*UPDATE: It appears the San Antonio City Council doesn’t take all their marching orders from the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board. Counter the daily’s advice, San Antonio’s electeds voted today to take a pass on the RNC.*
Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert and a passel of friends urged the City on Wednesday, May 2, to run not walk away from the Republican National Convention’s host-city-hunting.
Here’s video of that press conference.
.
Here’s a debrief outside chambers… (Sincere apologies for the bad audio; found out I have a bad/wrong mic cord. I’ve ordered replacement, just so you know).
[UA_PDF_VIEWER_PRO pdf=”https://deceleration.news/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/3-Billion-Reasons-Not-To-Hold-Trump-Re-nomination-in-San-Antonio-5.2.2018.pdf”%5D%5B/UA_PDF_VIEWER_PRO%5D
Dollar for Dollar: Calvert suggest comparing potential $$$ gains from convention with those flowing north from Mexico, via the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
[UA_PDF_VIEWER_PRO pdf=”https://deceleration.news/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Mexican-Nationals-Report-FINAL.pdf”%5D%5B/UA_PDF_VIEWER_PRO%5D
Those interested in exerting pressure on the San Antonio Council on this issues could consider a petition calling on the San Antonio City Council to spurn the Republican National Committee’s “hypocritical courtship.” The petition has been circulating on the Action Network.
As of this writing, it had garnered 370 signatures.
Donald Trump has led a relentless campaign of attacks against Mexicanx and Latinx people. Now, the Republican National Committee wants to host their 2020 presidential convention right here in San Antonio.The Republican Party has aided and abetted Trump’s assault on Latinx families. They have supported his preposterous bid for a border wall. They stood by while he stripped DACA protections from hundreds of thousands of young people, now facing imminent
deportation. They have run campaign ads in which Latinx and Mexicanx people are presented as violent and dangerous. They have presided over the largest resurgence of racist nationalism since World War II.
San Antonio’s history IS the resilience and strength of the Latinx and Mexicanx people. We have suffered segregation and discrimination and yet our cultural richness endures as the heartbeat of this city. We will not tolerate the party of a man who has terrorized immigrant communities and their families— including our own right here in San Antonio.
Our city must not shelter a party who calls Mexicans “rapists” and implies they are criminals and drug traffickers.What’s more, the RNC is only courting San Antonio because nearly every other major city has rejected their convention. And now they want San Antonio to take what no one else wants? The RNC is trying to exploit San Antonio for political benefit. We must stand tall and say ‘NO.’
San Antonio City Council: You must not allow the RNC to host their 2020 convention in our city. You cannot legitimize their hypocritical courtship by formally bidding for their convention. The chaos they will bring will harm our city’s future.
Our neighbors, our children — and the very reputation of the San Antonio we love so much — deserve better.
No RNC 2020 in SA.
Calvert took the opportunity to challenge San Antonio Express-News columnist Gilbert Garcia on some of the points in Garcia’s column today, which itself challenges many of this opposition’s logic. Yet Garcia lifts up one of the most important considerations for local residents at this moment, concluding his column with this:
