By Isabel Matos
No thanks, Jorge!!
We already have La Raza praising 11 House Republicans for their efforts, and Rep. Gutierrez making appearances with them. Although his comments reflect reality accurately, the title of this article should be: Ramos Resents Republican Presidential Hopefuls Rubio, Cruz who happen to be from Cuban Descent.
Breitbart reported: Speaking at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Tuesday evening, Ramos said that “for the first time in history, there are two Hispanic candidates running for president.” “Regardless of the criticism Republicans receive from the mainstream press, “Republicans have been doing something right that they have two Hispanic candidates. And the Democrats don’t have a single Hispanic candidate for this election”.
He mentioned that if Cruz or Rubio is on the top of the 2016 ticket, it will be very interesting to see if Hispanic Democrats vote for a Latino candidate. Ramos noted that “the majority of Latinos vote for Democrats” and the “majority of Latinos are of Mexican origin” while Rubio and Cruz are both of Cuban descent. He said Latino voters will be faced with the question about whether they should vote for a Latino candidate just because he is Hispanic.
Ramos is correct: the mainstream press is against Republicans; that includes, of course, his own. Let’s get out of the way the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino for clarity’s sake, since they are used interchangeably often. Hispanics are from Spain or any of the Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. “Latino” is used as an abbreviated form of “Latino-Americano” (Latin-American), or someone coming from Latin America. Some statistics, too:
Hispanics are the second fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States after Asian Americans. Since 1970, the Latino [should be Hispanic not Latino to avoid confusion] population has increased sixfold, from 9.6 million to 53 million as of 1/1/2012. Its is projected that its share of the U.S. population currently at 17% is expected to reach 29% or to 119 million by 2060, according to the latest projections from the U.S. Census Bureau (2014). This figure includes 38 million Hispanophone Americans, making the US home to the largest community of Spanish speakers outside of Mexico, surpassing Argentina, Colombia, and Spain within the last decade.
Now we get to the point (al punto) of this article: shifting the focus away from what we know about Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, to what we should know -if we didn’t already- about Ramos and Univision, since he brought all of this up:
1. Jorge Ramos is the evening news anchor of Noticiero Univision. He was born in Mexico City 57 years ago. He first came to the United States on a one-year certificate program at UCLA Extension and has enjoyed a long career with Univision where he got a job with a work permit in an L.A. affiliate 30 years ago.
“My English was—I couldn’t even understand myself.”
Ramos hosts “Al Punto” a successful political Sunday talk show on Univision. He is part of digital magazine “Fusion” which targets a younger more liberal audience, covering topics he admits could never be aired on Univision. Ramos is very good at what he does; but his influence does not speak for all Hispanics.
“I went on Jon Stewart the other day and I told him,
‘I’m an immigrant; I need a lot of jobs!”
CITIZENSHIP
Ramos constantly refers to himself as an immigrant. Maybe he does it for symbolic reasons. I was curious, so I did a little research and found this:
“Al Punto“debuted on Univision on September 9, 2007, the same day as the first Spanish language U.S. Presidential Debate hosted by Univision.
From the transcript: UNIVISION NETWORK DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE PARTICIPANTS: SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY); SENATOR CHRISTOPHER DODD (D-CT); FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (DSC); FORMER SENATOR MIKE GRAVEL (D-AK); REPRESENTATIVE DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH); SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL); AND GOVERNOR BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM)
MODERATORS: JORGE RAMOS AND MARIA ELENA SALINAS, UNIVISION NETWORK ANCHORS LOCATION: UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, MIAMI, FLORIDA TIME: 7:04 PM EDT DATE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2007
Three months later on December 9th, 2007, Univision hosted another forum where anchors, Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, moderated the first U.S. Republican presidential debate in Spanish. Destino 2008 was held againg at the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Florida. In February of 2008, Jorge Ramos asked questions to U.S. presidential candidates at the CNN Democratic debate at the University of Texas at Austin, in Austin, Texas:
CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party jointly hosted a debate between Obama and Clinton on February 21 at 7:00 CST on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The debate was rebroadcast at 10:30 in Spanish. Questions focused heavily on illegal immigration and the economy, among other issues.
