Posted on 11/13/2015 8:01:54 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The fourth Republican presidential debate was, by most accounts, a bit of a snoozer. But in a good way. There was less interpersonal conflict, more substantive discussion of economic policy. Donald Trump, in particular, was judged "subdued" and “surprisingly subdued†and "uncharacteristically subdued.†Trump himself pronounced it "a very elegant evening" in which "everybody actually did fine."
All very forgettable, civil and elegant. Except the part where the Republican front-runner proposed the forced expulsion of 11 million people and endorsed the historical precedent of Operation Wetback, an Eisenhower-era mass deportation program that was as ugly and offensive as its name.
Trump did not actually say that name, presumably because it would have sounded racist. (I apologize for the necessity of using it to make my argument.) But shouldn't it set off moral and ethical alarm bells when a candidate embraces a policy with a historical label too loathsome to mention in public? Instead, Trump said: "Dwight Eisenhower. You don't get nicer. You don't get friendlier. They moved 1.5 million people out. We have no choice. We. Have. No. Choice."
The operation in question, energetically led by Army Gen. Joseph Swing, probably did move more than a million undocumented Mexican immigrants back to Mexico (though the figure may be exaggerated). People were taken with few possessions, in stroke-inducing heat, deep into the Mexican interior and dropped off, at first by bus, then on cargo boats in conditions a congressional investigation later compared to 18th-century slave ships. Eventually there was a mutiny aboard the Mercurio, after seven passengers drowned jumping from the ship. Dozens of others died after being left in sweltering, remote locations. This had been an embarrassing and largely forgotten historical footnote.
Until Trump. People have gotten accustomed and inured to the proposal at the heart of Trump's appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Wow.
I had to double check where I was, thought this was DU for a second.
Man are we in dire need of an “ignore member” function.
“As someone who was actually alive and an adult at that time all I can say is the writer is a total loon! “
Ditto ! They were wonderful years IMHO.
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Sigh. Another old line Reagan speechwriter covering up for Simpson-Mazzoli.
I find it absolutely disgusting that those saying that we somehow can’t deport illegals from our country refuse to accept that the government of the United States is responsible to the citizens of the United States and has no obligation to anyone from any other country no matter how poor or downtrodden they are. We can choose to help or not based on the interests of the United States. We should do things like destroy ISIS because it is first in the interest of the United States as the center of Western Culture and second because it’s the right thing to do. But not deporting illegals because their countries aren’t as developed is no reason these people should not be returned and their children are not our problem - they are the problem of those corrupt governments that perhaps should have a few of their leaders hanging from lamposts.
It’s all about preventing us from electing a President who would stop the Cheap Labor Express
Anyone watching that video “With Open Gates” who thinks we “can’t” or “shouldn’t” deport? They are either unhinged or outright traitors. That video will terrify you and it WILL happen here if we don’t build the damn wall and deport.
I'm sorry I intruded on your reality, but it is likely that this term "deportment force" will be used extensively.
Dwight Eisenhower decided the men coming home from winning World War II deserved jobs MORE than illegal Mexicans.
If Michael Gerson could have had his way the vets who defeated the Nazis would come home to empty lives, doctors who wouldn’t treat them, and disability checks.
Eisenhower had compassion for Americans. Today’s lowlife liberals have ‘compassion’ for the people who steal our jobs and keep wages low. We have a right to hate liberal elites...
“Operation Wetback, an Eisenhower-era mass deportation program that was as ugly and offensive as its name. Trump did not actually say that name, presumably because it would have sounded racist.”
“Wetback” is racist? Who knew? I thought it was nothing more than an epithet for someone illegal crossing the Rio Grande. Which could theoretically apply to an American of non-color wading across into Mexico, getting their back wet in the process. But then no one has claimed that Michael Gerson (or any other leftist) is a clear thinker.
As an AMERICAN, here to state that there is noting offensive in saying *Operation Wetback* and if the Wapo is offended by my saying it, then so be it. I’m more offended that they continue to create all the cotton candy day after day.
Trump has all the liberals heads blowing up.
Really Michael?
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