October 5, 2022

"I thought these migrants were DREAMers that were going to go to college to become doctors. Now, Nancy just wants them to work in the fields...."

"The illegals are viewed as servants by the Democrats. They’re opening the border for the help. These aren’t asylum seekers. These are just waiters and field hands for a party that fought a civil war to keep their slaves."

Said Jesse Watters, quoted in "Jesse Watters Says Democrats Leaving Border Open for Post-Civil War ‘Servants’, Migrants are ‘Waiters and Field Hands’Jesse Watters Says Democrats Leaving Border Open for Post-Civil War ‘Servants’, Migrants are ‘Waiters and Field Hands’" (Mediaite).

Watters was riffing on something Nancy Pelosi said the other day — which we talked about here — "We have a shortage of workers in our country, and you see even in Florida, some of the farmers and the growers saying, ‘Why are you shipping these immigrants up north? We need them to pick the crops down here.'"

Watters's rhetoric would have more power if he weren't stuck with calling the border-crossers "the illegals" —  "The illegals are viewed as servants by the Democrats."

I'm waiting for a Democrat to make the equivalently awkward remark "The servants are viewed as illegals by the Democrats."

Either humanize them or don't. But don't expect me to believe you really care about people who are human only when it suits your needs. Ironically, that's exactly Watters's point about Nancy and the Democrats.

56 comments:

mikee said...

Just call them voters, and it all makes sense. The Democrats are following the precept that if the populace doesn't like your policies, just get a new population.

rhhardin said...

But don't expect me to believe you really care

Really caring is self-entertainment and gets high ratings. That's what news is, in its soap opera form. Really caring means living in a fictional world.

Actual real-world really caring isn't a feeling at all but taking responsibility.

Leland said...

Non-humans violate human laws? The notation is to separate immigrants that go through the costly and lengthy process to live and work in our country, or even just visit by going through lawful checkpoints such as exist at international airports. Try skipping past an airport border security and see what they call you. It’s a human act to do something illegal.

gilbar said...

illegals are humans, no one says they aren't
(and, it looks like you have a typo, and use democrats when you mean republicans

Mike Petrik said...

I understand the claim that "undocumented" is a more humanizing term than "illegal," but that claim is not self-evidently true. Instead, it is simply a word choice made for political reasons, like calling gestating human beings fetuses instead of babies. I asked my pregnant daughter yesterday how her fetus was doing. She looked at me as though I had too much to drink.

Mark said...

Neither Pelosi or Watters seem to consider them as anything other than political pawns. Neither have a leg to stand on.

Much the same, in this comment section, humanity and dignity are for the unborn of official citizens not those born elsewhere.

Enigma said...

It's not a surprise coming from a party that has long combined control and elitism (e.g., Woodrow Wilson, FDR) with 'working class support.' The current generation includes Pelosi, Feinstein, Schumer, Gates, Bloomberg, and Soros. A chicken in every pot as long as you cut my lawn and clean my toilets -- we'll give you petty bribes to gain your vote and then inflate the value of the bribes away.

Control plus aversion to genuine sharing are the key concepts. Smoke and mirrors.

I'm not saying that the Republicans are any better, but they don't have the same level of institutional / urban control. They have other failings.

Christopher B said...

That's a lame excuse for not accepting his argument.

Watter's point, as is the point virtually all Republicans/conservatives who oppose the current regime of allowing uncontrolled entry in the United States, is that the *immigration process* is broken. It's not a human interest story. It's not that some illegal entry would ok because of the sob story some migrants can tell. The Democrats benefit directly from the fact they are ignoring the processes of how people are supposed to enter this country in a controlled and legal fashion, as well as ignoring how the laws governing that entry are changed. They do a regular bait-and-switch by conflating the process of vetting and accepting qualified immigrants with the uncontrolled flood of people *they are illegally allowing to cross the border.*

Humperdink said...

Labels are meaningless. Forget the politics. Watch the videos of these "humans" crossing the Rio Grande at great risk to their lives. Then are those carrying drugs and weapons. And we are concerned with name calling? Good grief!

fairmarketvalue said...

Would it be better to call these border jumpers "aliens", as the actual law does? Too de-humanizing?

retail lawyer said...

I don't always care about people who are human. Maybe the daily grind of living among the homeless exhausted me of care. Does that make me a bad person?

rwnutjob said...

