Is David Rivera just chasing cameras to see himself on TV?
Florida
State Rep. David Rivera is relentless — a relentless manipulator of
information and a troublemaker. While he lies and confuses issues for
his own good, he ignores his Miami District 112 constituency who
suffer the effects of cutbacks in social services for the elderly,
education for their children, and the inability of too many to afford
health insurance. At the same time, he helps preside over a
legislature which keeps raising our taxes while cutting back on
everything we expect from our political leaders. 
I say preside
because Rivera has direct access to Florida Speaker of the House
Marco Rubio who considers him one of his lieutenants. Still, Rivera
opts to ignore his public and chases cameras in search of his next
chance at exposing a hiding Fidel or Raul Castro behind every bush in
South Florida.
Maybe
it is just beyond his capacity, but Rivera is totally ineffective
when it comes to his duties as a state legislator: what has he ever accomplished in Tallahassee?
By
Alvaro F. Fernandez Read Spanish Version
alfernandez@the-beach.net
Florida
State Rep. David Rivera is relentless — a relentless manipulator of
information and a troublemaker. While he lies and confuses issues for
his own good, he ignores his Miami District 112 constituency who
suffer the effects of cutbacks in social services for the elderly,
education for their children, and the inability of too many to afford
health insurance. At the same time, he helps preside over a
legislature which keeps raising our taxes while cutting back on
everything we expect from our political leaders. I say preside
because Rivera has direct access to Florida Speaker of the House
Marco Rubio who considers him one of his lieutenants. Still, Rivera
opts to ignore his public and chases cameras in search of his next
chance at exposing a hiding Fidel or Raul Castro behind every bush in
South Florida.
Maybe
it is just beyond his capacity, but Rivera is totally ineffective
when it comes to his duties as a state legislator: what has he ever
accomplished in Tallahassee? But when it comes to twisting and
turning information in order to confuse the Cuba issue locally, he’s
been at it since his arrival in Florida’s capital in 2002. Before
that, he was groomed as Al Cardenas’s pit bull. Cardenas was
chairman of the Republican Party in Florida until a couple of years
ago.
Most
recently, Rivera introduced Florida law 1310 which was to go into
effect July 1st.
Tuesday. Judge Alan Gold issued a temporary injunction in federal
court holding back implementation of the law, which further regulates
the travel to Cuba industry already over-regulated by the federal
government. Rivera, and whoever thought this up for him, hoped to put
the industry out of business. The problem, like the federal measures
imposed in 2004, is that those who pay the price of Rivera’s
shenanigans are the family members who have waited for three years to
visit their loved ones in Cuba. If Rivera’s 1310 law goes into
effect, flights will become more costly and longer. And don’t be
surprised to see many people choosing to fly by way of a third
country in order to avoid the chaos caused by 1310 — causing more
hardship, especially to the elderly.
Who
benefits?
Right
off the bat, I can think of Cuba’s Cubana Airlines jumping in to
pick up Miami passengers from Nassau, Jamaica, Dominican Republic…
whichever third country they choose to travel from. So the next
question to ask: Might David Rivera’s bill end up helping the Cuban
government economically?
I
am sure many people can and will read into this differently. At the
same time, there are too many occurrences which tell me something is
up — and not favorable to the forces of evil (Rivera’s side). When
I close my eyes, my overly fertile mind pictures a bunch of rattle
snakes and cobras fighting each other over the same rat. I can
pinpoint who the snakes are; the rat’s a little out of focus.
On
Monday, Rivera was interviewed on radio by Edmundo Garcia, a popular
and astute Miami radio personality. Garcia asked Rivera point blank
about his inclusion of Members of Congress Lincoln and Mario
Diaz-Balart as well as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in the push to have
Florida Governor Charlie Crist sign the law (1310) that was supposed
to go into effect July 1. Rivera hemmed and hawed his way around the
question twice. Garcia then produced a tape of Rivera telling a TV
Channel 51 reporter that the three members of Congress had indeed
signed and sent letters to Crist urging him to sign 1310. Twice the
tape was played. Rivera, who I refer to as a “disco rayado” in
Spanish (or broken and scratched record), continued to hem and haw in
spite of the facts presented before him. To say the least, the man
had been embarrassed, although I am not sure if anything embarrasses
this person. (For those who understand Spanish, click
here
to hear the exchange between Rivera and Garcia.)
Why
is Rivera suddenly denying or running circles around the question
surrounding the Diaz-Balarts and Ros Lehtinen?
Let
me speculate:
-
Sources
close to both sides have told me that Rivera and Marco Rubio are
interested in the Diaz-Balart seats in congress. Could they be
making a bad situation worse assuring that Lincoln and Mario are
defeated in November? (Current polls reveal that if the elections
were held today all three would lose.) The anti-family situation is
not helping our members of Congress during this election season. A
Diaz-Balart loss would open up the republican slate for Rivera and
Rubio in 2010… -
There
is also speculation that Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has worked out a deal
to distance herself from the Diaz-Balarts. Although polls show her
losing today, she may be the strongest of the three Cuban American
members of Congress from South Florida. (See what I mean about
snakes snapping, fangs flaring.) -
Could
it be a plan gone awry? And now the members of Congress want no part
of it and have left Rivera alone… Notice that nobody from the Dark
Side has come out in his defense lately. -
Or,
Rivera has proven to be relentless and a liar. But not the brightest
light bulb on the Dark Side…
Could
it be that he is truly just chasing cameras because he likes to see
himself on TV?
