Thursday's show: Democrats and ICE, Lopez-Obrador in Mexico and other stories

Thursday's video: Let's have an up and down vote on ICE........

Thursday's video:   Let's have an up and down vote on ICE........

Democrats and ICE: https://t.co/FNlLDD96uc via @YouTube

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) June 28, 2018

LO promising like BO?

Back in 2008, we were all amazed at the Obama impact on crowds. I remember an article by Fouad Ajami where he warned us about the crowds:

There is something odd — and dare I say novel — in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail. Hitherto, crowds have not been a prominent feature of American politics. 

We associate them with the temper of Third World societies. We think of places like Argentina and Egypt and Iran, of multitudes brought together by their zeal for a Peron or a Nasser or a Khomeini. 

In these kinds of societies, the crowd comes forth to affirm its faith in a redeemer: a man who would set the world right…

…The political genius of the man is that he is a blank slate. The devotees can project onto him what they wish. 

…The day after, the crowd will of course discover its own fissures. The affluent will have to pay for the programs promised the poor…

…as the devotees sustain the candidacy of a man whose public career has been a steady advocacy of reining in the market and organizing those who believe in entitlement and redistribution.

The morning after the election, the disappointment will begin to settle upon the Obama crowd. … Victory will steadily deliver the sobering verdict that our troubles won’t be solved by a leader’s magic.

Wow — is he talking about Obama, Andrés Lopez-Obrador, or both?

Down in Mexico, Lopez-Obrador is using the Obama playbook, the game of telling crowds what they want to hear.     

My friend Allan Wall compiled this list of “promesas” or promises:    

To bring about the Fourth Transformation of Mexico, without violence.  (By “fourth transformation,” AMLO means after one, Independence; two, The Reform; and three, The Revolution.)

To End corruption. 

To establish the “kingdom of justice” upon the earth.

To only earn half the presidential salary of current president Peña Nieto; to not have as president a fleet of planes and helicopters.

In the southern state of Oaxaca, to finish turnpikes to the coast and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and to give teachers a pay raise

AMLO says he won’t live in Los Pinos, he will sell the federal government’s planes and helicopters, and that high-ranking functionaries will have to get medical attention at ISSSTE, Seguro or Seguro Popular and not private medical care paid for by the government.

The Soconusco region of Chiapas will be one of the most prosperous in Mexico.

To have a government of “republican austerity,” which would include lowering the salaries of “those above to increase the salaries of those below.”  Better salaries would be given to teachers, nurses, doctors, police, soldiers, and government workers.  A “government without luxuries.”  He promises to sell the presidential plane, not to reside in Los Pinos – opening it to the public, to fight corruption, and to improve Mexico’s image abroad.

A universal pension for the elderly.  

To work closely with the private sector.  

To have 4% economic growth.  

To invite the Pope, and other religious and social leaders of the world and Mexico, to study and solve the problem of violence in Mexico.

It sure sounds like “we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for” or something like that.

Like Obama 2008, Lopez-Obrador’s promises lack specifics.    

How is Mexico going to have 4% economic growth unless he attracts foreign investment or privatizes PEMEX?    

How is he going to work with the private sector when most of them are scared to death of what he is campaigning for?

The promises get silly when he plans to cut the president’s salary or do away with the planes and helicopters. Is a President Lopez-Obrador going to travel on commercial flights?  Seriously, how much money is this going to save?

Increase teachers’ salaries?  But most Mexican middle-class families send their kids to private schools to avoid the ideology and bad quality of public schools.  It would make more sense if he gave poor Mexicans a chance to get out of poverty by attending private schools.

Invite the Pope?  I’m sure that the cartels will be very impressed with that.

Improve Mexico’s image abroad?  Really?  Maybe he can start by making Mexico more hospitable to Mexicans.

It sure reminds me of the Obama crowds of 2008 that the late Fouad Ajami wrote about specially the part about the coming post election disillusionment.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

Overturning "Roe v Wade" will not end abortion in the US

Overturning "Roe v Wade" will not end abortion in the US.    Instead, overturning the opinion will send it back to state legislatures.    

My guess is that some states will write laws creating a right to an  abortion and others will not.      Most will pass abortion laws with certain restrictions, as they do in most countries.   

The two biggest consequences of overturning "Roe v Wade" will be political:

1) The issue will be debated openly in the political arena, from state legislatures to campaigns for office.    For example, Hispanic Democrats in Texas will be forced to explain to Hispanic women why they support abortion after 20 weeks; and,

2) Modern technology will show that there is a life or that abortion will end such a life.

Nevertheless, the biggest benefit of overturning "Roe v Wade" is that judicial confirmations will no longer be endless questions about abortion.    We will get back to a time when judicial nominations were about judicial temperament rather than "wedge" issues like abortion.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

June 2007: Talk radio is a business not a right wing conspiracy

(A post from June 2007)

In the late 1980's, most AM stations were dying in the US. They could not compete with FM stations over music formats. After all, who wants to hear music on the AM band rather than FM?

Rush Limbaugh and talk radio saved the AM dial. Limbaugh started a trend ("opinions on the radio") and it literally saved the AM dial and created lots of jobs all over the US radio. Today, Limbaugh reaches 20 million people. Sean Hannitty reaches over 10 million listeners!

Why is talk radio conservative? I don't know for sure but it is. The best answer is that conservative talk radio has listeners and liberal talk radio does not.

Question: What's wrong with that? The liberals have not been able to succeed on the radio. Why blame conservatives for that? Blame the liberals!

At the end of the day, privately owned radio stations respond to listeners and the advertisers. Radio is a business except for NPR which is subsidized by the federal government.

Why blame conservatives? Blame the liberals who are not supporting liberal hosts!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

June 2007: Doom and gloom update: Get ready for global cooling

(A post from June 2007)

We've had some fun with global warming over the past year. To be fair, I believe that we should be concerned about climate change. I want clean water and air as much as anyone. After all, I have to breath the air and drink the water, too!

At the same time, we need to be rational about it. Today's environmentalists are not rational. They hate capitalism and use global warming to push their socialist agenda. 

Now, we hear that global cooling is on the horizon:

"This just in from Chicken Little: It's a cloud, not the sky, that's about to fall. So button up your overcoat. Earth is about to cool off.

"It's global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world," says Timothy Patterson, director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Center at Carleton University in Canada. He sets out in Toronto's National Post a fascinating and wholly credible argument, backing up what many of his scientific colleagues regard as nothing less than blasphemy." (A coming cold day for a warm globe)

What's next? Who knows? Global warming, global cooling! Who knows what the doom and gloom crowd will come up with next?

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

June 2007: Chemical Ali will soon join cousin Saddam

(A post from June 2007)

Today, we learned that 'Chemical Ali' was sentenced in Iraq.    He will soon join Saddam who was executed months ago.

Why did they call him Chemical Ali? Because every Iraqi knew that he was a first rate criminal. 


P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.