(SPECIAL-LENGTH FINAL COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS)

   By: Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
How do you end a column after 16 years? With regrets and unfulfilled dreams? Perhaps, but truthfully, Column of the Americas as a deadline-based column ends with even bigger dreams.

There indeed is disappointment with the ease in which the U.S. populace has accepted and normalized 1) the notion of permanent war as a God-given U.S. birthright; 2) the further militarization of the nation & world; 3) the politics of fear, hate and blame; and 4) Big Brother Government. All with nary a whimper.

Under George W. Bush, this was not surprising. The disappointment has come in seeing the Obama administration generally embrace the reactionary policies of Bush’s 9-11 Nation. Despite the 2006 & 2008 electoral sweeps – in which the electorate thoroughly repudiated the Republican program of war, xenophobia and corporate welfare – [angry] conservatives act as though they won. The irony is that president Obama actually has governed as though he agrees, and owes them. For example, his health care reform is actually a centrist compromise; universal health care it is not.

There are regrets; while many of us drove CNN’s Lou Dobbs into political exile, we didn’t consistently go after the entertainment industry – an industry that enables dehumanization and what amounts to racial apartheid. During this era, Jay Leno made Americans comfortable laughing nightly at “illegal aliens.” After 35 years, Saturday Night Live has still not taken its “No Red-Brown comedians need apply” signs down, and Spanish-language TV continues to generally be an assortment of “all-blonde” networks.

Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez and Patrisia Gonzales, Ph.D

Another regret is that the journalism profession has now become the lapdog of government.

Even now, there’s plenty of money for invading, occupying and bombing nations, but little for health and education.

While pols are seemingly unaware of this jarring equation, media lapdogs are nowadays handsomely rewarded for being consistently wrong and/or silent.

Enough on these failings.

The bigger dreams involve ceasing writing reactively and writing from a point of creation. Column writing is necessarily reactive; I’ve been writing about human/Indigenous rights, anti-immigrant hysteria and U.S.-support of brutal military dictatorships since 1972. And now, with a president lying us into Iraq, the instinct is to counter. The same holds true when society unabashedly scapegoats brown peoples, and treats migrants as disposable populations; witness the March 21 rally in Washington D.C. More than demanding reform, it was a demand by more than 100,000 marchers to treat migrants as full human beings. While the president’s centrist approach to immigration reform places a heavy emphasis on draconian enforcement, conservatives will interpret human rights for migrants and “the path to legalization” as nothing short of “freeing the slaves” and a cause for insurrection.

Simply creating, without countering is akin to burying one’s head in the sand. But there comes a time when always responding means always reacting – rarely creating. But because of permanent war, my focus as a writer lately, has become heavily tiled towards resistance. The creation element of who I am has suffered (this is true of most people). It’s time for balance, thus a time to create.

Through the years, I’ve been exposed to great maestros/maestras and great Tlamintini – great teachers – who have shared their knowledge and Huehuetlahtolli (ancient guidances) about what it means to be human. Hereafter, I want to continue with those traditions and contribute to the definition of what it means to be human.

In discontinuing the column, I take no pleasure in hereafter writing strictly for an academic audience. It goes against who I am. I’ve always written for mass audiences, including writing Column of the Americas since 1994 for more than 100 newspapers nationwide. For the first 12 years, it was co-written as a weekly, syndicated column with my wife, Patrisia Gonzales, for Chronicle Features, then Universal Press Syndicate (Her Patzin column is slated to return). In writing for the academy, the audience is much smaller and narrower, while jargon is the preferred means of communication. It’s not naturally conducive for storytelling. Even beyond that, the acceptable experts continue to be “the usual suspects.”

I will continue to assert that if our own aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, neighbors and other elders – whom we used to quote frequently – can’t understand our own writing, then what good did all our years of schooling accomplish?

As such, I plan to continue to make public the knowledge that has been passed on to me via elder knowledge – in forthcoming essays and columns and academic and non-academic books. I look forward to the day when I will not have to write for two separate audiences.

