I’m “aware” of Iowa congressman Steve King in a general sense, in that he’s been one of the loudest wingnuts of the Republican party for the better part of a decade, which is sort of a feat unto itself considering the GOP is The Wingnut Party at this point. He’s anti-choice, anti-affirmative action, pro-racial profiling, anti-science, anti-LGBT, pro-gun, pro-Confederate flag, anti-immigration and anti-Islam. He’s a white nationalist, basically. And he just proved it again over the weekend.
First, there was a tweet from a Twitter account called “Voice of Europe.” Voice of Europe has “MAGA” in the bio, and the account is obviously anti-EU, anti-immigration, and pro-Trump, pro-nationalism, anti-Islam. This was the tweet that caught Steve King’s eye.
Hundreds of Islamists shouting "Allahu Akbar" in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Wilders is right for over 10 years. #turkijerel pic.twitter.com/dV2SjXg23r
— Voice of Europe (@V_of_Europe) March 12, 2017
The account tweeted that in between tweeting about how Marine le Pen is awesome (barf) and how victims of sexual harassment have lost their morals and obviously deserved to be harassed because of their short skirts. So this how Iowa congressman Steve King responded in agreement with the Voices of Europe tweet:
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 12, 2017
“We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies” is one of the grossest and most terrifying sentiments I’ve heard… this month, I guess. I don’t know, a lot of terrible people have been saying a lot of terrible things. This one gets worse and worse as you really think about it though. “Somebody else’s babies” is mocking the very idea that immigrant children – or perhaps any non-white children – would grow up to contribute to society. “We can’t restore our civilization…” As in what exactly? We need to “restore” the civilization to the time of… all-white supremacy and all-white immigration? That time never existed, bro.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
America oh America.
Thank God I don’t live there!
I know right?!?! I know that canada has crazies too, but a high position in government…. um no..
hey now, we elected the Robot. More than once.
He hated gays, PoC, women, and anyone who wasn’t a rich old white guy. He was just quieter and smarter about it, and never made people scared of a nuclear winter (because no one was allowed to discuss science).
Just saying, my glass walls are looking very fresh and i’d prefer them without stones.
I wouldn’t brag too fast. Have you look at who’s running to lead the Conservative Party? They are a bunch of racist nutjobs and yet, one of them might end up being our next PM. And as Detritus said, we had Harper for a decade, Preston Manning was there for a while too (even if not PM), we elect those people too.
That’s the sad thing in the end, isn’t it? These people got elected, and will likely get re-elected even if they say those terrible things
@Cool Character Don’t get complacent. Extremism is on the rise globally. Just because it hasn’t reach your shores, doesn’t mean it won’t. Constant vigilance has never been more needed.
As a brown person living in Canada, I can assure you we have plenty of racists living here.
As another brown Canadian who’s lived in both countries, Canada is much, much better for racism. Definitely not perfect though.
And the Conservatives here have never gotten more than 40% support.
One more brown person here who has lived in both Canada and the US. I have experienced hardly any overt racism while living in the Us, and I live in the South. I rarely experience the microaggressions that were standard fare back home. No one ignores me in stores or looks at me suspiciously. People smile and say hello etc. It feels awesome!! I did not know what I was missing. Additionally, my husband’s career is doing a million times better than in Canada where he experienced a whole lotta institutional bias and racism. It was what literally drove us out of the country. Canada lost a very good scientist.
Our positive experience may be because south asians are considered a model minority. It’s clear that the black and latino communities have a very different experience here. Still, my husband has noticed African Americans in more managerial positions than he ever saw in Canada.
I’ve also noticed that South Asians are far better off economically here in the US than in Canada. They are the highest earning minority group in the US. South Asian immigrants tend to be more educated (probably due to immigration policies) but, once here, with their professional degrees, they are actually hired. So i guess in this instance, class trumps race. This does not happen as much in Canada. We have the point system that in many ways, is selecting for individuals who are educated and fluent in the official languages, yet when they arrive, the Canadian employment market utilizes a different criteria, no Canadian experience- no job!
I still miss Canada. I think we are a less competitive society than the US and therefore more amenable to egalitarian policies like universal health care. I miss the less militaristic and violent culture. I miss uncontested rights for women and LGBQT. It’s ironic that racism pushed us out of a more progressive country and into one that is currently experiencing a white nationalist moment.
Power and discrimination is never cut and dried.
Sanders, I’m glad I’m not the only late contributor. Your comment was so interesting and thoughtful. I am a dual citizen who had the bulk of my career in the USA and grew up there. But I live in Canada now. It has been impossible to get a career started here and I am a *white* person. My husband has a telecommuting job but from his few business dealings here feels he could not get anything here if he had to look. Thank goodness for the Internet. It is a more insular society, more hidebound and conformist than the USA. Canada tries to be innovative but isn’t: the health care and other wonderful social supports grow out of common sense and a basic sense of decency and fairness. It’s hard for a lot of people in the USA to understand that. At my time of life, approaching ‘retirement’ all I can do is find interesting things to do, but I (and our savings) feel the professional losses keenly. However it would be nuts to return now, with the violence and division, the health insurance problems etc. We wonder whether our Chinese-heritage daughter experiences discrimination that is hard to pin down — why only summer job offers from Thai restaurants? Why not the others? Etc. But the educational system has been better and more reasonably priced too. She could experience macro, not only micro, aggression in the USA. We lived in the South as well and children were making fun of her eyes already…it was only going to get worse. Jokes about Chinese culture, language seemed to still be acceptable. So she will prepare for her career here and then decide. I hope you stay safe and enjoy the good that there is to enjoy in the USA. We are so upset about what has been unleashed. Save your money and you can always come back when the time is right — especially with the currency conversion! Sorry Canada lost a good scientist. We give lip service here sometimes.
Thank you for these comments, sanders and WATP. Illuminating.
WATP, Sorry to hear about the barriers you face in Canada. I agree with a lot of your observations. Sounds like you are making the right decision for your family. It’s good your daughter has a mom who is sensitive to how differently she experiences the world as a poc. Thank you for your well wishes, it’s very kind of you.
Though I’ve had mostly good experiences here in the US, I do know that it can turn very quickly with hate being both nurtured and ignited by the present administration. Still, I’m trying to maintain my faith in human decency. I take comfort in examples like the white patron at the Kansas bar who put himself in the line of fire when a gunman was shooting at the two indian men. White supremacy has been with the world for 500+ years and counting and will always be used to drive political agendas. I also think that neo-liberal policies are equally dangerous and have played a huge role in the turmoil we are seeing everywhere. We need to counter them both for things to get better.
Sanders, thank you for a very interesting and thoughtful post. Glad to hear your POV.
This guy is just a racist bigot. One blowhard with a very temporary bullypulpit. I am offended by your comment, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion. My French immigrant husband says this is “the greatest country in the world”, I do not delude myself into that belief, but his point of view is based on that of someone who struggled for 10 years to become a citizen before we married. Not sure where you are from, but I would never put it down. Never.
What about someone being grateful they don’t live in America, is offensive?
I am American, and bi-racial, and currently very grateful that I don’t live there.
Not trying to be obtuse – I am genuinely curious as to why you would find that offensive?
Thank you, Anna.
The tone of the comment comes of as,
“Thank GOD I don’t have to deal with that sh!t show!”
Which is great. Except a lot of us do, against our will. And it still hurts and it still sucks and it still takes a toll mentally and physically. So comments like the OPs can come off as insensitive, and those sting.
I did, however, want to make clear that it’s the *tone* of the comment. I’m sure the OP didn’t intend to be hurtful.
First, America is NOT the greatest country in the world (and I’m American). If you believe that everything that is going on is making America even better you are sadly mistaken. And he is not the only racist in a position of power right now. Not everyone wants to come to America – and that’s not offensive at all.
My only reply is that those that choose to leave America can do so and I wish them well. Defending a country has nothing to do with having a monster and his cronies in office. He won’t be in office for more than 4 years. He can do some damage, but it WILL be over in 4 years. I lived through 1968-70. The country was divided like no other time, MLK Jr. was assassinated, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated and Nixon was elected. Nixon invaded Cambodia and 900 National Guardmen
O P E N E D. F I R E on a crowd of student protesters. I could go on, and on about how upside down this country was then. I am not panicking about a flash in the pan from reality TV with a bad combover. He’s NOTHING. A nobody who will, mark my words, retire in shame. ostracized, somewhere off the map. Sooner than you think.
Nixon was at least rational (if paranoid). Trump is more frightening, to me (and should be frightening to everyone, including people outside the US) because nothing is impossible with him. He could use nuclear weapons against another country. He could decide to instruct the relevant people (ICE, CBP, the police) to ignore Supreme Court rulings, causing a constitutional crisis. We can’t rule anything out.
It’s not that it’s offensive that someone doesn’t want to live/come to America, of course that is their choice. As another poster noted, it’s more the “I don’t have to deal with it, thank god I’m so much better off” tone. That”s kind of a rude tone to adopt about *any* country. For example, what if, during Ebola/Zika epidemics someone had said “Ah, Brazil/Africa. Thank God I don’t live there”. Or about any number of countries with dictators? Certainly I’m sure we’re all grateful in some sense we don’t have to go through that, but it is insensitive to the people who do to say it like that. It seems like criticism of America gets a free pass because there are some Americans, including top politicians, who are bigots and a-holes, and the US certainly doesn’t have a perfect history when it comes to wars, intervention across the globe, etc. However, what country does? It’s as rude to insult America to Americans as it would be to insult any other country to its citizens.
Sorry but I agree that it’s rude. There are plenty of countries I would hate to live in but I don’t ever feel the need to verbalize that, knowing that many people in those countries are suffering. I think gloating over other people’s misfortune is always in poor taste.
*shrugs*
@Anna, you may not fear Trump but we all should fear Paul Ryan.
I’m a US citizen living in the US and right now I’m not all that jazzed to be here. But I can’t leave. I can’t afford it. I even have family elsewhere that could take us in (my family, I mean) but I’d have to get us there, first. I can’t afford it, so we’re here for the duration.
Unless, of course, it becomes a do or die situation… the kind my great grandparents and grandparents faced in Poland before WWII. Which has become an actual concern, God help us all. I’ll sell a kidney, a lung, and a chunk of my liver to GTFO. It must be nice for you, though, to think it’s as easy as just up and leaving. You must have a very comfortable life.
BTW, my mother was an immigrant who earned her citizenship and was extremely proud of it. I’m glad she died before she saw the shitshow her adopted country’s government has become.
But this thinking is all over Europe too.
Just a couple of days ago, the UK Guardian – supposedly a left-of-centre newspaper, FFS – ran a scare story about the birth rate of British Muslims. Denmark has fertility policies while doing everything it can to discourage immigration/refugees (including full page national media ads and punting confiscation of assets). Etc etc etc.
It’s everywhere.
Thank you, Sixer.
As a WOC who has traveled to a lot of countries, there is no racial utopia. Racism and bigotry can be found anywhere in the world.
Honestly, if you could see what goes on here in the UK vis a vis immigration, Shambles and Tiffany, with dreadful rules, detainment centres rife with sexual abuse, and mass deportation flights, you wouldn’t think it was any better here.
In my view, the big difference in the rise of the alt-right between the US and everywhere else isn’t in race and/or immigration. It’s in the rights of women. Reproductive rights aren’t really under attack in Europe and that’s not down to the alt-right in the US entirely, is it? It’s the alt-right enabling the same old Religious Right you’ve always had and Western Europe really hasn’t in any significant way.
Re: Sixer – reproductive rights arn’t perfect in Europe. Isn’t it still really hard to get am abortion in Ireland, most Irish women have to travel to the UK.
The rise of right wing movements is due to immigration, at least here in Europe. It is about the fear, that one day, muslims will be in the majority.
We should be able to speak about problems, without being called racist. If this is not the case, even more people will vote for right movements. We need honest discussions in politics.
@sixer: reproductive rights have been under attack by the polish government
Mara – I’m not saying it’s perfect by any means. But the concerted attack on hard-won existing rights is not happening in Western Europe in the same way it’s happening in the US. Partly due to universal healthcare, partly due to a much, much, much larger religious right movement that doesn’t exist in such size and influence anywhere in Western Europe.
But my real point is that while Western Europe is pointing at Trump in performative horror over racism and immigration policy, it’s actually enacting much the same itself and this white supremacist thinking is gaining just as much of a hold in the mainstream. We should stop throwing stones because we are in glass houses.
Alexia – apologies. Have amended to Western Europe. I’m aware of Poland. Blame it on my Western European supremacist thinking. 😉
Mara – Ireland (republic) is albeit very slowly, moving forward rather than backward on social issues, though. And Northern Ireland’s politics is skewed by sectarianism. I’ve spoken several times on here before that the only place in the UK where a religious right has any significant input into politics is Northern Ireland inside the Loyalist community.
@Sixer – Am not really surprised by the Guardian, they can be pretty right wing sometimes. I almost fell out with one of my close friends at the weekend as she truly believes that its immigrants thats to blame for all the problems in the NHS in England – that there is too many of them using it. She has MS and thinks that its their fault she has to wait for treatment and access to specialists – I was shocked. She believes ANYTHING Nigel Farage says and got very upset when I asked her how she can support and defend someone who thinks that talking about sexually violating a women is acceptable (in a BBC Panorama interview he was asked about the P@ssyGate video on Trump and he said that it was just alpha male talk and just because he said it doesn’t mean it did it) – she refused to see how wrong that was. She’s like a lot of people – too busy being hysterical over immigration to see the bigger picture.
I truly despair for the future of society.
@sixer you are TOTALLY right, in that things here (in the UK, Europe) are not perfect. Personally, my ability to remain here (Leave to Remain as Spouse blah blah) is contingent on my husband’s income. Not on my income. Not on my abilities. Not on my job. But on my husband’s annual income. Basically, if you don’t make above a certain threshold, your family can’t live here. It’s ridiculous and unfair and discriminatory. HOWEVER, I *personally* (as someone who looks neither American nor British) feel safer here than I do in the US.
@digital unicorn – if you have already, it may be worth reminding your friend that almost all non-EU immigrants (and students) pay an additional levy to use the NHS. This is in addition to extortionate visa fees, and all the same taxes that everyone else pays.
Clare – I understand that. I really do. I just wish we would concentrate on the actual reality of our own system instead of persisting in the delusion that it’s somehow streets better, you know?
@ sixer: Sad enough, at least some parts of the right wing lunatics in Germany are trying to attack reproductives rights as well. Foremost Beatrix von Storch, who is against abortions, propagates abstinence instead of contraception and declared homosexuality as unnatural. (an said, asylum seekers should be shoot at the border). The disgusting mixture of alt-right and fundamental Christians exists in westen European countries as well.
Do you not think it is worrying that Mohammed, or variations of this name, is now the most popular boys name in the UK?
Because, as you know, Lola, I love immigration “so much” (your words), I’m going to help you out here. Top ten boys names in the UK in 2016, together with the totals:
Oliver 6,941
Jack 5,371
Harry 5,308
George 4,869
Jacob 4,850
Charlie 4,831
Noah 4,148
William 4,083
Thomas 4,075
Oscar 4,066
Even if it were true, why should you care? What, precisely, would be worrying you?
“Do you not think it is worrying that Mohammed, or variations of this name, is now the most popular boys name in the UK?”
And here we see another example of how statistics without context get used to spread “worries”
First off, the most popular baby name in the U.K. in 2016 was Oliver. Muhammad was number 2. So it appears England has been overrun with musical theatre fans.
Secondly culturally it’s almost comically common for Muslim families to name a boy Muhammad. Many of them go by a nickname (see Mo Farah) because the name gets used constantly. If all the white Christians in the U.K. started naming all their sons “Peter” that name would completely dominate…but they don’t do that! They are more likely to have variety in names. Culturally there isn’t one name that dominates among your average white Britons the way that one does…oh, except for Oliver. 🤔
Mia – exactly. And also: beware even the site advertising it as the number two name: it’s giving the results of a survey of site members, not actual registrations. The misreporting of it caused a stink last year.
@Sixer – poor you, you have your own personal troll.
As if today can’t get any worse, Sturgeon has decided to call May’s bluff over a 2nd IndyRef and Corbyn has found himself in a media storm over comments he made about it. LOL – god its like a Shakespearean comedy.
Am not surprised by this, it was always going to happen before the local council elections in May where its predicted the SNP will lose their majority. Support for the Scottish Tories is on the rise. Am intrigued to see what lies she will tell about Scotland waltzing into the EU – even after they (EU) have said repeatedly that they don’t want an Indy Scotland.
I think there’s a willful blindness or hypocrisy in Europe about American racism. For instance in the Netherlands they put blackface on every Christmas and turn around and talk about how liberal they are, in certain ways Europe is much more segregated and let’s not forget the anti-semitism and Anti Muslim racism that’s normalized also. Every country has work to do and right now we are facing a global trend of fascism and racism. Even this instance is an American racist parroting the views of a European racist.
Betti – I have two, actually! I must be famous or something!
In 2015 before the election, David Pig-Shagger Cameron tweeted this:
“Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.”
Yes, well, Dave. Prescient? I think not.
@Sixer – LOL, you have a rep on these boards 🙂
Yep very true – the whole world has lost its head and the rise in ultra-nationalism is adding oil to the fire. We’ve all seen how this ends. We are truly at the edge of another world war.
Very few people are “pure white” so all the racists are delusional. If they want to go buy an island and populate it with genetically tested 100% Caucasians good luck because A. There will be very few of them who test pure. B. They will be far away from the rest of us who are not racists. C. Since they are climate change deniers the rising ocean levels will eventually wash them away.
On your usual anti-SNP hobby horse I see digital unicorn, though no Jimmy Krankie quips for a change. The situation in Scotland is nothing like the nationalism on display in other countries. Scotland needs more immigrants and is generally very welcoming of them. The SNP is a socially progressive party. Maybe Scotland might summon up the courage to be a grown up and vote to take their own decisions this time. Instead of having them made for them. Here’s hoping.
Yep. We are currently sorting dual nationality for our kids, because despite their only being a quarter Jewish (and not the side Judaism usually recognises, but since when do racists care?), these are troubling times, and I can’t see the impact of climate change helping much. Neither of our nationalities offer a great deal that the other doesn’t, on either side of the equation quite frankly. Both have huge flaws. But at least two doubles the options, if things get really bleak.
I can’t believe I am typing these words. I’m the sort of person who eye-rolled over hysterical claims of leaving a country if a political party won/lost. But this is not about politics. It’s about far right ideologies, and how terrifyingly they are on the rise.
Someone buy this man a history book – perhaps he needs to remind himself about ‘other people’s babies’ who built America (hint: they weren’t ‘immigrants’) and whose blood fed the machines of the Industrial Revolution in Europe.
Amen. Those people and their “babies” were inhumanely kidnapped and exploited against their will.
Don’t forget “bred” (shudder). That word is actually used in slave owners’ slaves logs.
Great point, Clare.
Don’t forget this is the same man who said everything good in the world was built by white people and other ethnicities have nothing to contribute to the world. This was during the Olympics when Al Roker looked like he was about to explode.
He has a long history of being ignorant and racist.
I’m most concerned about the 10000+ like he got on this post.
More like stolen by certain white people, who then took the credit.
And, who is listening to this moron anyway? He couldn’t pass an open book fifth grade history test.
Hopefully a lot of the likes were from people who were just saving his comments as an example of the ignorance and racism out there, but judging by how empowered and vocal bigots of every type are right now, I’m not feeling to optimistic about that. 🙁
Steve King used to be on the fringes of the GOP, now he is one of the voices of the new White nationalistic centered Republican Party. In 18 months they have taken over the party and the country. But unlike Europe we are already an extremely multicultural country that is not turning back. I’m hoping these are the last gasps of a scared and uniformed white (mainly working class) majority. By 2050 whites will be at 50% of population and we will have a very diverse and hopeful more liberal society.
Exactly, Lama Bean. He has been saying this kind of thing for YEARS and keeps getting re-elected. He’s been in congress for 10 years. We need to hold Iowans accountable for their votes.
“”This ‘old white people’ business does get a little tired, Charlie,” King said. “I’d ask you to go back through history and figure out, where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you’re talking about, where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?”
“Than white people?” Hayes asked, clearly amazed.
“Than, than Western civilization itself,” King replied. “It’s rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world. That’s all of Western civilization.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/18/rep-steve-king-wonders-what-sub-groups-besides-whites-made-contributions-to-civilization/?utm_term=.3d26a17230de
Exactly. Everyone needs to know history (another reason why this administration wants to destroy education).
Resist, persist, insist. Don’t let them get away with their Aryan supremacist and Nazi fantasies.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/10/employers-could-demand-genetic-testing-under-congressional-bill.html
Why is our civilization in need of restoration? Was it destroyed and I missed it? Or are these fascists actually planning a nuclear war?
Nuclear war or genocide.
All signs point to genocide is what I’ve been reading. I can’t believe I just typed that. Since the election I haven’t yet gotten to the point where I can’t get out of bed but I’m close.
Esmom, it’s such a dire political landscape right now that I have to agree with you: it could happen. There’s corruption, collusion, and subversion so deeply worked into the core of this administration that no horror seems off the table.
I have only this past week for the first time since the election been able to watch the news again for more than five minutes at a time before turning it off, and even then I usually have to shut it down before half an hour has passed. I used to be such a news junkie. All my life. Now I barely skim the Times each morning. Quick perusal of the headlines and then check to see if any of my pals are in the obits. I’ve got to force myself out of bed. Can’t sleep at night (still haven’t slept as of right now, and it’s daylight). It’s too fecking easy to stay in the blankets when you work out of your home and no one is waiting for you.
I’m a writer who suddenly can’t write, a wife who sometimes suspects her husband is secretly siding with Trump, a friend who can’t bear to look into the faces of two old acquaintances who actually voted for the orange creep because they hated Hillary so much. (I wasn’t fond of her either, but Jesus, there was no comparison! NONE!)
And the thing is, NONE OF THAT MATTERS AT ALL NOW, because as you point out, what is looming is so dreadful. So dreadful to me that even I don’t care about my life.
Each day Trump does/says/tweets some new and monstrous thing, and nothing happens. No consequences at all because the GOP are so intent on pushing through their twisted agenda that they don’t dare rock the boat by calling Trump out on his lies, his corruption, and his collusion with a foreign power.
