NC congressman Coble defends internment of Japanese American

Yikes.

Not just for sensitivities, but because of his position. I thought we were supposed to have learned lessons from that debacle, not re-live it.

<bewildered gaping stare>

Where do these people come from?

ci

It happened here in BC as well. David Suzuki's family was incarcerated. Likely Coble is using this as some sort of precedent to give justification to the present treatment of people who happen to look non-caucasian, and who thus are possible enemies. Enemies are, after all, behind many bushes.

Cicero,

Could you provide a link to Congressman Cobel's complete remarks? Where and when were they made? What sub-committee is he chairman of? I'd like to know more about this fellow. Some Congressmen are notoriously insensitive, but this report is especially disturbing if Cobel has any real influence over policy formation. It has been said that no one ever went broke underestimating the American public, and that goes double for Congress.

Hi Asherman, The information was in today's San Jose Mercury News, in The Valley section, front page. The article written by Cecilia Kang of Mercury News. It just says, "Rep. Howard Coble, R-NC, who heads a homeland security subcommittee (he's chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security), made the comments Tuesday on a radio call-in program........" He also said, "We were at war," calling Japanese Americans "an endangered species." Also added, "for many of these Japanese Americans, it wasn't safe for them to be on the street." Congressman Robert Honda responded with, "If we were incarcerated for our safety, why were we inside the barbed wire fences, and why were the gun towers facing us?"

With all these bigots in the republican party, it makes me wonder why all my siblings are republicans. Sad, sad, sad..... c.i.

here's thestory

pueo

something wrong with that link, I'm afraid.

c.i.- I can understand your anger. In this climate all sorts of misanthropy will be coming out of the woodwork. Take it from where it came- There are ignoramouses everywhere, but I hate to see one on a Homeland Security subcommittee!

Phoenix

I think this is not merely a matter of cross-sectional chance - as in, given any group of individuals, some few will be bigots. I think we might want to be alert to a growing culture of mis-trust of the people who think and look differently in the present, precisely as has happened with the Japanese.

blatham- I agree. I alluded to your point, although I did not spell it out as well as you!

I suspect blatham is right on this, but hey, even a clock that's stopped is right twice a day.

roger!!! My god, I just bumped into fishin on another thread, and now you here....I've missed you two to the point of weeping approximately.

Oh, I've been weeping. Copiously.

c.i.
You don't have to be smart to be elected to political office all you need is stupid people to vote for you. That is a commodity in abundance in the US. A good example of that now sits at the seat of government. Someone should remind him of the sacrifices the sons of those very same incarcerated people made to give him the freedom to make those stupid statements. Isn't there a shame on you award?

Good point, au. That explains a lot.

What a jerk this guy is. Send him over here and I'll kick his a$$ for ya C.I.

Congressman Cobel may be a bigot, it certainly sounds that way. On the other hand, there seems to be a rush to judgement here on a very tenous basis. A reporter wrote an article based on what he heard, or thinks he heard, on a free-form radio talkshow. What did the Congressman actually say, and what was the context? What editorial biasis does the reporter and his paper have? My experience has been to distrust the news media, and most of the commentariate have no better credentials than my next door neighbor has in interpreting events. Was the Congressman serious, joking, or just mis-speaking? What was he responding to, and what was the response to his remark(s) at the time? Without knowing what was going on events and remarks can be easily missinterpreted, or mis-stated. I doubt it, but the Congressman's family may include persons of Japanese-American descent, and he may be more tolerant than many others. What sub-committee does Cobel chair? He may be the leader of two other maverics that are given "make work" to keep them out of the hair of more serious matters.

On the face of it Congressman Cobel seems to be an insensitive boor, and a dangerous one at that. The men hung at the Oxbow certainly seemed guilty of murder and rustling. "Twelve Angry Men" started out being utterly convinced the defendant had stabbed his father to death, and only gradually came to realize that there was more than a reasonable doubt. Slow down, get the full facts -- then hang the bastard.

Asherman, You disappoint me greatly. This guy Coble is a bigot for even "thinking" what he did, no less voicing his bigotry on radio talk show. Your defense of this bigot is what scares me, because even Saddam has defenders. c.i.

Cicero,

I'm not defending Cobel, only saying that the evidence that he said or did anything objectionable is pretty thin. Less evidence he's as bad a guy as Saddam. Probably Cobel is everything he's accused of, but to condemn a person on the basis of heresay in one newspaper isn't enough to launch a hanging party. Perhaps he can be contained until his constituents throw him out.