Saturday, November 21, 2015

Scott Perry, a Republican from Santorum lands: If his motives are not bad, publicity hound piling on, then his judgment has to be called into question.

The Intercept, here (links in the original item):

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., appearing on talk radio this week to discuss his opposition to resettling Syrian refugees, said the “first thing” that needs to be done is to “get away from” referring to the individuals fleeing Syria as “refugees.”

Perry explained that while “some of them” are leaving a civil war, he would have stayed.

[...] “There is absolutely no reason they need to be coming to America,” Perry continued.

[...] Who Perry thinks they should fight for is not clear. Does he think they should join the ranks of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad? Or is he referring to any number of Syrian rebel groups, including ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, among others? I sent a request for clarification to Perry’s spokesperson but did not receive any word back.

He presumably is not suggesting that children and the elderly take up weapons. Of the over 4 million Syrian refugees counted by the U.N., 38 percent are under age 11, more than half are under 17, and only 22 percent are men between ages 18 and 59.

Perry currently sits on both the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., Perry’s colleague on the Homeland Security Committee, also dismissed the dangers faced by Syrians. In a letter to President Obama this week, Barletta referred to those fleeing Syria as “so-called ‘refugees.'”

Piling on, at a guess. Nobody could be that dumb or immune to facts. Well, say few, instead of nobody. Cut the Scott guy and his Republican Congressional colleague some slack, and presume that they are dunces and not shysters.

In the alternative: Both. This link.