Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) Compares Immigrants To Dogs
Steve King has been the leader of the anti-immigrant caucus on Capitol Hill, so it’s not surprising to hear him say this:
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), arguably the most conservative member of the House, was chatting to small crowd in Pocahontas, Iowa the other day, laying out his vision for picking good immigrants from the bad ones.
The comparison that sprung to mind: Dog breeding.
“You want a good bird dog? You want one that’s going to be aggressive? Pick the one that’s the friskiest … not the one that’s over there sleeping in the corner,” King said, according to Salon’sAlex Seitz-Wald, citing video captured by an American Bridge tracker.
King suggested lazy immigrants should be avoided as well. “You get the pick of the litter and you got yourself a pretty good bird dog. Well, we’ve got the pick of every donor civilization on the planet,” King said. “We’ve got the vigor from the planet to come to America.”
This will help with the Hispanic outreach in the GOP, no doubt.
Video:
This guy makes me ashamed of my state sometimes.
This guy is a leader in the party. What a f’ed up party.
If this guy is the #2 conservative in the House, who is #1?
At the risk of defending King — most definitely not a favorite of mine — you actually have to watch and listen to that video and not rely on the agenda-driven commentary by that Salon writer.
King is not comparing immigrants to dogs. He’s not comparing illegal immigrants to dogs. He’s using an unfortunate analogy, yes, but that Salon-derived piece simply is not a fair one.
What King is trying say, albeit inartfully and certainly not in a PC fashion, is that legal immigrants are among the best and the brightest members of U.S. society. Granted, you could take the negative implication of that and then surmise that King also is saying illegal immigrants are the worst and the dullest members of U.S. society, but that too would require somewhat of a logical leap. Perhaps comments made right before or immediately after what’s shown in that video would shed some additional light. We don’t know that, however, one way or the other, because the video ends.
Rule of thumb when it comes to left-wing accounts of right-wing comments: Verify, don’t trust. Rule of thumb when it comes to immigration-related comments by hard right politicians: Don’t trust, but at least try to be fair.
@Jeremy: Whoops, thought it said “arguably the second most conservative man in the House.” Reading fail.
Setting aside the dehumanizing nature of the analogy, wouldn’t “the frisky ones” be the ones risking life and limb to get here no matter what xenophobes like King say rather than the ones who just passively wait in line for someone to give them permission to try for a better life?
With people like Steve King in Congress you can understand why the Republican House has a
public approval rating of approximately 10%. In fact it makes you wonder why it’s that high.
@Stormy Dragon: Yes.
@Tsar Nicholas: Well said.
Meanwhile, at the other end of Redneckistan, NC pastor calls for all homosexuals to be put into death camps:
http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2012/05/22/pastor-build-electrified-fence-for-gays-so-they-die-out/
@Jeremy:
Let’s not use the word “conservative” as a euphemism for “fascist” or “reactionary”.
It will eventually be time to offer a moderate alternative to liberal excesses and folly, and that alternative will be rational and free of demagoguery.
Unfortunately the current alternative to liberal excess or folly is political madness.