Michigan Peter Hoekstra’s Campaign Ad and Website is Just Plain Racist and Xenophobic

What is going in Michigan?

Looks like Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Republican candidate for Senate, took a political gamble that capitalizes on old, tired racist stereotypes against Asians.

We won't say much since basically even some key leaders and pundits in Hoekstra's own GOP party are saying his Super Bowl ad and his Debbie Spend It Now website (which refers US Senator Debbie Stabenow, the Democratic incumbent) was just so off-base and so inappropriate, they have no words. For a more detailed account of the back story, read what the Washington Post has to say.

In the meantime, see Hoekstra's campaign video, which he approved.

Then visit some of the images from the Debbie Spend It Now page.

As for Hoekstra? He won't back down (well, at least for now). The Washington Post reports:

“It’s not a stereotype at all. Through the creative, this is a young woman in China who’s speaking English,” Hoekstra added on Fox News Monday afternoon, referring to the fictional environment of the ad. “That’s quite an achievement.” 

On WJR radio Monday morning, Hoekstra called it “probably the best ad of the political season.”

With the Colorado Caucus on February 7, Top 10 Facts About Latinos in Colorado

The following was released by the Hispanic Leadership Network:

WASHINGTON, DC – Colorado has the 8th largest Hispanic population nationwide. In tomorrow's Republican presidential primary, 13% of all eligible voters in the state will be Latinos. Here are 10 facts about Hispanics in the Centennial State.

  • Colorado's Hispanic population is 1,038,687 or 20.65% of the state's total population (2010 U.S. Census). 
  • Colorado has the 8th largest Hispanic population nationwide (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).
  • Colorado has 434,000 eligible Hispanic voters, 13% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010). 
  • Approximately 44% of Hispanics in Colorado are eligible to vote (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010). 
  • White eligible voters outnumber Hispanic eligible voters in Colorado almost eight-to-one; 3.4 million Whites to 434,000 Hispanics (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010). 
  • Hispanic eligible voters are younger than White eligible voters in Colorado. Among Hispanic eligible voters, 30% are ages 18 to 29 compared with 21% of White eligible voters (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010). 
  • The unemployment rate for Hispanics is almost double that of Whites in Colorado; 13.4% for Hispanics and 7.5% for Whites. (Economic Policy Institute, 2011). 
  • In the 2008 presidential election, President Barack Obama (D) won 61% of the Hispanic vote, while John McCain (R) won 38% (Pew Hispanic Center, 2008). 
  • In 2010, Michael Bennet (D) defeated Ken Buck (R) by a slim two-point margin. Senator Bennet was propelled to victory, in large part, by winning 81% of the Hispanic vote, while Buck won 19%. 
  • Currently, Hispanic voters overall approve of President Obama's job performance 59% to 39%. However, his standing with Hispanic Independent voters is not as strong. Sixty-one percent of Hispanic Independents believe that President Obama has not delivered on his 2008 campaign promises, and 67% believe that he has been a weaker leader than they had expected (Resurgent Republic/HLN poll, 2011).

Even After The Patriots Lose Super Bowl XLVI, Just Take Off Your Shirt and PARRRRTYYYY!

The online stories about Super Bowl XLVI are just getting better and better. Sure, you have M.I.A. and Gisele's f-bomb defense of her husband Tom Brady, but now Deadspin is reporting a story out of the losing Patriots camp.

Looks like the Patriots had a pretty raucous postgame party, just hours after losing in the last minute to the Giants. And someone took photos. Oops. But hell, who cares! That is how you handle defeat.

Yup, the guy on the left in the back without the shirt is Patriots tight end Dan Gronkowski.

Here is Gronk dancing with shirtless offensive lineman Matt Light.

Screw it. Tough loss, boys. Just take off your shirts and dance to LMFAO. Wonder if Coach Bill was there.

Karl Rove Said He Was “Offended” by Clint Eastwood Super Bowl Ad: So What?

With more than 500,000 YouTube views in less than 24 hours and over 8,000 YouTube Likes, the Clint Eastwood "Halftime" Chrysler commercial during the Super Bowl broadcast has clearly resonated with the online world.

Looks like Karl Rove will respectfully disagree.

Today on Fox, Rove called the commercial "offensive," proving once again that Rove will always play the Partisan Card to gain attention, even though the commercial was generally praised for striking a chord with American viewers. Rove was responding to how Democratic politicians were praising the ad as a testament of President Obama's decision to bailout the US auto industry. Here is what Rove said:

“This is a sign of what happens when you have government getting in bed with big business like the bailout of the auto companies. The leadership of the auto companies feel they need to do something to repay their political patrons.”

“I was, frankly, offended by it,” he added. “I’m a huge fan of Clint Eastwood. I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics. And the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising.”

Eastwood was quick to respond:
"I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain. l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. 
 
I am not supporting any politician at this time.  Chrysler to their credit didn’t even have cars in the ad.  Anything they gave me for it went for charity.  If any Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it."
 

Chrysler's chief executive, Sergio Marchionne,  on Monday said the ad wasn’t intended to be political.

“It was not intended to be any type of a political overture on our part,” Marchionne said in an interview with WJR radio in Detroit. “Nobody inside Chrysler was attempting to influence decisions. The message is sufficiently universal and neutral that it should be appealing to everybody in this country, and I sincerely hope that it doesn’t get utilized as political fodder in a debate."

