Looking Over Her Shoulder

Germany’s parliamentary elections are over. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats won taking first place with about a third of the available seats. The Social Democrats struggled to produce just shy of 21%, coming up a distant second. Sunday’s vote [9/24] continues Angela Merkel’s reign as Chancellor.

Merkel will be one of the democratic world’s longest chief executives, extending her hold as Germany’s Chancellor that began back in 2005. The German economy is strong, and with Brexit, that leaves two recently-elected/reelected leaders of major powers – France (Emmanuel Macron) and Germany (Merkel) – as Europe’s clear new power brokers. With yet another victory, given Donald Trump’s plunging international credibility, Merkel has solidified her increasingly-acknowledged role as the leader of the free world. The world has never, in recorded history, held a German leader in such high esteem… even long-departed and much revered Otto von Bismarck has to be yielding to her ascension… notwithstanding Germany’s post-WWII reluctance to assume that leadership role (Hitler is still a national humiliation).

So what could be wrong? Why isn’t this mega-superstar politician smiling? The little chart to her right (Bloomberg) explains it all. Merkel’s party lost 8.5% of its seats in the Bundestag. That’s bad. The two leading parties both lost ground. But the party that gained the most ground – the Alternative for Germany (AfD) – is a populist, anti-immigrant right wing nationalist party with strong support from neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Sound familiar? Except in the United States, this nationalist movement elected a President. In Germany, it just makes folks nervous. And in a nation that engaged in some of the worst genocide in history, the fact that the right wing is rising again makes folks very nervous. This erosion of the established political parties raises some very serious questions above Angela Merkel’s ability to govern and implement her policies.

“In a country that kept the far right restricted to the political sidelines for more than half a century [Germany], the rise of [AfD] marked a watershed moment on Sunday, according to first projections that showed the party winning more than 13 percent of the vote… The AfD won’t be in a position to drive a legislative agenda, but Sunday’s vote probably will give it something the far right had always been denied: parliamentary legitimacy on a national level.

“‘Once a party gains access to Parliament, chances become much lower that it will simply disappear again,’ said Tarik Abou-Chadi, a comparative politics researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin. ‘The election could remove the social stigma which has hampered other far-right parties in the past.’

“With seats in the Bundestag, the AfD will be eligible to receive more taxpayer funding. As the only anti-immigration party in a mostly consensus-based national parliament, the AfD can also hope to further sharpen its profile as an alternative to Chancellor Angela Merkel… ‘We will chase Ms. Merkel,’ AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland said after first projections Sunday showed big gains for the far right. His party was determined to ‘claim back our country and people,’ he said.” Washington Post, September 24^th.

Now called upon to create a ruling coalition, Merkel’s growing global luster is looking weaker and rusty within her own country. The liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), with 10.6% of the vote, is a natural coalition partner for Merkel’s Christian Democrats… but not enough to allow them alone to top off the coalition.

“‘The whole world might be turning to Merkel for leadership, but Sunday’s election could ultimately end up being a Pyrrhic victory,’ said Hasche, who predicts a stormy era ahead for Merkel after her Christian Democrats plunged from 42% support in 2013 to 33% Sunday — the party’s worst showing since 1949.

“[Merkel’s] center-right conservatives, who have dominated postwar politics, lost more than a million voters to the upstart Alternative for Germany party. The anti-immigrant, anti-Islam party won 12.6% of the vote Sunday by campaigning hard against the 1 million refugees who poured into the country in 2015 after Merkel opened the floodgates to refugees and migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere.

“The Christian Democrats also lost their aura of invincibility, a disconcerting development for countless thousands of party soldiers across the country who hold elected office. Their careers are suddenly looking vulnerable as a result of what some consider to have been a reckless decision to allow in so many refugees from Syria, Iraq and other trouble spots.” Los Angeles Times, September 26^th. Turning inwards and toward nationalism has never served countries that prioritize these goals well. The “us vs them” philosophy tends to lead to conflict, a withdrawal of support for the needy and an increase in polarization that truly threatens the viability of traditional democracy. It may be just shy of 13% of the Bundestag… but the AfD is now a legitimate political voice with a seat at the governing table… the first such extreme right wing party since Hitler.