But Ramos revealed t.h.i.s. in an Interview on CSPAN on July 11 2010:
Excerpt: Brian Lamb: Why did you become an American citizen and what year did you do it?
Jorge Ramos: I did it in 2008. For me it was very important to participate fully in this country. It’s truly a wonderful country and my fight is that this country would treat other immigrants like me the same way they treated the millions of immigrants who came after me. It’s truly amazing, who could have thought that when John F. Kennedy was writing his book “A Nation of Immigrants,” it was 1958, I was born exactly that year and with those wonderful ideas and of course he was killed in ’63, but in ’65 with the immigration act of 1965 everything changed and because of that, because John F. Kennedy and because of “A Nation of Immigrants” I’m in this country, so I wanted to participate fully. I was very concerned about the war, I was concerned about my kids. Paola who’s 23 right now and Nicolas who’s 12, they were born here in this country and I wanted to – I wanted to be fully part of the United States. This has been a wonderful, generous, and magnificent country for me and I wanted to be part of it.
It is not clear whether he became a citizen before or after he was allowed to ask questions of the U.S. presidential candidates at the CNN debate in February, 2008, as the views expressed above differ from his views in 2004 where he mentions he is not a U.S. citizen, despite his long years here, “in case I want to return to Mexico to run for office.” [ The interview on CSPAN is long but worth a listen)
That means he was not a citizen in 2007 which raises a lot of questions. Is he sincere or just a hypocrite? It sure seems arrogant to point the finger at U.S. citizens who want their laws enforced, when he may have become a citizen for expediency. [And he has chutzpah to moderate debates if he’s not one!]
RECOGNITION AND AWARDS
Ramos has received the Maria Moors Cabot award from the University of Columbia, he won 8 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism (including the first ever presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to honor leaders of Spanish Language Television). In 2002 he was honored with the ‘Ruben Salazar’ award by the National Council of La Raza for his positive portrayal of Latinos. In 2008 The Commonwealth Club of California recognized him with the Distinguished Citizen Award for being one of the outstanding individuals who embody the American Dream as an immigrant to the United States. Biography
He has said he can do what ever he damn well pleases (“lo que se me pegue la gana”) on his network, Univision. He’s like a pied piper for La Raza, and lord of a land within the land of plenty (ours) whose authority he defies and wants toppled. For that he is rewarded worldwide. Surprise. When questioning others he is sarcastic about the intentions of the undocumented’s: Do you (really) think we want to make the United States an extension of Mexico or claim it as part of our territory? That is Senor Ramos: America’s News Anchor. He’s not just a journalist. He takes his activism seriously. What’s not love if you’re a racist lib?
Christiane Amanpour is mesmerized he swam in the Rio Grande.
[That picture reminds me of Putin’s pictures on a horse.] In her commentary for TIME where he made the cover of 2015’s 100 Most Influential People, she writes:
Ramos wrangles with President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner; he swims the Rio Grande; he says he asks every question as if it’s his last, determined to get an answer or go down trying. What happened to immigration reform? He knows he has a voice and is not afraid to use it. He shouts from every rooftop that Hispanic rights are human rights.
After decades on the cutting edge of the news agenda, Jorge Ramos, who grew up in Mexico, is waging the campaign of a lifetime, which is also a defining issue for America, the country he calls home.
If you haven’t gotten sick yet (I am), there’s more. Yes Ramos is cocky and full of himself, but I would be dishonest intellectually to deny or not admire the passion he has for what he does. In his speech to an audience of leaders he calls rebels [I actually like that term], he toasts the Dreamers, which he calls his real heroes.
“Because Congress has done nothing for a decade, I salute them for taking matters into their own hands and changing American immigration policy.”
The most influential leader of 2015 warns: You do not want to be their enemy, because they will get in your face. They are really American citizens, but don’t have a paper to prove it. He makes a reminder and gives a stern word of caution to politicians and presidential candidates who are thinking of deporting anyone:
“Latinos will decide the next election and not vote for any candidate who wants to deport their father, their mother, your friends or your neighbors.”
