Friday, June 28, 2019

¿Es este titular mejor en español?

Restaurant sign, Santiago
     An appeal to unity followed by a bald pitch to the nation’s Spanish speakers—the headline translates as "Is this headline better in Spanish?"—is a delicious irony, and exactly what is going to re-elect Trump.

     Beto O’Rourke was asked a question early at the first Democratic Presidential Debate Wednesday, about whether he supports a 70% tax on those earning more than $10 million a year.
     He replied that “it’s going to take all of us coming together,” then started speaking in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish. So while he talked, I idly mused whether I could get the $50 back that I gave him when he was running for Senate against Ted Cruz in Texas.
     Because while I have no trouble at all with Spanish being spoken under almost any circumstance, and fully support immigration reform, creating a path to citizenship for our nation’s 11 million undocumented residents now living in limbo, and an end to the various indignities committed against Hispanic American citizens and immigrants, what I do not support is four more years of Donald Trump.
     O’Rourke’s unprovoked, out-of-the-blocks flaunting of his language skills is the most wincing bit of Democratic tone deafness since John Kerry snapped a salute at the 2004 Democrat National Convention and said, “I’m John Kerry and I’m reporting for duty.”
     An appeal to unity immediately followed by a bald pitch to the nation’s 30 million Spanish speakers is not only a delicious if easy-to-miss irony, but also exactly what is going to re-elect Trump.
     The Republicans won in 2016 by building a coalition. They locked down their largest group of supporters, Whites Who Didn’t Go to College (and so missed classes like “Why Treason is Bad A01,” and “How to Grasp When You’re Being Lied To”). Then the GOP added Evangelicals Who Don’t Follow Their Faith, Jews Who Care More About Israel Than Judaism, and Various Minorities Trying to Pass By Ignoring their Own Interests — some 29% of Hispanics voted for Trump, despite his platform of open hostility toward them.


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5 comments:

  1. I think Beto very well may have put himself out of much further consideration with his overall debate performance. I was surprised with the opening Spanish comment as well, but didn’t take it as necessarily negative.
    Not sure if I agree that Trump will still be the front-runner by election time. Of course he’ll have his way with his party and supporters, but he will be quite uneasy IMO if Harris gets to debate the issues with him down the line. She seems fearless, and her prosecutorial background gives her the ability to not only win a debate with him but to expose Trump for the fraud he is.

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  2. Well, I didn't want an O'Rourke presidency anyway. Eventually they'd name an expressway after him and I'd hear stuff like, "The O'Rourke is a real mess today," "Avoid the O'Rourke at all costs," which would be a huge blow to my family pride.

    john


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    1. So "Calling for O'Rourke" had a different meaning in your family? How about cars, any "Buick" drivers? Donald Trump makes the sane ones among us want to puke, so if I have to call for O'Rourke, that'd be fine.

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  3. Biden dropped the ball but Kamala seemed to do well.

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  4. While I agree with the majority of your take on the circumstance that the Democrats must coalesce in order to win the next presidential election.

    You'll pardon me if I take exception to a couple of your observations.
    I'm sure it will come as no surprise to know that I never attended college. My uncle on the other hand has a couple master's degrees and a doctorate and voted for the current occupant.
    Framing this as the smart against the stupid does a disservice and fractures the electric as well.

    Living in a country with 60 million people of Hispanic derivation we should be embarrassed that we can't understand a few words in Spanish.
    Really how smart does that make you?
    We need the big tent and that's why there's 20 people up on that stage for 2 debates.

    I think we should be tolerant of our brethren. The people who can't do that elected the last president.

    Let's not bash each other on the way to the nomination.

    I'd like to believe there's more of us than there are of them. Don't stay home! Vote

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