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COMMENTARY & NEWS
Week of
July 4, 2005 |
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A day to celebrate
patriotism - in all its forms
- USA Today
The United States, on this and every Fourth of July,
indulges in an unabashedly patriotic celebration of the nation's birth. The
fireworks. The flags of red, white and blue. The national anthem sung at
events from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles
And yet each Independence Day - for all the outward
similarities - is different. Times of war or peace, prosperity or recession,
give each a subtext that shapes the complex relationship of individual to
country.
Today, the war (or is it wars?) in Iraq and
Afghanistan gives patriotism a poignant, and very real, meaning. The troops
are the definition of the highest form of patriotism: |
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The real meaning of July
4: Power belongs to the people
- By Derek Maul
- Christian Science Monitor
As an American by choice rather than birth, I must
confess to my growing concern that the 1776 declaration may not mean what it
once did to those keepers of the trust who inhabit government today.
July 4 serves as a frank invitation to consider the
conditions and ideas that launched the promise of America.
What was it that provoked an assortment of dissatisfied
and rebellious colonists to organize such a nation? |
- ANALYSIS
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Nomination Could Be
Defining Moment for Bush
- By Dan Balz
- Washington Post Staff Writer
There are few genuine earthquakes in American politics,
but yesterday's announcement by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor easily qualifies
as one. Her retirement is likely to trigger one of the most consequential
confirmation battles in a generation, with the ideological balance of the
Supreme Court and the future of contentious social issues now firmly in the
hands of President Bush.
For more than three decades, the right has been
ascendant in America. A Republican Party fueled by the energy and activism
of its religious and social conservatives has seized control of the
executive and legislative branches of government in Washington and has seen
its strength widen and deepen across the country. |
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Besieged Mexican Press Demand: 'Not One
More'
Targeted by drug gangs and corrupt officials, Mexican journalists unite
to say "Ni Uno Más," not one more killing.
By Mark Fitzgerald
Editor & Publisher
- World Press Freedom Day, hundreds of journalists rallied in cities all
across Mexico to kick off Ni Uno Más, Not One More. In the declaration of
The Center for Journalism and Public Ethics (Cepet), Ni Uno Más is
described as a "campaña permanente," a permanent campaign with the formal
title Against Violence Against Journalists and For Full Freedom of
Expression in Mexico.
Exactly a week later, some one threw a firebomb at the station wagon
parked in front of the home of Pedro Pérez Natividad, the editorial
director of the Primera Hora daily newspaper in Nuevo Laredo, just across
the border from Laredo, Texas.
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Arnold's top 10 mistakes
- By Daniel Weintraub,
- Sacramento Bee
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent transformation from
fan favorite to public punching bag is all the more remarkable because the
policies he has advocated are pretty much in the mainstream of California
politics.
He's tried to balance the budget without raising taxes,
while growing spending for education, health care and transportation at
modest rates. He has tried to reform government by giving local agencies and
schools more control over their own resources and by reexamining old
assumptions about such massive programs as prisons and Medi-Cal, the health
care program for the poor. And he has advocated progressive environmental
policies while supporting abortion and gay rights.
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Immigrants Benefit U.S.
Economy Now as Ever
- By James Flanigan
- Los Angeles Times
The Fourth of July weekend seems like a good time to
examine some of the heat and rhetoric lately surrounding one of the basic
building blocks of our society: immigration.
There is widespread concern that too many immigrants are coming in and,
worse, that waves of unskilled workers will form a permanent underclass
and change the historic dynamic of American society.
These are serious matters. Immigration is part of the
DNA of America, and it's as necessary today as ever. The belief in social
mobility, that the children will have better prospects than their mothers
and fathers, is a benefit to any economy, and has been a mainstay of ours.
|
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In Search of
Pro-Americanism
- By Anne Applebaum
- Foreign Policy
There has never been a more popular time to be
anti–American. From Beijing to Berlin, from Sydney to São Paulo, America’s
detractors have become legion. But not everyone has chosen to get on the
anti–American bandwagon. Where—and among whom—is America still admired, and
why? Meet the pro–Americans.
I was in London on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, a
day when strangers in shops, hearing my American accent, offered their cell
phones in case I wanted to call home. That evening, parties were cancelled.
The next day, political events were called off. An American friend who... |
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Neuharth Calls For U.S.
Withdrawal from Iraq, Says Bush 'Lied'
- By E&P Staff
NEW YORK USA Today founder Al Neuharth, who caused a
stir last year when -- a bit ahead of the curve -- he told E&P that he
favored a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, re-iterated his position Friday, with
even more force.
