raza conference, they're in like Flynn with Latino voters, they hope."
Ahem. LA RAZA is NOT a top Latino CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP.
LA RAZA is a top LATINO SUPREMECIST GROUP.
Their motto? For The Race, Everything. For Others, Nothing.
Sorry about that, Laura, but spin is spin, and right now you are spinning at a very high RPM.
"ICE and police who abuse power need to be reined in at once."
I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly. There are certainly LEGAL ways to deal with ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
By the way, the phrase is "in like Flint", not "in like Flynn".
Sorry, Ekaton, but the phrase was "In like Flynn" before the 1967 movie that punned it and muddied the waters.
And --- faith & begorrah if it doesn't appear that it hatched as a stereotypical jib at the stereotypical luck of the immigrant Irishmen, as easily Flynns as Finnegans, whose luck had become famous by virtue of being most of what they managed to survive on, those that did and remained to provide the Darwinian counting of it.
CF John Lennon, early 1970's:
If you had the luck of the English,
You'd be sorry and wish you were dead;
If you had the luck of the Irish,
You'd wish you were English instead.
------------------- Cheers & a drop o' the craythur.
Thank you, I stand corrected.
"Their motto? For The Race, Everything. For Others, Nothing."
You are just repeating Right Wing propaganda. This is NOT the motto of La Raza.
If I go into someone's home, grab & handcuff them, and throw them in a cage, for no reason, I go to prison for kidnapping. But if a cop does that to me, it's just a civil tort. I would have to sue for justice at my own expense, and prove economic harm to win any damages (hard when you're retired). That's not equal justice.
The legal system in this country is garbage. No wonder the cops are out of control--they know they can get away with it!
"There's still a problem of inequality and discrimination in America and it isn't solvable by improving our personal (or political) relations"
I'll agree, there is STILL a problem, and probably always will be unless we start drugging 100 per cent of the population. I dis-agree however that improving our personal or political relations will not solve the problem. In fact that may well be the ONLY way to solve the problem.
Personal relations is the best way to have an affect. I've seen many a 'bigoted' youth join the military and after learning that his life may depend upon someone of another race or religion, learns to change his attitude. To try to set "policy" and enforce such is akin to attempting mind control. The problem will still exist, only hidden, and more hostile in many instances.
I've read many a 'comment' that the police should not be sending a white officer when the 'offender' is of another race.... WRONG... Most police are professionals, have had training in respect for others and act accordingly. A few may harbor resentments, but not the majority. AGAIN, most people, on this site and on others, are commenting before all the facts are put out for public review. I believe that BOTH parties were wrong and either party could have defused the situation, but chose not to back down...
Contrary to what the author tries to convey, I suspect that the more we place people in inter-racial situations, the quicker we will resolve the "race" issue. And for those who believe that this is a black/white issue, look into how the black community treats Asians on the west coast.... lots of hostility there, without "white" input. We all have room to improve, and personal experience is, in my opinion, the best teacher.
Latinos are a "raza"?
"The term originated in the 1925 book La Raza Cósmica, which translates to "The Cosmic Race", written by Mexican writer José Vasconcelos. He described La Raza Cosmica as the product of gradual racial mixing that was already underway in the Hispanic world. Vasconcelos believed that eventually all of the people within the Spanish Empire would be completely mixed into a new race."
Wow. A new race. Give them a few thousand years and maybe they'll meet their goal.
Of course, in the United States, the term is in official use in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin REGARDLESS OF RACE."
Isn't nice to have everything segregated into imaginary races?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_genetics#Defining_race
It's too late for beer. Bring me a shot of the hard stuff. Leave the bottle.
The late pro wrestler Eddie Guerrero used the catchphrase "This Is For La Raza" all the time. When he said it, he was referring to "the people," meaning ALL people, the human race if you will, since his fans crossed over all ethnic lines.
But oh, I forgot. I'm white. I'm supposed to fear and resent Hispanics since the right-wing media sources tell me that they're all...out to get me and hate me. That's when I'm not being told that I'M out to get THEM since I'm the result of a genetic experiment gone...awry muuhahahahah. I'm confused. However when I suggest that a small group of people (THEM) are out to get ALL of US, people say I'm a conspiracy nut who needs to get laid. So whatever. I'm either the devil, a dumb and weak bleeding heart, or a whacko.
I don't think "the Beer Summit" was intended to be a sit-com ending to our country's racial problems, but I do think it's a start, especially in regards to racial profiling. It was a small step forward, and as much as I fault Obama, to be fair, I can't fault him here.
What would people have rather seen? Gates smacking Crowley over the head with his cane? Wouldn't The Right have loved that?
Let's all fight! Woohoo!
Oh wait, I forgot, us lefties are supposed to be immolating ourselves so the conservatives can laugh at us while we all die off.
"The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference while Democrats are basking in the contrast."
What in the hell do they expect? For the Repugnants to show up with cookies and lemonade?
Eddie Guerrero?!? This is how you defend La Raza?
La Raza means "the race", not "the people", and it clearly does not refer to all people, but only Latinos. If you did just the tiniest amount of research you would realize that.
Go do some reading:
http://www.nclr.org/
I'll take liquor and a fight over beer and a chat any day of the week if the discussion is about this kind of nonsense.
hopedup-You and others like you need to get over your fear of Hispanics. They aren't out to get you. However, the elites are out to get all of us. You're just feeding the beast if divisiveness. NCLR is akin to the NAACP.