January 15, 2006

OCRegister columnist Yvette Cabrera gushes over Mexican consul

Orange County Register columnist Yvette Cabrera offers "Consul ready to hear, help 'paisanos'". It's all about Mexican Consul Luis Miguel Ortiz Haro Amieva. It isn't just a puff piece, it's like a huge helium balloon filled with helium, cotton balls, and marshmallows.

...The cell phone on his hip buzzes constantly. Aides hurry in and out of his office with documents for him to sign. Dozens of people wait patiently outside his office. Yet Ortiz Haro isn't fazed by any of this. He takes a puff from his Red Kamel Lights cigarette, dashes off his signature on the paperwork and then greets the next visitor.

..."If only everyone was this efficient," says a content [client] as he shakes the consul's hand on his way out...

...Unlike other consuls, who sometimes have a bureaucratic air about them, Ortiz Haro is easygoing, ready with a quick joke, and puts his fellow Mexicans at ease with his immense knowledge of everything and anything Mexican.

Instead of stuffy ties, he prefers a simple, button-down shirt. His business coat? Draped on his chair. His writing utensil? Not a Montblanc or a Waterman, but a chubby Sharpie.

After spending several days in his office over the past year, I realize that Ortiz Haro is much more than a diplomat...

OK, now to cleanse your mind, here's a hypothetical question.

Let's say that Mexico has invaded Texas and is trying to take it back. Let's say a tense standoff has resulted, and the Americans inside Texas need someone to take a message to American forces outside. It's a top secret message, and if it fell into Mexican hands it would have a devastating impact on the American forces.

Would you trust Yvette Cabrera to deliver that message?

While I wasn't familiar with the author before this piece, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't.

Posted to Immigration at January 15, 2006 01:57 PM

Comments

Fawning on hostiles is not a sign of a trustworthy character. She's probably proving her loyalty to those who wish us ill.

Posted by: John S Bolton at January 15, 2006 09:02 PM

"Would you trust Yvette Cabrera to deliver that message?"

It would never be her job, which near as I can figure for people like her, i.e. ethnic reporters who write stuff like this, is as follows: to depict (also partly by their own example) how near heroic non-whites, including mostly these days newcomers aka "migrants" and/or "immigrants" (legal, illegal, so what?) are trying to make it in America despite notorious white racism, discrimination, and oppression, which pretty much describes all you need to know about the history of America. And any help from friendly (really!) foreign consuls is welcome and due; after all, if you're non-white in America, you need all the help you can get.

To me, the racial/ethnic undertone of these articles is absolutely palpable: the only whites (i.e. Americans) who would dare question any of this happy story of people helping those who need it are bigots and racists. The fear most people have of being labeled as racially insensitive keeps them quiet.

All the better if the person penning the story is also non-white, and the best if they are the same race/ethnicity as those being helped.

Try to imagine a similar story about, say, Canadians illegally here.

Posted by: eh at January 16, 2006 04:07 AM

In an OC Register column a few years back, Cabrera wrote about Latinos being subjected to "Jim Crow" laws. One would think that a columnist for a major metro area newspaper would be better informed than to compare the treatment blacks were subjected to in the south during the first half of the last century with the almost non-existent discrimination illegal aliens experience. She has also described Mecha as a "club" she belonged to at USC, as though it were as benign as the French Club or Chess Club. She probably laughs her ass off every payday that she's actually getting paid to write propaganda for the Mexican government.

Posted by: Gary at January 16, 2006 06:56 AM

I wonder how many consular offices there are now in the U.S. They are multiplying just like the illegal people are here. Is there not a limit as to how many of these things we have in our country? How about one on the west coast and one on the east coast and the rest head back to Mexico. If the people don't like it then they can follow.

Posted by: Debbie at January 16, 2006 08:07 PM

It is pretty funny to read the letters to the editor after Cabrera fires off one of her pro-illegal opinion pieces. Check out her archive, if your blood pressure can stand it! :)

Posted by: Pat at January 17, 2006 07:52 PM