When I say I like the word rebel, I mean it in a good way (for our cause). And when I say I “admire” his passion, I am really expressing it in the same spirit he pointed out that the Republican Party is doing something right because two Hispanics are running for president. What I really wish is for his ego and immigration views to blast him into oblivion. Maybe in the end he will be seen for what he is: an elitist out for his career like the rest of them! Ramos says he hopes to grow his clout beyond the Latino community with “Fusion“:
“What I really like is that for the first time, I don’t need translation,” he says. “And without translation, there’s an immediate impact. And definitely the language of power is English.” [How romantic sarc>].
It is ironic given that Ramos does not believe that English should be the official language of this country. And also interesting to point out that in an article from a week ago, Fusion heralded Lindsey Graham as “the one GOP candidate who’s actually defending immigration reform”. Now on to Ramos’s show and network..
VIEWERSHIP AND RATINGS
2. Univision is the largest network aimed at Hispanics in the U.S. It has one of the largest audience of Spanish-language television viewers in the world, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC’s Telemundo is second. Both have studios, operate and produce in Miami but headquarters are in New York. In recent years, the network has reached viewership parity with the U.S.’s five major English language television networks; it often places a strong fifth, outranking The CW, with some fourth-place weekly placings; as of 2012, even first place rankings for individual programs over all five English networks, attributed to telenovelas. Who knew? So I did a little search on Sunday talk shows and found that although ratings vary weekly ‘Al Punto’ came in 4th or 5th overall and was mentioned even when its ratings were unavailable. I also looked for ratings comparing all five networks for evening news (cable/non cable, English/Spanish) but only found each one promoting its best week or month.
Noticiero Univision evening news reported in February 2012 its rank as:
No. 1 broadcast evening news program with twice as many viewers as the combined audience of “ABC World News Tonight,” “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News” among Adults 18-34 (195,000 vs. 86,000), Adults 18-49 (433,000 vs. 202,000) and Adults 25-54 (416,000 vs. 246,000). SOURCE Among Bilingual Hispanic Viewers: “Noticiero Univision” delivered 55% more Viewers 2+ than the combined audience of ABC, CBS and NBC’s evening newscasts (930,000 vs. 601,000). Source: The Nielsen Company.
Fox News (Univision’s competitor -my assumption not theirs- based on ratings I used) ranked as follows early in 2012:
In Primetime for January 2012, FNC averaged 1,942,000 viewers, an increase of 78% since January 2002 when the network averaged 1,091,000. In fact, the Primetime ratings FNC achieved in 2002 after becoming number one eclipse what CNN and MSNBC are currently averaging today in 2012 (841,000 and 801,000 viewers respectively). Additionally, FNC’s current 2012-to-date Primetime average beat CNN and MSNBC combined. Fox News’s median age is 65+ but no figures reflect that age group. Viewers 25-54 have fallen but overall prime time audience went up to 2.02 in 2012 from 1.89 million in 2009. The O’Reilly Factor was the top show for Fox (and cable news as a whole), averaging 2.361M total viewers and 365K in the demo at 8 p.m. The Kelly File, which has been beating Bill O’Reilly’s show in the 9 p.m. slot on occasion, came in second overall, averaging 1.998M total viewers and 332K total. Read more here or here.
SUNDAY TALK SHOWS
In February 2012, Univision, its Sunday morning public affairs program:
“Al Punto” delivered two times more Adults 18-49 (186,000 vs. 91,000) than the combined audience of the English-language broadcast programs (ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’“Face The Nation,” NBC “Meet The Press” and “FOX News Sunday.”)
Rick Kissell Senior Editor of “Fox News Sunday” reported its telecast on July 28, 2014 in the DC market:
averaged 107,000 viewers on WTTG-5 — the second largest audience ever in the nation’s capital, behind only the 132,000 when Chris Wallace interviewed Sarah Palin in 2010 (Interview parts 1, 2, 3 below)
“Fox News Sundays” finished well ahead of NBC’s “Meet the Press” on WRC-4 (73,000), ABC’s “This Week” on WJLA-7 (65,000), CBS’ “Face the Nation” on WUSA-9 (59,000) and Univision’s “Al Punto” on WFDC-14 (57,000). It also led in households (64,000 to 53,000 for “Meet the Press”). In key news demo of adults 25-54, it led in D.C. with 41,000, followed by “This Week” (36,000), “Meet the Press” (33,000), “Al Punto” (32,000) and “Face the Nation” (29,000).
