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Lawrence Downes

Bad news: “Illegal” now a racist code word, apparently

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New York Times Thinks the Term

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Geeesss, I didn’t know I was a RACIST because I use the term illegal alien.

Tom N on October 28, 2007 at 12:29 AM

Ok, so well just call them criminals and expect them to be treated as such.

Buzzy on October 28, 2007 at 12:33 AM

So people who want to enact sensible immigration policies to help everybody

We already have a sensible immigration policy, unfortunately millions of illegals are sabotaging that policy, along with their apologists.

reaganaut on October 28, 2007 at 12:36 AM

Hmmm, I have done plenty of “illegal” things, which I have been rehabilitatited from, thanks to the state of PA…. but I am absolutely positive that I am a Native American, I was born here… so as far as I’m concerned this makes no sense…

gberez on October 28, 2007 at 12:36 AM

Terrible grammar.

We already have a sensible immigration policy, unfortunately millions of illegals and their apologists are sabotaging that policy.

reaganaut on October 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM

Hater.

Jaibones on October 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM

large and largely decent group of people

There is nothing “decent” about being a criminal.

KSgop on October 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM

What Part of ‘Illegal’ Don’t You Understand?

The title is correct, the rest is crap.

Lawrence Downes should be subpoenaed to the murder and rape trials of “Illegals” afterwards that he can explain how we should all be so tolerant of just a little illegalness to the victims grieving relatives for whom life will be forever anguished.

Speakup on October 28, 2007 at 12:40 AM

Ha! Remember when you had to read this Times crap and actually pay attention? Illegal, illegal, illegal, illegal,illegal,illegal,illegal,illegal,illegal,illegal,illegal.

See? Nothing happened to me.

JiangxiDad on October 28, 2007 at 12:48 AM

I hate this crap,

Good thing I am not an illegal immigrant. There is no way out of that trap. It’s the crime you can’t make amends for

Wrong A$$HOLE!

There is a way out of that trap. GO HOME Don’t be illegal anymore! Go through the proper channels and come to this country the right way IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE AN AMERICAN!!! Otherwise, stay in your backwards-a$$ed country and continue to screw it up.

conservnut on October 28, 2007 at 12:53 AM

Comprehensive legislation in Congress and sensible policies at the state and local level have all been stymied and will be forever, as long as anything positive can be branded as “amnesty for illegals.”

When you see the word comprehensive “hide the woman and the booze”, the serf master plantation owners and their supporters are at it again.
There they go again.
– Ronald Reagan

MB4 on October 28, 2007 at 1:27 AM

How ’bout if we call them serfs and their money grubbing anti-American employers illegals?

MB4 on October 28, 2007 at 1:29 AM

I’ve reached the conclusion, that would have struck me as unhinged as recently as a year ago, that anti-racism is a bigger force for evil in the world than racism dissolving as it does the rule of law, equal treatment of citizens, national sovereignty of all Western countries, abandonment of rational inquiry (specifically with regard to the Koran), the conflation of race and religion etc. etc. etc. the list goes on and continues to grow.

aengus on October 28, 2007 at 1:54 AM

I think we should stop this “illegal” business altogether. Everyone who’s ever done anything “illegal” should be given a pass. Rapists, murderers, robbers, let’s just forget they ever did it.

jjjen on October 28, 2007 at 2:13 AM

How about National Trespasser then?

PatrickS on October 28, 2007 at 2:25 AM

Lawrence Downes is an idiot.

The immigration scofflaws should simply be called illegals.

They cannot be immigrants because they do not have any legal right to immigrate to the United States.

They should not be illegal aliens because legally they are aliens.

Many of the illegals do not speak Spanish. They are from Brazil or Asia or Europe or Africa.

If a person wants the benefits of living in the United States, they should follow already existing American laws so they can lawfully enter and reside in the United States.

Everyone who is here illegally should leave.

The present mess has been caused by the illegals, their apologists like Mr. Downes, Congress, and the rest of the U.S. Government which has failed to enforce the existing immigration laws since the last amnesty in 1986.

Of course, that leaves Mr. Downes without the carpenter or gardner who he finds at Home Depot, pays cash by the job, not the hour, and fails to pay social security taxes and withhold income taxes.

slp on October 28, 2007 at 2:34 AM

I’ve reached the conclusion, that would have struck me as unhinged as recently as a year ago, that anti-racism is a bigger force for evil in the world than racism dissolving as it does the rule of law, equal treatment of citizens, national sovereignty of all Western countries, abandonment of rational inquiry (specifically with regard to the Koran), the conflation of race and religion etc. etc. etc. the list goes on and continues to grow.

aengus on October 28, 2007 at 1:54 AM

If you became unhinged a year ago, I became unhinged a couple of decades ago.

MB4 on October 28, 2007 at 2:47 AM

Everyone who’s ever done anything “illegal” should be given a pass. Rapists, murderers, robbers, let’s just forget they ever did it.

jjjen on October 28, 2007 at 2:13 AM

Good idea just as they have credits that they purchased from me.

– Al Gore

MB4 on October 28, 2007 at 2:49 AM

Remember that song by Phil Collins?

“It’s, no fuuu-uun, being an illegal ali-uuuun.”

Oh hello Officer … what’s … what’s with the handcuffs?