"Undocumented" is prettying up a term to make it seem nicer than it is, like inflation reduction act. It is a long time Democrat political scam.

Václav Patrik Šulik said...

I'm waiting for a Democrat to make the equivalently awkward remark "The servants are viewed as illegals by the Democrats."

Wouldn't the equivalently awkward remark be "The servants are viewed as illegals by the Republicans." ?

boatbuilder said...

A person can be a prince and still be an illegal trespasser in another country.

"Illegal" describes precisely their legal status, without any comment upon their social status.

"Migrants" does the same, while copping out about the elephant in the room.

Tank said...

When you've got three plus million illegals in a short time period, you've got an invasion...so invaders would be more accurate.

John henry said...

They are "illegals" or, more properly, "illegal aliens".

What is wrong with using correct terminology?

Unless you are a Democrat oa ally and want you servants waiters and field hands.

Since they are illegal and subject to coercion through vague and unevenly enforced laws they can be controlled.

Sort of like slaves.

Not quite but on the spectrum.

Definitely not free.

John stop fascism vote republican Henry

Bob Boyd said...

Why is it de-humanizing to call them illegal, Professor? I don't get that. They are illegal, aren't they?
Breaking laws is uniquely human. Animals can't break the law.

Ambrose said...

Making an argument over which nouns and adjectives are humanizing and which are dehumanizing is a distraction.

wendybar said...

That is the proper term. They are here illegally. They have no documents, no vetting, no covid shots. This is an invasion brought on by the President of the United States who invited the world to come in so that they could install their Cloward and Piven strategy and make us Venezuela 2

Heartless Aztec said...

I must not say illegals.
I must not say illegals.
I must not say illegals.
I must not say illegals.
I must not say illegals.

And so on and and so forth, etc, ad nasaeum, ad infinitum, ad mortem.


Bob Boyd said...

The folks that went into the Capital last year weren't illegal entrants, they were unauthorized visitors. Let's just call them visitors.

Once they have crossed the threshold, you can't ask them to leave. That would be de-humanizing and cruel. You must offer them a seat at the table and a part in the proceedings.

Sure, some people had to go through a lengthy election process to get a place in that building, but really, so what? These new people very much want to be there and to contribute. In many cases they will make far better representatives than the elected politicians who have become entitled and lazy and aren't getting things done.

The Republicans should have offered the visitors amnesty and let them vote on the election certification.

love johnson said...

They are only "legal" if they are granted asylum and what the MSM and Dems have told us is that almost all of them are coming here for that. However, the statistics show that under the Biden administration, only 40% of those who claim it are granted it.Therefore, the vast majority of those coming across are "illegal". And that 60% isn't getting deported.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

They are, in fact, illegally here. Thus, in fact, they are illegals. But truth matters little in the left wing trained mind of our hostess. For a law professor (retired) she has little respect for the law, unless it helps her team. Of course, she has Meade to cut her grass, so no need for her own, personal illegal.

BIII Zhang said...

Both Nancy Pelosi and Illegitimate President Joe Biden have said that the reason this immigration is being permitted and facilitated by the Federal government - in DEFIANCE OF CONGRESS - is because "employers need workers." They are circumventing OUR laws, and using OUR money to do it, and simultaneously lowering the real wages of every true American.

This is human trafficking on a massive scale, that has specifically been voted AGAINST by the Congress of the United States - ostensibly the people's representatives. The Congress has set permissible levels of legal immigration, which both Pelosi and Biden are intentionally violating, for the benefit of corporate donors to the Democrat Party.

Both of these people need to be in prisons and the Party disbanded as co-conspirators. Our Congressionally authorized RICO statutes should be used to put these people in jail.

The next Republican President, as his first act, should be to fire and replace every single federal prosecutor in the DoJ (like Reagan did).

BIII Zhang said...

Both Nancy Pelosi and Illegitimate President Joe Biden have said that the reason this immigration is being permitted and facilitated by the Federal government - in DEFIANCE OF CONGRESS - is because "employers need workers." They are circumventing OUR laws, and using OUR money to do it, and simultaneously lowering the real wages of every true American.