Nick Massella reported NBC’s Ratings in the DC Market in October , 2014 as follows:
“Meet” secured 65,000 total viewers followed by “FOX News Sunday” with 40,000 in the DC market. In terms of households, NBC also led with 55,000 followed by FOX with 34,000. In the A25-54 demo, FOX took first with 12,000 viewers followed by NBC with 9,000, CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 4,000, and ABC’s “This Week” considered a scratch. * FishbowlDC did not have access to ratings for Univision’s “Al Punto.”
Bob Schieffer’s “Face the Nation”‘s report included “Al Punto” in their 2014 article: “Meet the Press Struggles in the Ratings …” :
“Face the Nation,” hosted by Bob Schieffer, the grandfatherly 77-year-old newsman, not only attracts the largest overall audience (a weekly average of 3.35 million during the first three months of 2014, 5 percent more than “This Week,” 8 percent more than “MTP” and 61 percent more than “Fox News Sunday”) but the largest audience among the coveted 25-to-54 set, too.
Collectively, about 9.6 million people watched the three networks each week during the first three months of this year, about the same number that watched Russert in 2005. This doesn’t count the audience for innumerable Sunday-morning competitors, from Fox News Sunday (hosted by former “Meet the Press” moderator Chris Wallace) to “Al Punto” on Univision. (2015 cable news ratings here)
EXACTLY.
Many politicians come to kiss Ramos’s hand (I had to steal that) on “Al Punto”. It is embarrassing to witness, which is why I translated this visit where Rep. Diaz-Balart is justifying our party’s actions to Ramos, revealing John Boehner’s intentions on amnesty. It is cordial but contentious as always (it gets old but he is tireless). He grills the Republican, slaps him around, throws in a racist accusation or two and dangles the 11 million-potential-voter-carrot they can’t ignore. Gutierrez, of course, does not get the same treatment. The clip is a gem, proving the GOPe does not want to answer to us. If Republicans want to really prove how compassionate they are, they would take a hard look at and explain how they can justify amnesty when our families and children will be hurt by it. Ramos said this about the next election and Republicans:
1) It is now accepted fact that Hispanic voters were integral to delivering Barack Obama’s presidency, and the road to D.C. has been permanently rerouted.
2) An immigration bill—which Ramos called “a prerequisite” for Latinos to even consider voting Republican—passed the Democratic Senate, but there is close to no hope in the Republican-controlled House, at least at present. “They don’t get it,” he says. Ramos’s theory is that the Republican nominee in 2016 will simply say of the do-nothing Congress, “They were wrong,” and then offer an immigration proposal of his own. May 5, 2014 New York Magazine.
What do we call it.. a threat? blackmail? ultimatum? shakedown or all of the above? There are so many appearances to choose from, but in every interview, Ramos must come across as the one who cares more than our side which is less passionate and caring about the plight of illegals. If you disagree with any of the points he makes, you have to defend not being anti-immigrant or anti-Hispanic. Marco Rubio’s views are far from being anti-immigrant. (We hate them!) He has made it clear that immigration reform is inevitable, that he is against deportations and will not disrupt DACA (only legislation that is okay before securing the border according to Conant his adviser) but that’s not enough for the true extremists. Cruz is for a bipartisan solution to Immigration reform, which leaves me feeling a little queasy. Does he mean DC-type bipartisanship or a unanimous decision and consensus where D’s and R’s are representing the American people. In any case it is all futile effort because Ramos doesn’t care about them, the law or the fact that the GOPe is shortchanging us on immigration. He does extract their true colors, though, in the process.
Dear Jorge (hor-hey),
Rubio is for Amnesty, DACA and Dreamers!
We hate that as much as you resent it. Why don’t you support him?
Bilingual and legal
Ingraham knows why they flock to Ramos: to try to make inroads into the Hispanic vote, but asks what the difference between him and Graham is. [Why don’t you ask Jorge, Laura?!]
