¡Si se puedes!


"Mi no demando soy bilingue perfecto cualquiera, pero mi español es mas que un frase de César Chávez."  —Jeff Culler

OK, save the e-mails and the scholarly corrections. I am sure that this gringo made a mistake or two in the senctence above. I was spouting it off the top of my head without the aid of a dictionary. It simply translates, "I don't claim to be perfectly bilingual either, but my Spanish is more than a phrase from César Chávez."

At the culinary workers union Local 226 in Las Vegas on Friday, Senator Obama recalled the battle cry of César Chávez "¡Si se puedes!" or "Yes, you can!"  Being a fan of labor and Latin culture myself, in spite of being lilly white, I appreciate a little salsa in our politicians' speeches. My problem is not with Obama though, it is with CNN.

Punits on the Cable News Network waxed poetically (and politically) on Saturday about the Illinois senator's "Spanish." Exuse me? He memorized a phrase from a late labor leader. This does not qualify as speaking Spanish.

Ultimately I don't care if Barak Obama speaks perfect Spanish or zero Spanish. My gripe is with this mythologizing of the man by the mainstream media and failure to really nail him down on his very vague and plastic claims of "change." The Spanish incident is just part and parcel of the kid gloves treatment he has received since his address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.