Bill Richardson, Ruben Salazar, Pedro J. Gonzales, & Henry Gonzales

Curiously enough I had built high expectations regards these past few days.

I was particularly enthused by the announcement of the Democratic party declaring that the response to President Bush State of the Union address would be retorted in Spanish by the Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, he is Mexican American I’ll have you know. However, scouring the internet in my local holes I saw nothing regards that, nothing along my alley so I suspect my search will have to be more thorough and that means only one thing: the opposition has been filtered. Reuters did not have anything on it at any any rate, not even la Opinion. So where does one seek? I had to go to the DNC webpage to get the news and translated at that, so here it is, in English sadly enough but ok, I am not willing to surf anymore for the real mccoy right now.

One thing though is good, it seems that George’s untouchable aura is on the wane. As it were his cronies are being revealed for the crooks they are and the old Samuel Johnson adage that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel proves true once again. Not only is Ariel Sharon in dire straits with the law in Isreal but Tony Blair is once again being questioned by his own constituency for his misleadings. If only the American public were to do the same, wait a minute here, are not the laws of the USA supposed to provide these kind of channels for the citizens to question their leaders, are not American values supposed to be a beacon of democracy throughout the western world? Why is it that Isrealis, Italians and Britons are showing the lead?

Anyways, it was good to read in la Opinion the kind of healthy questioning that is needed in these times. Their editorial 21/1/2004, titled El Mensaje de Bush, says he used recycled ideas! Furthermore they found the whole sham una desilusion! Further furthermore, they say that because of the war in Irak the world is not that safe at all! Ahhhhh, L.A. Spanish politics, reminds one of the good old days when Ruben Salazar was around. He then Times reporter and agit voice who acording to L.A. TImes George Ramos was killed in the chaos following the end of an anti-Vietnam War march in East L.A. on August 29 1970 age 42 or when Pedro J. Gonzales, the 1930’s radio discjockey of then LA’s only spanish radio station KMPC, who fell out of grace with the gringada who later framed him. His fell out of grace because he had the balls to decry the ethnic cleansing gringos committed against its own citizens back then.

Patriotism sucked then and it sucks now. Few voices are heard to challenge Bush and his brand of militarism and Isreali style bravado. The problem doesn’t lie in that whether ideologically the left would have liked to have waited and see whether Saddam had weapons or not, but the manner they went about it. These same fools who argue the strict following of the letter of the law go about every crooked way to distort the very laws they purport to defend and off course, they have to get paid in kind as well. This kind of patriotism is divisive in all manners. The left is militaristic too and I would like to think not as impulsive as the right with its values slogan and righteousness which really ought to be more crookedness than anything else. Bush and his gang are just out for a buck, care only for their own and know how to play the game. The question is whether they will get away with it, were is the law then in these precarious times?

I wish we had Henry Gonzalez around, the former Democrat from Texas who dared challenge Bush Senior then. In 1993, Flag Day he did the unthinkable.

Jeanne Beach Eigner reported the incident thus:

During the 1988 presidential campaign, when George Bush attacked Micheal Dukakis for vetoing a bill mandating the recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in Massachusetts public schools, the members of the House of Representatives began a tradition of saying the pledge at the beginning of proceedings every day.

Three weeks ago on Flag Day, Rep. Henry Gonzalez, D-Texas, vented his outrage at the practice, reports Roll Call. Nothing is sadder he said in a speech on the floor of the House, than to see the herd instinct in taking the Pledge of Allegiance here in the House of Representatives. What is that pledge? That Pledge was not around until just three decades, three and a half, four decades ago We have taken an oath, an that oath is to the Constitution, not the flag Here we are, like a good little herd, reminiscent of the Hitlerian period: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil.

Where o where art thou now Henry?