I’m Peter Dekom, and there are plenty of new tea leaves to read, but the brew is tasting increasingly bitter.

Puerto Not So Rico

"Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble."

"It's (sic) old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with."

“Texas and Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from a broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble”

Three post-Hurricane Maria tweets from Donald Trump

Trump issued 24 distinct tweets on the burning issue confronting him before turning to a totally devastated Puerto Rico. North Korea’s preparing for war based on their perception that a Trump tweet was a de facto declaration of war against them? No. The failure of the GOP to get a “repeal and replace” healthcare bill passed by the September 30 parliamentary deadline? No… although both of these issues did generate a few Trump-tweets and verbal responses. Nope, those 24 tweets were all about those “son of bitches” NFL players who exercised their First Amendment rights and, to Trump, disrespected the national anthem and the U.S. flag.

After the worst storm to hit in 89 years, the island territory of nearly 3.5 million people (virtually all are U.S. citizens) lost roads, bridges, 90% of cell phone towers, had thousands and thousands of homes destroyed or rendered unlivable, water supply systems unable to deliver potable water (as of September 27^th, according to the DOD, 44% of the population remain without access to drinking water), ATM machines (those with power) are drained of cash, livelihoods vaporized, vital tourism gone, there has been a 97% collapse of the power generation capacity as well as much of the grid itself, horrible food shortages are dire, medical supplies continue to dwindle towards zero, people are dying in hospitals running out of fuel for their generators (even as fuel arrives onto the island, getting to gas stations, which also don’t have electricity to pump it, is very problematical), raw sewage is flowing through broken pipes and into the many flooded areas that have not drained away and the main airport simply cannot begin to handle the demand, hot and fetid from the lack of power. The above two satellite photographs show a night view of Puerto Rico before and after Hurricane Maria slammed into the island.

“The Trump administration scrambled on Tuesday [9/26] to show it wasn’t snubbing Puerto Rico, with the White House trotting out officials to describe an aggressive federal response to Hurricane Maria’s devastation and President Donald Trump insisting he’s gotten ‘good marks’ for the relief efforts.

“Trump and his aides have found themselves on the defensive for the president’s muted response to the latest storm, which devastated the island and left millions of American citizens without electricity, housing or running water.” Politco.com, September 26^th. Indeed, during an early afternoon press conference with the Spanish Prime Minister, Trump insisted that the NFL cacophony was not distracting him and that he was getting “really good marks” and “tremendous reviews” in how he was handling the situation, saying he was receiving particularly high praise from Puerto Rico governor (who claims he was just asking for more federal aid).  Pat, pat, pat… yourself on your back!!! How stunningly appropriate!

Meanwhile according to CNN, as of September 28^th, 10,000 containers, filled with needed supplies, sit motionless behind fences in the San Juan harbor; only 4% have made it into the territory where these goods are needed. No drivers. No fuel. Many roads and bridges remain impassible. FEMA’s presence is still marginal, with only minor immediate relief, claiming that there is a process that needs to be followed. Right… process is so important while people are suffering. Imagine what could happen if the U.S. military were charged with this mission; it would get done! As will be noted below, there is some movement towards handing this debacle to the military.

“But [even] short-term efforts like search-and-rescue missions or restoring Puerto Rico’s power grid are different than long-term projects like hardening the power grid to ensure it can withstand a major hurricane. The FEMA money focuses on the short-term effort, but months from now Republicans and Democrats will inevitably debate the merits of long-term relief for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. Texas has 38 votes in Congress and Florida has 29, and if they stick together the majority-Republican states can be an important voting bloc in a contentious negotiation… In contrast, Puerto Rico has one non-voting delegate.” Miami Herald, September 25^th.

Yes, FEMA is present. Yes, one single naval hospital ship is en route. And yes, Donald Trump is ordering more federal troops to the island to help with reconstruction.  Trump acknowledged the greater complexity of bringing aid to an island, but as the above tweet illustrates, Trump is blaming the debt-ridden territory of Puerto Rico itself for allowing the infrastructure to deteriorate to the point where a hurricane could render the island into a powerless chaotic mess that will take months, if not years to repair.

