|
Barriomulas.com
Tales from a runaway Neo-Rican
|
|
Me on the Democratic Primaries
May 1, 2008
(Current song: "Watch Out Now" by Beatnuts. Feel free to open the links in a new tab and jam away)
I have refrained from making posts on the Presidential elections. In fact, I'm pretty sure that this is my first one. Due to the coming Democratic Presidential primary I have been stopped in the halls of my office building with frequent questions concerning who I endorse. (Song changes to "Fruta Fresca" by Carlos Vives)
People seem to be confused when they hear that my preferred primary candidate was actually a Republican - Ron Paul. (Song changes to "Pass that Dutch" by Missy Elliot") I have a thing for traditional conservatives like Ron Paul and Patrick Buchanan. Most of all, as a resident of a U.S. colony it's of little concern to mine what his - or anybody else's - domestic policies are. I believe that Ron Paul would be the best candidate in terms of how the U.S. Presidency has traditionally affected the rest of the globe. Though he has not dropped out of the race the Republican Party of Puerto Rico will not be planning to hold a primary race. (Song changes to "It's Been a While" by Staind)
Realistically speaking, the candidates of the race are limited to John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. McCain's foreign policy is an instant turn off, thus I'm obviously bent towards a Democrat candidate. Though I had a preference since the very beginning, I am not a member of any political party but the Puerto Rican Partido Popular Democratico.  I look at both the Republican and Democratic parties in a very negative light and when comparing them to their Puerto Rican and Latin American counterparts they represent very little differences between each other. (Song changes to "Remeber Me" by Blue Boy) I view both parties as appendages of the grandes intereses. I don't plan to affiliate myself with a stateside party anytime soon.
As an autonomist who seeks sovereignty from the U.S. I see it as counterproductive the participation of our population in what I understand to be a foreign Presidential primary. Most autonomist leaders of the Popular Party have also stated that they will boycott the primaries. (Song changes to "Ready For The Floor" by Hot Chip) Neither do I believe in the position of Resident Commissioner - the non-voting representative of Puerto Rico to the U.S. Congress. I would very much prefer to send Consulates to foreign nations instead of sending a Resident Commissioner to Capital Hill. Their non-voting status, their assimilation into stateside parties, and their membership to caucuses dilute their ability to represent their community. My good friend Jesus Hernandez once said that "Puerto Rico's best representative is not the Resident Commissioner but the Representative of Puerto Rican communities in Chicago." In fact, during the previous election I voted for the Independence Party's candidate for Resident Commissioner partially as a protest vote. The PIP represents my views concerning the position more than my own party does.
Earlier this evening I was approached by a fellow popular and was asked to work on either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama's Puerto Rico campaign. Many populares are eager to have their fellow party members partake in the primaries careless who wins simply to demonstrate their capacity to mobilize the electorate to popular leaders higher up in the party hierarchy. (Song changed to "She's Looking Like a Hobo" by Malcom McLaren) Though I have my preference, as I've said before, I choose not to participate in the process.
"OK, so who's his preference?" you guys are probably asking. Barack Obama. Why? Well,
- It has nothing to do with his Puerto Rico platform. I am aware of the U.S. Executive Branch's limited ability to act on the Puerto Rico question (the U.S. Congress is the entity with dominion over the island and their relationship with us.) (Song changes to "Historia de un Condenado" by Joe Quijano)
- He's Black. Yes, I'm aware that it sounds like a very ignorant and shallow reason to vote for someone due to their race, but I believe that this fact has much significance in U.S. society. I believe that it is beneficial for such a large, poverty-stricken minority to finally feel as if they are actually in charge. I believe that it would not only be empowering but productive as well considering Obama's lack of the stereotypical "woe is me" complex that I believe keeps many of us minorities "down". (Song changes to "The Hollow" by A Perfect Circle) It is true that Hillary is a woman and that women too have been subject to inequalities as well but it is in my position that Blacks have traditionally been in a worse position than women. Women have exercised their full right of voting long before Blacks and are better represented in Congress. (Song changes to "Desire" by Pharoahe Monch", "10" by Cafe Tacuba, and then "Flap" by Eumir Deodato)
- The fact that he's Black and was raised in places such as Hawaii and Indonesia sensitizes him to foreign cultures. (Song changes to "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds) The majority of the problems arising from U.S. foreign policy have to do with cultural ignorance. The January/February 2008 issue of The Atlantic quotes Giuliani's Middle East adviser saying "What's a Kurd, anyway?" Condoleezza Rice has stated that "Iraqis - whether Kurds or Shia or Sunni or the many other ethnic groups in Iraq - have demonstrated that they really want to live as one in a unified Iraq." (Song changes to "13.6.35" by Belleruche) Interestingly enough, 80% of Iraqi Kurds have signed a petition calling on a vote for independence.