We have two Hispanics running for president because they ran on a strong message which generated grassroots excitement, and which translated into votes. One lied about it, the other a little more trustworthy but it remains to be seen. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with these presidential hopefuls should have nothing to do with their ethnicity, but character. The truth is, Ramos wishes the hero of this episode in history was a Hispanic Democrat, not a Hispanic Republican, and a Mexican, not a Cuban-American. At the end of this clip he pleads with Bill Richardson to run in 2016. Below is an example of this bias. It is short, in Spanish with English subtitles:
GOTCHA!
Ramos reminds Rubio above that millions of “Hispanics” want change (referring to millions of Mexican illegals, of course). Like all advocates for amnesty, (see Linda Vega) ‘undocumented’ is key. Rubio’s reply reflects what many in the community I live in believe: that immigration is a touchy, sensitive matter, a humanitarian, not political issue. (The same is probably true in other states where you don’t want to offend people you already know.) No matter what he says, though, he will be the bad guy. Univision will never cover Benghazi, Obama’s scandals or news that is not relevant to “Hispanics” (one particular sector..) Its bias (subtle or not) affects millions of bilinguals (55% prefer Noticiero Unvision to our new show), and what happens at home here and with neighbors is microcosmic of what happened before fair and balanced came around, or social media now. There are no competitors to challenge or enlighten viewers on other points of view. Certainly politicians can’t do so in just one sitting.
Rubio’s answer was cut off in the sub-titled clip, so I’m providing what was said in the full interview in Spanish to illustrate Ramos’s disdain for Rubio:
1 Family is not off the table. When Rubio was 16 his brother-in-law was sentenced to 25 years for drug trafficking (He was released in 2000 for good behavior). Rubio explains in his book American Son that it was a very difficult time for the family and scolds Ramos and Univision for making it the story front and center on the news when it had nothing to with him. It was just to smear Rubio. Ramos (playing dumb) insisted if he was going to run as VP in 2012 this information should be known. Rubio says they could have called him, not his sister, and that it was public record anyway; he called it a black eye for the network, but Ramos doesn’t stop there. He asks Rubio if he got money from his brother-in-law or was influenced in any way by him during his campaign. In no way, Rubio replied.
2 Ramos objects to ENGLISH as the official language of this country. If you speak it at home, he says, why should it be official? He says millions of voters could be affected by the police stopping or discriminating against anyone with an accent in Spanish. There are other negative consequences, he says, like being fired from jobs for speaking Spanish. It is discriminatory. Rubio: No one gets stopped for having an accent. In Florida English is the official language. It doesn’t stop you from speaking Spanish at home.
3 You’re Anti-Immigrant for not agreeing with me 100%. Ramos points to books on Rubio’s bookcase: He says Bush, Reagan, even McCain, a presidential candidate, were all for the legalization of illegals. Why aren’t you like them? Rubio: I am my own person and I base my views on what is happening in the country today. Ramos: People approach me saying he [Rubio] “does not defend us”. He says they want to see Rubio come out and defend them, the undocumented. Rubio: That’s not true. I defend.. Ramos: You could be president one day and change that. Rubio: Unfortunately, a lot of people make promises knowing they cannot keep. I say what I see can be done. Ramos: President Obama’s campaign manager told Univision it would be an insult to the Hispanic immigrant community if you [Republicans] had won the election in 2012 because your position is anti-Hispanic. Mitt Romney, for example, was for self-deportation. Rubio: Self-deportation means they made a decision to go back as a consequence of things getting difficult in Obama’s economy. I don’t know of anyone having positions that are ant-immigrant or anti-Hispanic. RAMOS: The perception is, you could be. RUBIO: Many on the left would say that. RAMOS: You could be powerful as the first Hispanic President of the U.S. or most powerful Hispanic, but your positions are 1) You are for the Arizona Law which persecutes immigrants, 2) you are against the Dream Act, and 3) you want English to be the official language. RUBIO: 1) The Arizona law is not meant for the entire nation but I support it because states have rights which I respect. 2) I do want to help the undocumented kids here and 3) English should be the official language like it is in Florida.
