So much is being made of something Sen. Jim DeMint said at a book party last night, as originally reported by Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent:

Part of what we’re trying to do in “Saving Freedom” is just show that where we are, we’re about where Germany was before World War II where they became a social democracy. You still had votes but the votes were just power grabs like you see in Iran, and other places in South America, like Chavez is running down in Venezuela. People become more dependent on the government so that they’re easy to manipulate. And they keep voting for more government because that’s where their security is. When our immigrants get here, they’re worried, because they see it happening here.

Others have already tackled the absurdity of DeMint comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany and his failure to make a distinction between national socialism and social democracy, so I’m not gonna go there.

Instead, I want to focus on something else:  DeMint’s claim that “immigrants” Weigel:

DeMint told a room of around 100 people about a conversation he’d had with an Iranian immigrant who was panicking about the surge of government spending and control under President Obama and the Democrats. Americans should listen to immigrants like her, said DeMint.

I have a couple of problems with DeMint’s claims.  First, those who come to the United States from countries with repressive regimes tend to come here so that they can live in a country that won’t repress them.  The Iranian woman to whom DeMint spoke may be unhappy with Obama’s policies, but I would be seriously shocked to find out that she thinks the Obama Administration is as repressive as Iran.

Second, since when is DeMint a fan of immigration?  He’s the principal sponsor of the effort to get English declared the official language of the United States.  He wants a fence on the border.  He opposes effort — including those of former President Bush — to grant amnesty to some of those currently in the country illegally.   He even favors requiring some visa applicants to know English. But now, we are led to believe, he spends time talking to and learning from immigrants — or at least those convinced Obama is a dictator.

It makes you wonder whether the man is as unthinking as he is ahistorical.

Related posts

• Your Long National Nightmare Is Over
• You’re Such a Blockhead, Charlie Brown
• You Know You’re Out of Touch. . .
• Wow
• Why SCOTUS Should Hear the Al-Marri Case