Jackie Bueno Sousa's Cuban Problem

Been catching up to the latest musings of our favorite Miami Herald columnists, and not one, but two of Jackie Bueno Sousa's columns perked my interest. The first one, back on June 28th, served as a good reminder not to draw conclusions about minorities based on the actions of some. The second one, written exactly one week later, implores us to admit that Cuban-Americans have a knack for looking the other way when some of their own scam the government or other big business, whether it's Medicare, the mortgage/real estate industry, or anything else.

If you would have told me that Sousa wrote the first column and Carl Hiaasen the second, I wouldn't have batted an eye. The fact that Sousa wrote both is puzzling, not to mention amazingly contradictory, for a major newspaper columnist to pen exactly one week apart. Oh, and that Sousa is Cuban-American.

Somehow, the Cuban-bashers that wrote to Sousa in the wake of her first column made an impression on her. She basically admits as much. These folks apparently managed to convince Sousa in the span of one week that there is more than just a kernel of truth in the perception that Cuban-Americans as a whole have a bad tendency to "accept" dishonesty and fraud.

Good Jackie circa June 28th, 2009:

Certainly many Cubans have been involved in the recent strings of Medicare fraud arrests, and I wouldn't even be surprised if, as some believe, the Cuban government were benefiting from a scam that totals hundreds of millions of dollars. But the notion that Cubans are primarily responsible for such a popular criminal scheme highlights a myopic mentality in vogue these days.

Not-so-good Jackie circa July 6th, 2009:

While the overwhelming majority of Miami's Cuban community consists of honest, hard-working people, there's a certain passivity and acceptance in how we react to those who do engage in such fraudulent acts.

Yes, there are Cuban-Americans that take advantage of the system and commit all sorts of fraud, major and minor. I know some. Is it enough to categorize as a broad "acceptance" issue for Cuban-Americans as a whole? Of course not. A columnist with basic smarts and common-sense principles such as Sousa should know that. If I'm wrong or just simply naive, prove it to me (and no, distant relatives in Cuba don't count as broad anecdotal evidence).

Whenever Cubans pound their chest and proclaim that they turned Miami from a small meaningless town in the swamp to a major metropolis, I cringe. Whenever non-Cubans blame Cubans for South Florida's problems, I cringe. Whenever one generalizes the bad of their own group, I cringe.

I play no favorites here. If our local history has taught us something, it's that each and every ethnic group that has set up camp in South Florida has its share of successes and downfalls that we can point to. Just like the rest of the world. In the end, we all put our pants on the same way and have to deal in the real world with both good and not-so-good individuals.

The main underlying problem we DO have as a community is this: we have a tendency to see the worst in our neighbors, especially if they're from "somewhere else" (which they almost inevitably are). It's largely because we don't see ourselves as being from Miami, but from "somewhere else", with the invariable "where I'm from, we don't do things this way" attitude that comes attached with the misplaced sense of ethnic/regional/national pride. It's therefore no surprise that Sousa got the type of letters she did in response to her spot-on first column (why her knees turned to jelly afterward remains a mystery). With all of our diverse groups serving as experts in pointing out each other's flaws, you would think our problems would have been resolved a long time ago, right? Yeah.

When You Have No Solid Argument...

you can always fall back on the good ol' trusted war horse.

This article posted at Babalu the other day reminded me of the silly arguments and name-calling people on both sides of the Cuba issue often fall back on when solid, factual arguments aren't enough or don't exist. My grievance is mostly with the pro-engagement-with-Cuba crowd who often finds itself resorting to cries of "Batistianos" and "Mafiosos" in reference to the hardline right, but some on my side of the fence fall into a similar trap as well, calling anyone and everyone who doesn't agree with them "comunistas", whether it's warranted or not.

I don't have a suggestion for our friends on the left...they can use their allegedly superior intellect to figure it out on their own. I will, however, remind those on the RIGHT side (in more ways than one) that when one stops using facts and logic and resorts to similar tactics employed by the other side, it's we who lose the argument every single time.

Instead, we should take to heart the immortal words the immortal Mr. Miyagi once said:

"Focus".

Not All Presidential Ousters Are Made Equal

Back from a week of dodging thunderstorms up in Northeast Florida (meanwhile, the weather in South Florida made a turn for the better). Just my luck. Nevertheless, it was good to do a little body surfing in the nice 4-5 foot swells (sorry, I don't have any pictures).