Nothing explains federal ambivalence like the following scenario; it’s pretty obvious that the Trump administration is more interested in optics versus a full-blown effort to help desperate people: “On Monday [9/25], U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez [D-PR] and seven other representatives asked Elaine Duke, acting head of Homeland Security, to waive the nearly 100-year-old [Jones Act] shipping law for a year to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria… The Trump administration on Tuesday [9/26] said there was no need to waive shipping restrictions to help get fuel and supplies to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, because it would do nothing to address the island’s main impediment to shipping, damaged ports.

“The Jones Act limits shipping between coasts to U.S. flagged vessels. However, in the wake of brutal storms, the government has occasionally issued temporary waivers to allow the use of cheaper, tax free or more readily available foreign-flagged ships… The Department of Homeland Security, which waived the act after hurricanes Harvey and Irma, did not agree an exemption would help this time.” Reuters, September 26^th. Local Puerto Rican officials obviously and strongly disagreed. Hey, one rule for “white states” that voted for Trump…

 “‘We’re thinking about [lifting Jones Act restrictions], but we have a lot of shippers, a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday [9/27]. ‘And we have a lot of ships out there right now.’” TheHill.com, September 27^th. Seriously? OK, while Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens with a right to U.S. passports, they are (i) mostly Latinos, (ii) mostly supportive of the Democratic Party, (iii) the territory has serious financial issues and (iv) it does seem as if Trump will only go so far – maximize the optics but minimize the assistance – for a U.S. territory he seems to dislike.

But those “optics” of holding on to the Jones Act, such a minor effort to grant a waiver, finally got to the President. He finally cracked on September 28^th and, responding to the desperate pleas of PR Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló, finally issued a temporary easing of Jones Act restrictions. But the effort to generate the level of financial support for bankrupt-Puerto Rico that the island really needed is nowhere.

It seems that Trump himself may have been one of the reasons Puerto is insolvent. In the summer of 2015, Trump International Golf Club in Ro Grande, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy. Among the creditors left high and dry was the territorial government, stuck with an unpaid $33 million bill. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Trump. This is a separate owner. We purely manage the golf course," said Eric Trump at the time. Hey, wonder if he got his degree from Trump University? It’s okay, Eric boy, daddy has promised to visit both the U.S. Virgin Islands (also decimated) and Puerto Rico in the coming days.

Trump’s insistence that Puerto Rico must simultaneously deal with its recovery nightmare as well as the restructuring of its debt seemed a bit callous to the mayor of capital city San Juan. “San Juan's mayor urged the United States on Tuesday [9/26] to prioritize ‘people above debt’ as it helps rebuild from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, after President Donald Trump said that the island's crippling debt [$72 billion] ‘must be dealt with.’…

“‘You don't put debt above people, you put people above debt.’ San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz told CNN in an interview. ‘There is a moral imperative ... When someone is in need, when someone is in dire need, when someone is in a life or death situation, there is a human, moral imperative to deal with that situation before dealing with anything else.’” AOL.com, September 26^th. Not how it works in Trumpland, Carmen. Latinos don’t support Republicans or Donald Trump. Is that why during that 24-NFL-tweet-storm, Trump issued four about Puerto Rico. Trump only began to move, slightly, when he was beginning to look bad even to his own base. Hey Puerto Rico, you might just let Donald foreclose on the entire island… then, it’s his problem.

While Democrats are pushing for the same kind of Congressional aid for other recently hurricane-impacted states (post-Harvey support quickly passed Congress), there is nothing wending its way to a floor vote to meet the incredible and desperate needs of the people of Puerto Rico. Even release of existing, short-term FEMA funding needs immediate Congressional support. There is nothing yet resembling the kind of FEMA reaction after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Trump’s FEMA-head, William Brock Long speaking on CNN (September 28^th): “It takes time.” Yeah… time.

