LETTERMAN at Kennedy Honors: "honorees all parties from the LEFT to the FAR LEFT"!1

[UTUSN]

Holy Zeus, how I *miss* Dave. That said, am glad he's tamed somewhat that stupid beard.

And I’d still like to know why Drumpf continues to be pictured in EVERY darned media story, no matter what/who the story is about. Can’t *STAND* to see his G-D mug anywhere, much less EVERYWHERE! It’s not like we don’t know what the Hades he looks like. Back in his regime days, one time on ONE webpage I counted THIRTEEN pics of his G-D face attached to the thirteen “news” articles, all with the SAME pic.

In this one about LETTERMAN, BIDEN, the Kennedy Center Honors, in the HuffPo THERE the first pic atop all was Drumpf’s G-D pic.

********QUOTE****

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/david-letterman-immediately-shreds-donald-115157036.html

David Letterman Immediately Shreds Donald Trump At Kennedy Center Honors

…. “Tonight, it is quite nice, very nice, to see the presidential box once again being occupied,” Letterman said to cheers that turned into a standing ovation for Biden. “The same with the Oval Office. …. This night is about the honorees whose unique gifts cross all boundaries and represent all parties from the left to the far left, quipped LETTERMAN.” ….

********UNQUOTE******

[Danascot]

1. The photo with the group of honorees

I couldn't identify them all so I looked them up:

Upper row, right to left is Lorne Michaels and Bette Midler
Lower row, right to left Justino Diaz, Joni Mitchell and Berry Gordie

[UTUSN]

2. Justino DIAZ - "Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone" - No Mexican-Americans ever?

Am not depreciating Mr DIAZ's honoree status, just have wondered over the years at how the Cuban-Americans and Puerto Ricans have leap frogged over the Mexican-Americans in government and various forms of recognition - Cuban-Americans have 2? U.S. senators and who knows how many in state and local governments. Puerto Ricans have Lenny BERNSTEIN's West Side Story.

I can't make a case for number by number correlation according to percentage of population, but seems like there ought to be *SOME*? Sort of like, 200-300 years here might count for something?! Not to mention thousands of years for Native Americans?


*****QUOTE********
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justino_D%C3%ADaz
Justino Díaz (born January 29, 1940) is a Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the first Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut in October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto as Monterone. ....


http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/in-35-years-kennedy-center-has-honored-only-one-hispanic-americanchita-rivera-121204?news=846375

In 35 Years, Kennedy Center has Honored Only One Hispanic American…Chita Rivera
December 04, 2012

.... Advocates have repeatedly called upon the Kennedy Center to recognize more Hispanics, citing many examples of deserving artists: Anthony Quinn, Celia Cruz, Desi Arnaz, Rita Moreno, Edward James Olmos, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana and many others.

In September, Felix Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, spoke with Michael G. Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, by phone and complained about the absence this year of Hispanic performers among the award recipients. Kaiser reportedly lost his cool and told Sanchez at one point to “go fuck yourself” before slamming down the phone.

“I was stunned,” Sanchez told Sandra McElwaine of The Daily Beast. “He took umbrage that I might question or challenge him and started to defend his positions. He was very dismissive about people in a powerless situation.”

Word spread among the Hispanic community about Kaiser’s behavior. About 30 Latino organizations demanded an apology, which Kaiser offered a couple weeks later. ....



*** (That said: ) From Google: Mexican-Americans - 11.3% of the U.S. population and 61.5% of all Latino Americans.

Mexican (-Americans) 18.4 percent of the U.S. total population. In 2019, among Hispanic subgroups, Mexicans ranked as the largest at 61.4 percent.

Following this group are: Puerto Ricans (9.6 percent), Central Americans (9.8 percent), South Americans (6.4 percent), and Cubans (3.9 percent).

African Americans 12.1 of U.S. population

Native Americans 2.9 of U.S. population

*******UNQUOTE*****

[karynnj]

3. Many of the suggested Hispanics HAVE been honored

You quote from 2012- Advocates have repeatedly called upon the Kennedy Center to recognize more Hispanics, citing many examples of deserving artists: Anthony Quinn, Celia Cruz, Desi Arnaz, Rita Moreno, Edward James Olmos, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana and many others.

