Commentary: Who’s Left for Angle to Anger
Is there anyone Sharron Angle hasn’t offended yet? Since she announced her candidacy, Angle’s gaffes and controversial positions have piled up to the point where she has seemingly alienated just about anyone and everyone in and out of Nevada.
If you think I’m exaggerating, let’s recap all the groups, towns and, yes, countries that have taken issue with the Republican Senate candidate in recent months.
Latinos – Angle invoked the ire of the Latino community withher campaign ad targeting Harry Reid on immigration. The ad features a picture of menacing young Latinos and alleges illegal immigrants are “sneaking across our border, putting Americans’ safety and jobs at risk.” The ad was offensive enough for Tibi Ellis, a longtime Hispanic Republican activist, to condemn it.
Asians (and Latinos again) – Angle angered the Asian community when she told the Hispanic Student Union at Rancho High School (that’s right, I said the HISPANIC Student Union), “I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.” She also added, “I’ve been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.” Angle’s Asian? Who knew?
Women – Never mind her position on abortion. (She’s so much against it; she wants women to have babies even in cases of rape and incest, or as she puts it, making lemonade out of lemons.) But, it’s not just abortion rights that have her at odds with women. Angle told the Reno Gazette Journal last year, “We say in a traditional home one parent stays home with the children and the other provides the financial support for that family. That is the acceptable and right thing to do. If we begin to expand that, not only do we dilute the resources that are available, we begin to dilute things like health care, retirement, all the things offered to families that help them be a family.” Take that Gloria Steinem.
Unemployment Benefits Recipients – Angle famously said in interviews that unemployment benefits are “spoiling our citizenry” and that people are less likely to look for work, because they can earn more by collecting unemployment. Forget medicine or law kiddies. There’s a future in unemployment!
Autism Victims and Their Families – Angle decried insurance mandates for autism victims during a campaign event. She then referred to autism with air quotes. Families of autistic patients were not pleased.
Homosexuals – In a questionnaire provided by the Government is Not God PAC, Angle wrote that she opposes same sex marriage, she opposes adding sexual orientation as a protected minority under existing civil rights laws and she opposes laws allowing homosexuals to adopt children.
Veterans – When asked during an interview with NPR if she thought the Department of Veterans Affairs should cover prescription drugs, Angle replied, “Not if you’re working towards a privatized system.” Too bad most veterans actually like the public VA. She has since said she does not plan to privatize the VA.
Muslim Americans – Angle, when asked if Muslims are trying to take over the United States, replied, “We’re talking about a militant terrorist situation, which I believe it isn’t a widespread thing, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it.” “My thoughts are these: First of all, Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas are on American soil, and under constitutional law, not Sharia law, and I don’t know how that happened in the United States,” she said. “It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States.”
Dearborn, Michigan – The mayor of Dearborn called Angle’s above comments “shameful”.He also offered to take Angle on a tour of Dearborn to prove to her the town has not been overtaken by Sharia law. I would also include the town of Frankfort, Texas, but as it turns out, the town doesn’t exist.
Canada – No, not a few Canadians or some business called Canada. I mean the actual country north of the United States. Canadian ambassador Gary Doer is demanding a retraction from Angle after she told a group of Latino students that the 9/11 terrorists entered the U.S. from Canada.
Wow. With Angle having angered so many groups, it sure is a good thing for Democrats that she is running against an eloquent, charismatic leader who never, ever says anything embarrassing or makes gaffes.
Oh wait.