As if the Obama administration needed another scandal with which to contend this week, one of Indiana's own has created yet another one for the Obama State Department. The U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, Anne Andrew, a Hoosier native and wife of former DNC Chairman Joe Andrew had her embassy employees make this ridiculous music video parodying PSY’s “Gangnam Style" to encourage Costa Ricans to apply for visas legally to come to the United States and avoid the visa scammers and coyotes. Even Andrew makes an appearance in the video, looking extremely goofy to say the least. Fellow blogger Debbie Schlussel has some spot on comments on the controversy:
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| Ambassador Anne Andrews |
As I’ve previously noted on this site, U.S. Embassies apparently exist solely to help the interests of America-haters and give them an opportunity for visas to the U.S. Now, President Obama’s hand-picked U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, “Dumbassador” Anne Andrews, has enlisted her U.S. Embassy employees in this ridiculous music video (a parody of PSY’s “Gangnam Style”) to encourage Costa Rican’s and others to get more visas to go to the U.S., as if we have a shortage and need to “advertise” to get more people to seek visas (and engage in visa fraud). As if we don’t have enough visa violators in our midst already (40% of all the illegal aliens in the U.S. are visa overstays and other sorts of visa violators). Ladies and gentleman, your tax dollars at work. Watch it and BARF . . .What a joke. Can anyone tell me what Andew's qualifications for being appointed ambassador to Costa Rica are other than the fact that she's married to Joe Andrew and she and her husband were best friends with the late Joe Miller, a drug dealer and accused pedophile?
As an immigration lawyer, this infuriates me. My clients have to wait way too long to get visas for their alien spouses processed by this State Department after they get married. Yet these yahoos have time to waste making a stupid video like this promoting applications for tourist visas. It's unbelievable.
UPDATE: Now that questions have been raised after the video went viral on YouTube, the State Department released this statement defending it:
Our embassies and consulates around the world are always looking for new and creative ways to educate and inform applicants about the visa process. The U.S. Embassy in San Jose is no exception. Consular section representatives regularly visit small communities across Costa Rica to bring a similar message as that in the video, warning of the dangers posed by visa scammers and coyotes who will take people’s money and jeopardize their chances of legally obtaining a visa—or even jeopardize their lives in the cases of those who are trafficked.
The video was designed for a Costa Rican audience, and meant to bring that same message in a more humorous way. It has succeeded. The public response in Costa Rica has been overwhelmingly positive, and it has been well received in the local press – ADN radio, Radio Monumental, and Channels 9, 11, and 42 so far. Comments on the Embassy’s Facebook site (146K + followers) have been overwhelmingly positive, with 743 likes, 150 comments and 256 shares. It has been viewed more than 20K times on YouTube, and while comments there are disabled, thumbs up reviews are running double to thumbs down reviews.Notice that while the State Department boasts that response has been "overwhelmingly positive," the comments section on YouTube has been disabled. Gee, I wonder why?
5 comments:
Ill-Eagle, is more than a sick bird....
...that video is disgraceful! She should be called back & fired for allowing it.
What is the problem? If you had read the explanation on the You Tube page and listened to the song, it basically states that here is a fun reminder that if you intend to visit the U.S., visit the Embassy first to get your visa as there swindlers and scammers who will try and take your money. There is nothing illegal here and it is well done and funny.
I'm not claiming the video is illegal; just that it's silly and a poor use of the embassy staff's time and money. A person in Costa Rica who would meet the traditional criteria for obtaining a tourist visa to come to the U.S. legally is already aware of the process for obtaining a tourist visa. It is laughable to think that such a person would ever consider relying on a coyote to come to the U.S. illegally. The only people who use coyotes are those intending to cross the border illegally to come to the U.S. to live and work permanently; they're not casual visitors coming to the U.S. for business or pleasure.
Another asinine non-scandal manufactured by the right-wing spin machine.
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