A.M. on the Speech

[NewsWhore]

Diario Libre's prize-winning editorialist Ines Aizpun did not think much of yesterday's speech. Her page two column, A.M., pointed out that President Fernandez is on the campaign trail and that he has new advisors. But that does not explain the children waving Dominican flags during the speech, or the paragraphs that sounded as if the President were speaking at a political rally. All told, according to the writer, an inappropriate use of the occasion. While "cold" the President has always been a vote-winner and so many gimmicks perhaps tried to hide the weakness of the speech. The columnist says that the risk of narrating in code the heroic achievements of the normal work of the administration - after all, that is what they are there for, and have more money than ever - is that the successes are reduced in value. Aizpun says that this is what happened yesterday. According to her, the administration cannot accept any laurels for the performances of Marcos Diaz or Joan Guzman, because their personal and family efforts, carried out over years, received little or no official assistance until they were hugely successful. Aizpun says that while these examples might be trivial, they do point out the severity of our social problems, and reveal why the speechwriters gave a certain tone to several paragraphs. The Presidential vision on some areas is removed, disconnected from the reality described by people who are affected by health, education, industrial free zones, or crime issues. Using satire worthy of Voltaire, the editorialist says that facing up to drug trafficking with the shout of "they shall not pass!" is scary. The final paragraph of A.M. could not let pass the Presidential joke about eating pork rinds on the new Metro. Aizpun says that this dismisses the most poorly managed, non-transparent of investments, and it is an insult to our intelligence, even if he is on the campaign trail.

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