The seldom quoted founder of the resoundingly anti-immigrant Help Save Maryland, Brad Botwin, made sure he’d get his name in print recently. In response to President Obama’s order, Botwin callously boasted, “I guess we’re just going to declare this ‘Amnesty Day for Hispanic Illegal Aliens in America’.” Ignoring events like the attacks of 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, he further added, “This is by far the most lawless act against U-S citizens that I can remember in my lifetime.” It seems such musings have received less play in the press than what is his apparently more salient/safe-for-print sentiment, which seems pulled from the annals of American Natvist aphorisms of centuries past: “I see a tidal wave coming.” More is sure to be heard from Botwin in the coming months, as the citizens of Maryland are due to vote on a referendum regarding college tuition in November 2012.
Race • Identity • Democracy