- He is anti-war. Obama's foreign policy would prevent domestic terrorist attacks. Overall, the world will be a better place without a unilateral preemptive strike super power. (Song changes to "Indifferente" by Serge Gainsbourg and then "Stand On" by Jehro). I am actually hoping for the day that Iran, China, and a unified Latin America reach superpower status so to provide choice and option for smaller countries who will naturally slip into a regional power's sphere of influence.
- Jeremiah Wright is a pretty cool guy. I agree that 9/11 was a response to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East (Osama Bin Laden's fatwa outlined it clearly) and I believe that it was a mistake to allow the Jewish diaspora to settle in Palestine without expecting widespread opposition (though I believe it is too late to reverse it). (Song changes to "Obsession" by Hanif Jamiyl) Though Obama has distanced himself from his former pastor, it says a lot about Obama that he sat through 20 years of Wright's teachings. (Song changes to "Do You Think..." by Kittie and then "Cannon" by White Stripes)
 Filed in Politics
 5 Comments
5 comments:
|
no way man. obama is creepy and very unsettling. are you serious about that wright guy? he is a self-righteous asshole who needs to go back to africa with his "people" and check out the oppression there. LAME
MLK said things very similar to what Wright said. Wrights a cool guy. I'd invite him to my b-day party.
He's just angry and is just naturally expressing himself. His counterparts - who support adverse opinions just as "radical" have representation on Congress.
do not ever compare MLK to mr. man. ever. king had grounds to say that blacks were being treated unfairly. in today's america, black people get money from the government to sit on their ass and have babies. but they give me shit when i apply for daycare assistance and i WORK to pay my bills. something is wrong!
"God didn't call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war. . . . And we are criminals in that war. We've committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and I'm going to continue to say it. And we won't stop it because of our pride and our arrogance as a nation. But God has a way of even putting nations in their place." (He) then predicted this response from the Almighty: "And if you don't stop your reckless course, I'll rise up and break the backbone of your power."
-MLK's "I Have a Dream"
The truth is that U.S. foreign policy really hasn't changed that much in the last few decades. One could even argue that it's worse, considering the adoption of the preemptive strike doctrine and unilateral invasions without another world power to counterbalance the power struggle. The way I see it, Wright's comments on foreign policy are a lot more applicable today than MLK's was in his day.
Totally, there is something wrong in regards to welfare and current income distribution programs. I agree with that. I believe that counterproductive social programs have assisted in not only keeping Blacks poor, but all minorities and poor people in general. As a city administrator I can certify to you that the $1.5 million or so dollars that's funneled into my city government in the form of welfare assistance is much more counterproductive than anything.
But Wright's statements are almost entirely on U.S. foreign policy. In fact, Wright himself went on to earn four college degrees. His church offers 70 assistance programs to the community - a move which I think empowers blacks and assists them in self-sufficiency as a community as opposed to dependence on the government.
But for every Mr. Wright there are dozens of Congressmen who during their youth voted for candidates who pushed for things like segregation and grandfather clauses. It's necessary to have folks like Mr. Wright to balance things out. I mean, until recently the Senate Majority Leader was a man who opposed MLK day and was caught in some big ass racist scandal. He never received as much heat as Wright.
One must remember that Mr. Wright was brought up in an era where police officers were nighttime members of the KKK while Black Liberation activists were clubbed. After returning from Vietnam, Wright couldn't even buy a house not because he couldn't but because he was Black.
Yes, things have changed. But Mr. Wright represents much harsher days. I get pretty upset about some of the ways that U.S. foreign policy interferes with Puerto Rico's affairs. I can't even imagine how hateful I would be if I grew up in the era where we were pulled over for having a Puerto Rican flag on our bumper or blacklisted for being a member of a certain political party. I would even be more hateful if I grew up in the era where protesters were massacred by police. Things have gotten better of course, but Mr. Wright has every right to be pissed.
"he is a self-righteous asshole who needs to go back to africa with his "people" and check out the oppression there."
Now I think that comment is out of place. Blacks have been in the U.S. for as long as Whites. Not only that, but your average hunter-gatherer from some interior African tribe was probably healthier than a famine-starved Irish immigrant or a Pilgrim Brit struggling through the winter season.
Not to mention, the vast majority of Africa's problems (ethical violence, civil war, ransacked natural resources, and dictatorships) are due to problems that drag on from centuries of colonialism. Europeans plowed in, drew up borders in total discard for waring tribes and ethnic groups and for decades after independence held up unpopular puppet regimes. Even today, foreign financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, and the European Union have more influence than an African citizen's vote. If Africa had free human capital and an almost endless Western frontier to colonize and divide among its citizens then it too would have been as prosperous as the U.S.
Archives:
Search: