Quote:

---

“My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” Young said in the interview with KRBD. “You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.” Don Young, Rep. (R-Alaska)

---

Quote:

---

Alaska Rep. Don Young issued an apology Friday for using the term "wetbacks" when discussing migrant works, acknowledging it is an "insensitive term" that he says should have been left behind with the last century.

Quote:

---

“I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words. That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I’m sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform.”

---

{Gotta love that one...}
The apology came after House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican Party leaders denounced Young on Friday for using the term.

The 79-year-old Young, the second-most senior Republican in the House, had issued a statement late Thursday saying he "meant no disrespect" in using the derogatory term to describe the workers on his father's farm in central California, where he grew up.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made clear Friday they did not find the explanation acceptable.

"Congressman Young's remarks were offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds. I don't care why he said it -- there's no excuse and it warrants an immediate apology," Boehner said in a brief statement.

Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the comments "do nothing to elevate our party, political discourse or the millions who come here looking for economic opportunity."

"Wetbacks" often refers to Mexican migrants who have entered country illegally. Young, an Alaska congressman, discussing the labor market during an interview with radio station KRBD in Ketchikan, Alaska, said that on his father's ranch, "we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes." He said, "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It's all done by machine."

He added that during the interview, he had "discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship" and said the country must tackle the issue of immigration reform.

As resources committee chairman in the late 1990s, Young took on environmentalists and the Bill Clinton administration in pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and logging in Alaska national forests. He headed the transportation committee during much of the George W. Bush administration, during which he defied his own party's anti-tax positions by supporting an increase in the federal gas tax to help pay for bridge and highway construction.

It was under Young's chairmanship that the "bridges to nowhere," two proposed Alaska construction projects, became a symbol for questionable special projects inserted into spending bills.

He also is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which is looking into whether he failed to report gifts on his annual disclosure forms, misused campaign funds and lied to federal officials. The investigation comes from an earlier Justice Department probe into whether Young accepted gifts in return for political patronage. Young has said that Justice cleared him of those charges.

"I've been under a cloud all my life," he told reporters in Juneau Thursday. "It's sort of like living in Juneau. It rains on you all the time. You don't even notice it."

Young said he plans to run for re-election next year, saying he doesn't know anyone who can do a better job than he does in representing the state. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/rep-young-says-meant-no-dis
respect-by-using-term-wetbacks/

---

Quote:

---

It is a safe bet that there is no one from Rep. Young’s generation who does not know that the term “wetbacks” is as much a racial slur to people of Latin American heritage as “kikes” is to Jews, “waps” to Italians,” “slant-eyes” to Asians; “ni**ers” to African Americans, and “towel heads” to Middle Easterners. It is a term used in a derogatory way to refer, specifically, to Mexicans who, historically, made their way to the United States by swimming across the Rio Grande river (hence, “wetbacks”), but has been vernacularized to imply negative reference to any person of Latino heritage. It’s not equivocal; everyone of a certain age knows what it means (it’s less used by younger racists who have their own, more contemporary slurs), and it’s clear, when used, that the intent it NOT to indicate respect, honor, or even basic good manners. It’s a slur.

---

Quote:

---

“I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California,” he said in a statement late Thursday. “I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays, and I meant no disrespect." http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/04/01/the-go
ps-apology-tour/

---

Quote:

---

Southern Baptist President Fred Luter has linked gay marriage to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's recent threat to launch a nuclear strike against the United States.

In an appearance on TruNews, Luter agreed with host Rick Wiles' theory that the two events appears to be connected.

“You've got this happening over here and you've got this happening over there: Could the two be connected? Could our slide into immorality be what is unleashing this mad man over here in Asia to punish us?” asked Wiles.

“It could be a possibility. I'm not that strong in prophecy but I would not be surprised that there's not a connection there simply because of the fact we've seen it happen in Scripture before. I would not be surprised that at the time when we are debating same-sex marriage, at a time when we are debating whether or not we should have gays leading the Boy Scout movement, I don't think it's just a coincidence that we have a mad man in Asia who is saying some of the things that he's saying,” Luter said. http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=14839&MediaType=1&Cate
gory=26

---