Critics pounce on Clinton after immigration comments

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

An off-the-cuff comment Hillary Clinton made in Las Vegas on Thursday has ignited a national firestorm.

Answering a shout from a man in the crowd who said, "I'm married to an illegal woman," Clinton shot back, "No woman is illegal," grinning as the packed Mexican restaurant at which she was speaking exploded in cheers.

That comment, reported in Friday's Review-Journal, caught the attention of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs and the Drudge Report and led to nearly 1,000 angry comments on the newspaper's Web site.

To put the remark into context, Clinton did add, after a pause, "... and no man, either." She then explained her position on immigration.


Read more: http://www.lvrj.com/news/13729182.html

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I am not a Hillary fan but the reaction is so typical of these windbags ...

Too bad for them they won't have the immigration issue to use if they nominate John McCain.

If all she did was piss off Limbaugh, Dobbs, Drudge, etc. then I'd concider that hitting it out of the park. Go Hillary.

back in their own country where THEY need to correct the ills of their own country of origin. Don't agree with HRC on this issue.

My husband is from London. He came over here, we have a child together and got married. DHS almost denied him because of some trouble he got into when he was 18, he's 36 now. I have a 5 year old from a previous relationship that I can't take out of the country. Finally after jumping through hoops and hiring a lawyer, I think the officer finally got fed up with us and granted his work permit. It was close though, but if they had denied him like they planned to then he would be here illegally as he would never leave his family behind and go back to England.

Immigration issues aren't black and white. I can see the other side of it.

whites. I am sympathetic to them, but should we destroy our own peoples livelihood for people who are not Americans. Blacks were forced to come here against their will, and allowing others to take their jobs and lower wages for them is an added insult to all the horrible things they have had to endure.
In the south where I live, I know 2 black contractors who are honest, hardworking people with children who have been driven out of their little businesses by these people who should only be here if they have applied for Visas and work permits.

"THEY" are not one monolithic block. "THEY" cannot be justly blamed for injustices that are in fact perpetrated by a ruling class that is happy to have any excuse (NAFTA, China, immigration, whatever) for paying people less than a living wage.

If you make it a crime to support your family and avoid starvation, all you do is define those unable to do so as criminals.

WE can't even take care of our own citizens with decent paying jobs and health care and all of a sudden we're going to ADD tens of millions more people to our HUGE PROBLEM. I believe America is the greatest failed nation in the world thanks top our own governments insane decisions and way to much corrupt corporate influence.

Ha!

The same people showing no compassion for undocumented workers are the same people who think we should all just fend for ourselves when it comes to jobs, wages and health care.

Uh, Ron Paul, anyone?

WE are not "adding" anyone.

The United States DOES have to figure out what to do about the fact that millions of people who are literally STARVING in their own countries come here because it is their best chance of survival.

NOTHING we do inside our borders will change that. We can only start to reduce the influx if we STOP depressing living standards and human rights worldwide, at the behest of our corporate masters.

But once they are here, they are human beings, and deserve to be treated as such.

What if YOU were born into an impoverished family where all the living wage jobs were being taken away by the wealthiest oligarchs? Would you say to yourself, "Well, if I stay here, I'll die, but I can't go to the U.S., because that would be *breaking the law*--horrors!"

Give me a break!

Other nations in the world don't seem to have as many problems with that- even though they also have migration issues.

or depressing wages. People will give lots of anecdotal evidence of that but first of all, many people assume that Spanish speaking construction workers are undocumented when the truth is that most aren't and secondly, they assume that Spanish speaking construction workers are making low wages when for the most part they are not. That is why they are doing construction work, because the money is good. As for contractors who are driven out of their businesses by undocumented workers, there is little actual evidence that this is happening either. Contracting is a very competitive enterprise and not everyone can compete. Blaming it on "illegals" is intellectually dishonest and scapegoating.

Marriage is no longer a free pass. It didn't matter that we were married or that we had a child. They were extremely close to denying him. If we hadn't gotten a lawyer we would have been screwed. What happens to the people who can't afford a lawyer?

I am just curious, and hope I am not prying.

The solution would be more in the direction of more reasonable international policies (not violently enforcing low wages on other countries) along with flexible laws here that acknowleged and dealt with the current state of affairs, rather than crazy 'quick fixes' that try to treat every case as identical and wish away systemic problems that force and/or encourage emmigration here from other countries.

