On the Fence with Richardson

American minorities are on the fence with President-elect Obama’s decision to appoint New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce.

Chinese-Americans throughout the nation have began a petition opposing Richardson’s appointment because of his handling of the case against Taiwanese-American Wen Ho Lee. The petition calls for the President-elect to disregard Richardson from his Cabinet, completely.

Chinese-American Guy Wong writes that the Richardson appointment will cause difficulty in dealing with the Chinese government.

“As you may know, Richardson singlehandedly caused Dr. Wen Ho Lee his job and his reputation, not to mention his freedom. I expect him, if confirmed as the Secretary of Commerce, to have a tough time with the Chinese and China is one of our biggest trading partners.”

Another Chinese-American, George Koo, also comments on Richardson as Secretary of Commerce.

“The last cabinet post he held was as Secretary of Energy under the Clinton Administration and his performance was decidedly dismal.

Instead of courage, he showed cowardice under pressure. Instead of challenging the right wing for outrageous accusations of the Clinton administration, he appeased them by leaking the name of Dr. Wen Ho Lee to the media as the alleged spy for China.

To this day, he stands by his misconduct.”

On the other side of the fence, Mexican-American Stace Medellin writes that Richardson seems to be a “perfect fit.”

“Okay, so Gov. Bill Richardson will become Secretary of Commerce. Notwithstanding my comments earlier this week on the “snub,” I actually do feel Richardson is a good choice for the post, considering his ability to lead New Mexico through a jobs creation phase.

During his campaign, Richardson boasted creating 80,000 jobs, and that New Mexico was 6th in the nation in job growth. Of course, FactCheck.org challenged his number–which they said was 69,000, and the upped it as growth continued. (Those folks can be so annoying).

So, if Obama's plan is to create green jobs, then I see Richardson being part of that equation.”

Medallin ends his post with another possible nomination for Richardson.

“Maybe now, he'll qualify for a Nobel nomination in International Economic Development, or something like that!”

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