I also look forward to the day when we as a society have finally eliminated war as a “solution” to anything, and when society ceases to divide human beings into legal and illegal categories. I am convinced that even the most conservative of conservatives don’t either want such a society. I look forward to the day when we can all truly say: San Ce Tojuan – Nosotros Somos Uno – We Are One.

It’s not something that comes about solely through dreaming. One has to imagine it, fight for it, and then live it.

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You change my way of writing, you change my way of thinking. You change my way of thinking, you change who I am.
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Having it Both Ways — CNN wants us to watch “Latino in America,” but they’re still broadcasting Lou Dobbs?

From Presente.ORG:

In just one week, CNN will launch its “Latino in America” series, which tells the stories of Latinos from across the country. There’s just one thing missing: Lou Dobbs. That’s right. Four hours about the Latino experience in America, and not a word about the man who spends every weeknight telling lies about immigrants, and spreading hatred and fear about Latinos.

Together with award-winning filmmaker Arturo Perez, we’re calling out CNN’s hypocrisy with a powerful new video: “CNN: Lou Dobbs or Latinos in America?” Please watch the video and add your voice to the more than 50,000 others already demanding that CNN dump Dobbs. And then spread the word to your friends and family.

Our campaign against Lou Dobbs is clearly getting to him – he’s railed against us on his radio show, and rumors are now swirling that he’s looking for other jobs at more conservative networks. Now is the time to keep the pressure on. We’re trying to gather as many signatures as we can before “Latino in America” airs on Oct. 21-22. Will you join us, and share this action with your friends and family? It only takes a moment:

Take Action Against Dobbs — http://bastadobbs.com/video/?mid=1751-27240

Thank you and Adelante!

Favianna, Roberto, Laurie and the rest of the Presente.Org team

References

1. “Dobbs Takes Aim at HuffPost Critic,” Huffington Post, 9-23-2009: http://tinyurl.com/lrnbdx
2. “Fox’s Volley With Obama Intensifying,” New York Times, 10-11-2009: http://tinyurl.com/yg5qf9w

Jon Stewart Eviscerates CNN

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MediaMatters: For years, Lou Dobbs has been one of the most dangerous hosts on cable news. He benefits enormously from the legitimacy of the CNN brand, which provides him with an unparalleled platform from which to mainstream the hate speech and racially charged conspiracy theories normally relegated to Fox News and other conservative news outlets. Dobbs calls himself an “advocacy journalist,” but he doesn’t even live up to that ambiguous standard. Good journalism enhances the discussion of serious topics, but Dobbs helps to undermine and debase that discussion, routinely infusing it with misinformation and fear. And when it comes to issues like immigration, he has more in common with birther Orly Taitz than with Anderson Cooper. [ READ MORE ]

Meanwhile (POLITICO) Reports:

Hispanic group to CNN: Rein in Dobbs: One of the country’s leading Hispanic organizations is launching a campaign designed to pressure CNN to rein in host Lou Dobbs.

The organization behind the campaign, Democracia Ahora, is kicking off the effort Friday with the release of a report based on interviews with 100 Hispanic leaders about the impact of Dobbs’ evening show.

The results of the report are not surprising – 90 percent of the interviewees believe Dobbs is helping create a negative image of Hispanics, with his frequent criticisms of illegal immigration.

But Democracia Ahora is hoping the report inspires a grassroots movement aimed at executives at CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, to draw attention to what the group calls “frequent negative portrayals of Hispanics on the Lou Dobbs show.” It is using its release to start a national campaign, “Enough is Enough!” that will be carried out through a Web site, www.TellCNNEnoughisEnough.com, that goes live Friday. [ READ MORE ] [ You may also take action at: DropDobbs.com ]

Dobbs thanks FAIR (a hate-group) for hosting “great town hall event” on “amnesty”

MediaMatters REPORT: CNN’s Lou Dobbs problem and the immigration debate — In light of Lou Dobbs’ reported plans to help lead the upcoming lobbying campaign of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) — an organization designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center — Media Matters for America reviews some of the most egregious conspiracy theories, hate speech, and undisclosed conflicts of interest in Dobbs’ immigration reporting. [ READ MORE ]