“I'm convinced the best way to support our troops in
Iraq is to bring them home. Sooner rather than later,” Neuharth, a Bronze
Star winner in World War II, declared. He also compared President Bush to
President Lyndon B. Johnson, saying that both presidents “lied to us in
wartime.” |
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True Patriots Act
- You shouldn't have to surrender your liberties to prove you love
the red, white and blue
- By Richard A. Kaye
Los Angeles Times
Given today's war-on-terrorism rhetoric, it's no
surprise that patriotism dominates U.S. political discussions. Some of the
more controversial parts of the Patriot Act are up for renewal, and the
House of Representatives, after questioning a handful of its provisions, has
approved the document. The debate on the merits of the act invariably has
focused on the keen divide between the value of civil liberties and the
imperatives of national security. Liberals worry about the Orwellian nature
of the Patriot Act, while conservatives stress the necessary sacrifices in
personal freedom required in the age of terrorism. |
- To
Serve and Protect – A Police Officer’s Job
- National Immigration Forum
Despite the objections of state and local governments
and police forces, some members of Congress continue to push proposals that
make police enforce federal immigration laws. They think their
constituencies want them to “get tough on immigrants” at all costs—even at
the expense of public safety.
State and local police departments understand that
enforcing federal immigration laws undermines their ability to serve and
protect the entire community. Aside from harming efforts to build trust
between local law enforcement and ethnic communities, such policies divert
limited state and local resources, endanger the civil rights of U.S.
citizens and legal residents, and drive undocumented immigrants further
underground. |
- Intelligence
Brief: China
Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein
During the week of June 19, China flexed its muscles in the economic
and military spheres, setting off a flurry of reactions in Washington that
threaten to complicate Sino-American relations and reveal long term risks
for the globalization process.
China's stepped-up assertiveness on the world stage came in the form of
bids by Chinese businesses to acquire U.S. appliance manufacturer Maytag
and oil company Unocal, and Beijing's test firing of its most advanced and
longest range intercontinental missile. Those moves spurred protests in
the U.S. Congress that, in turn, were met by ambivalent responses from the
Bush administration, which is cross pressured by conflicting interests…
|
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'Exit strategy' - a mere phrase, not a
strategy
By Timothy Kane
USA TODAY
Arguments for and against the U.S. troop presence in Iraq assume that
having an "exit strategy" is a fundamental military principle. It isn't.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was right in April to say, "We don't
have an exit strategy, we have a victory strategy."
Yet with public support here waning and suicide attacks in Iraq
persisting, the calls for an exit strategy are being heard not just in the
news media, but also in the halls of Congress.
As for rhetoric, "exit strategy" didn't appear in any major U.S.
publication before 1980. That was seven years after American forces left
Vietnam, an exit that could hardly be called strategic...
|
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A monument stirs
immigration debate
- By Sara B. Miller | Staff writer of The Christian Science
Monitor
For a dozen years, a 20-foot monument has stood quietly
at the rail stop in this predominantly Latino city. Ray Leyba had never
bothered to read it - even though he lives next door. It wasn't until the
monument became the focus of a group raging against illegal immigration that
he walked across the street and looked at one inscription:
"This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is,
and will be again."
Mr. Leyba was surprised, but his response pales in
comparison to the recent fury launched at the slab of concrete by Save Our
State (SOS). Though not based in Baldwin Park, the group has spearheaded two
recent protests, calling those words seditious and likening the town to
"occupied territory," according to SOS founder Joseph Turner. |
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Border Patrol Tries New
Tune to Deter Crossers
- A novel media campaign uses a Mexican musical tradition to
discourage illegal immigration.
- By Richard Marosi, Times Staff Writer
The accordion-laced Mexican ranchera bounces
along with the kind of bravado that has chronicled the exploits of
revolutionaries, cowboys and outlaws.
This song spotlights a young immigrant stumbling through the desert in the
U.S. He gets thirsty, watches people die and reaches an epiphany: It's OK to
return to Mexico.
"Since I was a kid, I was told a man never gives up,"
the man sings. "Now that I'm on the other side [in the U.S.], I realize they
were wrong."
The tune is part of a unique U.S. Border Patrol Spanish-language media
campaign aimed at channeling the agency's safe borders message through the
language and culture of Mexican border crossers. |
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CAFTA Wins Approval
From Senate
- By Paul Blustein
- Washington Post Staff Writer
The Senate approved the Central American Free Trade
Agreement last night, giving momentum to one of the most hotly debated
trade deals negotiated by Washington in years.
The pact still must pass the House, where it faces
overwhelming opposition from Democrats and enough Republicans to make the
outcome uncertain. But the growing bipartisan support it has received in
the past couple of days, plus its endorsement yesterday by a 25 to 16 vote
in the House Ways and Means Committee, has encouraged backers.
|
Chicanos With Doctorates
Attend Community Colleges at Higher Rate Than Other Ethnic Groups
UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.
