Thompson really lost his grip - he must think the 9/11 crew were all named Jose....."beset by suicidal maniacs"?...What is he smoking?
PS If your spokesman has to clarify that you weren't actually saying something incredibly stupid, well guess what, you just said something incredibly stupid. This is craven panicmongering.
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Thompson finds fault with 1986 immigration law, says nation beset by 'suicidal maniacs'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fred Thompson, a potential Republican presidential candidate, suggested that the 1986 immigration law signed by President Reagan is to blame for the country's illegal immigrants and he bemoaned a nation beset by "suicidal maniacs."
"Twelve million illegal immigrants later, we are now living in a nation that is beset by people who are suicidal maniacs and want to kill countless innocent men, women and children around the world," the former Tennessee senator said. "We're sitting here now with essentially open borders."
He made the comments Thursday night as he discussed the 1986 immigration reform bill and the Senate's current legislation to overhaul the immigration system during a speech to people attending the annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner in Stamford, Conn.
Thompson, the actor on NBC's popular drama "Law & Order," is widely expected to enter the GOP presidential race this summer. His backers bill him as a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan who can beat the Democratic nominee in November 2008.
That's the same Reagan who signed an immigration overhaul two decades ago that gave amnesty to an estimated 2.7 million illegal immigrants who had been in the United States at least four years.
"Future generations of Americans will be thankful for our efforts to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship," Reagan said in a statement on Nov. 6, 1986, as the bill became law with his signature.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, said he was not calling immigrants "suicidal maniacs" but, rather was referring to terrorists who seek to enter the United States through borders that have lax security. |
