WaPo: Bloggers react to Gingrich’s video mea culpa

Earlier today, Jose Antonio Vargas at the Washington Post reported on the reactions by bloggers and the public to Newt Gingrich’s video message on Spanish. As we mentioned yesterday, the former House Speaker created a YouTube video where he tried to clear up remarks made several days ago equating Spanish as a “ghetto” language.

In the article, Vargas had this to say about the response from blogs like ours:

“The remarks drew a barrage of comments from the Latino community, and were quickly repudiated on popular Web sites such as Latin Americanist, Latino Pundit and Vivir Latino-- U.S. Latino life in blog form. A headline on Vivir Latino read ‘Newt -- Not Ghetto Fabulous,’ with Maegan Ortiz, the site's New York-based editor, writing: ‘Don't you love how politicos use Spanish when it works for them and when it doesn't, they trash it?’

Added Ortiz, who…watched Gingrich's mea culpa Wednesday night: ‘It's just so ironic that he'd use a video spoken in his ghetto Spanish to say sorry about a nasty, racist remark directed at the Latino community. I mean this is a guy whose own official Web site has his own biography written in Spanish. How hypocritical is that?’”

Vargas’ report adds that reactions on YouTube have been mixed and range from agreement to repudiation to humor (e.g. “Newt makes Bush sound like an expert in Spanish.”)

Links- The Latin Americanist, YouTube, Washington Post

Image- CNN