Genetics & Politics

shortformblog:

In case you’ve yet to see this, it’s a doozy: East Haven, Conn. Mayor Joe Maturo’s plans to help the Latino community, struggling with a controversy regarding rogue police officers detaining Latinos seemingly without reason? ”I might have tacos when I go home,” he told a TV news reporter. “I’m not quite sure yet.” Maturo later apologized for the comments in a statement, claiming ”I let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already a serious and unfortunate situation. I regret my insensitive comment and realize that it is my job to lead by example.” But let’s face it, there’s no getting out of this one.

This is simply too painful to watch all of the way through. What planet is this guy from? When voting and tax paying members of your community feel as if they’re being unfairly harassed by the police (an agency funded by tax payers), normally you (the mayor of the town) make assurances for them and perhaps most importantly you do not alienate potential voters or donors. As an example, in this scenario you can reply with just about any political cliche except for, “I might have tacos when I go home.” This is the stuff of memes,

• What are you going to do for the Japanese community after the tsunami today?
  “I might go karaoke, I’m not quite sure yet.”

By the way, bravo, high-five and much love to the reporter for rightfully grilling him.