Hold on for the ride

Felix Alvarado

Editor

January 2, 2017

Normally I would say that whatever the president does or does not do has no effect on us.  At this level local offices are normally much more important.  I am doing an about face.  We live in a very precariously balanced world.  What happens at the national level has ramifications at the international level. 

In the aftermath of WWII Europe was in ruins.  Two superpowers emerged, the United States and the Soviet Union with its Communist form of government.  We joined to beat the Nazis and after the war we became bitter rivals both competing with each other for world dominance, one democratically the other dictatorially.  Both were armed with nuclear bombs.  More important both had the means to deliver the nukes. That is what made the Soviets dangerous.

To check Soviet power in Europe the US formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).  There were many members but there was only one that counted US.  France showed its disdain for American hegemony by withdrawing its military from the alliance and kicking American troops out of France.  The Soviet Union countered by forming the Warsaw Pact Alliance.  We entered an era called The Cold War.  It was not always cold.  Sometimes there were skirmishes along the border. 

On the other side of the globe we had Japan in ruins also.  We kept a military presence to keep out adversaries mainly the Russians and the Chinese. We hated communists. Communist China reinforced our fear of Communism when it attacked Korea during the Korean War. It was Nixon’s trip to China that minimized the Chinese threat and opened the door to Chinese-American trade.

The American public never got to see the military games played by the super-powers.  Americans were too busy enjoying life. Except for the occasional scare caused by practicing for nuclear war. The serenity of American society was spoiled by the Vietnam War. We were afraid that if Vietnam fell to the communists that the rest of Asia would follow or as the idea was called the “Domino Theory”.  The fear was not well founded.  It did cost 50,000 American lives. And led to the migration of thousands of Vietnamese that helped us. Thousands more were left behind to suffer the wrath of the victorious North Vietnamese Army.  

Iraq was invaded supposedly because it had weapons of mass destruction. We went to Vietnam because supposedly our navy had been attacked in International waters.  Both motives were proven to be incorrect. 

NATO was not there to protect Europe, it was there to protect America.  If we kept the Soviets preoccupied in Europe we did not have to worry about them attacking us.  It may have been costly but the security it brought to America was worth the cost.  Certainly, Europe did not need our presence for economic reasons. 

The Soviets discovered in Afghanistan that a large military was not going to defeat a determined foe that conducted guerilla warfare.  Something that we found out in Vietnam and had been learned earlier in Cuba, France, Spain and Russia have shown their disdain for American hegemony. America is no longer the king of the hill. 

Yes, presidents make mistakes and congress does not always do its job in keeping a check on the president. Our wages are not sufficiently high that we can afford to pay a 35% increase in the price of goods because of some tariff. In January 2017, we get a new president. What we know about him is that he is erratic. You cannot believe anything that he says.  A leader must speak clearly and distinctly. World leaders don’t want to guess what he has said. They don’t want to hear from surrogates to make interpretations. Clinton left a budget surplus. Bush II squandered the money. He left the Middle East in disarray. Obama had to work hard to get the American economy going again. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act many Americans have health insurance that they could not get before.

We Latinos most of whom are of Mexican American stock cannot remain silent. We the people must stand up and vote. That is the only tool we have. We do not have strong Latino politicians.  We have one that is interested in changing the name of the Texas Railroad Commission as if that was the most important legislation in the world. Mr. Politician, we need healthcare better schools and we need you to fight against sanctuary cities, border fences and all issues that affect us. 

We need Latino leaders.  Donde estan?????