| By Admin1 (admin) on Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 5:05 am: Edit Post |
The nomination process for important government positions nowadays seems to be
based not so much on qualifications but rather on how much someone has
contributed towards a particular campaign and Vasquez' case is no exception. Most
troubling for anyone with a memory is that Bush and Co. have in Vasquez a Latino
Republican who is comfortable with his party's record towards Latinos in the
anti-immigrant wars that started in Vasquez' home county and exploited by
Republicans back when it was feasible.
By appointing Vasquez, Republicans can finally show to all Latinos, but especially
those in Orange County, "Look, here's one of your own! He doesn't have a problem
with us even though we demonized your community no more than six years ago. So
why should you?"
In this context, Vasquez' nomination seems more a shrewd political move by Bush to
capture more of our precious votes than actually hiring the most capable person for
the job.
My concerns are not partisan since I am not affiliated with any political party. Instead,
I view the Vasquez nomination as yet another example of a blight that attacks the very
foundation of democracy (the reward system for positions rather than one based on
merit) and the continued use of Latinos as pawns in a game of political chess.
While we should rejoice that one of our own has been nominated to such a
prestigious position, we must also see the opportunism involved in using Latinos
such as Vasquez for Republicans' latest attack in the war against the Democrats for
our political souls.
Read the full story here:
http://www.latinola.com/vasquez.html