Jay Kersting's Blog

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

That is as good as it gets coming from me on this Fifth day of May.  Understand that I am not calling Cinco de Mayo a phony holiday, it is just not one that most Americans should celebrate.

Hell, I don't even know if my opening line is even proper Spanish.  I know that my punctuation is not quite right. 

OK, let me go back to the title of today's entry.  "The Gabacho Holiday known as Cinco de Mayo"....what the hell is a "Gabacho"??  Good question.  I learned that term from Gustavo Arellano of "Ask a Mexican" in the OC Weekly.  I interviewed Gustavo about two years ago when I was filling in on WNOX's "The Phil Show" one afternoon.  As Gustavo told me, only Gringos call each other Gringos.  Real Mexicans call us Gabachos.  He would not define the term for me.  So, being the Gabacho that I am, I just accepted it.

So, back to Cinco de Mayo.  What is being celebrated?  It is the Mexican win at the Battle of Puebla.  Great, everybody loves a winner!!  That is why the Americans get on board.  Well, hold on a second.  It is more like the Germans celebrating the Battle of Stalingrad.  You see, the Battle of Puebla was a win, but they went on to lose the war. 

Now maybe that is a bit unfair, because five years later they won the next war and President Benito Juarez had Emperor Maximillian excuted.

Viva Mexico!

Well, sort of.  But they just beat the French both times.  Is that really worth celebrating?  AS AN AMERICAN?

OK, so it is an excuse to eat tacos, drink Dos Equis (or Corona for you heathens) and Tequila, and celebrate a hertiage that you know nothing about.

Alright, I'm on board with that.

Oh, and just so you know, the official Mexican Indepedence Day is 16 September....that also goes back to 1862. 

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OK, just a couple more points to ponder today.  First up, have you noticed that here in the waning days of the campaign to become the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been throwing out some serious insults.

Let me paraphrase this a little bit.  Both are telling the voting public that the other is sounding like President Bush on X, Y or Z policy.  GASP!!!! 

You sound like W. on Iran!  Gasp!

Well, you sound like W. on Iraq!  Gasp!

My take on this is simple, they are going with the biggest insults that they can whip up.  Align the opponent with the most evil person that their constituency can imagine.

Whatever.  Seriously, this election is getting to be downright comical.  After 8 years of President Bush, they can't solidify themselves behind someone to beat Bush's successor?  They deserve to lose again.  Hell, they put up the worst POSSIBLE candidate they could 4 years ago in John Kerry...and they STILL tried to claim that Bush stole it.  Mindboggling!

If the Democrats lose again this year, they earned the loss. 

Now, add to this mess the ads running already against John McCain that FactCheck.org has denounced as being blatantly inaccurate.  The 100 years comment by McCain is the most obvious.  And the sad part is that MOST Americans are STUPID enough to buy it.  Do YOU know the context?  If you don't AND you hold that comment against McCain, shame on you.  He was making an analogy to Japan, Germany and South Korea.  Of course Howard Scream is such a dishonest man of incredible zeal that he feels that he must jump on it for political gain.

At least I am being consistent here when I, ONCE AGAIN, denounce FEAR MONGERING!!

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And finally, on a lighter note, Kathy and I were driving home from the grocery store (and a trip to the dumpster at work), when we got behind a car on Fairgrounds Road.

This car was a Mercury Cougar (last incarnation, about a 1999-2001 model).  The driver was MUCH younger than us and did to his car what a lot of these younger folks do to their cars.  He has replaced a lot of the body work with some customized panels.  And worked on the engine and exhaust system. 

Kathleen simply commented on how UGLY the car was.  I agreed and added something that I have no explanation for.  "Why must they make their cars sound like a chihuahua farting inside a Kleenex box?"

And no, I do not recall ever having heard that real sound.  But it was an analogy from the imagination.  I think you can imagine it in your own mind now too.

Or so I hope.

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Best of health to my friend and one fo my many mentors, Hallerin Hilton Hill.  I do not know the details, but I wish him a speedy recovery and return to the airwaves in East Tennessee.

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Add comments or e-mail as you see fit.  Have a Great Week!!