Perhaps finally realizing that ineffective-FEMA is making Donald Trump look so much worse (optics, optics, optics), “Lt. General Jeffrey Buchanan has been appointed to lead all military hurricane efforts in Puerto Rico, according to multiple US Defense officials. Buchanan is expected to arrive in Puerto Rico today [0/28]. The military will focus on trying to improve distribution networks of relief supplies.” CNN, September 28^th. Why wasn’t this done a week ago… and exactly how many resources can Buchanan access and deploy… and how quickly?

I’m Peter Dekom, and we have now added another category to the polarization that defines modern America: third class citizens.

Kexit? Please Don’t Send Our Kurds Away

Who are “Kurds,” anyway? There are somewhere between 30 and 45 million people who identify themselves as “Kurds,” mostly focused in Turkey (18% of Turkey’s population is Kurdish), Iran (under 10%), Syria (9%) and Iraq (17%), who attempt to trace their lineage back to an ancient Middle Eastern peoples, but whether there is that a clear connection is in dispute. One true reality, however: “The region’s Kurds… have longed for a state of their own since at least the end of World War I, when they were partitioned among Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.” Los Angeles Times, September 24^th.

 “Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, and even use a calendar dating from 612 B.C., when the Assyrian capital of Nineveh was conquered by the Medes. The claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem: ‘We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow.’” Wikipedia.

They share three dialects of Kurdish, but they often cannot understand any version but their own, and their religious practices are all over the place. From varying versions of Islam or Christianity, there are also smaller sects reaching into Zoroastrianism, Alevism, Yazidism and Yarsan. But they call themselves Kurds, recognize cultural similarities and speak one of those three dialects in addition to the language(s) of the local host nation.

When the United States blasted into Iraq in 2003, deposing the Sunni minority (20%) dictator – Saddam Hussein, who ran roughshod over the country’s 60%+ Shiite majority and 18% Kurdish population in the northern-most region – Shiites began tormenting their former masters, Sunnis, as the Kurds circled their northern wagons and began operating their Kurdish enclave semi-independently, within Iraq, under the name “Kurdistan Regional Government.” Occasional struggles over viable oil fields around the city of Kirkuk have entangled the Kurds against the new Shiite ruling faction, but for the most part those Northern Kurds made a success of their Iraqi territory.

Those northern, semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurds have given renewed hopes to other regional Kurds in neighboring countries that perhaps, someday, all those regional Kurds, often sharing a common boundary with other regional Kurds, would be unified in a new (??) and completely separate nation… Kurdistan. As Americans recognized the fiercest fighters against ISIS were Kurdish volunteers, mostly from Turkey, we soon watched as Turkish forces, ostensibly attacking ISIS regulars, instead attacking those same Kurdish volunteers (the legendary Peshmerga), and labeling these Kurds as “terrorists.” While each nation with large Kurdish populations opposes the notion of allowing those Kurds the right to separate to form “Kurdistan,” Turkey has been the most violently opposed to its own Kurdish faction; it been an on-again-off-again violent struggle that has only grown worse as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has consolidated his autocratic hold on Turkey in recent years.

Wikipedia explains: “The Kurdish–Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups, which have demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or to have autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey. The main rebel group is the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan). Although insurgents have carried out attacks in many regions of Turkey, the insurgency is mainly in southeastern Turkey. The PKK's presence in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, from which it has also launched attacks, has resulted in the Turkish military carrying out frequent ground incursions and air and artillery strikes in the region. The conflict has cost the economy of Turkey an estimated 300 to 450 billion dollars, mostly military costs. It has also affected tourism in Turkey.”

Undaunted, those northern Iraqi Kurds have now taken it upon themselves to hold a referendum on the issue of a true and official separate state. “Kurdish leaders say their region, which has suffered major losses in the fight against Islamic State, has earned the right to self-governance…

“For the jubilant, flag-waving throngs who filled rallies across Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish enclave in recent weeks, a vote on independence Monday [9/25] represents a chance to realize a dream cherished for generations.

“But every major player in the region opposes the referendum, placing the Kurds on a collision course with neighbors and allies, including the U.S., which warns that it could ignite conflict with the central government in Baghdad and unleash ethnic fighting in a part of the world still roiled by the battle against Islamic State.

