Silence of Latino Religious Leaders Enable GOP Tolerance of Trump Spectacle

[cbayer]

http://religiondispatches.org/silence-of-latino-religious-leaders-enable-gop-tolerance-of-trump-spectacle/

By Arlene M. Sanchez Walsh July 13, 2015



“[The] virtue of spectacle, which is to abolish all motives and all consequences: what matters is not what it thinks, but what it sees.” Roland Barthes, Mythologies

Part of what spectacle is good for is the visceral reaction you get from viewing it. Fair-minded people not driven by the cravenness of today’s politics should have been outraged at Trump’s outrageous and factually incorrect tirade against Mexicans. But, as other journalists and writers have taken him to task for these silly accusations—Gustavo Arellano’s recent Politico piece being one of the funniest and best—they don’t bear repeating here. The virtue of Trump’s spectacle is that it rendered the GOP’s inept attempt to reach out to Latinos/as to be as empty as Trump is.

The motive for GOP hand-wringing in the wake of the 2012 presidential election was simple. They can count. And you would think my home state of California would offer the GOP some caution. The GOP is dead in California. Last year’s governor’s race was a wipe out between a political legend, Jerry Brown, and Neel Kashkari, who went looking for that elusive beast called “the moderate GOP voter” (RIP, 1988). The other candidate, Tim Donnelly made a name for himself as a member of the border militia known as the Minuteman Project.

No, the spectacle called Trump laid bare just how thin the GOP’s motives were in its rebranding efforts. The GOP was not hostile to Latinos/as; they wanted our votes because we are “family values” voters. Let’s just admit that the GOP has conceded that the only way to win a state like California is to back candidates like Trump or Donnelly, because their base will not allow moderates to win.

Why else does the GOP cower in the face of someone so spectacularly comical as Donald Trump? Even a candidate like Marco Rubio, who attempts to use his immigrant status as a way to score points, had to be cornered by Fox Business News to say something, anything bad about Trump. Where I come from there are some choice words we have for people like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush, who exploit their ties to Latinos/as when it’s politically useful and run and hide when it is not. Not until Trump insulted Bush’s Mexican-American wife, Columba, was there any hint of outrage. The party of “God, Guns and Gravy” seems to have misplaced its cojones.

more at link

[ann---]

1. To me, Drumpf looks

like he would smell of spit - he has that
kind of mouth. Yuck.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Like a boxer, or a bulldog, with the flappy wet jewels?

[just us]

2. genetics

What would a candidate say about their heritage of color darker than latino

[cbayer]

3. I'm not sure what you are saying here.

Trump has reserved his worst vitriol for Latino/as.

[just us]

4. ethnic differences

would republican candidates use black genes?

[cbayer]

5. Use black genes? For what?

I'm even more lost at this point. The article doesn't talk about ethnic differences or genetics.

[pinto]

6. The Latino friends and families that I know here condemn the gross misrepresentations.

They all know some undocumented immigrants. They have a range of first hand opinion on the migration situation. Yet, none include the idea that Mexico is "exporting" rapists, terrorists or such. And they know where the rapes happen, it's en route.

What they mainly see are people who are looking for work and some money to get by here and send home to their families. Check out the Western Union outlets or any convenience store that sells calling cards. Go by on pay day and take a look at who is in line. That's the bigger story.

I wish Latino religious leaders would speak up on their behalf as well.

[cbayer]

8. This article is really a criticism of the leadership,

but I'm not sure the leadership gets much press at all.

What your friends and their families sees is correct. What Trump knows about this is a fabrication and I can't even figure out what he based it on.

But he sure knows there is a base there, especially in Arizona and Texas.