Hispanic Fanatic

The Sting of Rejection

by hfanatic on Mar.18, 2012, under Politics

OK, the Democratic president who insisted, “Si, Se Puede” hasn’t kept his promise to make immigration reform a top priority. Furthermore, he has deported more Latinos than anybody in history, despite the fact that there are fewer undocumented people to arrest.

So getting the Hispanic vote should be easy for the GOP, which continues to insist that Latinos are Republican but don’t know it. In essence, conservatives say Latinos are voting against their own interests, which is ironic considering that Republicans depend on their rural white base to do exactly that.

There’s just one problem.

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100 Percent True

by hfanatic on Mar.10, 2012, under Culture

I’ve written before about my mother. Recently she visited my wife and me here in LA.

One evening, the three of us headed out to a party. I wondered aloud what we should bring as a gift for the hosts.

“Just remember,” my mother said. “Everybody likes tequila. Everybody.”

It struck me as an especially profound piece of maternal wisdom. But just to be sure, I ran through the list of potential exceptions to the rule.

Left-wing suburban dentists? Disgraced former CEOs? Kalahari bushmen? Argentinean gauchos? Inner-city kindergarteners? Transgender German prime ministers?

For each objection came my mother’s reply: “Everybody.”

It’s official. This isn’t a hypothesis. This is a fact.

Use the information wisely.

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That’s a Fact Jack

by hfanatic on Mar.01, 2012, under Culture

Illegal immigration is down.

Climate change is real.

There were no WMDs in Iraq.

These are well-supported facts with the strength of data and/or obvious proof behind them. Yet millions of Americans don’t believe them. We’re not talking about conspiracy nuts or argumentative jerks.

We’re not even talking about the obvious players in the dumbing down of America.

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Flunking Out

by hfanatic on Feb.24, 2012, under Culture

Certain concepts are so ingrained in the American character that we rarely question them. Among them is the idea that we’re tops in everything. We’re “the greatest country in the world.”

But the truth is that, in many ways, we’re far from the greatest. When it comes to education, for example, we’re average at best.

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Black Hats

by hfanatic on Feb.17, 2012, under Culture

So I recently watched the horror-comedy Attack the Block, a British movie about an alien invasion of the inner-city projects. Yes, it’s as preposterous as it sounds, and while far from brilliant, it’s a fun ninety minutes.

However, I made a classic internet mistake after I saw the movie: I read other people’s comments on the film.

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Fourth and Long

by hfanatic on Feb.10, 2012, under Religion

Two recent polls caught my attention.

The first was taken at the height of Tebow-mania, when many otherwise rational adults believed that a mediocre quarterback could actually win the Super Bowl.

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The Slow Fade

by hfanatic on Feb.04, 2012, under Immigration

The New York Times recently reported on a small rural town where longtime residents complain about “young Mexican men working construction and driving down wages, the children of laborers flooding crowded schools…and strip clubs springing up on roads that used to be dark and quiet.”

Is the town in Wisconsin, Kansas, Alabama, or even (shudder) Arizona? No, it is “a precolonial Mexican village outside Oaxaca City, filling up with fellow Mexicans.”

It seems that the urge to hate immigrants — even of the same nationality — is universal.

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Always Say Never

by hfanatic on Jan.28, 2012, under Politics

As we all know, there are few absolutes in life.

Yes, water freezes at thirty-two degrees, inertia affects all objects in motion, and the Chicago Cubs will find a way to lose. But most other things are open to exceptions and nuance.

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Anticlimax

by hfanatic on Jan.20, 2012, under War

Iraq isn’t our problem anymore. Who cares. Good riddance.

—Internet commentator

USA! USA! USA!

—The same guy, nine years ago.

Future generations will never confuse it with VJ Day. This time, there were no jubilant crowds in Times Square or iconic photographs of sailors kissing nurses or a cross-continental outpouring of relief and exuberance.

Instead, there was a collective shrug as a military convoy rolled through the Iraq desert. The war that began with Shock and Awe ended with Confusion and Indifference.