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Hialeah: Where Values Matter Most (UPDATED)
After the Miami Herald's firing of Jim DeFede, I thought I was going to get a break from commenting and replying to Herald columnists.
I guess I was wrong. Based on this column and the one she wrote over the weekend, it looks like the staff at 26th Parallel will be quite busy with new columnist Ana Menendez.
Menendez is perplexed of the fact that Hialeah residents vote overwhelmingly Republican in most elections, yet many are working class people who depend on government aid, and have Democratic economic interests, right? Menendez attributes this dichotomy to her opinion that "symbols matter", as if all the Republicans represent are merely symbols, while the Democrats provide basic sustenance.
Make sure to read her column in the link at the top, then read my e-mail to her which follows below.
Ms. Menendez,
First of all, welcome back to the Herald. As a long-time subscriber and daily reader, I look forward to reading your columns.
Your column today about Hialeah's apparent political dichotomy left me a bit puzzled. I have never lived in Hialeah, but as a Cuban-American and life-long resident of Dade County, I feel I can vouch for my neighbors from the City of Progress.
You make some good points, but your political bias prevents a true objective analysis of the situation. You're generalizations about Republicans hide the entire facts. Consider the following:
You mentioned Nebraska Governor Heineman's current trip to Cuba to sell his state's goods as an example of Republican greed. However, you failed to balance this with the fact that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco took a trip of her own to Cuba back in March and signed a $15 million deal with the regime to sell her state's agricultural goods.
Governor Kathleen Blanco is a Democrat. Good ol' Democratic greed, right?
Hialeah votes Republican because it's people believe in traditional conservative values. Those values include but are not limited to: working their way up through honest, hard work without too much government meddling, willingness to help those in need, and economic freedom. Hialeah's successful sons and daughters - Republicans and Democrats - got to where they are today because of these values which were instilled in them as kids.
They support the party that has historically stood by their intense desire for a free Cuba and for helping those who leave Cuba's gulag. They also support a strong military to protect our country from our enemies abroad.
Yes, the Republicans have been far from perfect in their policy toward Cuba. But while Republicans try to hurt the regime by limiting the amount of money flowing into Cuba, many Democrats advocate lifting all sanctions and thereby giving Castro lifelines to continue oppressing its people.
Democrats have not only failed to deliver, they have helped to perpetuate the crisis in Cuba. Their administrations' policies have left much to be desired: Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco; Carter, his fruitless "dialogues" with Castro and the Mariel exodus; Clinton, the ridiculous wet foot/dry foot policy and the Elian disaster.
It's no mystery, then, that Hialeah would vote for the party that understands them the most.
In closing, I'd like to modify that banner you suggested to place at the entrance to Hialeah.
It should read - "Welcome to Hialeah, where values matter most".
Maybe one day, today's fractured Democratic Party will understand that. Republicans already do.
Sincerely,
Staff at 26th Parallel
UPDATE 8/18 2:50 PM: Here's Ana Menendez's courteous reply:
Thank you for taking the time to write and for being thoughtful and eloquent as well. Valid points, all. And that's why I wrote that it's perfectly right to vote one's values, as Cubans do. My concern is that too often we're labeled "right wingers" when we're nothing of the sort. Just anti-communist. As for Blanco, yes, but Democrats are always accused of trying to curry favor with Castro, so there is not the same level of irony as when a Republican does it. Though your wider implication is, of course, true: Greed is a non-partisan issue. Warm regards, Ana
I guess I was wrong. Based on this column and the one she wrote over the weekend, it looks like the staff at 26th Parallel will be quite busy with new columnist Ana Menendez.
Menendez is perplexed of the fact that Hialeah residents vote overwhelmingly Republican in most elections, yet many are working class people who depend on government aid, and have Democratic economic interests, right? Menendez attributes this dichotomy to her opinion that "symbols matter", as if all the Republicans represent are merely symbols, while the Democrats provide basic sustenance.
Make sure to read her column in the link at the top, then read my e-mail to her which follows below.
Ms. Menendez,
First of all, welcome back to the Herald. As a long-time subscriber and daily reader, I look forward to reading your columns.
