All joking about Biden aside, I'm sincerely curious as to what Biden meant by calling Mexico an "erstwhile" democracy. Erstwhile of course means "former." Surely Biden doesn't think that Mexico was ever a democracy. For that matter, as corrupt as it is now, it is at least marginally more democratic today than it was 20 years ago, when the PRI ruled as a one-party dictatorship. Elections might be deeply corrupt, but at least there is some semblance of a multi-party system.
So, to repeat, what do people think Biden had in mind in calling Mexico an "erstwhile" democracy? Might he think erstwhile means "supposed," perhaps?
"Erstwhile democracy" should say "emerging republic," but I cannot tell whether the journalist or the senator bears culpability for the error. The antics of defeated Presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador notwithstanding, the future prospects and present state of Mexico get better all the time. This assertion does not deny the enormous influence that transnational criminal enterprises, thieves, and rapists enjoy in Mexico. Our lackadaisical attitude toward border security and our ridiculously sluggish and bureaucratically intesive legal immigration process contribute to the power of these terrible gangs.
Talk to some actual Mexicans and ask them what they think of Mexico's politics.
The Mexican nationals I've talked to are under no illusion that theirs is a democracy. They're also under no illusion that their elections are reliable, either. We anglos might think of Mexico as a nominal democracy, but most all the Mexican nationals I've talked to don't seem to think so.
Again, Senator Biden's choice of words is telling us something here.
If the GOP doesn't wake up here and quick, the DNC is going to really own the immigration/border issue, even if they don't actually *do* something about it.
Maybe he just thinks it's a cool word, and figures most Americans won't have a clue what it means and are too lazy to look it up? ;)
susie