Texas Gov. Perry Defends Immigrants and Stops a Wrongly Convicted Man from Being Executed

Two important markers were set in the last 24 hours by Texas' Governor Rick Perry:

1. Gov.Perry upheld the decision of the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole Rules to grant clemency to death row inmate Kenneth Foster--a man about to be executed for a murder he didn't commit.

I'd like to see Gov. Perry lead an effort to re-evaluate Texas' penal code--which is clearly one of the most barbaric in the world.

2. Gov. Perry praised Mexican workers--including the undocumented, criticized the U.S. Congress for failing to pass immigration legislation and asked American politicians to cut the mean talk and grow up. And he said these things while abroad in Mexico!

In these two instances, Gov. Perry has exhibited greater leadership and vision than has been demonstrated by the Republicans currently on the national stage.

My bet is that these moves--especially his pro-immigrant stance--will actually be a huge political plus going forward.

Call at National Guard conference for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq greeted with standing ovation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (David McFadden, AP - 8.25.07) - A call by Puerto Rico's [Governor Anibal Acevedo] for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq earned a standing ovation Saturday from a conference of more than 4,000 National Guardsmen.

''The war in Iraq has fractured the political will of the United States and the world,'' he said at the opening of the 129th National Guard Association general conference. ''Clearly, a new war strategy is required and urgently.''

Acevedo said sending more troops to Iraq would be a costly blunder.

''By increasing the number of National Guard and reserve troops, we put our soldiers in danger for the umpteenth time since the beginning of the global war on terrorism,'' said the governor, adding U.S. territories and states need Guard reserves in the event of natural disasters and domestic disturbances.

Col. David Carrion Baralt, the Guard's top official in the U.S. Caribbean territory, said Acevedo received a standing ovation.

The nonpartisan National Guard Association represents nearly 45,000 current and former Air and Army National Guard officers.

(Posted on Boricua Diaspora via truthout.org)

Emma Lozano on Elvira Arellano's Deportation

Emma Lozano spoke to the media last week about Elvira Arellano's deportation after leaving her church sanctuary.

Ms Lozano is Church Council President of Adalberto United Methodist Church, founder of Pueblo Sin Fronteras and 'Madrina' to Elvira Arellano's Saulito.

She's also the sister of Rudy Lozano, Chicago union organizer and community activist who was murdered June 8, 1983.

Click here for Maria Hinojosa's interview of Ms Lozano; and here for a Los Angeles City Beat interview.

Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech -- August 28, 1963

Mexico’s Plutocracy Thrives on Robber-Baron Concessions

Eduardo Porter writes (Mexico’s Plutocracy Thrives on Robber-Baron Concessions, NYTimes - 8.27.07) that "[g]rowing up in Mexico City, I always knew Mexico was an unjust country — a place where small coteries of the privileged control all power and wealth while half the population lives in poverty.

He says, it "...never occurred to me that Mexico would have billionaires."

It does. According to Forbes magazine, last year there were 10 Mexicans among the world’s billionaires--with Carlos Slim as the world's richest.

The point of Mr.Porter's letter is that the Mexican super rich have gotten rich--and their status as such is preserved and enhanced--through government. For example,

In 1990, the government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari sold his friend Mr. Slim the Mexican national phone company, Telmex, along with a de facto commitment to maintain its monopoly for years. Then it awarded Telmex the only nationwide cellphone license.

Not only does Slim (and his class) own a larger share of the local economy than has ever been the case with America's own super rich, but he's even less philanthropic. Porter cautions that America is on the road towards it's own Mexican-like rich-poor divide.

My view is that U.S.--and global--immigration policies must be: 1) humane towards the displaced workers; and 2) tough on the ruling classes which have rigged all of the rules in their favor.

Also, see Slim's the Richest (but at whose expense?).

Alberto Gonzalez: America's 1st Latino Attorney General Resigns

In a short three minute statement, Alberto Gonzalez, America's first Latino Attorney General, announced his much anticipated resignation effective September 17, 2007.

He thanked the staff of the Justice Department for their work and he said that serving as the nation's Attorney General had been a high privilege. He added that "we live in the greatest country in the world," and that he has "lived the American Dream."

Alluding to the problems besetting his tenure as AG--and to his modest beginnings, he said that even in the most troubling of times he enjoyed a life that was substantially better than what his parents were afforded.

The office of the Attorney General has been the leading force for implementing many of President Bush/VP Cheney's controversial policies. As such, political opponents first demanded John Ashcroft's resignation--and then Gonzalez'. Upon taking many arrows on behalf of the administration, charges of politically motivated firings of 8 Justice Department attorneys by Gonzalez were near fatal.

Gonzales' resignation is 4th high-profile departure from President George W. Bush's presidency in less than year, following former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; his former deputy Paul Wolfowitz stepped down as president of the World Bank; and top Bush adviser Karl Rove earlier this month announced he was stepping down.

