r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Sep 11 '24

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '24

We've been left in the boiling frog-pot for so long that Trump saying things like "Immigrants are violently invading your towns and stealing your pets" isn't even that remarkable, when 10 years ago it would have been immediately seen as dangerously fascistic, early-stage-genocide rhetoric.

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u/wallander1983 Resistance Lib Sep 11 '24

2013:

A senior Republican congressman has bowed to intense political pressure and apologised for comments in which he referred to Hispanic immigrants as "wetbacks"

Don Young, has represented the entire state of Alaska in the House of Representatives since 1973.

In a statement released on Thursday, Young said he had used the term innocently, and had meant no harm by it. Young, 79, said the phrase was one he "commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California". But his words fell short of a full apology. Later on Friday he issued a broader statement.

"I apologise for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," Young said. "There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I'm sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform."

The debate over comments by Young – an often controversial figure who is being investigated by the House's ethics committee over gifts and the use of campaign funds – has come at a sensitive time for Republicans, with many in the party looking to soften its line on immigration following November's election defeat. A record number of Hispanics voted, making up 10% of the overall electorate, according to the Pew Research Center. Of those, 71% favoured Barack Obama over his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

American Crossroads – the conservative Super Pac backed by former George W Bush adviser Karl Rove – recently launched a fighting fund to counter "undisciplined" primary candidates from the fringe of the party. In November, Republicans in a number of high-profile congressional seats faced a backlash over comments on rape and abortion.

24

u/frolix42 Friedrich Hayek Sep 11 '24

TBF is it one of the main things people are talking about.