This is human trafficking on a massive scale, that has specifically been voted AGAINST by the Congress of the United States - ostensibly the people's representatives. The Congress has set permissible levels of legal immigration, which both Pelosi and Biden are intentionally violating, for the benefit of corporate donors to the Democrat Party.

Both of these people need to be in prisons and the Party disbanded as co-conspirators. Our Congressionally authorized RICO statutes should be used to put these people in jail.

The next Republican President, as his first act, should be to fire and replace every single federal prosecutor in the DoJ (like Reagan did).

Sebastian said...

"These aren’t asylum seekers."

That is the basic corruption in the current system.

"Watters's rhetoric would have more power if he weren't stuck with calling the border-crossers "the illegals""

Why? It is necessary to counter the prog rhetoric about the "undocumented."

"Either humanize them or don't."

How does calling people what they are dehumanize them? In news reports, illegals make no bones about being illegal and coming here for jobs.

"But don't expect me to believe you really care about people who are human only when it suits your needs."

But why should caring about them as human beings have priority when they blatantly violate the law and invade the country at will? The "humanizing" of the issue is an appeal to nice women to support the ongoing corruption of the system. The priority for Watters and others on the right is not to dehumanize anyone but for the actual law to be enforced and the illegal invasion to be stopped.

michaele said...

To me, referring to them as "undocumented" as opposed to illegal is one of those democrat word tricks to soften the reality of truth. It's like when being pro-choice became the way of describing being pro abortion. The people crossing the US border without following the rules are doing it illegally. They are being so encouraged to do so by the Biden Administration that the reality of it being an illegal act is getting all mushy and blurry. I say good for Jesse Watters for using the descriptive word that was once regarded as obviously true.

Howard said...

The world is experiencing a population oldening that some commentators are fretting about. Chief among them is Peter Zeihan. He claims that the most immediate and devastating effects are in Russia followed by China. Mexico is also in this pickle as are most of the developed world. The US is also heading that way but is behind the rest of the world because the Boomers had a decent number of children and the US is a destination for youngsters from shitholes and elsewhere.

Zeihan claims this demographic inversion will spell the end of globalization. He also claims the US due to it's favorable geography and geology will thrive beyond the end of the global interdependent economic model.

A recent podcast interview Zeihan outlines how Texas is best situated for a more self contained economic powerhouse not so much depending on even interstate trade.

In any event, the powers that be want more young illegal meat puppets to fill the bottom of our pyramid to kick into social security and do bottom tier jobs until Optimus can replace young people to support the growing population of old people.

Howard said...

The world is experiencing a population oldening that some commentators are fretting about. Chief among them is Peter Zeihan. He claims that the most immediate and devastating effects are in Russia followed by China. Mexico is also in this pickle as are most of the developed world. The US is also heading that way but is behind the rest of the world because the Boomers had a decent number of children and the US is a destination for youngsters from shitholes and elsewhere.

Zeihan claims this demographic inversion will spell the end of globalization. He also claims the US due to it's favorable geography and geology will thrive beyond the end of the global interdependent economic model.

A recent podcast interview Zeihan outlines how Texas is best situated for a more self contained economic powerhouse not so much depending on even interstate trade.

In any event, the powers that be want more young illegal meat puppets to fill the bottom of our pyramid to kick into social security and do bottom tier jobs until Optimus can replace young people to support the growing population of old people.

MartyH said...

Illegals: US Border as Scabs: picket line

Democrats oppose right to work states. They believe that union membership increases the income of the union members; allowing someone to not join the union enables free riding and ultimately a decline in wages for the union member.

And yet Democrats encourage illegal immigration, driving down the wages of the poorest Americans. Illegal immigration hurts Americans more than anyone crossing a picket line ever could.

Krumhorn said...

Much the same, in this comment section, humanity and dignity are for the unborn of official citizens not those born elsewhere.

To the Marks of this world, humanity and dignity are words to describe fervent bug-eyed leftie progs who mean oh-so well in sharp contrast to MAGA-hatted insurrectionists and Deplorables. From my point of view, it would be best if the swarms of humanity illegally entering our country would maintain their dignity on the other side of our borders rather than freeloading off our social welfare programs and seeking state-issued IDs.

- Krumhorn

PB said...

And, of course, Congress didn't pass any restrictions on their own stock trading.

wendybar said...

