Lindsey Graham didn’t mean to suggest Mexico is a ‘hellhole’

[kpete]

Lindsey Graham didn’t mean to suggest Mexico is a ‘hellhole’

In trying to explain the differences between the United States’ southern and northern borders, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) found himself forced to make clear that he meant Mexico no disrespect.

“Why is one (border) a problem and the other is not? Because Canada is a place where people like to stay,” Graham said. “We love to have them visit, they want to go home because it’s a nice place. But people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. The problem is, we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole coming to America.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/09/lindsey-graham-didnt-mean-to-suggest-mexico-is-a-hellhole/

[woofless]

1. Suggest? He stated it.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Not just Mexico, he's speaking of all the countries to the South whose people at times

enter the US via Mexico. Graham is an idiot who represents idiots.

[JoePhilly]

3. Well, to be fair to Graham, Mexico is full of brown people.

And that's a main characteristic of a hell hole, as defined by the GOP.

[monmouth3]

4. This guy needs a new shovel so he can keep on digging....n/t

[alsame]

5. Ooops. He accidentally said

what he really thinks.

[bemildred]

6. Lindsey Graham blames immigration woes on south-of-the-border 'hell holes'

The GOP’s effort to woo Latinos may have suffered a minor setback Thursday, thanks to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Republicans have been trying to improve their standing with the fastest-growing voting bloc ever since last year's election, when Latinos overwhelmingly cast their ballots for President Obama.

Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, decided that Thursday’s “mark-up” of a bipartisan immigration reform bill was a good moment to review the differences between the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border and on the U.S.-Canada border. His conclusion: Canada is nice. Mexico isn't.

“We have a Canadian border.... Why are we OK up there and not OK to the south?… Why is one a problem and the other is not? Because Canada is a place where people like to stay. They like Canada. We like Canada. We love to have them visit. They want to go home because it’s a nice place,” said Graham. “The people coming across the southern border live in hell holes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hell hole coming to America.”

Fortunately for Graham, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was there to step in and assure the committee, and anyone listening to the hearing, that “while there’s poverty in Mexico and some really poor areas, it’s not a hell hole.” Moreover, he went on to suggest that Graham himself didn't mean to describe Mexico as a "hell hole."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-lindsey-graham-immigration-mexico-20130509,0,5659961.story

[DreamGypsy]

7. It's true, there are hellholes to the south...

...take South Carolina, for example

Poverty by demographic

Child poverty rate: 28%
Senior poverty rate: 14%
Women in poverty: 20%
Percent of single-parent families with related children that are below poverty: 44%

Economic well-being

Poverty rate: 18.9%
Extreme poverty rate: 8.5%
Unemployment rate: 10.5%
Food insecurity: 14.8%
Number of poor families that are working: 50,825
Minimum Wage: N/A
Percent of jobs that are low-wage: 28.6%
Percent of individuals who are uninsured: 19%

Blatant voter suppression.

Medieval political mentalities.

Lindsey never intended to bend the rules
Bigotry doesn't make liars, it just makes fools.
He didn't mean to say it, but he meant what he said.
Too long in the wasteland, too long in the wasteland,
Must have gone to his head.