I can't take my five year old out of the country cause my ex is an abusive as***** who would never allow it even though he hasn't seen him since before he turned two. I tried to get a passport for him once to go see my current husband's mother in London, I couldn't get one.

meanwhile, outsourcing, foreign takeover of the US economy (what percent of US government debt does the PRC own?), and capital flight hollow us out from the middle.

Illegal immigrants are a sideshow to distract us to the real threat to our nation - corporations that obey no nation's laws.

"undocumented" is both a kinder and more accurate designation.

Calling an undocumented immigrant "illegal" is kind of like calling a child born to a single mom "illegitimate".

that is the problem. Does anyone care about our Black Americans who are losing jobs and have declining wages in the construction, landscaping and other industries? The Blacks are real Americans and they deserve the chance for upward mobility, but the press of lower wages are not only preventing that but creating severe unemployment.
How many Blacks do you see on a construction site in TEXAS??????? You see Illegal aliens willing to work for minimum wage or less and NOT paying taxes.

Its racist to harm the Black citizens to help people who should have a revolution against the monsters who won't give them decent wages in Mexico.

The fact that one sees many Hispanic workers on construction sites is not evidence - it is anecdotal information.  There are a lot of Hispanics in Texas so there are going to be a lot of them on construction sites.  It is not clear how many of them are undocumented and even less clear is the effect on wages.

Also many undocumented workers do in fact pay taxes as they are withheld from their paychecks. Ironically some pay into social security but in fact will never be able to collect social security benefits.

And it is also racist to assume that Spanish speaking workers on a construction site are undocumented workers. Most in fact are not - particularly in Texas.

Undocumented workers are just that--workers without the documentation required to work here legally.

Does that make THEM "illegal"? Are YOU, as a PERSON, "illegal" if you cheat on your taxes, or visit a national park without paying? NO. You've broken a law. Your ACTIONS are illegal. But YOU (despite the above evidence to the contrary) are still a human being.

Human beings, by definition, cannot be "illegal". Full stop.
Labeling the argument "political correctness" is not going to change that. What exactly, does "pc" mean anyway? You do know that historically it was right wing terminology mostly used to denigrate efforts to prevent hate speech, right? And defending calling them "illegals" comes pretty close to justifying xenophobia, imo.

I would add that "calling it what it is" has also historically been used to justify all manner of racist, sexist, and xenophobic language.

she chose to use the word "woman" rather than "human being" or "person" in her answer? Surely, she didn't mean, "No woman is illegal, but some men sure can be!"

I find her constant use of the gender card to be quite disturbing.

'Answering a shout from a man in the crowd who said, "I'm married to an illegal woman," Clinton shot back, "No woman is illegal," grinning as the packed Mexican restaurant at which she was speaking exploded in cheers.'

'To put the remark into context, Clinton did add, after a pause, "... and no man, either." She then explained her position on immigration.'

You may think she is playing the "gender card" but this is not an example of it. It was a natural response to the comment. And she made clear that she didn't mean what you say "surely she didn't mean...." so there is no need for you to throw that little speculation out there to muddy the waters further. You appear to be just a wee bit too anxious to find something negative to say about Ms. Clinton. Perhaps you are not such a good judge of when she is "playing the gender card?"

I didn't hear about the "...and no man, either," addition, seems the press reports what it wants to.

But just this morning, I saw her appearance at a rally, there were "Women for Hillary" signs in plain view in the background. I've never seen "African-Americans for Obama" signs at his rallies, and from what I understand, he certainly wouldn't like them. She' trying much harder to make this race about gender than he is about race. She's frequently pointed out the fact that, if elected, she'd be the first woman President (like we all needed to be reminded), while I've never heard him talk about being the first nonwhite President. That's what I'm talking about when I say she's playing the gender card.

After awhile, I just seem to expect it, that's all.

Yep, clear case of playing the gender card all right!  No, you are not looking very hard for that "gender card."  :sarcasm:

What the hell is she supposed to do, have her people go around taking signs away from supporters? Jeebus, that is a lame argument.

when she won't ask people appearing on the stage with her, or before her, to not make references to twenty-year old drug behavior. You're right, it would be silly to expect her to ask her surrogates to behave themselves, as Obama has asked his campaign staff, invited speakers, and ordinary supporters. She really does want this thing to be about gender, and one of the leading arguments I hear from her supporters out in the real world is the, "it's a woman's turn," line of reasoning. I doubt they'd feel that way if the Repukes had Condi Rice running, but Hillary sure wants to use gender as much as she can get away with. I'll bet she makes at least two references to it in tonight's Nevada debates.

