That said, whatever happened to those “Tear Down the Wall” Reagan Republicans?  Did the Tea Party silence them all?  When will those ol’ Reagan Republicans tear down the walls and storm through the barricades within their own?

How is it that those old time Reagan Republicans advocated for tearing down walls in other countries, but they are nowhere to be found when it comes to our very own back yard?

Remember when Americans applauded President Ronald Reagan when he went overseas and advocated Tearing Down the Walls?  “Tear down this wall!” was the challenge issued by United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin. Reagan challenged Gorbachev, who was then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as an emblem of Gorbachev’s desire to increase freedom in the Eastern Bloc.

How was it right to tell other Nations to tear down their walls when we don’t take our own advice?

How is it that we spend millions and billions of dollars destroying other Nations and wasting billions to rebuild their infrastructure?  Don’t you think it’s time we stop bombing other nations and wasting billions of tax payer dollars just to rebuild what we bomb?   Don’t you think it’s time decreasing throwing our money away while investing it in our own continent instead?

Am I advocating for open borders?

No, I am not.

I realize we are living in the post 9-11 era, and as a veteran of the Armed Forces, I do believe in secure borders with a reasonable legal immigration plan.  We must think with foresight, and if all hell breaks loose (and it will), it is imperative our neighborly relations with Mexico and Canada are in pristine condition.  The American government has taken a position advocating there to be peace in the Mideast as we call countries to be more neighborly – and we must follow our own advice.

I repeat, mayhem will eventually break out in other parts and continents of the world.  It is imperative we have the ultimate back-up plan with our soil neighbors.

It is imperative we have a back-up plan with our neighboring countries and look to our tri-country continent resources – pulling them together in the event of a global disaster.

May Americans continue to rise without a party affiliation and look to what is in the best interest of our Nation instead of an organization(s) that has proven to be divisive.   We are the United States – not the divided states, and it is hella time for an American party to rise up from this mess.  As an independent voter, I can say this with great conviction.  Our greatest strength is unity, and when we capture that idea and harness it — we will survive the hard times.

I leave you with this video below  by Gary Johnson who was a long time Republican and left the GOP for the Libertarian Party.  Gary Johnson was a Republican Governor of New Mexico.

Librotraficante Poem by Chicana Jocelyn Viera on St Patrick’s Day 2012. We enjoy seeing young Latina’s rise up.

If you live in Tucson, Arizona, please attend this important benefit to help save ethnic studies.

Celebrated LA based culture mashers Ozomatli will be performing a special benefit show on February 18th at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson to help raise money and support the Acosta plaintiffs of Save Ethnic Studies. The Acosta plaintiffs are teachers of various Mexican American Studies classes in the Tucson Unified School District who are involved in a lawsuit, and as Ozo singer / guitarist Raul Pacheco asserts, “Ozomatli fully support their cause, and we will be donating funds based on the Acosta plaintiffs need for fair legal representation.”

Ozomatli encourages anyone seeking more information on this issue to visit http://saveethnicstudies.org to understand their cause and, if so inclined, to donate to the Acosta plaintiffs need for fair legal representation.

Pacheco says, “playing in Arizona is not a simple thing if you are trying to respect the various methods of activism that exist in support of fair policies on immigration, education, and its political and legal systems. This is why Ozomatli has decided to play in Arizona only when we align ourselves with worthy causes and donate, promote and support to these causes and the organizations that represent them.”

Raul adds, “Ozomatli hope you support Save Ethnic Studies!”

In their sixteen years together as a band, Ozomatli have gone from being hometown heroes to being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors. Their music — a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga— has long followed a key mantra: it will take you around the world by taking you around L.A.

Ozo is also a product of the city’s grassroots political scene. Proudly born as a multi-racial crew in post-uprising 90s Los Angeles, the band has built a formidable reputation over five full-length studio albums and a relentless touring schedule for taking party rocking so seriously that it becomes new school musical activism. “Just being who we are and just doing what we’re doing with music at this time is very political,” says bassist Wil-Dog Abers. “The youth see us up there and recognize themselves. So in a playful, party-type of way, I think it’s real easy for this band to get dangerous. We are starting to realize just how big of a voice we actually have as a band and how important it is for us to use it.”

Ozomatli has spent 16 years working diligently to spread its message of peace, communication and understanding through music, with a long standing tradition of performing for children all over the world, from the schools of North St. Louis to the orphanages of Southeast Asia.
Ozo’s special “Save Ethnic Studies” show in Tucson on February 18th is a continuum of the band’s longstanding devotion to multi-cultural studies and the hard work of the students everywhere

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at the Rialto Theatre, in Tucson, AZ
Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 6th at 10am at luckymanonline.com, the Rialto Theatre box office, all Bookman’s locations.
To charge by phone, call 520-740-1000 – priced at $23.00 (advance); $25.00 (day of show) plus applicable fees for general admission tickets

 

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$23 general admission advance
$25 general admission day of show