'They Drive Taxis and Smell Bad'

[Nbadan]

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-images/upload/thumb-scandalburns11.jpg

Maybe on to something with NY City cab drivers

NYT/AP: Burns Says Terrorists Drive Taxis by Day
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 31, 2006


BELGRADE, Mont. (AP) -- Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who ''drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.''

During a fundraiser Wednesday with first lady Laura Bush, the three-term Montana senator talked about terrorism, tax cuts and the money he has brought to his state. Burns is one of the more vulnerable Senate incumbents, facing a tough challenge from Democrat Jon Tester.

He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a ''nice little Guatemalan man'' during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal.

Burns, 71, also had to apologize after confronting members of a firefighting team at the Billings airport and telling them they had done a ''piss-poor job,'' according to a state report. In July, the Hotshot crew had traveled 2,000 miles from Staunton, Va., to help dig fire lines for about a week around a 143-square-mile wildfire east of Billings.

At the campaign event with Bush, Burns talked about the war on terrorism, saying a ''faceless enemy'' of terrorists ''drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.'

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Burns-Terrorism.html?_r=1&oref=login)

I've have never seen a taxi in Montana, maybe Billings? There's gotta be at least one taxi? What else can Conrad Burns mean?

[Crookshanks]

I think he means in major cities such as Los Angeles, NY and DC. I've heard the jokes about how hard it is to find an english-speaking cabbie in NYC - so maybe this statement isn't that far-fetched.

[ChumpDumper]

Who are they killing at night in LA, NY and DC?

[boutons_]

If they're brown, they're terrists.
Any asshole wearing a cowboy hat knows that.

[boutons_]

More generally, anybody wearing a cowboy hat is an asshole. :)

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

We live in enlightened times. :rolleyes

Man, this bums me. I loved Montana when I passed through on my road trip in 2003. We stayed the night in Missoula, which is quite a hippy town with the university there (specialising in ecology and cretive writing, from what I'm told), and the people were lovely.

However, this hick and other hicks like him obviously run the place... :depressed

[smeagol]

I think he means in major cities such as Los Angeles, NY and DC. I've heard the jokes about how hard it is to find an english-speaking cabbie in NYC - so maybe this statement isn't that far-fetched.
His statement was stupid. I cannot believe you are trying tu justify it.

[boutons_]

"statement was stupid."

These red-state hicks say racist shit like this, and macaca, etc, because they know their rabble constituencies think that way.

dubya said to the NAACP meeting: "I value the black vote" which was incredibly stupid (par for dubya) when the NAACP wanted to hear that he cared about black people.

The Repugs are the party of racists and chauvinists, explaining its strength out west and south.

[Condemned 2 HelLA]

I never saw a taxi cab in Montana.
I saw plenty of casinos, but not one taxi cab.

[101A]

The Repugs are the party of racists and chauvinists, explaining its strength out west and south.



.....errrr Robert Byrd...

Anway, have you heard any of Biden's VERY sensitive remarks as of late.

Clowns such as this from Montana make it tough to be conservative, much as Kennedy makes it hard on Libs. No matter what I believe, think and postulate, anytime an idiot like this opens his pie-hole and says something idiotic - THAT is where opportunists (such as Dan & Boutons) take the argument with statements about hats racists and bigots.

[johnsmith]

The Repugs are the party of racists and chauvinists, explaining its strength out west and south.

Have you ever been to Montana you fucktard? Damn near every person there is open minded, thoughtful and polite. It's a beautiful state with fantastic human beings residing in it. Every state has at least one jackass within it's government. Fuck, you should know that, you are in Texas.
I'd like to congratulate the board on this one for bashing this idiot in the cowboy hat for being narrow minded and dumb (which he is), and then turn around and complain that Western states are all full of racist republicans.
You guys (mainly boutons) are the whiniest bunch of jackasses I've ever come across.

[johnsmith]

.....errrr Robert Byrd...

Anway, have you heard any of Biden's VERY sensitive remarks as of late.

Clowns such as this from Montana make it tough to be conservative, much as Kennedy makes it hard on Libs. No matter what I believe, think and postulate, anytime an idiot like this opens his pie-hole and says something idiotic - THAT is where opportunists (such as Dan & Boutons) take the argument with statements about hats racists and bigots.

Should have read this first, well said 101A.

[sickdsm]

Ummm, what the's problem of saying his painter is a nice little Guatemalan man if he is a nice little Guatemalan man?


If i'm standing in a crowd of blacks and asians and you want to point me out to a friend for some reason, you are most likely a closet RACIST if you say, the guy in the red shirt, brown hair, Doc's etc.... instead of saying the white dude.


I love how he gets flamed also for suggesting that a central american man who is doing manual labor in a state not near the border could be illegal.


I wonder what the statistic's are for percantage's of illegal immigrants, male, his age group, doing manual labor in the northern states compared to likewise men with British, German, Nowegian, Japanese, Austrailian, etc... roots.


I bet it don't look so fucking far off the wall now does it? Hey, geuess what? Throw me under the bridge for saying that if your Black you could have some anscestors that were slaves, Jewish that you have some ties to the nazi death camps, or if your a democrat you're more likely to be an enviromentalist.

Funny, a guy who says it like it is under a repub. badge is tarred and feathered while a guy who does it under a third party is either forced to be taken seriiously or sometimes worse yet, elected (Ventura).

The ONLY thing in that blurb that one can shake there head at is the cabbie comment. And seriously, does anyone honestly think that cabbies are less likely then the general population to do bad things?


Not knowing anything about that fire or the crew, maybe they DID do a "piss-poor" job. Frankly i find it hiliarious that if your a fireman, cop, soldier, etc.... that your always commended for a job well done when we all know that whatever profession you're in there's always people who just aren't that good at what they do or sometimes there work isn't up to standards.


I love the comment about Missoula though, leading to the notion that if your're a liberal or in a liberal community everything is nice. It is a nice place but obiously because its less cowboyish then other places there, right?

[Crookshanks]

Is it just possible that he meant that the threat of terrorism is real and that the enemy is very good at blending into our society? That he didn't really mean that the cabbies were killing people, but used it as a metaphor for how these islamofacists operate.

Why is it that Joe Biden got a pass from the libs for his comment (you can't go into a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts without an Indian accent), but Senator Burns is crucified, along with George Allen. Libs love to attack the "racist" words, but they totally ignore the real issue.

I'm not saying that Senator Burns couldn't have said things differently - but I just think it isn't that big a deal.

[johnsmith]

Is it just possible that he meant that the threat of terrorism is real and that the enemy is very good at blending into our society? That he didn't really mean that the cabbies were killing people, but used it as a metaphor for how these islamofacists operate.

Why is it that Joe Biden got a pass from the libs for his comment (you can't go into a 7-11 or Dunkin Donuts without an Indian accent), but Senator Burns is crucified, along with George Allen. Libs love to attack the "racist" words, but they totally ignore the real issue.

I'm not saying that Senator Burns couldn't have said things differently - but I just think it isn't that big a deal.

I'll bet Boutons would care to differ. That bastard is convinced that every single thing wrong in the world today can be pinpointed to one event over the course of history, the creation of the GOP. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

[boutons_]

"totally ignore the real issue."

"security" again exploited by old white fuckers in cowboy hats to pander to the rabble's racism. The real issue here is racism, not security.

[johnsmith]

"totally ignore the real issue."

"security" again exploited by old white fuckers in cowboy hats to pander the rabble's racism. The real issue hereis racism, not security.

You go girl. And who's fault is it? That's right, the republicans.
Sarcasm off.

[sickdsm]

"totally ignore the real issue."

"security" again exploited by old white fuckers in cowboy hats to pander the rabble's racism. The real issue here is racism, not security.


Exlain the racism.



Not in another story or more details.


Explain the racism in that post alone.

[sickdsm]

His statement was stupid. I cannot believe you are trying tu justify it.



How is it stupid?


Because its not PC?