In the last few weeks I have received a lot of feedback about the direction my blog has taken recently. Most of the feedback is centered around two topics: Donald Trump and the proposed El Paso arena. Today, I’d like to address, or respond to, if you will, to the comments about Donald Trump. Tomorrow, I’ll address the proposed arena.
Many of the comments that readers have sent me about my Donald Trump writings focus on two specific issues – that I’m unfair to Donald Trump and that I give Barbara Carrasco too much space on my blog. I’d like to address those today.
Let me be clear and as I have written a few times before – I do not support Hillary Clinton. In my opinion, Hillary Clinton is not fit to be elected president of the United States. There are many reasons for this, but in terms of immigration, which is an issue that is important to me, Clinton, Barack Obama and the Democrats for that matter have no interest in resolving the immigration issue at all. Yes, they tell us during the election season how Latinos are important but the fact remains that nothing is accomplished, besides lip service. The fact is that the biggest grassroots support for the Democrats is organized labor. Labor groups have no interest in allowing immigrants to compete for jobs against them.
Like the Republicans, the Democrats are unwilling to address the immigration issue because both understand that immigrants are a boost to the US economy but are unwilling to point it out because it would hurt their political bases. Because of this, both parties pay lip service to it knowing full well that they’ll just push the issue back into the backburner after they are elected.
Immigration is the political football that both parties pontificate about knowing full well that nothing will change. Latinos can be a factor in the national elections but remain unengaged and thus they are fodder for both political parties. Pundits are arguing that this is the year for the Latinos. Hopefully they are right but I’m not holding my breath.
Like many voters, (although I can’t vote) I’m faced with the decision of picking one bad candidate over the other. That is the only choice US voters have. For third-party friends, sorry that is not an option as there is no credible alternative to Clinton or Trump.
For me it all came down to Donald Trump’s hurtful words against me and my compatriots, documented and undocumented. Donald Trump has minced no words when it comes to Mexican immigrants, he has no use for us. Please spare me the rhetoric “but that’s not what he said, or meant” and the “he’s only against illegal immigrants” because I have heard his words and read his diatribe and although English is not my native language, I understand it perfectly well enough to know what “rapists” are what Trump meant when he said it.
Later this week I’ll be following up this post with another post about the demographic that Trump has surrounded himself with. For now, the fact remains that as an immigrant and a Mexican, I cannot and will not overlook the many comments Donald Trump made against my paisanos and I.
This brings us to Barbara Carrasco and her guest editorials that I run my blog.
Although I cannot stomach Donald Trump, I am fully cognizant that it is my opinion only. Although my ego tends to be big, it is not big enough to allow me to pretend that my point of view is the only correct one.
As I have written numerous times before, one of the major genesis of my blog and blogging network is the notion that all voices are important and they need to be heard. I may not agree with Barbara Carrasco but that does not make her a bad person or wrong, it just means that she and I have a difference of opinion. Her opinion is just as important as mine.
It is up to the reader which opinion, if any, they embrace.
That is the important thing to keep in mind, all voices need to be heard so that we better understand the complexities of everything that happens around us each day. It helps us connect the dots, if you will.
I consider Barbara Carrasco a friend and although we are on opposite sides of the Donald Trump issue we can discuss it, disagree and move on.
Notice, I did not mention Hillary Clinton? That is because both Barbara Carrasco and I agree on Hillary Clinton. See, how allowing an opposing point of view gives us an opportunity to reach common ground?
Like Barbara Carrasco, every reader is welcome to their point of view on my blog.
Although I have extended this invitation many times before, here it goes again. Although we may not agree, your voice is, as important as mine and therefore if you want to be published on my blog, submit your essay and I’ll consider it for publication in an upcoming edition.
If you would rather self-publish without going through me, use Newsies and publish directly to the web. The best part of Newsies, besides it being free, is that it is connected to my blog, therefore you get the best of two worlds, not having to go through me while also reaching my readership.
I cannot support Donald Trump, ever. I have no respect for Donald Trump. And, yes much to the chagrin of some of you, I will continue to cartoon him every time he gives me an opportunity. However, Barbara Carrasco, and those who support Donald Trump, have a right to say that I’m wrong and as such they are always welcome on my blog.
The blog could become a point and counterpoint. Discuss other issues about local issues with a national now and then.
One I don’t understand and I wish you would address. I get your point about Trump and the Mexican issue. But how can you overlook Hillarys slurs about Hispanics. “Needy Latinos”, just a “means to vote”, “we need a fence”(when asked about a wall) and Gov Clintons orders to Ark state troopers to go after Hispanic drivers. We won’t even go to the racial slurs about Black people.
I don’t understand that you feel offended by Trumps comments, which is the main reason for your dislike. I get it that you don’t like Hillary, but no mention of her comments only that she is not trustworthy.
Get over your hurt feelings over what you think Trump said about Hispanics. While we’re talking about hurt feelings, Women can be offended by what Trump has said and many women still prefer Trump to Hillary. Voting is about bigger issues than personal feelings.
Trump and Clinton have much in common: an obsession with money and power.
Very good comments about this piece, and I agree with all of them. The only thing is not mentioning Clinton is that you support: the vicious attacks by Clinton about the public mentioning of deploarables ( basically anybody who doesn’t support Clinton or the government crime machine), the myriad of inside deals and money laundering the Clinton Foundation is involved in. The pay-for-play deals that went on, the Benghazi lies and outright indifference about people who died needlessly (“What difference at this point does it make?” The Russian uranium deals in trade for money. There is no mentioning of using groups to fight each other in order balkanize them, how the Clintons are severely protected by the criminal enterprise called media.
You don’t mention these things because you feel hurt by comments that are flip from Trump? Are you really that weak and overly sensitive? You don’t mention about the murders that have been committed by illegal aliens; if they remained in prison or forced back to their country to be tried, these people, who were murdered by them, would still be alive. No mentioning on how our system allows illegals given special privileges (health care, education, and committing crimes and being released). Maybe, if immigration laws were enforce there would be more people opening up to immigration and some of those who were murdered would be alive.
Martin, do you vote? Do you participate in the scam? Why would it really matter, if the elections are rigged (which have been proven correct many, many times).
Trump is not well glib and obviously doesn’t have the protection and guidance by the criminal bodies called media and government. He is blunt and obviously telling it like he sees it, and sometimes at the time. If there is any president that should be elected, it shouldn’t be a criminal that has committed high crimes (but protected by the FBI), it should be someone who wants to allow the people to gain control of the behemoth that is government, which is owned and operated by the criminal elite.
I can only assume that anyone accusing Obama of not wanting to solve the problem facing the millions of undocumented in the U.S. do not understand how federal legislation works. Even a terrible president like Bush at least tried to motivate the house and the senate to come up with a legislative plan to deal with the problems. Teddy Kennedy worked with McCain and Hatch and Bush but the majority Republican/Conservative members refused any action. Obama faced the same “just say no” group (opposed to any and all Obama legislative plans). Apparently Martin would blame Obama for not putting a new Justice on the Supreme Court without a mention of the refusal of this same anti immigration reform GOP/Conservative majority refusing to even hear the nominee Judge Garland. Blaming Obama for 8 years of being unable to bring immigration reform is like blaming firemen for a blaze that was started by an arson. Your “friend” no doubt likes your spreading this myth that Obama is the culprit because her do nothing party and cohorts have done everything in their power to prevent the undocumented, the “Dreamers”, and all of these families to be able to have a decent and humane resolution to their unfortunate predicament. Some “friend” you have Martin. She certainly isn’t a friend of this group she wants rounded up like cattle and herded south.