Nearly one-fourth of Chicanas and Chicanos with
doctorates first attend a community college, more than two times the
overall rate for all doctorates, according to a policy brief by the UCLA
Chicano Studies Research Center.
That figure is more than twice that for African Americans and whites, and
substantially higher than that for other Latino groups, according to the
study.
Such statistics suggest that universities and community colleges should
place more emphasis on making sure Chicanos transfer to a four-year
|
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Conservative Groups Rally
Against Gonzales as Justice
- By Adam Nagourney, Todd S. Purdum and David D. Kirkpatrick
- New York Times
- Within hours after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's announced retirement
from the Supreme Court, members of conservative groups around the country
convened in five national conference calls in which, participants said,
they shared one big concern: heading off any effort by President Bush to
nominate his attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales, to replace her.
- Late last week, a delegation of conservative lawyers led by C. Boyden
Gray and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III met with the White House
chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., to warn that appointing Mr. Gonzales
would splinter conservative support.
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Extradition Gap Between
US and Mexico Shortens
- By Selene Rivera
- Eastern Group Publications, News Report
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For the first time since 2001, Mexico permitted the
extradition of a fugitive to the United States who could be facing a life
sentence in prison if convicted of his alleged crimes — the attempted
murder of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. While law enforcement
and county officials say this may signal new cooperation between the two
countries, they were also quick to point out there are still many
fugitives living in Mexico and victims waiting for justice.
“I am pleased to announce the return of Ricardo Rodriguez after his escape
to Mexico following his failed attempt to kill two Los Angeles County
Sheriffs,” said L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley.
|
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House vote squeezes Mexico
- Threat to cut off U.S. aid tied to extraditing suspects in cop
killings
- By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives sent a stern
message to Mexico on Tuesday night, voting to block $66 million in U.S. aid
if the country does not extradite suspected cop-killers without strings
attached.
Angered by the killing of Denver Police Detective
Donald Young, the House voted 327-98 to approve an amendment offered by Rep.
Bob Beauprez, R-Arvada, to a foreign operations spending bill.
It calls for cutting off U.S. aid to any country that
fails to extradite suspects in the killing of federal, state or local law
enforcement officers.
|
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Immigration committee
hears from ex-Fox adviser
- By Gary Martin
San Antonio Express-News Washington Bureau
Any effort to reform U.S. immigration laws must
include the participation of Mexico, and address the millions of
undocumented Mexicans living in this country illegally, a former adviser to
President Vicente Fox told a Senate subcommittee Thursday.
Andres Rozental said without mutual cooperation between
the neighboring countries, immigration reform would fail.
"The result would be exactly the same as we have had
for 50 years," said Rozental, a former ambassador at-large who served as a
special envoy under Fox.
|
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Immigration Protest in Baldwin Park Is Peaceful
Sixty people from a Ventura County group opposed to words on artwork
at a Metrolink station are met by 600 counter-protesters.
By Wendy Thermos
A face-off Saturday in Baldwin Park over illegal immigration, sparked
by a piece of public art, was peaceful despite authorities' fears of
violence.
Next to City Hall, where about 60 protesters opposed to illegal
immigration waved signs and American flags, about 600 counter-protesters
sang, danced, chanted and beat drums to urge tolerance.
"It's not a confrontational us-versus-them thing. It's to show unity,"
said counter-demonstrator Rosa Romero, 25, of Los Angeles, as she took a
break from painting signs. "I'm here to show support for the community."
|
- L.A.'S NEW MAYOR | INAUGURATION DAY
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'We Need to Start
Thinking Big Again'
- Villaraigosa takes oath as L.A.'s 41st mayor and says reforming
schools will be a top priority.
- By Patrick McGreevy and Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writers
In a festive ceremony that drew politicians from across
the nation, Antonio Villaraigosa took the oath of office Friday as the 41st
mayor of Los Angeles and declared that reforming the city's troubled schools
would be "a central priority of my administration."
On a platform festooned with red-white-and-blue bunting on the steps of City
Hall, the city's first Latino mayor in 133 years paid tribute to a city and
a country that gave the son of an immigrant from Mexico the opportunity to
lead the nation's second-largest city. |
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More Spanish-Language Men's Magazines to
Debut
By Nancy Ayala
- Marketing y Medios
American Media Inc. will add another Spanish-language magazine to its
Hispanic division come March 2006, Hombre Actual. But it's not to
be seen as following in the footsteps of another AMI male-targeted
magazine, Men's Fitness.
Says Publisher Yolanda Jordana, "We see this as reaching additional men
who happen to be Hispanic. We're not going to be cannibalizing Men's
Fitness readers. We're bringing new reasons to grow our [Hispanic
books]."
