Jesus Christ! Quit Bitching About it Already, Mi Gente!

I knew this was coming, but I can't help being pissed off about it:

Bill Richardson's withdrawal from his commerce secretary nomination Sunday didn't just leave a major gap in the new administration, but it also sorely disappointed Latinos who view the New Mexico governor as their most prominent representative.

[W]ith Richardson stepping aside from consideration for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation relating to a company that has done business with his state, only two Latinos are now set to serve in the new Cabinet: Labor secretary-designate Hilda Solis and Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar, neither of which, some critics have argued, will hold a prominent Cabinet post.

"Only" two.  And not prominent enough.  Bull****!

The prospect of having only two Latinos on Obama's Cabinet riles some members of the Hispanic community who say their support of Obama was crucial to his success on Election Day.

"It's disappointing at least for now that this administration doesn't have three Latinos as members of its Cabinet," said Arturo Vargas, the executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"That would have been one of President-elect Obama's immediate legacies, to have appointed three Latinos to full Cabinet positions," Arturo added.

Emphasis added.  Didn't Mr. Vargas get the memo regarding Richardson's withdrawal?  He was in.  And he felt he had to get the heck out of Dodge because of a federal investigation on a pay-to-play scheme that may lead all the way back to Richardson's governor's office.  In other words, (1) he quit, and (2) he quit because he was, how shall we phrase this . . . oh yeah, "ethically challenged" at this time.

If token appointments is what you are looking for - and it sure looks like that's what Vargas is saying since he suggests that "two's no good, but three's alright" - I want no part of it.

"We do think another Latino should replace Mr. Richardson," Murguía of NCLR said. "It's not out of a sense of entitlement, it's really out of sense of historic precedent. President-elect Obama was ushered into office by a wide diverse coalition of different voters. There is a strong sense of pride among Latino voters that they played a special role."

"Historic precedent"?  WTF is that?  That Obama already nominated a Latino for that post so now Secretary of Commerce is a Latino post?

I tend to agree with this comment - which CNN.com placed at the end of the article as a sort of throwaway quote to purportedly provide some "balance" on this issue:

"I think we are beyond that at this point. We need to have the very best people in these jobs. I hope that they pick someone equally brilliant and highly experienced. We are all in it together," said Fernando Espuelas, host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show.

Emphasis provide.  Amen to that!