Dobbs suggests Media Matters is “hate group” for calling attention to his FAIR ties

Also, the Southern Poverty Law Center has joined the campaign calling on Dobbs’ Advertisers to Dump Him. The avuncular CNN host has a long history of stirring up hate against Latino immigrants by reporting wildly inaccurate information and sneeringly focusing on the immigration issue day after day on CNN. Click here for details

References:

1. CNN’s Lou Dobbs – The Minister of ‘Propaganda and Enlightenment’ – An Anti-Immigrant Bigot. A Racist, Xenophobic Extortionist.
2. The Teflon Nativists: FAIR Marked by Ties to White Supremacy
3. FAIR: Nation’s Most Prominent Anti-Immigration Group has History of Hate, Extremism
4. The FAIR Website — Packed With Racist Lies and Innuendo
5. Dobbs Provides A Platform For Racists

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June 17, 2009 Dear Friend, Like you, my colleagues and I were deeply saddened by the murder of security guard Stephen Johns at the Holocaust Museum. It’s unfortunate that it sometimes takes a tragic event like this to focus the nation’s attention on the very real threat of domestic terrorism. At the Southern Poverty Law Center, we’re working hard to track and expose extremists like the anti-Semitic fanatic who lashed out last week. In fact, in the latest issue of our Intelligence Report, we warned about a dangerous resurgence of right-wing extremism since President Obama was elected. We’re also working closely with law enforcement — making sure that officers have the latest intelligence on extremists and training them to combat hate crimes and domestic terrorism. Every day, we get calls from law enforcement officials who want information about extremists in their areas. In addition to the Holocaust Museum shooting, we’ve seen the murders of five police officers by extremists in recent months and the assassination of a prominent Kansas physician by an extremist tied to the anti-government militia movement. These killers may have acted alone, but they were all influenced by the hate movement in America. What’s alarming is that this movement is now being aided and abetted by far-right pundits on cable TV and talk radio, who are fanning the flames of hate with their increasingly hysterical rhetoric targeting President Obama, the government, Latino immigrants and others who are not like them. These are the same commentators who ridiculed the recent Department of Homeland Security that predicted the very kind of violent attacks we’re now seeing. We all need to speak out against hate — whether it’s in the national media or in our communities. Thursday, we’ll be at the National Press Club in Washington for a panel discussion about extremist rhetoric in the media. We hope the lessons from this latest tragedy won’t soon fade from our national consciousness. I can assure you that we will remain vigilant. Thank you for standing with us and for all you do for the cause of justice. Sincerely, J. Richard Cohen, CEO and President You can donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center online. Contact SPLC: online. Or by mail: Southern Poverty Law Center 400 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36104

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Right-Wing media NutBAGS have baselessly blamed Mexican immigrants for spreading swine flu across the border, despite the fact that several reports have indicated that U.S. swine flu patients had recently traveled to Mexico.

Standing out in this crowd of Cattle-Callers is Michelle “Aunt Thomasina” Malkin, a Filipino American in the mode of Micheal Steele, the Head Nigger in Charge at the RNC or James T. Harris — A ReTHUGliTOM Suffering From Acute “Negro-Negrophobia.”

   [ Michelle Malkin Is An IDIOT ]

Though, she constantly refers to herself as a “Great American,” she first, as far as I am concerned, IS a child of Filipino immigrants, and that makes her call to round up all Mexicans in the United States, and lately — that Mexican immigrants are disease carriers (leprosy carriers per Lou Dobbs), more despicable than the preachings of Sick Media Toilets like Micheal Savage, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

[ MORE: Hate-Mongering Conservative Commentators Using Swine Flu to Promote Racism! ] [ Michelle Malkin and Michael Savage Use Swine Flu Crisis to Peddle Their Xenophobia ]

Malkin Scapegoats Immigrants For FLU Spread

Swine FLU — Possible Pandemic

Michelle The PSYCHOPATH — Accused Sen. John Kerry of Shooting Himself on Purpose

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