From memory Rita Moreno and Joan Baez were honored in the Obama years and Santana was honored last year.

[UTUSN]

4. Your framing makes it appear I purposely/deliberately sought out an item to skew towards my point.

I'm not nearly so calculating. It's all happenstance.

1) I am not targeting the Kennedy Center honors, per se. I have never paid attention to them or almost any such events. They came to my attention via Drumpf's snubbing them and all civilized things, so I was drawn to them now because of LETTERMAN and the BIDENs, and need I say in a *favorable* context.

2) I didn't think of the ethnic/race components until the previous poster identified DIAZ and I was in the after glow of the new West Side Story with all the current interviews of Rita and the emphasis on the all-ethnic, need I say "Puerto Rican," actors.

3) This led to my other wondering from years back as to all the attention for Cancun CRUZ and Marco RUBIO, and how the Mexican Americans have been eclipsed, and this led me to Google the population percentage break down of the various ethinic/race groups.

4) The ONLY article I viewed was the one from 2012, and I had no doubt that it might have out of date info, and I purposely went back to INCLUDE the 2012 date - and even BOLDED the "12" in the 2012.

but I was moving on with the day's activities, so was content to leave my point out there in the Forest sense of things instead of the individual Trees sense - "Can't see the Forest for the Trees" get it?


********* My experience has been on the board that whenever I provide my context to challenges to my original point, my CONTEXT is never enough for the challengers and even pooh-poohed as "excuses."

*** So, I've made my point, and have other things to do.

[karynnj]

7. You are being over sensitive. My framing???? I simply remembered the three I listed from the list

then I noticed that your quote was from 2012. Given that that was nearly a decade ago, I am not surprised that some of the Hispanics some of them have been named in the years since then. I thought it reasonable to mention that some of those various performers were honored.

As to you seeing "the forest" as compared to my response identifying "trees", you posted on a series of annual awards, that you admit you did not pay attention to them AND GOT IT WRONG! What was true in 2012, when there are multiple articles on the lack of Hispanic performers, has been corrected in the years afterward. Many others including Linda Ronstadt, who Has Mexican heritage, and Gloria Estefan were also honored.

[UTUSN]

8. Ah, yes, the "over sensitive" thing.

[wryter2000]

5. Placido Domingo

Born in Spain but grew up in Mexico. I’m sure he has lots of honors. OTOH he turned out to be a harasser.

[UTUSN]

6. Yeah, there's that last thing. Plus, I'm basically addressing the Mexican Americans

as being ignored even vis a vis the various Hispanic components.

*** And the Kennedy Center Honors are not THE focus, just the thing in the news, symbolic of the Big Picture.

[ShazzieB]

9. In the interest of accuracy...

Joan Baez was honored in 2020. Just so you know.

[UTUSN]

10. "accuracy" is subject to the same paradigm of "letter" vs "spirit" of (the law).

Wiki says of the various "Hispanics" mentioned,

Joan - father German/Mexican; mother German, English, Dutch heritage.

Linda R. - father, Mexico; mother, Scot. I remember her telling Johnny CARSON she knew zero Spanish, vocalized from rote memory for Spanish.

Carlos SANTANA - born in Mexico, OK Mexican-American - makes one.

"Accuracy" ain't represented by the Kennedy Center Honors, which are my SYMBOL from today's news.



*** Edie GORME, parents born in Turkey, Sephardic Jews, spoke/sang *perfect* Spanish, "Ladino a judaeo-Spanish" - and set the pattern that BIG SALES could be had by American singers in the Spanish world, which for sure got a couple or so of the above to begin to relate to their Spanish sides somewhat late (not SANTANA) in their careers.


********** "Hispanics" is not a monolithic structural term - the varying ethnicities (Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, et al. ) don't likely identify transparently with one another. Even the Spanish language of the different groups have some components almost unintelligible to one another.


I've said what I've said.