“Kurdish forces played a pivotal role in the campaign to reclaim Mosul, the largest city to fall to the extremist group also known as ISIS and Daesh. But U.S. officials say the conflict over Monday’s referendum is undermining efforts to drive the militants from their remaining footholds in Iraq.

“U.S. diplomats and their Western allies are making last-ditch efforts to persuade the northern Kurdish region’s president, Massoud Barzani, to delay the plebiscite in favor of mediated negotiations with Baghdad. The United Nations also has appealed for dialogue, saying it will not be ‘engaged in any way or form’ in Monday’s [9/25] referendum.

“Diplomats are particularly concerned about the decision to hold voting in disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad — notably the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The move has raised tensions that they say Islamic State and other extremists are seeking to exploit.

“Iraq’s prime minister, Haider Abadi, called the referendum a ‘dangerous escalation’ and said he was prepared to intervene militarily if violence breaks out. Iraq’s parliament declared the plebiscite unconstitutional and moved to dismiss the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk, who supports the referendum and says only the provincial council can remove him.

“Two of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey and Iran, concerned that the referendum could inflame secessionist aspirations among their own Kurdish minorities, have said they are considering countermeasures. Turkey is carrying out military drills near northern Iraq, and Iran has threatened to close its border with the landlocked Kurdish enclave.” LA Times.

Iran, a nation where repression is a way of life, sent a loud and clear message to these Iraqi separatists: “Iran blocked flights to and from the neighboring Iraqi region of Kurdistan on Sunday [9/24] while holding military exercises on the border, the sharpest signals yet of its opposition to a Kurdish referendum on independence from Iraq planned for Monday [9/25].

“Tehran’s extraordinary move to close its airspace came at the request of the Iraqi central government, Iranian media reported, and represents the kind of economic pressure Kurdish leaders can expect as they push ahead with a vote against the wishes of Baghdad and prominent members of the international community.” Washington Post, September 24^th. Should it declare independence, landlocked “Kurdistan” – entirely surrounded by hostile neighbors – could find itself isolated and economically crippled in its quest for statehood.

The plebiscite turnout was high, estimated at around 72% of the voting public, but there are non-Kurds in this area as well, many of whom were not happy at the electoral challenge; in Kirkuk, the local ethnic Arab and Turkmen communities called for a boycott of the vote. But mostly, it was Kurds, Kurds, Kurds!

And trust me, Kurds in Iran, Syria and Turkey are paying attention. We deeply destabilized the Middle East with our invasion of Iraq, imposing our view of “democracy” on Baghdad, and further rubbed salt in the wound in our military efforts in Afghanistan. This vote in northern Iraq is a direct and proximate result of our reconfiguring the regional power structure; it is just one more feature of the American-induced chaos in the region.

UN Secretary General António Guterres voiced his concern about the ‘potentially destabilizing effects’ of the vote. But as Kurds feel their oats, dream their dream of independence, the outbreak of new levels of regional violence seems inevitable… as if the Middle East weren’t destabilized enough. Did I mention the outcome of the vote: Preliminary estimates sat the Iraqi Kurds voted 90% for independence. “Kurds say it will give them a mandate to negotiate secession, but Iraq's PM denounced it as ‘unconstitutional.’… Neighbours Turkey and Iran, fearing separatist unrest in their own Kurdish minorities, threatened to close borders and impose sanctions on oil exports.” BBC.com, September 25^th.

Many Iraqi legislators are calling for a complete government shake-up because the leadership failed to stop this referendum and contain Kurdish separatists. Another battle begins. About rights, territory… and oil. “Iraq’s prime minister, angered by a vote on independence by his nation’s Kurdish minority, has given the country’s Kurdish region until Friday [9/29] to surrender control of its two international airports or face a shutdown of international flights.” New York Times, September 26^th. This going to get very ugly.

I’m Peter Dekom, and as one unholy mess unleashes in one part of the world – mostly recently the exchange of cold, hard threats with North Korea – the world is bracing for more violence in that other boiling cauldron of irreconcilable differences: the Middle East.