I left last week with a note on the situation in Honduras, and I return with another one. Andres Oppenheimer opined early last week about how the U.S. made the right decision by not supporting the ouster of Zelaya in Honduras. I understand the general sentiment, but the problem I have with it is this: the ouster was driven by Zelaya's thoroughly un-democratic actions. I think responsible people can make a distinction between what happened in Honduras and what's occurred in places such as Venezuela, for example. Perhaps there was a better way of deposing Zelaya. But if the goal of the overthrow in Honduras was to re-establish a semblance of democracy, shouldn't that also be noted and supported by the U.S. and other democracy-supporting states?

This was Oppenheimer's only flaw in what was a dead-on article which rightly took the OAS to task for its hypocrisy and double-standards.

Happy Independence Day

Pinecrest Today

Happy Fourth of July!

Peeking my head in for just a second to wish everyone a happy and SAFE Fourth of July. Remember, nature's fireworks can be deadly, too.

I am retreating just as quick as I came in, since I will be out of town and with zero computer access for a week. Feel free to look around, throw a few parties...but just make sure everything is back in its place, OK?

Before I leave, I just want to say one small thing to Rick Sanchez:

Shut up already. You're embarrassing us.

Honduras to OAS: Get Lost

Honduras' governmental body has guts. That's all I can say in the wake of what's happened over the past couple of weeks, including their most recent decision to get out of the useless Organization of American States.

Meanwhile, the Herald thinks the new government's actions and statements in deposing Zelaya to exile hurts the cause of democracy in Honduras. Sure, the government could have been a little "cleaner" in its removal of Zelaya. But to make that the centerpiece of Honduras' problems and not the fact that Zelaya was using overtly anti-democratic means (with assistance from his friends Chavez and Ortega) to take over his country speaks volumes for where some people's priorities lie.

Bravo, Honduras!

Pitts-Slapping

I've stopped reading Leonard Pitts' columns. Frankly, I don't have the time, energy and will to sit through another one of that man's articles and read another lie about how racist and nasty Republicans (read: conservatives) are.

Fortunately, there are still activists out there who can stomach Pitts and give him a little dose of his own medicine.

In his June 21 Issues & Ideas column, GOP blind to its race problem Leonard Pitts Jr. unfairly condemns the entire Republican Party as racist based on the actions of a few. In reality, the Republican Party, since its inception in 1854 as the antislavery party until today, has been the party of freedom and equality for blacks. A better case can be made that the Democratic Party is a racist party.

As author Michael Scheuer stated, the Democratic Party is the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. Democrats have been running black communities for the past 40 years, and their policies have turned those communities into economic and social wastelands.

Democrats fought to expand slavery, while Republicans fought to ban it. After the Civil War, Republicans amended the Constitution to grant blacks freedom, citizenship and the right to vote. Republicans then passed the civil-rights laws of the 1860s that, sadly, were over turned by the Democrats with the Repeal Act of 1894 after they took over Congress in 1892.

Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen was instrumental to the passage of civil-rights legislation in 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965 and 1968. He wrote the language for the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination in housing. President Lyndon Johnson could not have achieved passage of the civil-rights legislation without the support of Republicans. Johnson's statement about losing the South was not made out of a concern that racist Democrats would suddenly join the Republican Party. Instead, Johnson feared that the racist Democrats would again form a third party, such as the short-lived States Rights Democratic Party.

Democrats readily demean black professionals who do not toe the Democratic Party's liberal line, denigrating them as ''sellouts'' and ''Uncle Toms.'' A Democrat blogger depicted RNC Chairman Michael Steele as a ''Simple Sambo'' with a blackened minstrel-style face, nappy hair and big, thick red lips.

Condoleezza Rice was demeaned by a Democratic cartoonist as an ignorant, barefoot ''mammy.'' Democrats Al Sharpton and Harry Belafonte denigrated Gen. Colin Powell and Rice as ``house Negroes.''

Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy called some black judicial nominees, including Judge Janice Rogers Brown, ''Neanderthals.'' Democratic Senator Harry Reid slurred Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as an ''embarrassment'' who could not write properly.

Has Pitts condemned racism in the Democratic Party?

FRANCES RICE, chairman, National Black Republican Association, Sarasota

I don't believe the Democratic Party itself is racist. Nor do I believe most Democrats and liberals are racist, either. But Frances Rice puts the finger on something many Democrats don't want to admit to: their party's own dark history as well as their largely failed policies towards minorities.

