Gregory Rodriguez: All Publications, Events and Press

Cold War Nostalgia

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:39:00 -0500

The global celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall aren't entirely about commemorating the rebirth of freedom or reliving those thrilling moments when a perverse and repressive system collapsed. Listen closely to the exalted commentary recounting the events of those historic days and you're also likely to hear the subtle intonations of regret and nostalgia.

Don't Count Illegal Immigrants? That Doesn't Add Up

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:50:00 -0500

Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has introduced legislation that, if passed, would instruct the U.S. Census Bureau not to take into account illegal immigrants and other noncitizens in the 2010 census. I'm all for it. Furthermore, I propose that the government no longer recognize deficits in budgets, record violent crimes in police reports, acknowledge casualties of war or count -- let alone give proper names! -- to hurricanes in weather reports.

Romania's Amnesia-induced Ambivalence

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:35:00 -0400

Three weeks ago, when the Nobel committee awarded its literature prize to Romanian writer Herta Muller, it lauded her courageous and unflinching fictional portraits of "daily life in a stagnated dictatorship" in communist Romania. What they did not mention, however, was Muller's ongoing nonfictional critique of the leadership of post-communist Romania.

The Many Meanings of a Cross

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:38:00 -0400

I'm all for the separation of church and state. I believe that government endorsement of any particular religious sect or tradition has a corrosive effect on both the state and the faith in question. But I also think the attempt to separate religion from government is veering toward a foolish, parochial and ultimately impossible quest to separate religion from culture.

Dudamel's Great, but He's Not the Whole Show

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:36:00 -0400

It's not unusual for a global city to recruit an international talent like Gustavo Dudamel to conduct its symphony orchestra. (Alan Gilbert, the new conductor of the New York Philharmonic, is the first native New Yorker to hold the post since the institution was founded in 1842.) What is unusual is how the Los Angeles orchestra is using the high-culture, Venezuelan-born wunderkind to build a rapport with this city's native-born Latino masses. Gauging from the widespread, deliriously upbeat hoopla -- and taking into account Dudamel's

What America Needs Is a Good Enemy

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:37:00 -0400

Where is Osama bin Laden when we need him? Don't get me wrong; in no way do I wish death and destruction on our country. But as I listen to the increasingly vitriolic and even seditious rhetoric coming from the political right, I can't help thinking that we need a threatening external enemy to help us cohere as a nation -- a more looming threat than the almost vanished Al Qaeda leader or even his recently arrested alleged minion from Denver.

One Man's Rumor Is Another Man's Reality

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:50:00 -0400

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that someone's not after you. Over the last few months, a lot of writers have dusted off Richard Hofstadter's classic 1964 essay on the paranoid style in American politics just so they can explain away the loony rumors and conspiracy theories coming from the far right. But no amount of intellectual condescension is going to make those powerful untruths go away.

Obama's Shunning Response to the Racism Debate

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:23:00 -0400

Barack Obama had no choice but to disagree with Jimmy Carter. Carter called some of Obama's most hysterical critics racist. But our first nonwhite president once again tried hard not to be sucked into a racial uproar. As much as he and his liberal allies like to declare that Americans need to hash out racial issues publicly, the subject of race can only damage his presidency.

Walt Whitman's Answer to Joe Wilson

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:45:00 -0400

Go ahead, hit me with all the Tipper Gore jokes you want, but I'm beginning to think that U.S. political news, like rap music, needs a parental warning notification.

Every few years or so, we have a collective paroxysm over the bad behavior of this or that group of public figures. We fret over what the antics of sports stars or celebrities teach our children. Whether they're taking illegal steroids or partying without their knickers, we hope and pray that the kids won't mimic them.

Conservatives, Yesterday and Today

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:17:00 -0400

Think back to the spring of 1968. The U.S. is mired in Vietnam. The country is in turmoil. The sitting Democratic president abruptly pulls out of his campaign for reelection, and the leading conservative columnist of the day neither gloats nor does a victory dance.

It's nearly impossible to imagine this happening today.

Democracy in Action and the Obnoxious

Erin Drankoski — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:05:00 -0400

Don't get too outraged, those of you who are looking down your noses at those unreasonable, misinformed anti-healthcare-reform town hallers. No matter what particular clan, tribe or party you belong to, you can't really disown them any more than you can your own grandmother. You may not agree with them, but their brand of hotheaded, self-righteous, obnoxious, stick-it-to-the-manism is as American as apple pie.

Tackling Race, One Beer at a Time

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:31:00 -0400

President Obama's biergarten moment at the White House on Thursday may have started out as a political stunt, but in the end it could become a model for the future of race relations in America.

I'm not talking about the "teachable moment" nonsense. Nor am I particularly impressed by the idea that people of different backgrounds should get together to talk about their backgrounds. What's new here, and what I think might just stick, is the idea that people in conflict should sit down and throw back a few beers.

The Gates Opening

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:17:00 -0400

About the only thing as disappointing as the frivolous arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was the loud, almost gleeful chorus of "I told you so's" coming from his defenders. You've heard of schadenfreude -- taking pleasure in the suffering of others? Well, this was the peculiar political version. It's not that commentators were happy that Gates had allegedly been mistreated. But they seemed inordinately pleased that some aggrieved yet righteous person had come along to help them prove a point

Obama at Ghana's Door of No Return

Cecille Isidro — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:50:00 -0400

President Obama's visit to Ghana this month was downright biblical.

Divorce and Hard Times

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:42:00 -0400

Can't stand your boring husband? Thinking of calling it quits? Well, you should have mustered the nerve to leave him well before this economic crisis. Now you might not be able to afford to live without him, literally.

It's a well-known fact that financial woes are the biggest cause of marital spats. With the economy the way it is, you'd expect lots of husbands and wives to be at each other's throats. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. This recession is so bad that you can count divorce lawyers among those professions that have taken a hit.

'Evil Madoff' -- If the Shoe Fits

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:37:00 -0400

Not since the aftermath of 9/11 has the word "evil" been bandied about so much in the public media. Last week, while sentencing Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin brought the term back in a big way. Chin's characterization of Madoff's crimes as "extraordinarily evil" was so striking that it made headlines around the world. And, as usual whenever that loaded word is used, there were plenty of people who were offended by it.

Answers Can Be Found in Questions

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:19:00 -0400

With apologies to Nike, if the United States were a for-profit venture, its slogan would be "Just do it."

Few would dispute the notion that we are an action-oriented people. From an early age, Americans are bombarded with the message that actions speak louder than words and that talk is cheap. Who among us as a child opening presents on his birthday really believed the moral that it's the thought that counts? Come on!

In the Sleazy World of Political Sex Scandals, Not All Are Created Equal | San Jose Mercury News

Cecille Isidro — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:59:00 -0400

"It's all about expectations," said Gregory Rodriguez, senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. "The fortunes of any given candidate really depend on our expectations of that person at any given moment and on the candidate's own rhetoric and sense of righteousness."

Bulldozing Our Cities May Wreck Our Future

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:47:00 -0400

The Obama administration is reportedly considering backing a radical plan to shrink deteriorating American cities by bulldozing entire neighborhoods and returning the land to nature. The idea, which originated in Flint, Mich. -- cratered by the auto industry implosion -- is to persuade disintegrating and depopulated cities to embrace their shrinkage, destroy abandoned infrastructure, save money and thereby stave off fiscal ruin.

Angry Old Men

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0400

What's going on? All along I thought hordes of angry young men posed the greatest threat to society. Experts are always telling us to worry about the social menace from brooding young Turks with too much energy and time on their hands. They commit the lion's share of crimes and terrorist acts. They generally have the least to lose.