When Antonio Villaraigosa ran for Mayor of Los Angeles a few years ago, most of his platform was based on the fact that he would be the first Hispanic Mayor in 133 years. Question his record beyond the historical narrative and suddenly you found yourself framed as one of “those people” who dislike all Hispanics. Well guess what I saw in the store the other day?
That’s right! The one time golden child for the Left who was gonna fix Los Angeles just by showing up is now being called a “failure” by a major publication. Just back in 2006, the same magazine featured Villaraigosa on the cover under the headline “Pop Star Mayor”. Let’s read some of the excerpts of the article.
“We are bitter because you promised us so much….What you now lead is an administration in which politics almost always trumps policy…
There have been no great civic works to mark your tenure—no public art or municipal architectural feat to instill pride.
{…}
“Mr. Mayor, the city you have sworn to lead is in crisis. It is time you put a stop to the betrayals and fecklessness. Time you resist the urge to bound up the career ladder…Call a press conference and tell us in language that contains no loopholes that you’ll stay with us until the end of your term.
{…}
We’re still the gang capital of the world, with 40,000 members causing havoc. In 2006, gangs were responsible for more than half the city’s murders. Crime rates have gone down, though try telling that to the elementary school students in Highland Park who practice diving under their desks in anticipation of live rounds, the way children in the ’50s prepared for atomic bombs. By middle school, as much as 90 percent of the students in L.A.’s poorest neighborhoods will have been exposed to violence, with more than a quarter of them suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
{…}
Give it your all, and maybe you’ll emerge from your tenure at City Hall looking more like Barack Obama than Sammy Glick….Remind us that you once stood for something more than the political advancement of Antonio Villaraigosa, and that there is some residual greatness about you yet.”
Mind you, this sentiment is coming from people who helped Villaraigosa get elected in the first place. Should Los Angeles magazine now be put on racial blast because they dared to make an assessment based on the man’s record and not the color of his skin? Now that the city is in complete disarray, it is now safe for folks to say what they really think.
The sad truth here is that it took 4 years for Villaraigosa’s biggest cheerleaders to figure out what his opponents (those they routinely framed as a bunch of bitter “racists” over the years) already knew simply by looking at his record. Villaraigosa was not the best man for the job.
If things continue to worsen on the national scale (and honestly, I do not see it getting any better anytime soon), I have a strong feeling that we will be hearing the same story in a few years. And the same people who are still infatuated with Obama and defending him at the expense of their own sound reasoning are going to wait a few years out to finally acknowledge “I never really liked the guy in the first place“.
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LA the hard way
by Duane on July 6th, 2009 at 2:58 amWhen Antonio Villaraigosa ran for Mayor of Los Angeles a few years ago, most of his platform was based on the fact that he would be the first Hispanic Mayor in 133 years. Question his record beyond the historical narrative and suddenly you found yourself framed as one of “those people” who dislike all Hispanics. Well guess what I saw in the store the other day?
That’s right! The one time golden child for the Left who was gonna fix Los Angeles just by showing up is now being called a “failure” by a major publication. Just back in 2006, the same magazine featured Villaraigosa on the cover under the headline “Pop Star Mayor”. Let’s read some of the excerpts of the article.
Mind you, this sentiment is coming from people who helped Villaraigosa get elected in the first place. Should Los Angeles magazine now be put on racial blast because they dared to make an assessment based on the man’s record and not the color of his skin? Now that the city is in complete disarray, it is now safe for folks to say what they really think.
The sad truth here is that it took 4 years for Villaraigosa’s biggest cheerleaders to figure out what his opponents (those they routinely framed as a bunch of bitter “racists” over the years) already knew simply by looking at his record. Villaraigosa was not the best man for the job.
If things continue to worsen on the national scale (and honestly, I do not see it getting any better anytime soon), I have a strong feeling that we will be hearing the same story in a few years. And the same people who are still infatuated with Obama and defending him at the expense of their own sound reasoning are going to wait a few years out to finally acknowledge “I never really liked the guy in the first place“.
Sphere: Related Content