The idea of voting for someone just because of the plumbing in their drawers is just as repulsive to me as voting against someone for the same reason.

the more she can incite the windbags to talk about her the better she looks

Laws can prohibit peoples actions. They cannot prohibit someone's existence.

Since you're so quick to cast blame, I nominate *you* to fix all the problems in YOUR "country of origin" or we'll deport YOU!

We'll start with beefing up border security with fences and more border patrol agents and pay for it with elimination of the tax cuts to the rich. This will drastically reduce the number of illegal aliens coming into our country and the flow of 'illegal' drugs across our borders.

You could make the US a maximum security prison, and people will still come. Why? So they can survive.

Unless we stop OUR policies that have made it impossible for people to earn a living in their home country, they will come. The only way to stop that is to fix the problems there, most of which are our (or our corporate masters') doing.

:applause:

He meant his wife is 15.

Just kidding. :P

no human being is illegal in the same sense that no child is "illegitimate"

It is dehumanizing.

Was he denied a livelyhood by his country's ruling class, and by economic and trade policies that the rich countries foist upon the working class of both poor and rich countries? Was he faced with a black and white choice? Starve or immigrate illegally?

If so, lucky him. But not everyone is lucky. And it is not our place to tell someone to die a painful death in abject poverty. Especially not when much of our countries policies put them in that situation and keep them there, generation after generation.

more like windbag assholes.

and then worry if we have a terrorist or seriel killer present. Also it does not matter if Americans lose their jobs or have lower wages. We have an infinit supply of money and environment. We should let the entire world come here.

Red herring! Straw man! Whatever you call it, I call it BULLSHIT!

People will come here, whether we "let" them or not, if it is the only (or most likely) way for them to survive. Period. Nothing we can do on our end will stop it. But a lot of what we do with our foreign, trade and economic policies make it worse. You deny someone a place to sleep on a cold night, and then blame *them* because they try and sneak into your basement? That's rich.

Most "terrorists" either come from our supposed "allies" (Saudi Arabia, anyone?), or countries we've screwed over. The 9/11 attackers all had papers. Oh, and lots of money. Undocumented immigrants don't have either, by definition.

Americans are losing jobs because the ruling corpotocracy has been assaulting wage and living standards for *generations*--you're being a poster-child for what they want their propaganda to achieve--get working people to blame each other for their problems (much like the African-Americans torching Asian-American owned stores in LA), instead of the true perpetrators.

Puh-leez. Go call Rush and tell him "Ditto."

The truth is, the reason undocumented workers have been tolerated is because our economy needs them. It is really cynical for Republicans in particular to try to flog this issue. It is the Bush administration who has let it go unchecked - because it suits their pro business agenda.

Perhaps the Hill was misunderstood? :shrug:

This has become a des-ive (Buzz) Issue - now

We should look and solve this ISSUE - not with sound bits!

Allot of Democrats - are pro & con on this - We should not reward being here (against are laws)
BUT we should try to Resolve why there here & help those who want to become Americans - into are system, Kick the Bad apples out & the ones here (hard-workers/etc) a way - even if temporally - so they can be here Legal, etc...

But anti-illegal immigration activists weren't upset because of sexism, but because of the implication that those who cross the border illegally aren't lawbreakers. Many demanded an explanation.

Clinton, a spokeswoman said, meant that she "believes you can be tough on the issue of illegal immigration without being mean-spirited about the human beings involved."

The spokeswoman, Hilarie Grey, noted that Clinton's position is to secure the border in addition to treating current illegal immigrants humanely.

"It simply isn't true" that there aren't illegal immigrants, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-illegal immigration group. "We have immigration laws, and yet we have government officials who have sworn to uphold the laws of this country saying if somebody violates them, they make an exception to the rule of law."

Why even post this waste.....

see how that works?!

It's truly amazing, seeing these same persons, who on numerous other threads, railled against anybody who had legitimate complainits about ILLEGAL immigrants staying here ILLEGALLY, but now are suddenly finding fault in what Hillary said because, ummm, because HILLARY said it, I guess...

Typical HYPPOCRITICAL OBAMABOTS...

as America becomes Canada's Mexico....