More Spanish-Speakers than Spain

"Happy Cinco de Mayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill," Trump tweeted, "I love Hispanics!" 5/5/16

The American showdown has begun. White Christian traditionalists vs a racially, ethnically and culturally diverse “other.” The traditionalists, through voter restrictions and gerrymandering, have the votes. They control the majority of state governorships, state legislatures, Congress and the presidency. Donald Trump is their spokesperson.

But these traditionalists are the true minority these days, finally outnumbered by those former “minorities.” There is no legal way for them to hold on. Voter ID laws are constantly being tossed by courts. On August 23^rd, for example, a federal judge ruled against yet another failed attempt by the Texas legislature to mandate voter IDs aimed at excluding minority voters. Gerrymandering is before the U.S. Supreme Court. As fast as Donald Trump can shove these former “minorities” folks out the door – literally and by distorted legal structures – their numbers still grow.

Forgetting about the millions and millions of non-Hispanic “minorities” who are a very large part of the American body politic (Asians, blacks, etc.), just looking at our Latino Americans, they are clearly in numbers “too big to ignore” or continue to marginalize. “Drawing on a critical mass of native speakers, the United States now has by some counts more than 50 million hispanohablantes, a greater number of Spanish speakers than Spain. In an English-speaking superpower, the Spanish-language TV networks Univision and Telemundo spar for top ratings with ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. The made-in-America global hit song of the summer? ‘Despacito.’”  New York Times, August 23^rd.

And as much as the Trump administration, through leadership changes and budget cuts, is trying to marginalize the reporting of these ethnic minorities in the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, they cannot be held down forever. Like it or not, the United States is one of the most ethnically, racially and religiously diverse nations on earth. None of the Mexican walls, racist marches, renegotiated trade agreements, limitations on and reductions in the number of all forms of visas, or the justice department’s reversion to “law and order” over the former priority of “equal justice,” are going to change the complexion of who we really are.

Yet as the Trump administration’s words following the disgusting neo-Nazi, KKK and white supremacist march in Charlottesville pretty much confirm what we already know. “America First” really means “White Christians” first. “Make America Great” really means “Make America White Again.” Trump’s white America base is committed to using every means that they can twist the legal system to exclude those once-minorities and seal white Americans’ control over the entire political (and concomitant economic) system. They are pushing at every possible level. Even at language.

“[More”] than 20 states have enacted laws making English the official language, President Trump won the election with a platform that included building a border wall, and his push for new limits on legal immigration would require that applicants speak English to obtain legal residency green cards…

“Immigration from Latin America bolstered the use of Spanish in the United States in recent decades, but scholars say other factors are also in play, including history, the global reach of the language, and the ways in which people move around throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

“Authorities in parts of the United States have repeatedly argued for curbing the spread of Spanish, like the former Arizona schools chief who said all Spanish-language media should be silenced. A judge pushed back this week against that official’s drive to also ban the state’s Mexican-American studies program, saying the ban was ‘motivated by racial animus.’

“Linguists trace some of the coveted vibrancy that Spanish now enjoys to decisions made well before Spain began colonizing the New World in 1492… Even today, Spanish remains mutually intelligible around the world to a remarkable degree, with someone, say, from the Patagonian Steppe in Argentina able to hold a conversation with a visitor from Equatorial Guinea, one of Africa’s largest oil exporters…

“Rivaling Spain and parts of Latin America, the United States exemplifies how the movement of people throughout the Spanish-speaking world is taking the language in new directions.

“In metropolitan Los Angeles, an area with more than 4 million Spanish speakers — more than Uruguay’s entire population — linguists say that anew dialect has coalesced as different types of Spanish come into contact with one another. And… in New Mexico, an influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants is nourishing and reshaping a variant of Spanish that has persisted since the 16th century.” NY Times.

It’s a pretty disgusting to watch how far this extremist wing of white America will go to push and shove black, Asian, Jewish and Hispanic Americans out a trap door that does not exist. Did I mention that I am a white Christian America… and was actually born here? But this never-ending attempt to reconfigure my country into white America simply makes me sick. That ethnic, cultural, religious and racial diversity is what has already made America great.

I’m Peter Dekom, and mixing people from diverse backgrounds has led to a nation that, at least to date, has been the most innovative country on earth.