Reality TV: Bullying, lies and campaign funding

By Susana G. Baumann

What do bullying, lies and Citizens United have in common? They are killing our democracy. 

We are only three months away from the national elections, and the campaign trail has become a battle ground for bitter attacks and negative confrontation. Both candidates keep making accusations of using “distractive strategies” on one another but in reality both have something to hide and, apparently, little to offer. 

Bullying seems to be a leadership style chosen by Republicans, encouraged by a base that wants to see “blood.” No matter what the damage, the consequences, the long-term results, they want to impose their ideas by aggression because “tough people are needed to run society.”

Democrats, on the other hand, seem to have chosen the victim’s place, an innerving moderation used as a tactic for self-defense, not an organized party with real ideas and a strong political demeanor. 

And then there is the realm of lies. 

The ad campaigns launched by both parties and Super PACs are a string of sound bites and images more on personal attacks and less about political and economic strategies that will lead the country in the next four years. 

In that context, taking words out of context is just Campaign 101 material but there is also the distortion of ideas and facts, the rumors, the “through the rock and hide the hand” and the “lying to your face”  techniques. 

And then there is the media, seldom calling out any of these behaviors. 

Crowned with the largest amount of money spent in a general election to buy advertising time, we will get to November 2^nd with little idea of what will happen after November 3^rd. 

Yet, this is our reality show, the one we all take place in. As in any other reality show, many believe they are not scripted, that they are the real candidates with real lives, real families, and real emotions who “love America” and want the best for us. 

But in reality –to be redundant- the campaigns are a carefully designed strategy to “get” the opponent in their weaknesses and misery. Because, who wants to follow a “loser”? 

Feeding the viewers on negative emotions, fear, unhappiness and problems is anything but a political campaign. 

In the end, if true ideas, strategies and facts are not discussed, giving all of us the opportunity to freely choose our representatives such as it should be in a democratic society, it is because politicians are trying to “sell us” something; something we might not like once we “seal the deal” and we find out there was small print on the other side of the page.  

Illegal Americans

By Susana G. Baumann

George Lopez, the Mexican American comedian, is launching a new show called “It’s not me, it’s you.” As he explains in the prep scenes, -and I’m paraphrasing- we live in a society where we are used to finger pointing, looking for responsibilities and blaming on other people’s actions but never looking at our own behavior.

A few weeks ago, the national debate over the term “illegal” referring to “illegal immigrants” has taken a new level.

A new level of stupidity, I would add.

Debating about the term “illegal” might bring the beloved and sought out spotlight to journalists who love to masturbate with words. But this discussion is as useless for those who “carry” the label as it is for the legal system.

Moreover, Americans are not really divided between those who defend and abide by the law and those who don’t. Most people are somehow lenient about the grey areas of many laws and might even agree that most “Illegal” immigrants are hard-working people who are here for good reasons.

And then, of course, there are the others. The Brewers and the Arpaios, the MacDonnells and even the Rubios, and the many that bully, insult, and keep a self-righteous position about how “their families” came to this country legally.

I pity them because they have taken possession of a territory, a land, a philosophy of life, values and even an ideal that was born and meant to be shared, and they had trashed it to convert it in a trophy. We have what you can’t have, it’s ours and we will guard it.

They live in a country, as we all do, where immigrants, legal or illegal, do the many jobs that are menial, low-paid, disgusting, exhausting, working in conditions that most Americans would qualify as unacceptable and even degrading. They clean our bathrooms, farm our groceries, kill and process our meats, cook our meals, drive our children to schools, sew our clothes, and much, much more.

So from now on, I propose that we call those who eat at the restaurants immigrants work for, enjoy the landscaping they do for our yards, use the public bathrooms they clean, walk the streets and drive their cars on the roads they repair, rent them our properties with excessive profitability, hire them to work for cash under the table, accept their fake green-cards or social security cards to overwork them in 16-hour shifts under the sun, and all the other unlawful actions Americans carry on to take advantage of a cheap labor force, those should be called “illegal Americans.”

If we were law abiding citizens, no “illegal” immigrant should find a way to stay in this country. But of course, it’s not about us, it’s about them.

Social Security Benefits Remain a Vital Source of Retirement Income for Latinos

A smart article with numbers and the "reality" of many Latinos expectations about recovering some of all the hard work they gave to this country. Read on...

Don't Let this Happen to You!

Spanish and English classes taught by native instructors with the precise vocabulary you need for any professional or personal need!

LCSWORLDWIDE is now offering personalized Spanish and English for Specific Purpose classes through Skype. If you have a Skype account, you can get personalized classes for your professional activity, prepare a speech with the correct pronunciation and culturally appropriate body language, and discuss with your instructor media presentations, video scripts and more. For additional information, contact Laura at info@lcsworldwide.com. Add our Skype address to your network: sbaumann342

¡Hola, amigos! A Plan for Latino Outreach

Latinos are the fastest growing population in the United States, and are creating a large bilingual market. Librarians are often eager to attract, serve and retain Latino patrons, and library services are sorely needed by the Latino community; but it takes more than adding a few Spanish-language books to the collection to meet those needs. Besides the cultural and language barriers library personnel encounter when interacting with this community, libraries generally have neither the funding to engage in multicultural advertising nor the time and specialized personnel to do it. This practical, step-by-step guide is designed to help libraries attract Spanish-speaking patrons to their collections and services, with proven strategies, effective program and event planning.

The book offers users a systematic, orderly plan that will guide outreach activity with worksheets, discussion reports and easy-to-follow schedules, and more than 100 marketing ideas, tips, and examples from libraries around the country that can easily be incorporated into day-to-day activities. (Many of the strategies can be applied to outreach of other minorities as well.)

Immigration Agency Ends Some Deportations

Finally some good news from the Obama administration deciding to do the right thing!The feared ICE will take a new approach to undocumented immigrants detained in detention centers due to the "backlog" in the justice system of thousands waiting to be deported. The new approach especially contemplates those who already have active applications in the immigration system and are waiting for their cases to be resolved.

Sorry for Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa who affirmed that “Actions like this demoralize ICE agents who are trying to do their job and enforce the law.” How do you think those immigrants' families feel about their loved ones been detained after years of working hard, paying taxes and sustaining the economy of this country? Please read on and comment!

Judge Blocks Arizona’s Immigration Law

Two articles caught my attention this morning, both related to Arizona State. One is related to Federal Judge Susan Bolton ruling that blocks "sections of the law, scheduled to take effect on Thursday that called for police officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and required immigrants to prove that they were authorized to be in the country or risk state charges." The article states that the injunction was issued in response to a legal challenge brought by the Obama administration.

The other stating the number of deaths in the Arizona Valley since the first of the year, -more than 150 people trying to cross the border have been found dead, well above the numbers in the same period in each of the last two years- according to this article in the New York Times.(see below)

The immigration debate is showing to be as a pressing issue as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or financial reform. However, we keep waiting for the President to give the GO! In the meantime, two questions come to mind:

1. Do we need to stimulate the anti-immigrant sentiment by letting this type of actions be taken by other states? If this matter reaches the Supreme Court, it will have a very thin chance to be ruled in favor of immigrants.
2. What is the Mexican government involvement and responsibility in this matter? We have started wars with countries for personal and political revenge, we have started wars to slam other countries economic resources, we have pictured ourselves as champions of human rights. However, we are unable to set political boundaries with the Mexican government regarding their expel of national citizens? What is wrong with this picture?
I look forward to your comments!