It used to be that as a public servant, particularly an elected one, even if you felt superior to members of minority groups you felt constrained from calling them names for fear of a backlash from either your boss or your constituents. Not any more, apparently.
Rep. Steve King of Iowa (a Republican, of course) has had a litany of nasty things to say about Mexican immigrants over the years. This week he came up with one of his nastiest.
On Tuesday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) rejected bipartisan criticism and again condemned young undocumented immigrants as “drug mules” in a radio interview with O.Kay Hunderson. Notably, he said that for every so-called DREAMer who is a valedictorian, there are “one hundred drug mules” and “you can tell by their physical characteristics what they’ve been doing for months.”
That was an amplification of what he had told the right-wing site Newsmax on July 18; speaking of kids brought here by their parents as youngsters:
“For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds — and they’ve got hands the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,” King tells Newsmax. “Those people would be legalized with the same act.”
The worst of it is, this is catnip to his Iowa constituents. He’s never gotten less than 55% of the vote in general elections to the US House.
What’s the matter with Iowa?
Don’t forget that Iowa is Melinda’s home state. Though she no doubt agrees with your assessment of Rep. King, she has red hair and may not take kindly to anyone dissing her state. Just saying because you’re a pal and I’d hate to see anything happen to you.
Ruh-roh. 😉