I’m so sorry you’re going through that, I can definitely relate. I was already prone to panic attacks, but they’ve grown exponentially worse since the election. You’re not alone. *hugs*
Thanks, Miranda–same to you. Somehow all of us who are of like minds will have to stick together in the coming months, and speak out whenever we can.
How odd it seems, if I really think about it, that a site I initially gravitated to because of my love of dishing about style, film, and celeb gossip in my off hours is suddenly the only place where I have been able to admit how deeply this has messed with my mental health and my life’s work. But that’s because the levels of thought, discourse, and feeling here make this a pretty remarkable refuge in such an uncertain time. Gotta say, many thanks to everyone here for that.
I’m 56, and my entire life has been spent next door to the USA. It is the last country I would have thought would practice genocide, ever. I just can’t fathom it, and you all are talking like it’s a certainty.
The USA is going to implode if he is at the helm much longer.
When he says “our” civilization, he means the group that he sees himself as a part of. The white, evangelical, wing-nut aryan race. He wants to restore that civilization because he’s tired of seeing brown people. He’s a Nazi.
Exactly.
Yes. Yes, he is.
He also complained about the “void” left in our population due to abortion.
In other words, he’s a complete and total nutjob.
This is appalling. He’s saying our “civilization” needs restoring? And by civilization he means what, the white race?
Someone else’s babies?! Because being born in America and contributing to society isn’t enough, now our families have to have been here for a certain number of generations (not TOO many generations ago because that might mean we are brown).
Yea this is a white nationalism stance. Not surprising this guy has spouted this crap before.
And oh look crickets from the GOP.
Ryan is too busy trying to destroy the healthcare industry and millions of lives with it and McConnell is in hiding. Kellyanne is now insisting Obama spied on Trump through his television. They’re busy.
Took the words right out of my mouth, Nicole.
Can’t figure out what’s more disturbing, his statement or that no one in the Grand Old Party has said nothing.
BlueSky, I’ll answer that. The lack of response from the GOP is more disturbing to me at this point.
That’s the thing that bothers me the most – whether it be in the US, the UK or elsewhere – the deafening silence by supposedly mainstream establishments. Or worse, coming close to accommodating these white nationalist views.
“We can’t talk about immigration because everyone calls us racist.”
Yeah, right, cos we’ve done nothing else but talk about immigration since forbloodyever.
@Esmom I agree. I’ve always said it’s the racists you don’t see that are the most dangerous. I’m trump’s America it’s like everyone is so content to take off their hoods. Genie is out of the bottle and when this swings back the other way we cannot forget
Crickets is right. His fellow Republicans are too busy, busy, busy destroying healthcare, feeling superior, and spreading hatred to respond to King’s obvious racism. I want someone to market a line of voodoo dolls with these guys’ names so I can stick pins in them, waterboard them, etc. I need an outlet for my frustration and I think it might cheer me up to give King, and his buddies, a jab when they say stupid things.
I do notice that Ryan has stopped using “mercy” to describe his plan to destroy our healthcare system since Joe Kennedy called him on it so eloquently. More need to stand up to these fascists and the terms they misuse.
The people who like immigration are either immigrants themselvs or live in an area with little or no immigrants. Not everyone integrates into their new country.
@Lola- What? I taught ESL and have not had that experience. Most of my students were eager to assimilate to the point that I worried they would neglect their own culture. Current immigration follows the same pattern as immigration always has. The first generation to live in the US may struggle with the language, but their kids are usually fluent in English quite young. By the third generation they may not even know their grandparent’s language. Americans have always been prejudiced against the most recent wave immigrants. It used to be Italians, Irish and Chinese. Many people thought the Italians would never be able to integrate into American society. As late as the 1980’s my very conservative grandmother informed me that my Italian friend was “not white.” Now we all eat pasta and go the Italian restaurants for romantic dinners. The Irish faced huge prejudice and now we’re all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. The most recent wave of immigrants will both assimilate and enrich our culture which is cobbled together from many countries and traditions. Seriously, go read up on American history and get back to us, Lola.
Actually, Lola, it’s the reverse. People from places with lots of immigrants (i.e. big cities) like immigrants because they can see how hardworking most immigrants are.
People from places with few immigrants (which also tend to be poorer places) don’t like immigrants because they’re scared (unjustifiably) that the immigrants are going to take away what little they have.
Didn’t the Nazis require proof of “Aryan” ancestry going back several generations for a person to be considered for certain jobs?
And I don’t care anymore if people want to call me “hysterical” or “alarmist” for making fascist/Nazi comparisons. In times like this, we can’t afford to be gaslighted.
Yes, it was called “Ariernachweis”. There are German “politicians” – mainly belonging to the new nazi-party AfD – who do not accept that non-white people with a German passport are also Germans, no matter if born here or not. They call them “passport-Germans” whilst white folks who were born in Germany are “bio-Germans”.
Yes and the higher up the position, the more “pure” you had to be.
There was a joke circulating then that to be Aryan you had to be as tall as Goebbels, slim as Goering, and blond as Hitler.
In other words, the far right loves its projection and hypocrisy. It’s always the types who can’t face their own problems who demand others to be “pure.”
Not only for certain jobs, but also to get the licence to marry. “inferior races” were not allowed to marry and women who were pregnant with mixed race children could be forced to get an abortion.
At the same time “racial valuable” women were preassurd to stay at home and get as many children as possible for “den Führer”
Sounds like steven kings ideal world….
It is so scary that these Ideas creep up again. I always hoped and belived racisim would become less and less with every generation and would not come back again. Seem I was wrong 🙁
What he means by ‘restoration’ is white people being the majority in this country. He and all white supremacists want the white race to be in control.
are you for real, lola?
that is the most ignorant and ridiculous statement i have read in a long time.
grow a heart, ok?
thanks.
