In Response to the Beaumont GOP Protesting George Lopez The Beaumont GOP is currently organizing a protest against George Lopez because of comments he made about President Trump that they believe were offensive and threatening. George Lopez is the king of Hispanic based comedy. He even parlayed it into a successful TV show. Much of it plays off the stereotype of the perceived "typical" Mexican-American replete with racial and ethnic jokes. While often off-color, he makes light of the culture of our hard-working brothers and sisters from down south. Low rider cars. Cheech and Chong redos. Catholic church indoctrination. Illegal aliens. Big families all living under one roof. Willing to work 24 hours a day… and cheaper than anyone else. Can build anything without any tools, etc. While he pokes fun at his own heritage and stereotypes, it also typically ends up conveying a positive message. So, he probably isn’t a fan of our President, but that shouldn't be surprising in light of the repetitive negative rhetoric our President has cast over the entire Hispanic community, inferring that many are criminals, rapists and drug dealers. And while even a joke about Lopez or anyone else in the Hispanic community taking out anyone, much less a president, "cheaper" than anyone else is in poor taste, it is comedy. George Carlin made a career just on the "seven dirty words.” Lots of comedians have said much worse trying to get a laugh.... as have politicians. What Southeast Texas DOESN’T NEED is more perceived race baiting or polarizing rhetoric for political purposes emanating from such comments in a nationally publicized protest against the performer's show here. As a promoter of many shows and events here (not this one) in the region the last 20 years, I can confirm that getting entertainment to Beaumont is tough... competing with Houston and the casinos for example. Profits are negligible even on well-attended shows. The Beaumont area has endured many self-inflicted black eyes with recurring negative stories and rankings and these protests are yet another one. Trying to publicly embarrass an entertainer and deter attendance at a performance doesn’t sell well to the industry. One more reason talent agents and artists, producers and other promoters will skip over us in the future. Many artists say political things, as part of their act or just because they are public personas. I booked Kid Rock here. He is to liberals what Lopez is to conservatives, and he isn’t even a political satirist. There were no silly protests by the left. Lopez made some comments that pushed the envelope trying to get a laugh. He's a comedian. He has publicly stated... like anyone doubted... that the comment was intended as a joke. Everyone should have moved on but didn't and a few local conservative politicians now want to grandstand and make another negative national news story for our community. There were other ways of expressing their dismay without further reinforcement of our region being regressive. Anyone offended enough by his comments doesn’t need a politician to tell them what to do. Just don’t go. This publicity stunt will only hamper future efforts to bring entertainment to the region. Our local leadership should be reflective of the greater interests of our community and not just their own. Way to go.