No sir, I was just singing. No no, I said illegal ali-UUN.

Huh? It’s illegal to say illegal alien? Oh crap, I just said it again! Sorry.

Uh, yes sir, I think I’ll just remain silent. Yes sir, used against me in a court of law, got it, thanks.

Tony737 on October 28, 2007 at 8:20 AM

We already have a sensible immigration policy, unfortunately millions of illegals and their apologists are sabotaging that policy.

reaganaut on October 28, 2007 at 12:37 AM

That is the first time that I’ve heard our current immigration policy called sensible. Ted Kennedy’s Diversity Visa program (the legal immigration) has been as big a disaster, IMHO, as illegal immigation.

sweeper on October 28, 2007 at 8:27 AM

This guy’s hilarious. He objects to the word “illegal” basically cause it’s a modifier for a person, not an act, and makes them seem “irredeemable” or something.

But he likes “unauthorized.” How’s that for depressing: “I’m an unauthorized person!” Somebody needs to rent a copy of Logan’s Run.

inviolet on October 28, 2007 at 8:28 AM

Mr Downes, and his colleagues do not live in the real world. They live in a bubble created by academia and news rooms. A bubble in which you have the luxury of peering down upon those less fortunate, but more importantly, those perceived to be less intelligent, less enlightened.

“If only these ignorant racists were as educated, open-minded, liberal and tolerant as I, they would understand the plight of these unauthorized victims”.

We could have complete peace and harmony in the world, but “journalists” and “professors” would continue to point out, the rest of us simply will never be able to understand anything as well as they do, as they are in fact, far more intelligent and enlightened than the rest of us “dolts”.

commonsensehoosier on October 28, 2007 at 9:12 AM

So the New York Times has again moved their PC machine another inch toward absolute superiority…they demogauge everything that doesn’t fit their narrative so they can silence dissent from their dream of socialist utopia.

This guy is a tool.

Black Adam on October 28, 2007 at 9:30 AM

So I can’t say illegal headed ho anymore?

Coronagold on October 28, 2007 at 9:32 AM

Black Adam on October 28, 2007 at 9:30 AM

You are correct, The NYT does not strive to report world events, or to uncover injustice, or to unmask corruption in government, or to point out blatant falsehoods of modern day information. (or even to make a profit anymore for that matter) The marketplace will eventually dismantle the structure of the “Paper Of Record” and it’s idealogues will return to academia and to regional rags dedicated to bashing those of us that simply are too ill-educated to understand.

commonsensehoosier on October 28, 2007 at 9:50 AM

Sheesh!! Illegal immigrant=jaywalking=double parking
Come get your daily dose of Liberal hyperbole and emotionalism!

Gatordoug on October 28, 2007 at 10:05 AM

Geeesss, I didn’t know I was a RACIST because I use the term illegal alien.

Tom N on October 28, 2007 at 12:29 AM

No! You are a racist for having Conservative views on border security. You asre a racist for daring to care about laws and national sovereignty.
In order to stop being a racist you must embrace open borders, and a “global” mindset.

Gatordoug on October 28, 2007 at 10:07 AM

Looks like some of the uninvited poor people from the south have in effect declared war on the southwestern United States:

[CNN] CALIFORNIA – Separatists (MEChA) claim responsibility for California Wildfires

“Radical Hispanic separatist organization MEChA (“Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan”) is taking responsibility for setting the wildfires in California, confimed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger”

“California officials received a letter earlier today containing photographs of individuals holding Molotov cocktails, then throwing them into dry brush. The faces of the individuals appeared to have been digitally distorted”

“Also included was a rambling manifesto, stating that the reason for the act of arson was that “Aztlán belongs to indigenous people, the Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán. We are sovereign and not subject to a foreign culture.” ”

http://www.cnnheadlienews.com/2007/US/10/25/fire.mecha/index.html

Remember to thank your Congressperson or Senator who votes for comprehensive immigration reform!

deadbackpacker on October 28, 2007 at 10:44 AM

Since the word modifies not the crime but the whole person, it goes too far. It spreads, like a stain that cannot wash out. It leaves its target diminished as a human, a lifetime member of a presumptive criminal class.

What an idiot!!

It’s time to do some Geraldo Riviera finger wagging……

Mcguyver on October 28, 2007 at 11:26 AM

Instead of “illegal”, how about “law-breaking”?

Yes, I’m sick of “law-breaking” aliens and their apologists.

Bigfoot on October 28, 2007 at 11:36 AM

deadbackpacker

Don’t be duped.

Note the url
http://www.cnnheadLIEnews.com

p0s3r on October 28, 2007 at 12:47 PM

p0s3r on October 28, 2007 at 12:47 PM

Smells like an Onion in here.
😉

infidel4life on October 28, 2007 at 12:54 PM

I know, I know….how about Pre-Patriots. Ugh! The more I read of that article, the more my jaw dropped.

oakpack on October 28, 2007 at 1:12 PM

I would like to know whether Downie profits directly from open borders. Does he have an illegal Mexican maid or gardener working for peanuts? Cheapskate editors like to think they are generous to dole out $5 an hour to Pedro and then defend the practice in print like some lib hero.

Brenda Walker on October 29, 2007 at 12:23 PM