Your column today about Hialeah's apparent political dichotomy left me a bit puzzled. I have never lived in Hialeah, but as a Cuban-American and life-long resident of Dade County, I feel I can vouch for my neighbors from the City of Progress.
You make some good points, but your political bias prevents a true objective analysis of the situation. You're generalizations about Republicans hide the entire facts. Consider the following:
You mentioned Nebraska Governor Heineman's current trip to Cuba to sell his state's goods as an example of Republican greed. However, you failed to balance this with the fact that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco took a trip of her own to Cuba back in March and signed a $15 million deal with the regime to sell her state's agricultural goods.
Governor Kathleen Blanco is a Democrat. Good ol' Democratic greed, right?
Hialeah votes Republican because it's people believe in traditional conservative values. Those values include but are not limited to: working their way up through honest, hard work without too much government meddling, willingness to help those in need, and economic freedom. Hialeah's successful sons and daughters - Republicans and Democrats - got to where they are today because of these values which were instilled in them as kids.
They support the party that has historically stood by their intense desire for a free Cuba and for helping those who leave Cuba's gulag. They also support a strong military to protect our country from our enemies abroad.
Yes, the Republicans have been far from perfect in their policy toward Cuba. But while Republicans try to hurt the regime by limiting the amount of money flowing into Cuba, many Democrats advocate lifting all sanctions and thereby giving Castro lifelines to continue oppressing its people.
Democrats have not only failed to deliver, they have helped to perpetuate the crisis in Cuba. Their administrations' policies have left much to be desired: Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco; Carter, his fruitless "dialogues" with Castro and the Mariel exodus; Clinton, the ridiculous wet foot/dry foot policy and the Elian disaster.
It's no mystery, then, that Hialeah would vote for the party that understands them the most.
In closing, I'd like to modify that banner you suggested to place at the entrance to Hialeah.
It should read - "Welcome to Hialeah, where values matter most".
Maybe one day, today's fractured Democratic Party will understand that. Republicans already do.
Sincerely,
Staff at 26th Parallel
UPDATE 8/18 2:50 PM: Here's Ana Menendez's courteous reply:
Thank you for taking the time to write and for being thoughtful and eloquent as well. Valid points, all. And that's why I wrote that it's perfectly right to vote one's values, as Cubans do. My concern is that too often we're labeled "right wingers" when we're nothing of the sort. Just anti-communist. As for Blanco, yes, but Democrats are always accused of trying to curry favor with Castro, so there is not the same level of irony as when a Republican does it. Though your wider implication is, of course, true: Greed is a non-partisan issue. Warm regards, Ana
posted by Robert at 8:19 PM
6 Comments:
Robert - this is a great post and right on the money. The only thing I disagree on is the next-to-the-last sentence on your message to the columnist:
"Maybe one day, today's fractured Democratic Party will understand that."
Personally, I hope they will NEVER understand. It'll make it that much easier to ensure the Dems remain fractured and increasingly marginalized. That can only help freedom througout, not only in Hialeah, but also through the whole, friggin' planet.
So, let's not give them any ideas!
Nice,
When I heard about that column she wrote I was pissed too. Local politics is about personalities not ideology. I mean when was the last time a mayor had to decide on abortion rights, the death penalty, welfare reform or social security. It's two different animals. Alex Penelas was a democrat and Mayor Alvarez is a Republican. You can't say they there has been a siesmic shift in Dade county because of that. Because party politics plays a very small role in local elections.
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She should meet up with Max Castro of the Herald and they should marry and have children and produce offspring that turn out to be super conservative anti communist as a punishment from God for their wishy washyness on Cuba and democracy there.
I LOVE that, Mandingo!!!
Ana and Max Castro...I shudder at the thought! At least Ana doesn't appear to be a fidel sympathizer like Max (BTW the Herald gave him the boot a while back).
Too funny about their kids being raging right-wingers!
Anitica-
I can speak for Hialeah, I lived there most of my life. Here's a challenge for our biased writer. Grab your laptop and jump in your import and take a drive to Hialeah. Yes, its far...It's between the Gables and Ft. Lauderdale, yes passed the Gables--over the canal, don't be afraid.
Once you arrive, look around. See it...It's full of Cuban republicans. And not one of your keystrokes will change it. Now hurry back in the car your iced-latte soy-milk frappucino is melting.
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