By: Daniel Nardini

In a sign of the times, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (Republican-Ohio) will not host any special events for the Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Traditionally, the Speaker of the House usually hosts or is a part of special events during the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Not this year. Boehner has made it clear he will not participate, nor will he sponsor, any events for the celebration. This leaves the entire Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) out in the cold. Five representatives will sponsor events coinciding with Cinco de Mayo.

Besides fiestas, there will also be fundraisers. What this shows is that the divide between Democrat and Republican, Latino and non-Latino, and for those who want to celebrate Hispanic heritage as opposed to those who do not, has become a gap as wide as the Grand Canyon. Obviously Cinco de Mayo is not a national American holiday. Neither is the Chinese New Year, but at least there is no prohibition against congressional legislators and personnel celebrating it and holding New Year festivities. Besides, this sort of action will not go down well with Latino voters. One can be sure that Latinos will remember who has the interests of Latino voters in mind and who does not.

Finally, it seems that Republicans and Democrats cannot even get together on a celebration. What harm can it do for either one if they hold or take part in a celebration? For many congressional legislators whose ancestry is from Mexico, this action by Boehner is a slap in the face. But now it makes me realize that if House Democrats and House Republicans cannot even agree on getting together for a celebration, how can they get together on important issues to the American people?