 

The reality is that in a social media world, Rove is just one of millions of opinions. He might be able to speak his case on FOX NEWS, but it is clear to us that Rove's opinion is just crying over spilt milk. The fact is that the video went viral and people reacted to it. If Rove thinks his typical, stale partisan opinions will move the needle, it won't. YouTube outrumps Fox News any day.
 

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Bob Marley!

Hoy celebramos el cumpleaños del gran Bob Marley.

Gracias por los regalos, Bob. Millón de gracias.

 

“Why Sara Hates Laredo” Video Goes Viral: And People Are Responding

Even with stories of Super Bowl shows, Brazilian supermodel wives and a Clint Eastwood commercial, the search term "Why Sarah Hates Laredo" has clearly been the top search term for our site today.

The video has been buzzing around Laredo and has begun to go viral on YouTube. NOTE: The original video has been banned from YouTube, as you can see.

The video has already gotten close to 500 dislikes and about 90 likes, and most of the comments have expressed anger and disappointment. Not much can be published, but this one hit home (we've edited the expletives):

This chick obviously lives on the wrong side of town. I was born and raised in Laredo and i know english my parents know english my brother does too. some of what she said is stuff we already know and we also talk about it too, and no we dont make a living from spraying water on windows to clean cars my family is educated and all of my friends familys are too……I LOVE MENUDO!!!! BEST HANGOVER REMEDY LOL

In the meantime, other YouTube videos have tried to present snippets of what Sara said about Laredo. Here are two of them:


Sara's Laredo video already has a YouTube response from Jorge, who lives in Laredo. Jorge just says what he says and there is something authentic and charming about him. As he says on his channel:

THIS IS NOT A HATEFUL VIDEO. 

This is a video informing the nation that Laredo is not really a bad place. I've lived here for over seven years and find it to be quite an interesting place to have been raised. If Sara Walls or those who live with her view this, I would like to welcome them to this great community and hope they get adjusted soon.

Full Public Statement of Pete Wilson’s Endorsement of Mitt Romney for President

Our friends at The News Taco posted the news a few hours back. Here is what the Mitt Romney campaign issued today out of its Boston headquarters regarding the endorsement of former California Governor Pete Wilson. California (and National) Latinos are not surprised. Prop 1987 Man is back.

 

Location

BostonMA

United States

Mitt Romney today announced the endorsement of Governor Pete Wilson and named him Honorary California Chair.

“I’m honored to have Governor Pete Wilson’s support, because he’s one of California’s most accomplished leaders. As governor of California from 1991 to 1999, he led California from the depths of recession to prosperous economic recovery. Taking office with an inherited revenue gap of over $14 million, he left his successor a surplus of over $12.5 million. Insisting on strict budget discipline and rehabilitation of the state’s then-hostile environment toward investment and job creation, Pete persuaded Democratic Legislative majorities to enact dramatic tax and regulatory relief especially helpful to small businesses.” 

Announcing his support, Governor Wilson said, “Mitt Romney is an enthusiastic believer in American exceptionalism and has been a spectacular example of it: Mitt has been a success in creating American private sector jobs, a success as the rescuer of the Salt Lake City Olympic games, and as a public chief executive as the Republican governor in the challenging environment of heavily Democratic Massachusetts. It is clear that he will be a success in the White House—as the strong leader America so desperately needs to reverse the unprecedented and utterly irresponsible borrowing, taxing and spending of the Obama administration. And as the most electable top of our ticket, his candidacy will attract the support of Republican, Independent and wise Democratic voters—and is rightly seen by down-ticket Republican candidates as the nominee most beneficial to them in their own races. He is the leader we need to rescue this great nation from the tragedy of a second Obama term that threatens grave and perhaps irreparable harm to both our economy and our national security. Mitt Romney will provide the leadership to create the confidence and certainty of judgment needed to stimulate investment that creates jobs rather than green taxpayer-funded bankruptcies.  He will restore America's strength and credibility, and win back respect for America from both our friends and our enemies.”

VIDEO: Why Sara Hates Laredo

You would think that after the Arizona Girls Racist Video went viral, some people might reconsider about posting their rants on the public Internet. Guess not.

That original video has been taken down by YouTube, but here is another version of the same video:

As the YouTube profile who posted the original video said:

"I would like to make this clear that this is not the original video, it was downloaded before she had the chance to remove it. I am not Sara nor do I approve of what she is saying. I simply posted it to prove that everything you say online has consequences..she exaggerated way too much and went way out of line. It is absolutely unnecessary to make personal threats towards her, her children or to send this to the news."

Hi, Sara. Thanks for crapping on Laredo.

 

Victor Cruz’s Salsa TD in Super Bowl XLVI: ¡WEPA!

For all your Victor Cruz fans, we are sure you won't get tired of seeing this ever. Congrats to the new Boricua en la Luna!!!!

 

Click here for a video of Cruz's TD Catch (NFL.COM)

Click here for a video of Cruz's TD Catch (NFL.COM)

Gisele Blasts the F-Bomb on Brady’s Patriot Teammates in Post-Game Super Bowl Video

Gisele Bundchen, the supermodel wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, was caught on video last night after the Patriots loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI.
 
 
Here is what she said as she left the Lucas Oil Stadium VIP suites in Indianapolis:
 "My husband can not f****ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times."