Posted on 05/07/2015 1:24:27 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Al Madrigal appeared on Jon Stewarts satirical Daily Show Wednesday as the Senior Latino Correspondent, where he performed a takedown of the leading presidential candidates attempts to court Hispanic voters. He called Hillary Clintons recent immigration promises pandering, and implied that they were an empty echo of Obamas similar promises in 2008. The scene culminated with a comedic reveal of El Jebe, -- A.K.A. former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- whose Mexican-American wife, professed love for guacamole and Spanish speaking abilities make him Madrigals Hispanic candidate.
"Most candidates are scrambling to go after Latinos now, but Jeb Bush started his outreach program in 1974," a joke directed at Bushs courtship of his wife, Columba Bush, who was born and raised in Mexico. "He literally married into the demographic."
Madrigals boldest jabs were directed at the two Cuban-American candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Both have been called the first serious Latino candidates for the presidency, but neither are running on pro-immigrant platform. In the skit, Jon Stewart asks Madrigal if hes excited about the two Latino candidates. At first, Madrigals character pretends not to understand.
Madrigal: I guess those guys are technically Latinos. I mean theres a lot more to being Latino than being Latino [long pause].
Stewart: Because theyre weak on immigration?
Madrigal: Well, maybe -- but mainly because theyre Cuban; a small and -- I gotta be honest -- snooty subset; theyre like the WASPs of the Latino world. You cant expect the bulk of us non-Cuban Latinos to go crazy for two Cuban guys who threw away a path to citizenship for a path to the White House.
Twitter reactions were very positive, and Latino Rebels called the bit brilliant. Why? Because Al Madrigal just said what everyone was thinking but wouldnt say. Cuban-Americans are Latinos, obviously. Yet in the realm of U.S. politics they have absolutely nothing in common with Mexican-Americans, Guatemalan-Americans, El-Salvadoran-Americans, etc.
Thats not stereotyping on Madrigals part but a legal reality based on the prejudice of American immigration policy for the past 50 years. Due to Americas unique hatred of the Fidel Castro regime, weve allowed a completely open border with Cuba, admitting any Cuban migrant with no distinction between political and economic motivations. Until the Wet feet, dry feet policy was forged in the mid 1990s, American officials would actually go out to sea and pick up Cuban immigrants trying to reach U.S. soil. Cuban-Americans have had to struggle integrating like any other group, but theyve had the privilege -- which some would say is undue -- of easy legal status.
Compare that to the workers championed by César Chavez, the Mexican and Central-American migrants who faced horrid labor conditions exacerbated by illegal status. Thats the difference between being Latino and being Latino. For Chicanos and Central American activists, immigration isnt just about economics; its part and parcel of the civil rights movement. Marco Rubio has a very inspiring story in his stump speech about his Cuban father working behind a bar in the back of the room so that his son could speak in front of a podium at the front of the room. Thats an inspiring story, but it doesnt articulate the unaddressed needs of tens of millions of Latinos. Too many Latino voters have a family member or a neighbor who not only stands at the back of the room, but waits ready to bolt for the door.
Theres no unspoken rule that Cuban-American politicians have to be anti-immigrant. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is an example of a so-called WASPy Latino whos also fought hard for undocumented immigrants. As many have pointed out, minorities dont have to have to run on a minority platform. But immigration is bigger in 2016 than say, affirmative action in 2008. What Al Madrigal points out is that most Latino voters wont see these two Cuban guys as their voice, not because theyre excluding minority issue from the heart of their campaigns, but because theyre running on the wrong side of those issues. And being part of a perceived snooty subset doesnt help.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Republican candidates need to stand up for AMERICANS. They will win in a landslide. AMERICANS vote. Citizens from other countries don’t.
As for the implication in the article that Cesar Chavez was some type of champion of Latino immigration, he and his brother used to beat up illegals crossing the border, and he used to hand out rolls of dimes to union field workers so that they could call if they saw illegals trying to work the fields (which is where the phrase "drop a dime on someone" came from). He was no champion of illegals, or even of legal immigrants. On the contrary, he viewed them with contempt since they represented competition for the work that he wanted exclusively for his union members.
Oh those Troubling White Hispanics are at it again....
Indeed. Chavez regarded the illegals as scabs. They made it hard for poor Mexican Americans get get a decent wage for the most backbreaking work.
Sure there is. You need to support leftists, too.
What assholes liberals are.
A Cruz W.A.S.P. and proud of it.
So I guess that they are “white Latinos”.
The most racist people in the world are white liberals.
If you don’t fit into their box of per-conceived ideas(as a Jew, black, Hispanic, whatever), you’re not “authentically” whatever you are.
I’m a Jew-of-Jews sabra born in Israel, and am not authentically Jewish according to the marxists
You're in good company. According to those a-holes, Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas isn't black.
Well I guess Rubio and Cruz better start wearing serapes and sombreros if they want to appeal to “latinos.”
WASPs could save country again. We should be so lucky.
Its no wonder they believe themselves the determiners of ethnicity, too.
The immigrants south of the border are entirely different. Nobody is threatening them with jail. This idiot Madrigal decided to smear two great Americans because he wants a flood of illegals coming into the country.
Okay, but why do we have a completely open border with Mexico?
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