But they're not white!

I suppose this is hilarious, but as an American, I mostly just find it embarrassing.

In an extraordinary -- and extraordinarily awkward -- failure of basic situational awareness, a U.S. congressman apparently mistook American government officials for Indian government officials during a congressional hearing.

As first reported by Foreign Policy magazine, freshman Rep. Curt Clawson (R-FL) spoke to State Department official Nisha Biswal and Commerce Department official Arun Kumar as if they were Indian government officials at a House Foreign Affairs hearing on Thursday. ...

When he asked the American officials for cooperation from "your government," Biswal appeared rather confused. "I think your question is to the Indian government," she said, "and we certainly share your sentiments and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the U.S. government."

This Republican congressman, Curt Clawson, talks to American officials as if they were representatives of the Indian government, apparently because they're not white.

Well, they must be furriners then, huh? I mean, they're dressed as real Americans. They speak real American. But they're not white, so... what else could a good Republican assume?

Do you think I'm being too harsh on this guy? Well, maybe so. It was just a simple mistake, after all. But then I read this:

In a vote likely to exacerbate their party's demographic problems, House Republicans passed legislation on Friday night to effectively require the deportation of everyone in the U.S. illegally, including young people brought as children who attended college or joined the military. ...

The vote marks the third time in the 113th Congress that House Republicans have passed legislation that would, effectively, require the deportation of so-called Dreamers. They are the only immigration-related bills that have been allowed votes in the full House in 2013 or 2014.

The "Dreamers" are young people, overwhelmingly Hispanic, who were brought into this county by their parents, when they were just children. They've been raised as American, they have American siblings, and they often don't even remember their home country.

Furthermore, these are the best of the best - those who stayed out of trouble and, despite that poor beginning, actually managed to attend college and/or fight for America in our military. Yet Republicans insist on deporting them all.

Well, they're not white, I guess (not as Republicans define it, anyway). Who cares if they've fought to defend America? Who cares if they're college-educated? (That just means they're liberals, right? Isn't that what education means to a Republican these days?)

And note that last sentence about "allowed votes." Republicans control the House of Representatives, and their leadership won't even let congressmen vote on most bills. That's because they know that some reasonable bills might pass with Democratic and Republican votes. The crazies can't have that, and unfortunately for us all, the crazies control the Republican Party.

"Where are our hearts?" said Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil rights hero, in a fiery floor speech. "Where are our souls?"

No kidding. And, even more importantly, where are our brains? (Not in the GOP, apparently.) We are a nation of immigrants. We've thrived as a nation by letting people from all around the world participate in this melting pot.

As I say, these are the best of the best. The Dreamers are the people who've already accomplished a great deal, people who've risen from poverty to attend college, people who've been willing to fight for our country. (How many of these chickenhawk Republicans can say that?)

But Republican leaders are terrified that they'll end up voting Democratic. (Gee, I wonder why?)

___
* OK, OK, this part is hilarious: "Clawson took office on June 25, replacing Rep. Trey Radel (R), who resigned after getting arrested for cocaine possession last fall." Florida can really pick 'em, huh?