Mourning in America, or, What Will it Take to Wake People UP?

It's the morning after a 'hold your nose and pull the lever' Election, and it's pretty clear that the message we, as a country, needed to heed was ultimately doomed by the image of its messenger-by-default, the famously wealthy and politically peripatetic Willard M. Romney, and the quick and convenient demonization of his candidacy (and, indeed, his character) by the liberal President, his liberal Democratic Party,  and their devoted chauffeurs in the Entertainment Industrial Complex.

But it wasn't that the message of impending economic ruin was lost in delivery by a mere single individual- too many of the faces and voices behind the Republican message implied a spirit of exclusion and, in some cases, outright hostility to a burgeoning demographic group in this country which, though strange it may seem to many of those in the first group, have much more in common with them ethically and morally than their superficial differences would suggest.  This is a lesson that our more prominent politicians here in TX seem to be learning ahead of the rest of the GOP, and if this Election has taught us anything, it has shown us that the thinking must change.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about Latinos; the endemic population to be sure, but especially the kind of attention given to the more recent arrivals who show up with nothing but a willingness to work at jobs the rest of us, if we are to be judged by our numbers in those fields, are more than glad to have them do.  They maintain an existence in the legal shadows of our country; some are highly industrious, enough so to consider laying the foundations for their own small businesses here- in direct correlation with what we call the American Dream.  They are Christian, they are family-centric.  They are largely socially conservative.  They are thrifty and resourceful; they have to be, since they can't legally take advantage of the social safety net.  And studies suggest that their children represent the best chance for future entrepreneurial innovation by the example of their parents.


Yet as of now, the vast majority of Latinos in the US feel the Republican Party are their enemies.    Think about this- the Obama Administration, in its first term, has deported more undocumented workers (illegal aliens) from Mexico and Central America than in the entirety of the previous Bush Administration. Spanish-language Univision confronted Obama on this fact, and he was visibly perturbed by their presumption.  But with the political climate of the last couple of years, most Latinos believe it is the Republicans that hate them more than ever.   An estimated 77% of Latinos voted for Obama- this is a huge problem for a political party struggling to maintain relevance in a shifting demographic landscape.  What went so horribly wrong?

It pains me to say it, but the Tea Party movement brought out the worst in the conservative electorate, and the media was all too happy to seize upon the red meat it gave to all those who would listen.  A movement whose initial purpose was to stem the tide of unpopular initiatives (read: ObamaCare) and governmental overreach, it ended up giving voice to the fringe elements of the Right, who have been publicized as seeing this country's plight in terms of a 'Brown Menace' overrunning the border, sucking up all the jobs, and flooding neonatal units and emergency rooms with indigent Brown babies and sick kids.  Arizona dared to declare out loud, via the legislative process, that the state would enforce existing federal immigration laws on the books.  There, the possibility existed that an American citizen of Latino ancestry could be asked by authorities to provide proof of legal residency during routine traffic stops.  If you're a mainstream journalist in the Entertainment Industrial Complex, talk about getting fat on cheese!  Nothing else the Tea Party stood for mattered after that- it became, for all intents and purposes, a resurrection of the Dixiecrats where the media was concerned.  And since those votes ended up folding into the Republican ticket, the only message being amplified by the media over the more substantive elements of the conversation was
"Rich white men and their redneck minions want you gone, Latinos!"

There was no effective attempt to dispel that assertion.  It didn't help that the Republican National Convention in Tampa looked like it was ordered with extra starch, extra bleach; demographically, its numbers were not proportional to the US population at large.  Small wonder that, on the whole, Latinos could not find common cause with the Republican message that in many ways, corresponds to their own.  The Republicans provide all too much material to a sneering, hypocritical coalition of Obama Democrats, and the Dazzling Lie wins the day.

And our day of economic/geopolitical reckoning looms large on the horizon, with no one elected to hit the brakes on our current direction.

So what can Republicans do?

The Tea Party will have to sacrifice itself to oblivion, and its better ideas will need to fold into a revamped approach to fiscal sanity that real adults everywhere can relate to.  Let me say that again:  The Tea Party needs to disappear as a named movement.  It was too convenient a target in this election cycle.

Next, the GOP needs to initiate a comprehensive reformation of its message without compromising the best of its values, and it needs to push for commonality across ethnic lines IMMEDIATELY.  At the moment the strongest candidate for the delivery of this message is -- another Bush, and likely the most politically formidable of the bunch, given the current realities. Obvious to him is the failure of the "send 'em back" attitude towards discussions on immigration reform, and, as former governor of a state with a significant Latino population, he can address the issue and bridge the divide with a tone and eloquence that was beyond the capabilities of another Latino population-heavy state governor during the GOP Presidential primary season.  This will have to do until the GOP can grow its own (non-Cuban) Latino superstar to continue the message.

About that, er, 'Cuban' comment... the Cuban exile community has been a valuable partner of the GOP for years, and a ready tonic to the romantic lies spun by many in the Entertainment Industrial Complex about Castro's 'Worker's Paradise' across the Florida Straits.  But a couple of problems exist that need to be brought to the GOP's attention when addressing the Latino Gap:

1 - Cuban Republicans are not a 'growth industry', i.e. there is, for obvious reasons, no discernible immigration flow from there to here.  I think there's enough collective sympathy for the plight of the ordinary Cuban to wish they could emigrate freely, what with the brutality of their caudillo state and all, but the reality is that Cuban Republicans already here need no convincing of who's on their side, and their numbers are tiny in comparison to the other Latinos here in the US.  Because of this...

2- Appealing to Cubans does not equal appealing to the greater Latino community.  Take, for example, the historical and cultural relationship between ordinary Cuban exiles and Mexicans.  At best, there's an uneasy rivalry between the two; at worst, it's downright enmity along the lines of rich vs. poor, white vs. brown.  Mexicans are seen as poor, unsophisticated campesinos;  in turn, Cubans are seen as arrogant and as lacking in empathy.  To be sure, there are some feelings that need to be patched up between the two groups, but in the meantime...

There needs to be genuine and earnest dialog between the GOP and the prevailing Latino immigrant population, and its descendants, in formulating a plan that will play to the strengths of their common concerns while strengthening a secure and sovereign US border and homeland.  This can is too important to keep kicking down the road so it's time to think of better ways to say 'yes' to immigration, a path to citizenship and (dare we dream?) a reliable partner community in governing with financial prudence, family values, and an intrinsic value of the individual. 

So what do we do?  Revisit some permutation of the Bracero Program, with options for seasonal work or citizenship preliminaries? Do we tie citizenship to National Service requirements?  Are there any fresh ideas out there that would act in the interest of equal opportunity for all, rather than signal preferential treatment for some?

It's no small challenge.  The GOP better hit it HARD if they want to maintain major player status in US politics.

P.S. (And I mean BIG P.S.) - Puerto Rico wants to become Number 51 .  Territories that want to become states are typically not told 'NO'. 

Does this not drive home the point, GOP?