If you think I’m defending Rubio you’ve missed the point of this entire article.
Rubio has deserved all he got because of 2013. Like millions, I was angry he betrayed good Tea Party conservatives who voted for him thinking he was in their corner. He should have known better than to mess with immigration extremists, too. If there was any lesson to be learned, it is to speak clearly. I will never forget or condone his actions; however, SarahPac has urged us to support Cruz, Paul and Rubio from attacks from the left. She is right. And Ramos and Univision are part of those attacks.
RAMOS CALLS TED CRUZ AND HIS DAD DREAMERS
First, if Ramos had a one-year certificate to be in the United States because of Mexican censorship. His permit to work here must have had an expiration date. I don’t really care at this point if he overstayed a visa or not. Let’s assume he did every legally. It just makes me wonder why someone would be so adamantly AGAINST immigration law enforcement if he wasn’t illegal himself.
As a Cuban-American, I can say Ramos and those who lead “the” march to illegality resent our legality. He can’t help it. Ramos points out to Rubio that his grandfather and to Ted Cruz that his father were just like dreamers, simply asking for documentation. In Rubio’s case, it could not be compared because there was no law that existed that his grandfather was breaking in the first place. And Ted Cruz fends off the attack by explicitly saying his father was legal. Ramos ignores both explanations.
Even though he grilled Obama a while ago for not keeping his promise, Ramos says in this interview with pinhead OReilly: that Obama “evolved” on the legality of immigration action. Puleez. Obama said repeatedly he didn’t have the legal power to pass it, but Ramos and other activists are joyful that it was, and are emboldened by the move. They are trying not to sound ungrateful, but can’t hold back as this is just the start. They want all illegals here from every country amnestied, not just theirs. It will never end. By the way, Ramos says in English at the 3:33 (it’s such a bad habit!) that he is an immigrant.
I am being long-winded about this, but I am passionate about the subject. I recommend the tape below which illustrates what arguments we can use against amnesty. It is not by a politician but an anti-amnesty activist with no strings attached. He reminds me of Heather MacDonald: polite, smart and reasonable.In English:
So why should we care about what Ramos thinks? Most Americans are against it! Because…
Ramos may turn out to be one of the most influential journalists going into the 2016 presidential election.
That is scary. And I’m Hispanic! With much less on his resume he moderated at least three presidential debates. I’m happy to report, though, that “sour grapes” Ramos and his network have pounced on the fact that Univision was excluded from the Republican presidential debates. FYI, Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi said:
“The GOP needs Univision more than Univision needs the GOP,”
“For a party looking to be competitive nationally again, they can’t risk alienating the premier outlet that caters to the fastest-growing part of the electorate.”
Univision spokesperson Jose Zamora said,
“There is a very simple political reality—Hispanics will decide the 2016 Presidential election. No one can match Univision’s reach and ability to inform, provide access and empower Hispanic America. Anyone who wants to reach and engage Hispanics will have to do it through Univision..
Univision lead anchor Jorge Ramos said that both parties:
“have to make sure that their debates don’t look like the 2015 Oscar nominations,” referring to the lack of diversity among the Academy’s nominees.
THE DEBATES
RNC’s schedule is not much more encouraging as none of the anchors representing the networks are RAMOS in the reverse.
Our news outlets are at fault for not doing their job where amnesty is concerned. Millions complain about it, but none in power have had the will, drive or support to do anything about it consistently. Sarah Palin called for impeachment last year, but it fell on deaf ears across DC. It would be great if we had a powerful news anchor 24/7 defending America’s sovereignty like our nemesis on Univision does to violate it. What a dream to hear candidates answer to us accepting five non-negotiable’s in this war against amnesty:
Yes, English is our official language.
A pathway to citizenship really means amnesty.
I will not support Obama’s executive actions, DACA or DAPA.
Illegals are not ‘undocumented’ and dreamers are not the same as legal immigrants seeking documentation.
We will spend time debating deportation for lawbreakers for not just criminals, instead of how to make citizenship happen.
Americans have the right to secure their border first, and not be accused of being anti-immigrant or anti-Hispanic because of it.
