At Last, A Corrido For Joe Arpaio

The NY Times gives us the words of Saul Linares's corrido for Joe Arpaio:

Voy a cantarles un corrido a los presentes,
que le compuse a Joe Arpaio de Arizona,
un sinverguenza, desgraciado, anti-inmigrante,
que se ha ganado el repudio de toda la gente.

Es un sheriff que está gastando mucha plata,
mucho dinero que paga el contribuyente,
Arpaio mete preso al inmigrante
porque el dice que son unos delicuentes,
pero tan sólo buscan un trabajo decente
que en su pais ellos no lo han encontrado
y sin sentido y sin razón aparente
por una calle encandenados los paseaba

Ya los latinos de Arpaio están cansados,
Ya los latinos están muy organizados
no tienen miedo ni al sheriff, ni policía,
a Joe Arpaio le dicen y le repiten
sos criminal deberías estar preso.

•

I will sing a corrido to all those present
that I wrote for Joe Arpaio from Arizona,
a shameless, disgraceful immigrant hater
who has earned the repudiation of the people.

Arpaio puts the immigrants in jail
because he says that they are crooks
but they are only looking for a decent job
that they haven’t found in their own country
And without any apparent sense or reason
he paraded them in chains down the street

Latinos are tired
Immigrants, who are very organized,
don’t fear the sheriff or the police.
They say to Joe Arpaio and they say it again:
You’re a criminal and should be in jail.

— Translated by Eduardo Porter.

Saul Linares, according to The Times is a factor worker from Hempstead, who comes not from Mexico but from El Salvador. Doesn't matter. He knew what to do:

“In the left hand I was eating, and with my right hand I was writing it down,” he said. He was done in 20 minutes.

Mr. Linares was on a weekend retreat for immigrant-rights organizers in Rye, N.Y. After work on Saturday they took a break for a “cultural night” of poems, songs and stories.

Mr. Linares, 30, had never written a corrido before.

No, the corrido isn't on youtube. Not yet. But keep a sharp eye out for it. It's gonna be viral.

Ersatz Corridos. Washington Can't Carry A Tune.

Today Nezua at Unapologetic Mexican reports that the US government, you know, those people in Washington, are producing fake corridos to be played on the radio near the US Mexico border. Why? Because they are supposed to deter border crossings from Mexico to the US by undocumented people.

Why does this make me so angry? Is it because it's just another, dishonest trick, another lie from Washington? Is it because it's a complete waste of taxpayer money? Is it because of the arrogance of the trick and its assumption that the audience for ersatz corridos is just plain stooopid? Is it because its so lame?

Unfortunately, I haven't heard the corridos yet. I'm wondering why I suspect that they suck as badly as the idea behind them. And that the program is another $400 toilet seat.