What Obama Didn't Say

In Spanish, we have a special word to describe nonsensical discourses. Long-winded speeches, especially by demagogic politicians, are called "cantinfladas."

The word derives from "Cantinflas," a hilarious character — played by the late Mario Moreno in many Mexican movies — who had an amazing talent for saying a lot without really saying anything.

Nowadays when politicians deliver florid yet empty speeches, we say they have given us cantinfladas.

Take President Barack Obama's videotaped message to some 200,000 pro-immigrant demonstrators at the March for America rally in Washington Sunday. When I saw the video on the Internet, I thought I was watching a Cantinflas movie!

To a crowd of people who had been demanding new and concrete immigration reform proposals, Obama delivered only the same tired rhetoric he used during his campaign for president. The speech, viewed by demonstrators on huge monitors on the National Mall, was a rambling and unconvincing attempt to make us believe that his administration has actually been doing something to reform our broken immigration system.

As he spoke, the crowd had to wait for something to cheer for, and reporters had to wait to find a statement worth quoting. But there was no substance, nothing new. Cantinflas was speaking at the immigration march!

A few weeks ago, many people were offended by how little Obama said about immigration reform during his State of the Union speech. Well, this time he spoke for a lot longer yet managed to remain remarkably vague about everything.

"I've always pledged to be your partner as we work to fix our broken immigration system, and that's a commitment that I reaffirm today," Obama said in one of his most quotable statements.

He said his administration has "worked together" with Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on what is only still "a framework" of legislation to reform immigration, and then he had the audacity to congratulate Schumer and Graham for work that is yet to be done!

In fact, Schumer, Graham and Obama have taken a year to rewrite old immigration reform proposals — and they're still not finished! On the road to immigration reform, they have done so much backpedaling that they already broke the bicycle! Whom do they think they are fooling? This is work that can be done in a week!

However, in a very subtle way, Obama was letting us know that he has set a new standard for moving forward with immigration reform and a legalization plan for undocumented immigrants.

"I pledge to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year on this important issue," Obama said. Mind you, he didn't say he would fight for Congress to pass this legislation this year. On the same day he was counting only on Democrats to pass health care reform, he was telling us he is not willing to spend the same kind of political capital on immigration.

"You know as well as I do that this won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight," the president added. This time, he didn't say "sí, se puede."

Obama recognized that our immigration system is broken and that many people are suffering because of it, yet he had nothing to say about the many policies he could change — without the consent of Congress — to ease those people's pain.

The president didn't bother to address many of the key concerns of the people who organized the march — including some who campaigned for him and recently have accused him of betrayal.

He didn't say that he would stop the deportations or that he regrets breaking former President George W. Bush's deportation record or that at least he would order a moratorium on immigration raids while undocumented immigrants are being encouraged to participate in the U.S. census, as other presidents have done in the past. He didn't say he would order the Justice Department to intercede when local authorities (and racist sheriffs) abuse federal immigration laws to violate human and civil rights.

Yet at the end of Obama's videotaped diatribe, amazingly, many of the marchers clapped and cheered for his cantinflada. Who knows? Maybe they didn't hear him well. Perhaps it was difficult for them to realize that they were listening to hollow words. After trekking across the country to get the president's attention, maybe seeing him on the big screen, in the role of Cantinflas, was impressive enough. Or perhaps they are masochists, setting themselves up to be betrayed by Obama once again.

Instead of having more immigration marches to shout "sí, se puede" in vain this year — knowing that immigration reform has no chance of clearing Congress before the November midterm elections — they should be planning voter campaigns to say "no se puede" to Obama and other politicians who have failed to deliver on their promises.

When Mario Moreno became Cantinflas, he often was satirizing politicians and making many people laugh. But when Barack Obama becomes Cantinflas, it's not funny.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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