Another Celebrity Death - Billy Mays RIP

Whoever came up with the theory that celebrity deaths come in threes is unfortunately correct these days.

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died on Thursday. Today we have reports that pitchman Billy Mays has died at the age of 50. On my flight to Texas this past Monday I read an article in American Way magazine on Billy Mays and how he got his start in the TV salesman/pitchman business. Seemed like a nice guy who truly earned his path to success; too bad to hear about his death at a much-too-young age.

The recent celebrity deaths just serves as a sobering reminder of how short and fickle life can be, no matter how famous or ordinary you are. Enjoy it to your fullest, folks.

Odds and Ends

I'm back from a combination of work travel and just plain work, and I apologize for the lack of blogging (of course, our dedicated readers are used to this by now). We appreciate your patience.

Here's some of what's been on my mind lately:

- Cap and Trade makes no sense to me. It's based on, at best, highly disputable science; it's undoubtedly going to raise energy costs across the board and more jobs will be lost than created. Look at the Kyoto Protocol for a hint of what this would be like if passed. Let's hope the Senate kills this awful bill.

- Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett: R.I.P.

- Don't let anyone tell you that "dry heat" is more comfortable than humidity. An oven is dry heat, too.

- I'm glad President Obama finally said something in support of Cuban dissidents. Now all he has to do is to stop trying to be nice to the castros, who despise him.

- I'm glad President Obama is finally standing up to the thugs in Iran. Too bad it took 2 weeks for him to do so. So much for a kinder and gentler relationship with our enemies.

- Seeing how Iranians are bravely expressing their outrage at their dictatorship makes me sad that Cubans can't seem to muster up enough courage to do the same. Yes, there are differences between Iran and Cuba, but lots of similarities, too.

- Far-left and even some mainstream-left reaction to Mark Sanford's dalliances in Tangoland reminds me of this paradox: if some Republicans and conservatives caught literally with their pants down are accused (justly) by lefties of being hypocrites, while the same lefties mostly shrug when a Spitzer or an Edwards gets caught, does this mean that the finger-pointing lefties don't hold their own up to a higher standard?

- Very quietly, the Florida Marlins are in the hunt for the division lead midway through the season.

- Speaking of the Marlins, everything's still on track for the new ballpark's groundbreaking in July.

Bush Bashing "Comical"

Perhaps the neatest thing about the Herald's new BlogNet is that you can peruse all sorts of local blogs without having to go into the sites themselves. That way, if you see a post that looks to be a stinker right off the bat, especially at some of our "favorite" blogs, all you have to do is keep scrolling down and it's gone, c ya.

It's through the Herald's BlogNet that I discovered this post by Reid Blog on the difference between Obama Derangement Syndrome (how original) and Bush Derangement Syndrome. It's not necessarily the fact that there are a few deranged and sick individuals out there who want to do real harm to Obama, but Reid's assertion that personal criticism of Bush "tended to lean more toward the comical" was the real eye-popper. You see, the harshest criticism of Bush was actualy targeted at his policies.

Brace yourselves:

In other words: "Bush Derangement" if you want to call it that, was based on a loathing of Bush administration policies. Attitudes toward Bush himself, if you have to characterize them broadly, tend to lean more toward the comical. And while derision of Bush as a dunce bugs those on the right, it's hardly the same chilling talk that derides our current president as tantamount to a Marxist, Socialist, anti-American Muslim terrorist. [Left: a leaflet distributed in Dallas on the day of JFK's assassination. Courtesy of Prose]

Ahhhh, so that's what it was all along. Too bad this dunce of a conservative missed it. After all, calling Bush a Nazi, a murderer and a war criminal was indeed funny to many liberals, especially when it was comedians and skilled entertainers delivering the punch lines. The fact that many average folks I know freely participated in this type of ridiculous defamation makes it even more legitimate, Reid would probably make you believe. It's all about the policies, not the person, remember?

This is truly a bizarre era we're living in, folks.

Liberal MSM Does It Again

Liberal columnist Eugene Robinson of the liberal Washington Post could have saved all of us a lot of time by condensing his latest column into these few words:

Right-wingers really ARE responsible, whether directly or indirectly, for the killing of the guard at the Holocaust Museum.

So then, Mr. Robinson, who's to blame for the shooting of Private William Long 2 weeks ago? Keith Olbermann? Rick Sanchez? Chris Matthews? Mike Wallace?

Give me a break. And to think this guy writes for our nation's capital's largest newspaper.