Why do you hate Veronica Escobar so much? That’s how the email in my inbox started out and I knew right away it wasn’t going to be an easy email to read. The sender is someone I consider a friend and even now, I still consider them a friend, although they told me never to bother calling them again. I’m used to emails threatening me with everything from arrest to deportation to even offering me suggestions to make better friends by selectively choosing what I write. I’ve lost clients because of my blogging. Former blog supporters have stopped supporting my blogging activities when I chose to start calling Donald Trump out for his hatred of Mexicans. Emails like this one and former supporters leaving because of my writing comes with the territory. It’s the nature of writing opinion pieces, especially political ones.

The email is one of seven that were in my inbox in the morning. Within hours after my blog about Veronica Escobar posted, the emails started to arrive. Three phone calls followed and several more emails were sent to my inbox during the day. It was about 30% in favor of my post with the rest reminding me how awful I am for El Paso and how no one reads my blog.

But this email kept bothering me throughout the day. Intellectually I know it bothers me because it came from a close friend. It’s not as though not many of my friends disagree with me. I have many friends that wish I would stop blogging or that vehemently disagree with me, but we put that aside and move on, or we debate for hours on end, only to pickup later where we left off. But as it continued to bother me I got angry, then resentful and then even contemplated calling my friend to remind them how we used to discuss the corruption of El Paso. We even discussed Veronica Escobar many times.

The only reason I didn’t make the call is because I had a busy day yesterday, more than normal and with the time difference it made it difficult to place the call.

But it kept bothering me.

The individual asked me point blank, “why do you hate Veronica Escobar” so much? The writer then went on to write that Escobar wasn’t the “best candidate” but that she is better then Dori Fenenbock, “who is a Republican in disguise.” Could I “just put aside” my “hatred for Veronica long enough to protect the party?”

Later in the day, it dawned on me why the email bothered me so much. It wasn’t because it was a close friend who told me that they didn’t want to ever see me again, nor that it was just another one of those hate emails I receive in response to a controversial topic I write about. Believe me, if I’m in the mood for hate mail, all I have to do is write about Donald Trump. I guess that’s almost every day.

What I finally realized about why the email bothered me so much, is because how little the individual knows about me to assume I would consider caring about what’s best for the Democratic Party, or the Republicans, for that matter. I can’t vote, so party politics aren’t a consideration for me. If I’m forced to pick a party, I’d lean towards the Republicans.

Yup, that’s right, a Mexican immigrant would lean towards the Republican Party on most issues.

But, I kept going back to the notion of whether I hate Veronica Escobar.

I don’t, and I have said that many times over many mediums. I don’t hate anyone, ok maybe one, or two people, but not Veronica Escobar.

I’ve blogged for almost 20 years now and Veronica Escobar has been part of many of my blogs, and an occasional cartoon here or there. There is no question that I believe she is corrupt. But, I don’t hate her.

I can share many examples of Escobar’s politics that I object to. Most of those have to do with hypocrisy. The hypocrisy of protecting the taxpayers by pushing forth the children’s hospital. The hypocrisy of protecting the poor of El Paso while working with Ray Caballero and Susie Byrd to implement Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts to displace the poor from their homes. The hypocrisy of supporting Larry Medina while Medina was running cover for Ray Caballero while pretending that Escobar has cleaned the county of its corrupt ways. I can go on, and on, and on, but you get the picture.

Even with all those examples of hypocrisy, there is one thing that truly bothers me about Veronica Escobar. It is one thing that I believe embodies what El Paso truly is.

Veronica Escobar pretends to care about Mexicans and especially Mexican immigrants but, she uses immigrants as nothing more then cha-ching for her pendejadas.

Veronica Escobar wants the voters to believe that she is a true Democrat who believes in progressive ideals and the protection of the vulnerable members of her community.

But while she is trying to make you believe she represents the core values of the Democratic Party, she is jailing immigrants to keep jobs in the County while she benefits from a paycheck her husband cashes regularly for signing orders deporting immigrants each day.

As an immigrant I find that truly reprehensible.

Even Donald Trump doesn’t hide his hatred of Mexicans and immigrants. Trump has been clear he wants all of us to leave the country.

But Veronica Escobar sits idly by while immigrants are jailed in the County jail, a jail she had some measure of control over through the County’s budget and while her husband signs orders deporting immigrants. Escobar pretends but doesn’t really care about immigrants.

But, I still don’t hate Veronica Escobar, I just find her reprehensible for pretending she cares about the immigrants in her midst while using them to feed her.

As for my friend, I still consider them a friend although they are so angry at me they don’t ever want to hear from me again. I’m sad and dismayed at the same time.

In the end, I can’t help but chuckle at the notion that Veronica Escobar argues that Dori Fenenbock isn’t a real Democrat. Kettle, meet kettle.

I have a feeling that my inbox will fill up again, I might even get another email from my friend telling me that they still don’t want to hear from me again…1…2…3