Lola’s commentary embodies some of the traits and behaviors of the typical ‘Alt Right’ Trump supporter: Racism and xenophobia combined with the typical ignorant assumption that the majority shares their ‘beliefs’, (yet at the same time they’re under the delusion that their beliefs are new, revolutionary truths that only a few people know, and that these ‘beliefs’ make them some brave, historically oppressed, small little group of rebels. The cognitive dissonance must be draining), the assumption that their bigotry is some super special knowledge (really, alternative facts) that non-racist and non-xenophobic Americans don’t have because of lack of experience (look how she assumed that the only non-immigrants who aren’t around immigrants could disagree with her backwards beliefs), and zero evidence to back her inaccurate and bigoted assumption up. And of course there will be no ‘having a heart’. The people who would defend the words of someone like Steve King and vote someone like Donald Trump in office are showing us every day who they are.
King is a racist pig who should be ignored. He desperately wants attention.
My political targeted donations keep increasing: Ryan, McConnell, Chaffetz, Nunes, that moron who thinks men shouldn’t have to pay for prenatal care, and now, this guy. They all need to be fired.
Yes. Donations to King’s opponent are pouring in.
Ole Jason may have some serious competition next election. Dr. Kathryn Allen raised a good amount just from his ignorant iPhone comment last week. I hope she is victorious.
And you, yes you old man, stay away from other people’s babies. Like he has some serious creepy vibes. I would shield mine own like he were radioactive and blinking green if I ever saw him cross the road toward me.
Let’s see, this is the same douche who asked what have nonwhites done for civilization (hmmm…math, paper, coffee, tea, chocolate, fireworks…heck even gunpowder), who had a confederate flag on his desk (I wasn’t aware Iowa was part of the confederate…cause it wasn’t 🙄), pro-racial profiling, anti-LGTB, anti-science, etc…what a surprise he’s pro le pen and walkers.
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck…then yeah it’s an idiotic white supremacist.
I’m honestly running out of words to describe these people and how disgusted they make me feel.
They really are terrible. Harking back to some mythical golden age before “they” came along to spoil it is such a typical neo facist narrative. The identity of “they” changes. But “they” either weren’t around or knew their place, and knew who was rightly in charge. If we could only get rid of “them”, or make “them” resume their appointed place at the bottom, the natural order would resume. Trump’s “make America great again” plays to the same prejudice. Despicable.
These old men are terrified of the changing world in which they live, and they fear they will loose “power” and be treated the way they treated others. This is the reason for their stand for the racism/misogyny/ homophobia of the “good old days”.
How in the world do @ssholes like this get voted for and actually have supporters?
Sadly there are far more racists in this country than we like to admit. 🙁
Because people are to stupid to actually research candidates and vote a straight party ticket. Half the people I talked to after the last election didn’t know the names of the candidates they voted for. They just voted for their “team.”
And also racists.
Even worse is…I know people who literally don’t know what party the person on the ballot is affiliated with (i.e. board of education and judges) and they just guess which name sounds the best. I kid you not. And I think some assume if you vote for President you have to vote for everything or your ballot is discarded – so they just guess. Its like no – you can vote for only those you truly know and support and leave the rest blank. Its the responsible thing to do.
My BF is from Iowa and says that the reps out there are the WORST. He wasn’t kidding.
Steve King has been saying racist things for years. Yet his constituents keep voting him into office. Meaning he represents a very racist group of people who don’t care.
What this person said is scary and disgusting, but I am glad he is telling the world what a terrible excuse of a human being he is. I rather trash like that show their views to the world, than some people who have the same views work quietly in the background and in secret to change laws and remove rights of people. Let the sun shine on these lower forms of life that have crawled out from under a rock. Once we see the enemy a person can know how to react
Yes. As Maya Angelou said, “When a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Didn’t work too well with Trump unfortunately.
Yes it did. It’s just that 40% of the country liked what Trump showed them.
Restore what? Lynching? Oppression? Allowed sexism? When white men had all the power and not just most of it? Oh OK.
For some reason I’ve always thought of the citizens of the midwest as more sensible, more grounded than my fellow Southerners. The past few years have been a real revelation. Why are people like King, et al, making decisions that affect all our lives and being paid with our tax dollars to do it?
As someone who grew up in the Midwest I can assure you there is a lot of racism, dislike for anyone who is “other” and smug, ignorant pride in being a real ‘Murican.
King does and says what he does because there is support for him.
Which is why we must RESIST if we want sanity and decency to prevail again.
Can we replace this Steve King with Stephen King? I’d rather have him making Government decisions.
Yeah, Stephen is no longer the one that terrifies me.
The Rethuglicans are pushing a bill that would allow employers to demand genetic testing. Just the first step….
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/10/1642221/-H-R-1313-Employees-All-Your-DNA-Base-Are-Belong-to-Us
That bill is gross on every level. I’m hoping it is stopped, but the GOP is showing its true colors. They are only concerned with corporations and maintaining the white race. There is no limit to what they’ll do to further those causes.
Everyone should call their reps and demand this be stopped.
Anyone here from a dysfunctional family? have you ever noticed how similar the US (and other countries with the gift of western approved democracy/capitalism) are to a narcissist family system?
the billionaires are the abusive parents, white people are like golden children whose only goal truly,.is to remain golden children. the truth is that seems to be all they care about? and scapegoating is absolutely essential for the family system to keep going.
Even with a gerrymandered district you have to wonder how he continues to get re-elected. Are some voters so loyal to the party that they disregard what politicians say?
Yes.
ICYMI, this disgusting tool went on the morning shows and doubled down, noting that he “meant exactly what he said” (transcript: https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/841267931988271104).