Dr. Louis Gerard Mendoza's Bike Ride to Record the Latinoization of America

Louis Gerard Mendoza is on a journey only a few hardy souls would ever attempt: he's traveling to all four corners American on his bike.

Why?

A scholar and head of Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Dr. Mendoza is riding to see and record the "Latinoization" of America.

Here's how he describes his quest:

From July-December 2007 I'll be biking across the U.S. This experience will be the basis for book that follows José Martí’s 1891 call in "Our America" for a distinctively American culture, one that embraces rather than denies, the dynamic and organic relationship between place, language, and experience that shapes the American continent. In the blog I'll document the exchanges I have with people about the Latinoization of the U.S. as well as my own life experiences and thoughts.

Dr. Mendoza has completed the first leg of his trip, traveling 2,750 miles between Santa Cruz, California and his hometown of Minneapolis. The second leg takes him East. Here's the intinerary:

My plan from here is to go south to Iowa City and visit friends who have alerted me to local tensions arising in nearby communities related to immigration. From there I will go towards Milwaukee, down to Chicago and then across to Detroit and into Ontario, Canada where I will cross back into the U.S. at Niagara Falls. From there I will head east through New York, Massachusetts and began a southward trek along the eastern seaboard.

It's a fascinating journey of discovery for Dr. Mendoza and readers of his Journey Across America weblog.

In addition to blog entries, Dr. Mendoza is capturing video of his trip. Here's his up close look at a majestic Buffalo near Yellowstone Park.



Buffalo on road in Yellowstone from Louis Mendoza and Vimeo.

Obama's Crossover Appeal

Michael Scherer (Barack Obama's Republican edge, Salon - 8.24.07) examines a little noticed or understood aspect of Barack Obama's candidacy: his appeal to Republicans.

A University of Iowa survey of Republican preference for president found that Romney #1, Rudy #2 and Obama #3.

Focus group guru Frank Luntz found that Republicans prefer Obama over Hillary and Edwards combined.

And a WaPo-ABC poll found that Republicans and Independents were more likely than Democrats to prefer Obama over Hillary.

What is Obama's attraction for Republicans?

A growing number of Republicans are simply tired of the nastiness of American politics today. And they see the polarizing tactics/personalities of the current crop of Republicans and Democrats as offering more of the same--except for Obama.

Of course, support from disaffected Republicans doesn't help Obama in his quest to win more Democratic Party primary votes than his rivals. It would, however, do him well in the Fall of '08 as the Democratic nominee.

The Political Perils of Targeting Immigrants

It's not as though there aren't sensible Republicans warning the GOP that nativist appeals aren't just wrong for America--ever, but deadly in the long term for the offending political party.

GOP Chairman Mel Martinez, Clint Bollick and Linda Chavez are three that come to mind.

In Native Sons: The political perils of targeting immigrants (Wall Street Journal - 8.24.07), Kimberly A. Strassel does a terrific job of connecting an earlier form of bigotry referred to as "Romanism", to today's equally vile anti-immigration sentiments. Strassel sees parallels between the attacks on Irish and Italian Catholics of an earlier time with attacks on Latinos today.

Republicans paid a mighty price for their foolishness back then. Unbelievably, it appears that they have come back for more.

Native Sons: The political perils of targeting immigrants.

History students call it a teaching moment: A week before the general election in 1884, fiery Protestant minister Samuel D. Burchard warned about the perils of allowing his party to identify with "Romanism." Standing by his side in New York was Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine. Catholic voters were furious.

Mr. Blaine lost the state by 1,149 votes, and the election to Grover Cleveland. It then took Catholics 100 years to get over it, when Ronald Reagan finally convinced them to trust his party again.

Today's question is whether Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are providing future scholars with their own teaching moment. Their spitting row over illegal immigration continues to lead the news, given how little else there has been to fill the newspapers in these dreary August days. At its current momentum, it also threatens to become a case study in how nativism can drive a political party off a cliff.

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NYers Rally in Support of Debbie Almontaser

Two hundred or so protesters gathered outside NYC Department of Education Monday evening in support of the Khalil Gibran International Academy.

These are excerpts from Jennifer Medina's write-up (Protesters Seek Leader’s Return to Arabic School, NYTimes - 8.21.07):

The group — a mix of students, parents, teachers and activists from a wide range of organizations — blamed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein for the school’s struggles, saying they did not do enough to help the founding principal, Debbie Almontaser.

“This is nothing more than demonizing and vilifying a woman and an entire group of people. Anyone who knows Debbie knows that she is a woman of peace. I am furious that the Department of Education did not support her.” parent Deborah Howard

To that, people in the audience began chanting “bring Debbie back.”