Democrats are better at this, so we have to fight together to beat them on this and appeal to legal citizens and American voters affected by it.
Ingraham’s stance on amnesty has been effective in some races. She could be a good anchor, but her negatives would be she is unreliable politically: 1) she said she wasn’t going to get into presidential politics only state and local, but within 24 hours she was commenting on the national race, and 2) she is too quick and eager to back establishment candidates when push comes to shove. Chris McDaniel could be thrown into the mix just to spook the Rinos. Stuart Varney also came to mind (but I’m not sure what his stance on immigration is). We should start thinking about this and demand that the RNC providing moderators who will ask and demand clear answers, putting Priebus, our quasi-conservative media and any GOPe on notice that anyone who is for amnesty but wants to appear as they are not must take a hike!
Sarah Palin electrified millions when she dismissed Washington reporters as elitists in her VP acceptance speech, something we had never heard anyone say in politics. It was just one of the many moments that were part of that electrifying night. Who can forget those 25 seconds (:45 – 1:11)? (Schieffer’s reaction was priceless):
One month later Palin made the point to talk directly to the American without the filter of the media. We loved it. And still do!
Eight years later she is still talking to not at us, like the nation’s CEO, almost daily on her own online channel. Just today she addressed illegal immigration (again):
My advice to candidates:
TALK TO US DIRECTLY!
We cannot have a flippant attitude about immigration. It has to be done with a sense of urgency which the above presidential hopeful has. We cannot accept candidates wanting or trying to be the Candy Man to pushy Dreamers and/or innocent children who’ve been brainwashed from day one that it’s okay to break the law. Laws are our contract between government and its people and in their quest for power,
our lawmakers have become lawbreakers in helping push this agenda.
Ramos may be one of the Most Influential Latino Leaders in the world, but he is helping millions break our laws. You will get no apology from me for being for deportations, defending English as our official language, or militarizing the border. He says he never mentions his views on the evening news but Ramos gives his opinion everywhere else. When he asks if Mexicans would vote for a candidate just because they spoke Spanish, it is a legitimate question. If we had a black Republican candidate, would blacks turn out the vote for him? Not necessarily. In that regard Rubio and Cruz are wise not to run as Hispanics but on message, and that is what we vet them on, but I’m still calling Ramos out on his arrogance, racism and b.s. (making such a fuss over ethnicity) and sending this clear note to our own:
Dear Republican candidates,
We are the ones you should worry about. If you pander for illegal votes, you will lose our trust and our vote.
Your Constituents
No matter what intentions you as Republicans may have, or what your plans to reform immigration are, the majority of Latinos and/or Hispanics (camouflage for Mexican) do not and never really will sympathize with Republicans (like Ramos suggests). So why waste time on the 11 million illegal ‘birds in the bush’, when we have about 40 million legals in the hand willing to sacrifice for and abide by this country’s laws. We should be attracting Hispanics for the right reasons, not background.
The left knows no bounds on personal attacks, respect for laws or life, so it is up to us to continue pushing backing and to build an apparatus that will challenge the invasion (yes, it is an invasion and no, we’re not racists for saying so.) Tenacity and drive are key. We can start by reacting with caution to stories coming from this Spanish media because it is just like our liberal media. We have to act like Team R (relentless) vs. Team D (derelicts), regardless of party affiliation. For our sovereignty.
It remains to be seen whether Republicans will win in 2016 by courting the illegal vote. It did not help Reagan (or Americans) for him to pass amnesty in the long run. Democrats ended up not securing the border like they had promised in exchange for the 3 million amnestied. That’s what you get when you deal with Democrats.
Is Rubio a racist? No.
Is he godless? No.
Has he always wanted to pass immigration reform? Yes.
Is it a screwed up political agenda? Yes.
Is Jorge Ramos all of the above? Yes.
But immigration reform is no inevitable. We just have to fight relentlessly against it. Ramos is not just a journalist and he is not just a liberal. He represents the sleeping giant that is the future of American politics. That future is NOW.
And the power is OURS to relinquish.
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Basta! Enough. It is time for our version of who should be America’s Most Influential Leader 2016: