A hiring list?

The National Hispanic Leadership Agency has come up with its own list of 19 potential members of a presidential cabinet.

Ranging from Richard Henry Carmona (the one-time Surgeon General) to Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, it offers up prospects for people who could receive cabinet-level appointments in coming weeks.

FOR WE’RE GOING through the usual mid-presidency transition from a first to a second term, and Barack Obama faces the prospects of having no Latinos among his top advisers.

Considering this was a guy who was hinting that he would increase the number of Latinos in the cabinet from the current two to three, he’s got to be hurting.

For the two Latinos who were in the cabinet have either left (Hilda Solis of Labor) or will soon resign (Ken Salazar of Interior).

He’s got to replace his losses AND figure out a way to increase the numbers, or else he’s going to get at least a few of the activist types all worked up. After all, the overwhelming support Obama got back in November was more a sign of the contempt we feel for the GOP than any real support we have for Obama himself.

NOW I’M NOT going to say that every single person on that list is a sure-fire Cabinet appointee.

But I always find it easier to take seriously a group that is making demands when they come up with a proposal for how to achieve their demands.

In short, it is one thing to say that Obama needs to find more Latinos to serve in his cabinet. To have actual names of people whom he could appoint is much better. It makes it easier to take the demand seriously.

So we’ll be watching in coming weeks to see if any of these people actually get a promotion to a position where they theoretically have the ear of the president on their specific issues.

AND IF THEY don’t, then don’t be the least bit surprised if no amount of immigration reform talk (which desperately needs to be done) will assuage us.

We’re funny that way, I guess. We actually expect our elected officials who get put into office with nearly 3-1 support to actually listen to us and act on our behalf.

It’s that form of government called Democracy, and that is supposed to be the concept that gives this nation the ability to honestly think of itself as being superior in any way.

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