Entries For: April 2007
04/20/2007
Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran
We joke about American politics being reduced to slogans and theme songs -- but there's a hint of truth in every good joke. And the really great jokes can be more than a little disturbing. Take, for example, John McCain's distillation of future US foreign policy into a Beach Boys riff. On the surface, it seems like he's just kidding around. But then you realize that a Presidential candidate is talking about bombing another country. And laughing while he does it.
04/04/2007
Newt Gingrich Goes Ghetto Fabulous on YouTube
Poor Newt Gingrich just keeps digging himself into holes. First it was having an affair while more-or-less spearheading the Clinton impeachment process. Now, he's angered Latinos.
As one of the fastest growing segments of the population, the Latino vote could make the difference in the next presidential election, especially since the last few have been won by small margins. Last Saturday, Gingrich described English as the language of prosperity and bilingual education as teaching "the language of living in a ghetto." Gingrich went on to dismiss the practice of printing ballots in two languages. Critics, including Latino advocacy groups, described his remarks as "hateful" and have defended bilingual education as the best way to teach English to non-English speakers.
In two videos (one in English, one in Spanish with English subtitles) posted to his own YouTube channel, Gingrich apologizes for what he terms a "poor word choice."
In fact, he recognizes that Spanish is an important language and is even taking Spanish lessons, as evidenced by the Spanish version-- presumably to win an important constituency. The video in Spanish on YouTube certainly implies that he wants to reach the people, and is cheaper than a TV spot, but episodes like this tend to haunt politicians for entire election cycles (eg: Kerry's remark about the troops education level, Macaca, etc). One wonders if this might be too little, too late.