Bob Boyd said...
The folks that went into the Capital last year weren't illegal entrants, they were unauthorized visitors. Let's just call them visitors.

Once they have crossed the threshold, you can't ask them to leave. That would be de-humanizing and cruel. You must offer them a seat at the table and a part in the proceedings.

Sure, some people had to go through a lengthy election process to get a place in that building, but really, so what? These new people very much want to be there and to contribute. In many cases they will make far better representatives than the elected politicians who have become entitled and lazy and aren't getting things done.

The Republicans should have offered the visitors amnesty and let them vote on the election certification.

10/5/22, 7:18 AM

THIS ^^^^^

wendybar said...

Bob Boyd said...
The folks that went into the Capital last year weren't illegal entrants, they were unauthorized visitors. Let's just call them visitors.

Once they have crossed the threshold, you can't ask them to leave. That would be de-humanizing and cruel. You must offer them a seat at the table and a part in the proceedings.

Sure, some people had to go through a lengthy election process to get a place in that building, but really, so what? These new people very much want to be there and to contribute. In many cases they will make far better representatives than the elected politicians who have become entitled and lazy and aren't getting things done.

The Republicans should have offered the visitors amnesty and let them vote on the election certification.

10/5/22, 7:18 AM

THIS ^^^^^

gilbar said...

MartyH said...
Democrats oppose right to work states. They believe that union membership increases the income of the union
And increasing income of the union, increases the income of the DNC..

This has NOTHING to do with helping working people

Amadeus 48 said...

No one, including lefty Mark, really cares about these people. Most Demmies think that Emma Lazarus's poem on the Statue of Liberty is and should be our immigration policy. They think that because of their smug and sanctimonious desire for moral superiority ("I welcome all immigrants..."). They don't really want to live closely with the consequences (Those folks sent to Martha's Vineyard were gone in 48 hours.). They would reject George W. Bush's pragmatic formulation of an entry test ("If they are willing to walk across the Big Bend country to get here, we want 'em.") as too harsh and utilitarian.

People on the right are hung up on legalism with a dose of pragmatism ("They broke the law to come here. They are mooching of the welfare system. This unfair to those who went through the legal process, which is expensive, random, and takes forever.").

Personally, I favor reform of our immigration laws which would make it much easier to come here legally together with border enforcement regime that would make it harder to come here illegally.

There is no doubt that over its history immigration has been a huge advantage and blessing to the USA, but as Milton Friedman said (he should still be running things), we can't have both open borders and a welfare state.

Michael said...

Ha. Who calls men and women running in a marathon the dehumanizing term “runners”? The horror of calling a convicted felon a “criminal”. Why do we fall for these politically driven linguistic tricks? And why do we identify a group of crows with murder.

Lurker21 said...
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Lurker21 said...
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Lurker21 said...

Considering that many people coming here illegally are dying, or used as drug mules, and being assaulted, robbed and raped along the way, Jesse Watters may be more humanitarian than his critics.

Our belief that everyone in the world would have things better here contains much egotism, also all manner of other, hardly altruistic motives.

Drago said...

Its always clear when the democraticals are losing a narrative war as the democraticals shift to their "Let's not quibble about who killed who"/"a pox on both their houses" schtick....but only long enough until they find an alternate narrative that blames only republicans.

Iman said...

People that cross a border to illegally enter a country are illegals. Stop with the bullshit euphemisms already.

cubanbob said...

Howard as per usual you have it backwards. Poor people are not net taxpayers. Unless all aspects of the welfare state are dismantled they never will be net taxpayers. Nor will their payroll taxes ever be enough to plug the whole. If you are proposing that the US allow immigration for the purposes of increased tax receipts and improving the amount collected in payroll taxes importing poor people is exactly the wrong thing to do. A partial solution is to allow unlimited immigration of people with money, say at least $5mm in investable assets and young people who are college graduates in STEM fields. The kind of people who will earn enough to pay annually the maximum in FICA taxes. As for agricultural workers let's go back to the future and grant limited work visas. As for the rest of the lower paying jobs that are currently held by illegal aliens, those should be replaced by people who are able bodied and currently on unemployment or welfare. Or are those jobs beneath American citizens and therefore we need to import slaves?

cubanbob said...

