Did I Just Say That?
People in Spain are wondering just what so many Americans see in the bombastic Donald Trump. On the news some nights we are shown how the candidate spews hatred toward just about everyone. We've seen the disturbances that broke out in Chicago, Kansas City, and the cancellation of the rally in Cincinatti. We've heard about how Trump promised there might be riots if he's not the Republican candidate. We've heard the ex-president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, say Mexico will not pay for Trump's "estúpido muro" (stupid wall). And yet people still vote for him.
We have our own strange president in Mariano Rajoy. He's not as racist or as angry with the world as Donald Trump, but some of the things he's done and promises to do in the future make me also wonder just why so many Spaniards have voted for his political party. Personally, he doesn't do much to drum up confidence among the population. Some of the things he has said over the years make many people wonder if he'd been smoking something at that time. Such as when he went on a state trip to Peru, and mentioned his hosts in a speech, "el pueblo cubano" (the Cuban people). I think some people must have thought his pilot had landed the plane at the wrong airport.
But his resumé is filled with little jewels like that one. Such as in 2013 at a press conference after a meeting between various heads of state and the government of the European Union to come together on agreements. The first words out of his mouth were, "No he dormido nada. No me pregunten demasiado, si hacen el favor." (I haven't slept at all. Please don't ask me too many questions.) One assumes a press conference is held for the public to know what is being agreed to in their name. For information to circulate, questions should be asked first. As many as are necessary. Or proclaiming at a rally in Burgos that "España es un gran país que hace cosas importantes y tiene españoles." (Spain is a great country that does important things and has Spaniards.) Oh. I thought it was full of Italians.
And, of course, campaign promises are always meant to be broken. The reasons given for breaking them are usually ingenious and are supposed to lull people into accepting the inevitable. Usually. "Yo prefiero no subir el IVA en 2013 pero tambien le digo que si en ese momento es bueno subir el IVA lo haré y haré cualquier cosa aunque no me guste y haya dicho que no lo voy a hacer." (I prefer not to raise the sales tax in 2013 but I also say that if at that moment it is good to raise the sales tax, I will do it and I will do anything even if I don't like it and I had said I wasn't going to do it.)
On a campaign trip, aside from making promises never to be fulfilled, voters sometimes have to have a scary scene explained for them with even scarier math. "Los gallegos tienen dos opciones: el PP o seis o siete partidos." (Gallegos have two options: the PP or six or seven parties.) Though sometimes he has told the absolute truth, for which we are all grateful. "Lo que nosotros hemos hecho, cosa que no hizo usted, es engañar a la gente." (What we have done, which you have not, is to deceive the people.) He said that in the Congreso to the opposition party, the Socialists. That should have cleared any doubts in many people's minds.
Above all, a president should make the public proud of the nation they belong to. Rajoy has never hesitated to do so. "Que España es una gran nación y los españoles muy españoles y mucho españoles." (That Spain is a great nation, and the Spaniards very Spanish and much Spanish.) Of course, sometimes he has gotten carried away and confused Spain with the very enemy he sees as working unceasingly for its downfall. "Quiero transmitir a los españoles un mensaje de esperanza: ETA es una gran nación." (I want to transmit to the Spaniards a message of hope: ETA is a great nation.) I wonder. If the present law against glorification of terrorism had been in effect then, might he have had to present himself before a judge for saying that?
But we shouldn't forget that even though he is a hidebound politician, he still has feelings. Just as he admitted once when his feelings were hurt by apparently unfounded accusations. "Somos sentimientos y tenemos seres humanos." (We are feelings and we have human beings.) Interesting.
We have our own strange president in Mariano Rajoy. He's not as racist or as angry with the world as Donald Trump, but some of the things he's done and promises to do in the future make me also wonder just why so many Spaniards have voted for his political party. Personally, he doesn't do much to drum up confidence among the population. Some of the things he has said over the years make many people wonder if he'd been smoking something at that time. Such as when he went on a state trip to Peru, and mentioned his hosts in a speech, "el pueblo cubano" (the Cuban people). I think some people must have thought his pilot had landed the plane at the wrong airport.
But his resumé is filled with little jewels like that one. Such as in 2013 at a press conference after a meeting between various heads of state and the government of the European Union to come together on agreements. The first words out of his mouth were, "No he dormido nada. No me pregunten demasiado, si hacen el favor." (I haven't slept at all. Please don't ask me too many questions.) One assumes a press conference is held for the public to know what is being agreed to in their name. For information to circulate, questions should be asked first. As many as are necessary. Or proclaiming at a rally in Burgos that "España es un gran país que hace cosas importantes y tiene españoles." (Spain is a great country that does important things and has Spaniards.) Oh. I thought it was full of Italians.
And, of course, campaign promises are always meant to be broken. The reasons given for breaking them are usually ingenious and are supposed to lull people into accepting the inevitable. Usually. "Yo prefiero no subir el IVA en 2013 pero tambien le digo que si en ese momento es bueno subir el IVA lo haré y haré cualquier cosa aunque no me guste y haya dicho que no lo voy a hacer." (I prefer not to raise the sales tax in 2013 but I also say that if at that moment it is good to raise the sales tax, I will do it and I will do anything even if I don't like it and I had said I wasn't going to do it.)
On a campaign trip, aside from making promises never to be fulfilled, voters sometimes have to have a scary scene explained for them with even scarier math. "Los gallegos tienen dos opciones: el PP o seis o siete partidos." (Gallegos have two options: the PP or six or seven parties.) Though sometimes he has told the absolute truth, for which we are all grateful. "Lo que nosotros hemos hecho, cosa que no hizo usted, es engañar a la gente." (What we have done, which you have not, is to deceive the people.) He said that in the Congreso to the opposition party, the Socialists. That should have cleared any doubts in many people's minds.
Above all, a president should make the public proud of the nation they belong to. Rajoy has never hesitated to do so. "Que España es una gran nación y los españoles muy españoles y mucho españoles." (That Spain is a great nation, and the Spaniards very Spanish and much Spanish.) Of course, sometimes he has gotten carried away and confused Spain with the very enemy he sees as working unceasingly for its downfall. "Quiero transmitir a los españoles un mensaje de esperanza: ETA es una gran nación." (I want to transmit to the Spaniards a message of hope: ETA is a great nation.) I wonder. If the present law against glorification of terrorism had been in effect then, might he have had to present himself before a judge for saying that?
But we shouldn't forget that even though he is a hidebound politician, he still has feelings. Just as he admitted once when his feelings were hurt by apparently unfounded accusations. "Somos sentimientos y tenemos seres humanos." (We are feelings and we have human beings.) Interesting.
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