He’s not a guy saying racist things, or playing “dog whistle politics,” Steve King is, and always has been, a naked, proud, full-on racist. (He’s from IOWA and keeps a confederate flag on his desk in the capital, people.). The people of Iowa elected a White Supremacist, full stop. They’re not good, hard-working, misunderstood folks who suffer from “economic anxiety.” They’re racists, who elected on of their own.
Of course, this is not surprising, given who is in the White House.
I am an Iowan and I did not vote for this douche. Unfortunately, we have a lot of old, white, conservative farming families who want their guns. It’s always just about the guns in Iowa, that’s all it is. They will vote for anyone who swears to protect their right to bear arms.
And I live in a (different) very Red State and don’t think I’ve ever voted for any of my so-called representatives either. BUT I also can’t deny that many/most of my neighbors and co-workers did, and do.
“The people of Iowa elected a White Supremacist, full stop. They’re not good, hard-working, misunderstood folks who suffer from “economic anxiety.” They’re racists, who elected one of their own.” Agreed, and I’d say the same applies to people who voted in Trump. The majority are not good, hard-working, misunderstood folks who truly want everybody’s rights and safety protected but desperately voted this way JUST because of economic anxiety and not being informed about Trump and Pence. There’s a lot more white supremacy, patriarchy, and xenophobia at play here than people want to admit, whether it’s of the “I actively want to be a threat to/discriminate against/cause trouble for people of color, women, LBGTQA people, immigrants, and Muslims. Down with political correctness! It’s time to get this country back to the 50’s- the 1850’s!” variety or the “I’m not really overly concerned about what this vote means for those other people, as long as I get this other thing I want here or as long as I don’t have to vote for some Clinton I don’t trust. Besides, Trump will take poor and disabled people’s benefits away and make them all get jobs, which means more money for me, Muh Taxx dollars, y’all!”- variety. Which is why the cries of #NotAllTrumpSupporters and “You libruls aren’t playing very nice with the fee-fees of Trumpsters right now. Naughty Naughty” finger-wagging is a waste of time and energy.
And of course instead of condemning this nonsense, Trump is on Twitter bashing Obamacare and whining about how rude the media is to his people. Sigh…. No sleep till impeachment.
IDK this is something I can’t even form the proper thoughts on cause it just Turns my stomach
My children are first generation on their father’s side and indigenous on my side. I feel like neither of those makes them real americans in this sick man’s eyes.
These days i’m glad to live in southamerica (Chile). Sure we are poor , many of our politicians are corrupt and there’s soooo much left to achieve social justice, but i know no one we’ll treat me as a second class citizen for the fact that i’m latina , and i believe no politician could get away with saying something like these here about any group of people, because we remenber very well how is to live under a fascist dictatorship .
Trump hateful speech has made possible these kind of things.His dangerous rhetoric is spreading around the world like fire, if Le Pen and Wilders get elected we’ll all be in serious trouble. This guy think that’s now acceptable to be openly racist. Trump can’t get impeached soon enough, I hope (HOPE!) the remaining decent people in the republican country can put country, morals, peace, decency before party.
So in his warped mind would he be okay with my existence because I look “Caucasian” and have blue eyes even though I come from a Mexican American mother and a Canadian father? In this case the white guy is the foreign national and the Hispanic woman is the patriotic American citizen (born in AZ). Do we draw the line at “can’t look Muslim”, “can’t be Spanish speaking” or is everyone who isn’t Aryan and a holy roller Christian in danger? I am a very westernized person, but in this political climate I’m sure they wouldn’t accept my atheism or multi cultural background,
And does this guy only hate those that don’t look white, never mind that a lot of biracial people can look white and still have a different ethnicity and culture. I think whats scary is how many forms you have to sign off on that ask for your race, ethnicity, religion, etc. I was never paranoid about volunteering that information but I am thinking twice about it now. 🙁
This also reminds me of my racist aunt who always told me that I should be having babies so that her social security and medicare would be safe in the future and the white Catholic faith continues on. Some of us “white” looking folks don’t want babies and I refuse to have them just so that she feels ok with the ratio of white to minority kids. Ugh.
I think you’d be fine. as long as you do not look not stereotypically Mexican
And yet, for a better part of it’s history, America has done exactly that. They’ve stolen children and people from Africa vis-a-vis slavery. They’ve stolen native children and placed them in horrendous situations through foster care with white families. They’ve enabled an adoption program from Korea in the past that literally stole children from orphanges who have gone largely unaccounted for and are only just beginning to speak out about their experiences.
America is a country that’s largely built on the labour of stolen children, and this despicable, horrendous, poor excuse of a human being wants to talk about “rebuilding” it. With presumably just more stolen labour, except without all that pesky stuff about “human rights” and having to be accountable to people you don’t like who don’t look like you.
America is in deep denial when it comes to the ugly part of our history. What they teach kids in elementary school is flat out lies and you only really learn the truth in high school or more so in college. At least Germany seems to accept and teach all the ugliest from their past. To make it worse we continue to f*ck over the Native Americans (i.e. DAPL) and Blacks (i.e. racial profiling, larger prison sentences, random acts of violence from police). This doesn’t even include how we continue to treat women as less than men in almost every aspect of life.
I think it depends on where you got your education. I learned about the (not very nice) things that were done to the Indians and the African slaves at a very young age. It made a huge impact on me as well. I have always felt terrible about what happened in history to the point where I can’t even celebrate Thanksgiving.
