Five Letters

As usual, none need any introduction.

1. Under the title, “Editorial Chutzpah”:

Editor,

It is the mother of all chutzpah that the Boston Globe Editorial Board, which is 100% white according to the Editorial Board profiles at Boston.com, would bemoan, "Black, Latino, and Asian residents make up about half the population of Boston," and people of color only account for "44 percent of workers in healthcare, 24 percent in the for-profit sector (profit something the Boston Globe would know absolutely nothing about), 22 percent in education and 37 percent in nonprofits other than healthcare and education (Diversity seeks a foothold, editorial, May 19, A14)." (End of first letter.)

2. Under the title, “Obama FINALLY drives bipartisanship”:

Editor,

As President Bush so frequently achieved massive bipartisan support for major legislation or for significant confirmations -- the USA PATRIOT Act passed the Senate 98 – 1, the vote in the House authorizing war in Iraq was 296 – 133, the authorization vote in the Senate was 77 – 23 with Sens. Clinton and Kerry supporting the President, a supplemental war funding bill in 2005 passed the Senate 97 – 0 with 43 of 44 Democrats voting with the President, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) passed the Senate 62 – 38 with 12 Democrats in favor, EGTRRA passed the House 240 - 154 with 28 Democrats in favor, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act passed the Senate 54 – 44 with 11 Democrats in favor, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act passed the Senate by a near veto-proof tally of 64 – 34 with 17 Democrats in favor, the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act passed the Senate 98 - 0 and the House 380 - 15, the No Child Left Behind Act passed the Senate 87 – 10 and the House 381 - 41, Supreme Court Justices Roberts and Alito were confirmed with substantial bipartisan support -- it was good to see President Obama FINALLY get Republicans and Democrats in Congress to agree on something – Congress resoundingly rejected the President’s plan to bring terrorists to the United States, shower them with rights they are not entitled to, and to try them in federal courts (Obama and Cheney clash on fight against terror, May 22, A1).

But maybe next time, as Bush did, President Obama could get Congress to support him on a policy issue rather than rebuke him. (End of second letter.)

3. Under the title, “Bush fostered minority home ownership”:

Editor,

In addition to noting that “the percentage of US families that own their own home peaked at around 69 percent in 2004 to 2006”, the Boston Globe could have also noted that the George W. Bush administration had the most positive impact on US minority home ownership in Presidential history (Ideas, May 24, C8).

A recent analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center found that more Hispanics, African-Americans and Asians own a home now than at any time in American history.

Specifically, the analysis found, that as of 2008, 48.9% of all Hispanic household heads owned a home compared to 41.9% in 1995 (Clinton). The numbers for African-Americans and Asians for the same periods were 47.5% versus 42.1% and 59.1% versus 49.1%, respectively.

Minority homeowners never had a better friend in the White House than President Bush . . . according to the facts. (End of third letter.)

4. Under the title, “GOP: Big Tent of Ideas”:

Editor,

Uh, isn’t the fact that Gen. Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney are members of the same political party, each with their own very substantial following, the proof that the Republican Party, is in fact, the party with the bigger tent of ideas (Powell urges GOP to “reach out” to base, May 25, A4)?

Where's the Democrat notable for disagreeing with the Party line on anything? (End of fourth letter.)

5. Under the title, “Ethnicists join racists, ageists, and sexists”:

Editor,

The Associated Press surmised, “Any Republican effort to block Sotomayor's confirmation could be risky for a party still reeling from last year's elections and struggling to gain back lost ground with Hispanics, the fastest-growing part of the population and one that is increasingly active politically (Leader says GOP won't filibuster on Sotomayor, May 28).”

Of course, a Republican effort to block Sotomayor’s confirmation might appeal to pro-life Hispanics. Or pro-Second Amendment Hispanics. Or pro-private property rights Hispanics. Or any right-leaning Hispanic who is not an ethnicist.

The ugly and divisive ethnicity card having already been played with a flourish by President Obama, no doubt Democrats and liberals will do what they do best and demagogue any Republican or conservative effort to oppose Sotomayor on the issues.

I cannot overstate the insult to the entire Hispanic community that is leveled by Democrats and liberals when the assertion is made that the community will vote monolithically for no other reason than ethnicity.

We will never be a color-blind society until we are a color-blind society.

After I signed my name, I added this little description as sometimes the Globe allows such a blurb: The letter-writer knows that Hispanics can be of either race and wants the readers to know the phrase "color-blind" in used figuratively. Also, the closing sentence was penned by the letter-writer on his blog on December 6, 2006. Chief Justice John Roberts plagiarized the sentence in a SCOTUS opinion issued in June 2007. (End of fifth letter.)