Latinos: now a force to be reckoned with

L.A. has a new mayor, and he's a Latino.

"I'm an American of Mexican descent and I'm proud of that," Mr. Villaraigosa, 52, said at an auto repair training center sponsored by the Urban League. "But I intend to be mayor of all of Los Angeles. As the mayor of the most diverse city in the world, that's the only way it can work."

I think this is definitely cool in a lot of ways. I'm all for people of ethnic or racial minorities reaching positions of prominence in American politics because they should feel like their voice really counts in this country. Also, they can serve as examples for others that long to improve the quality of their lives.

Mr. Villaraigosa...was raised on the Latino east side by a single immigrant mother. He dropped out of high school for a time, then worked his way through the University of California, Los Angeles, and became a union organizer, then speaker of the State Assembly. He has been a member of the Los Angeles City Council since 2003.

Bravo. Indeed, it just goes to show that hard work still pays off in the good old US of A.