I can here as a legal immigrant. I became a resident alien ( that is what the green card stated) then I became a US citizen. My wife did the same. When legal aliens apply for permanent residency you have to leave the country to get your papers with no guarantee you will be allowed back in and that is with doing everything right. It is insulting to say the least that illegal aliens get such considerations as they are now getting.

robother said...

Never use a pithy term--only cumbersome formulations can signal virtue. "Illegals" is dehumanizing, "Humans who are undocumented" is so morally superior. Similarly, "homeless" has become "persons experiencing homelessness" in every newspaper (even when caught murdering or maiming their fellow humans).

The literary equivalent of "that's not funny," deadening all discourse.

Joe Smith said...

I have nothing against the 'illegals' except for the fact that the first thing they did when entering MY country was to break the laws of my country.

The result of this law-breaking is chaos.

Our health care is worse, students in school are suffering, and the treasury at all levels of government is hemorrhaging money.

Come here legally (like my relatives did) and I will welcome you with open arms.

This is not difficult.

Mark said...

Would calling them "invaders" be dehumanizing? Does it make a difference that they are in plain clothes rather than military uniforms?

How about "colonizers"? Let's hear the argument that that is not effectively what is going on here.

Butkus51 said...

Pelosi sets policies.

Watters is a tv personality.

n.n said...

So, they did follow the law. They are native to the legal jurisdiction?

Unplanned Visitorhood.

Could we at least evict unplanned visitors in six weeks, first trimester, second, later?

Under the Pro-Choice ethical religion, sending the "burdens" to Planned Parent/hood for "processing" would be a socially progressive, liberal tour de art, equitable and inclusive Choice.

many people coming here illegally are dying, or used as drug mules, and being assaulted, robbed and raped

Unplanned visitors who identify as female with "benefits" should have access to Planned Parenthood to abort, cannibalize, and sequester "burdens" of evidence in order to facilitate passage of accompanying visitors who identify as male.

In lieu of emigration reform to mitigate progress at both ends of the bridge and throughout, building a wall would at least mitigate unplanned visitors crossing treacherous environments and unplanned transhumanitarians bearing scalpels, federally-supplied arms, etc.

n.n said...

So, the problem is there. Unplanned visitorhood was a problem from conception in their motherland. How about a LatinXYZ Spring to relieve excess "burdens" in a socially-forward solution?

n.n said...

The human "burden" of unplanned visitors without even implied consent through affirmative action (e.g. sex).

gadfly said...

Mexican laborers have been doing the jobs that Americans didn't want to do for much of the past century, according to American farmers.

Truth be known, temporary Mexican labor is much cheaper than paying our reluctant young folks.

Republican capitalists have been investing in corporate farms to reap the benefit of this arrangement. They, in turn, beat down César Chávez's United Farm Workers Union.

Consequently, this is not about personal attacks which are common with Fox News' late-night commentators. I am reminded that the parents of Devin Nunes sold their California farm to move to Iowa where illegal migrant labor was available to milk their cows.

ccscientist said...

Once again the Dems change the meaning of words. Biden just called the illegals "refugees". This now means (revise your newspeak dictionaries) anyone seeking a better life. So, I guess, about 6.7Billion people. Buckle your seatbelts.

holdfast said...

The illegals are illegal invaders. That’s the truth, the cold, the hard truth, and get over it.

It also appears to be true that the Democrats wish to facilitate this illegal invasion in order to maintain a lifestyle buoyed by cheap labor that can’t complain for fear of la migra.

If you start from the proposition that it’s not really law breaking when you feel like you have good motivations, you’re never going to end up in a very logical place. And that’s the Democrats situation at the moment. Jesse Watters, calling them out on this shows only the Democrat hypocrisy. Republicans never particularly claimed to love these illegal invaders, they just believe that the laws should be on enforced
as it makes everyone safer, including the illegal invaders currently drowning in the Rio Grande river.

Joe Smith said...

'Truth be known, temporary Mexican labor is much cheaper than paying our reluctant young folks.'

And I have always argued for a program that allows those workers to be here legally, get paid a decent wage, and pay taxes on those wages.

I am also willing to pay more for produce at the grocery store.

But if you want to be a citizen or be here at all, then do it the right way.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Migrant workers have had to get visas to work at harvest time. This makes them guest workers, and thus "legal". Gadfly's knowledge is mile wide raindrop deep.