The magazine will launch with a "conservative"
circulation of 25,000, says Jordana. "We're going to be applying for an ABC
audit from the beginning. We're delivering [an accurate number of] warm
bodies to advertisers."
|
Mexican, U.S. Bishops Focus
on Immigration
Frontera Norte Sur/ El Paso-Ciudad Juarez News
A binational meeting of Mexican and United States Catholic bishops
wrapped up last weekend in El Paso, where U.S. and Mexican immigration
policies were debated and criticized. Organized by the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops and the Mexican Episcopal Conference, the 3-day event drew
immigrant rights advocates and government leaders from both sides of the
border.
One of the sharpest criticisms came from Alejandro Siller Gonzalez of the
Mexican-American Cultural Center in San Antonio. Siller questioned Mexican
Foreign Minister Luis Deberz about reported human rights abuses of South
Americans and Central Americans traveling in Mexico with the intention of
crossing into the United States. Siller told Deberz he has heard "horror
stories" of rapes, robberies and beatings committed by Mexican government
officials against Latin American immigrants. |
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Mexican Voting May Extend
Into U.S.
- By Chris Kraul and Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writers
Mexico's Congress approved landmark legislation Tuesday
giving citizens outside the country the right to vote by mail in
presidential elections, a measure expected to have a significant effect on
next year's contest.
The overwhelming 455-6 vote to initiate balloting-by-mail capped a
years-long internal debate. Skeptics fear that ballots sent through the mail
might be stolen, manipulated or, given Mexico's unreliable mail service,
never arrive. Some politicians worried that opposing parties would somehow
benefit.
In the end, the Congress bowed to enormous grass-roots
pressure, much of it from immigrant groups in the United States demanding
the franchise. The bill now goes to President Vicente Fox, who is expected
to sign it. |
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PRI stalking it’s prey
state by state
- By JOHN RICE, Associated Press Writer
Mexico's former ruling party added
momentum for the upcoming presidential race with a crushing victory in the
country's biggest state, according to results early Monday. The win by the
Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, came only a day after President
Vicente Fox led a mass celebration to proclaim his July 2000 victory over
the PRI — which had ruled for 71 years — as "the awakening of Mexico" and
the birth of the country's democracy.
If so, his own National Action Party could be going
to sleep. It managed only a quarter of the vote Sunday in Mexico State,
once considered a strong point for the party. And it faded to a
single-digit showing in the day's other election, in Nayarit, where until
now it has shared the governorship.
|
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Religious Freedom
Remains Elusive on Many Fronts
- Annual Report Tells of Widespread Persecution
"Violence, impositions, persecutions" is how Aid to the Church in Need
described the situation of religious freedom in the world in 2004. On
Thursday the Italian section of the ACN published its annual report on the
subject. It presented the report at a press conference in the palace
housing the Italian Chamber of Representatives.
Among those speaking during the presentation was Cardinal Renato Martino,
president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. On hand was the
president of the Chamber of Representatives, Pier Ferdinando Casini.
|
Spanish-Language Publisher to Launch New
Free Papers in October
By Nancy Ayala
Starting Oct. 9, Spanish-language newspaper publisher ImpreMedia will begin
distributing free tabloid-sized papers to 650,000 Hispanic households
nationwide.
Billed as "the largest Hispanic print network in the nation," Domingo
(Sunday) will have an 80% or more Hispanic density reach with its new
weeklies, according to Robert Armband, publisher of the ImpreMedia-owned La
Raza. "The two new papers are modeled under [the weekly] La Raza," he said. |
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Unwieldy rules force
Illegal Immigration
- By Quisa D. Davis
- El Paso Times
As the temperature rises, the numbers of migrants who
die crossing our nation’s border with Mexico will rise. They will die in
the unforgiving heat of the desert. They will drown in the unrelenting
canals. They will be discovered in the sweltering trailers of big-rigs.
Why would human beings risk their lives to come to the
United States illegally? Why would human beings sell everything they own
and entrust their lives to coyotes, human smugglers who could ( and
just might) leave them lost and abandoned in the desert?
Desperation takes on many faces, the starkest of which
can be seen in the migration journey of families. Family unification is
the highest priority in our immigration system.
|
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U.S.,
Canada, Mexico to Integrate Terrorist Watch List and Beefing Border
Protection
- By Beth Duff-Brown
- Associated Press Writer
The United States, Canada and Mexico pledged Monday to
shore up security by integrating their terrorist watch lists and beefing up
joint protection of borders and bridges.
At the same time, they promised to expand what is
already the world's largest trading partnership by developing a single
program to facilitate the free flow of people and goods across their shared
borders.
"We are
three countries, three friends living in the same neighborhood, so we have a
common interest in our mutual security and our mutual prosperity," Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a news conference in Ottawa after
he and his Canadian and Mexican counterparts unveiled their list of targets
and initiatives. |
By Patrick Osio,
Jr./HispanicVista.com
By
Raoul Lowery Contreras/HispanicVista.com
By