Yeah i don’t know…I went to a very liberal public school. I wouldn’t say I was totally in the dark and I am sure it was better than whats taught at some of these Christian schools these days, but they definitely sugarcoated some of it until high school. Of course that’s outside of schools too. To this day I tell people Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. I get that people associate it with a couple days off, family and lots of good food, but to me its a celebration of genocide. 🙁 As a dual citizen, people here often laugh at what Canadians celebrate for their Thanksgiving but at least it doesn’t come across as celebrating the removal and eradicating of a large group of people. And as a HHS employee (ugh Tom Price) I am upset we still celebrate Columbus Day. Sorry everyone, not trying to say all of American history is bad, I guess I am just in a mood today.
This!
Yet this f*cker probably eats tacos, chow mein, and roti on a daily. Yeah who brought THOSE foods here a$$hole? He thinks white people who were born and raised in America don’t commit crimes? Are you kidding me?
Uh huh…apparently he doesn’t remember such horrific white folks like Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh and recently Dylan Roof, the Aurora Dark Knight shooter, the Planned Parenthood psycho and I am sure plenty more. ..
I fear we will have to battle these racists freaks in the streets. But our police forces have been militarized. It’s going to get real ugly. It’s scary. Too scary
Never mind those citizens stockpiling weapons because they believe people like Alex Jones who says people need to prepare to fight government systems
Mother of gawd…
So many rednecks with so many guns.
Hey I already said I was scared of potential fighting I was wondering if you’ve got anything else to make me poop my pants today, buddy? ha
So I don’t listen to Alex Jones because I’m afraid it will give me a brain tumor. Is he for or against genocide? I mean does he agree with the present administration’s policies? Is he afraid of brown people in the government and/or in general?
Whats his deal these days? I remember at one point he was afraid of actual space aliens. I’ve been stockpiling lawyers contact information for legal fighting. ha
I think it is fair to say that a lot of countries are dealing with the rise of the far-right, nationalism, fascism and racism. Political figures and parties who want to make their countries ‘great’ again. Sorry let me fix that for you ‘white’ again.
America is our problem even if we don’t live there. Any democratic country that is leaning towards a potential dictatorship, press-banning, freedom of speech revoking and hate filled rhetoric, is our problem.
To overcome it we have to understand the importance of supporting each other, speaking out against it and not being lulled into a false sense of security because it is happening far away from our front doors.
If he is saying this openly on twitter and elsewhere, then you can imagine what he and his ilk are working on behind closed doors. My theory is that they are seeking to gin up climate change so that mother nature does the genocide for them and they all move in with Putin. It is sickening.
I’m not saying I’d punch these nazis in the face if I ever met one, but my fist would connect with their face. Hard.
I think everyone is racist to some extent. No matter the color of your skin. It’s the religious extremism and patriochial view that scares me. I dont want my rights as a woman taken away. Immigration is good but mass immigration is not. They are coming in droves not because they want to. They are being forced. The taxpayer will be paying more and become resentful creating more racial prejudices and the immigrants forced from their homes will become more resentful because they dont want to be here in the first place. Govt doesnt work for the people they work for the shareholders of the corporate/global world. The gap between the rich and poor will become greater and the middle class will disappear. History repeats itself. The earth will always exist, man wont.
ummmmm….
It’s 4:23. Does anyone know where my doobie is?
Lol! Time for you to quit.
@jerkface, perfect name for you!
@Maggie If I gave myself that screen name do you really think I’d find it insulting to be called a jerkface? Lets not herp to the derp now ok?
Joannie I agree. In Germany, Sweden and Austria is a backlash of religion in a bad way. Western Society can not easily integrate people from countries with very patriarchal and archaic views. It is a lot less about color of the skin but more about a clash of cultures.
Women, Jews and gays in countries in Europe with a lot of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria etc and lots of Migrants from African countries already feel less secure. We are talking of millions in 2015 and 2016. Canada takes 10.000 and acts like the big, open savior.
It is naive to think that this people, who grew up in cultures were the above groups are second class citizens suddenly change their attitude. The higher the number the higher the risk of ghettos and parallel societies. Even now school systems get challenged that girls are not allowed to join swim class and issues like that.
This is not about racism. This is about losing freedom….
This man is an old school aging white man fearful that he is becoming an irrelevant minority. Hence all the things he is anti. What I found humorous in his litany of hateful rhetoric is he is pro-confederate flag. He’s from Iowa. Seriously he feels the need to jump on every racist list for fear he might forget to offend someone or possibly forget to stomp on their rights?
The people of Iowa need to vote this man out to pasture
“Our” civilization…he doesn’t look Native American to me.
You don’t have a “civilization”, Mr. King. Civilizations mean that people behave in a civilized manner, and you and those who think like you do not. What you have is a pipe dream…..a fearful, racist, small minded pipe dream.
Go suck rocks, Rep. King.
Restore our civilization?? You mean the one STOLEN from the indigenous people?? White supremacists crack me up with this. It’s right up there with telling immigrants and POC to “go home.” Like well if everyone’s “going home” then you first.
Education, I prescribe these people four hours of education five times a week for 10 years
King is a racist idiot. Moreover he doesn’t know crap about American history. Every single immigrant group has contributed to this country’s development and every single one of those immigrant groups has been shat on just like he is doing now. His (likely Irish) ancestors are probably rolling in their graves. Clueless asshole.
there is a potential “positive” interpretation missing:
by adopting children or babies from other countries these countries lose people and future citizens. Although it might not matter that much in numbers.
I don’t like these people who adopt children from other countries but who don’t really see that these children have families, too. If you used the money spend on an adopted child in the western world for the relatives of the adopted children you could give a whole family a modest living and provide for their orphaned children, too.
I dont expect much coming out of certain areas of this country. They’re like when you dont properly socialize your dog, then nobody wants to go to your house bc your dogs sucks. Iowa is top 5 unaware of the world states.
It still puzzles me that i can find certain tropical fruits there that i cant in urban city stores. I swear it’s just to continue the mentality divide between us.