Freshman Congressman (R-Duh) Mistakes Senior Government Officials for Foreigners

[onehandle]

Source: The Cable

In an intensely awkward congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday, freshman Rep. Curt Clawson misidentified two senior U.S. government officials as representatives of the Indian government.

The two officials, Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar, are Americans who hold senior positions at the State Department and Commerce Department, respectively. Although both Biswal and Kumar were introduced as U.S. officials by the chairman of the Asia and Pacific subcommittee, Clawson repeatedly asked them questions about "your country" and "your government," in reference to the state of India.

"I'm familiar with your country; I love your country," the Florida Republican said. "Anything I can do to make the relationship with India better, I'm willing and enthusiastic about doing so."

Apparently confused by their Indian surnames and skin color, Clawson also asked if "their" government could loosen restrictions on U.S. capital investments in India.

Read more: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/07/25/exclusive_freshman_congressman_mistakes_senior_government_officials_for_foreigners

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'Florida Man' strikes again...

[lsewpershad]

1. And the consequence is?

he wins again in the next elections.

[LoisB]

21. No. He becomes the frontrunner for Republican nominee for President.

[elleng]

2. 'Duh' is right!

[Maynar]

7. Flori-DUH

Flori-DUH!

Flori-DUH!

I swear, I just don't get what goes on there. Enough crazy seeps out to make me go WTF.

Then, I got nothin'

[elleng]

17. Yes, lots of DUH there,

but in too many other places too! Repugs have fostered this, as an ignorant electorate favors them.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. The article states he's a Tea Party sponsored candidate.

This is typical... The Tea Party wants pols who are totally clueless to the job the are elected to. That way they can make no progress that conservatives consider dangerous, like gun control, enviromental regulations, and finance reform.

In the update they report that his office apologized for being a moran. Good job Florida voters!

[NBachers]

4. Republican Hero of the Day!

[blackspade]

5. Dummy.

[OldRedneck]

6. From time to time . . .

From time to time I read something that is SO-O-O-O-O-O blazingly stupid, all I can do is bang my head into the desk over and over and over and over . . . .

[Dustlawyer]

8. Do the newest members ask questions 1st? Could he not tell from the questions and answers

who they were and where they were from? Another one who never learned to LISTEN and PREPARE! It's called DOING YOUR JOB!

[JI7]

11. he wasn't paying attention with his ears, he just saw some brown faces

[cosmicone]

9. At least he didn't call them macacas

like the repuke senator from VA!

[Action_Patrol]

19. Thankfully

'Former' Senator.

[Hulk]

10. A "representative OF the people"...

Sorry folks, but this is just how ignorant and embarrassing this country is becoming. Intellectuals are looked down on, the wealthy are idolized for driving the BMW's, progressives are labeled "bleeding hearts", twisting the word of Jesus to suit their bigotry and hatred is accepted, and dim-wits like this clown actually make it to Washington to represent a large number of Americans.

This is a sad day. I give up. This country has only become dumber since I remember first keeping track, some 45 years ago. We have some of the most bigoted, brain-dead, egotistical fools that actually think "we're #1" at something besides making weapons of war and spreading our military all over the earth. One step forward, ten steps back.

[smirkymonkey]

18. +1000

I agree. *sigh*

[negoldie]

12. NO he's not

He isn't familiar with their country at all.....

[CreekDog]

13. What's his screenname on Discussionist?

[Skip Intro]

22. What's yours? n/t

[CreekDog]

23. How do you feel about the story in the OP?

You agree with Obama on how to deal with this correct?

Oh and do you still oppose birthright citizenship as you posted a while back on DU?

[yuiyoshida]

14. What would have been amazing is, if he had brought in

his own Interpreter who spoke, for example Punjabi, only to find out they they only knew English, how rich would that be?

[slingsam]

15. i thought "punjabi" was a "people" (sic)...but..i was wrong...

[yuiyoshida]

16. from Wiki

The northern Indian languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family evolved from Old Indic by way of the Middle Indic Prakrit languages and Apabhraṃśa of the Middle Ages. There is no consensus for a specific time where the modern north Indian languages such as Hindustani, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sindhi and Oriya emerged, but AD 1000 is commonly accepted.[11][page needed] Each language had different influences, with Hindustani strongly influenced by Sanskrit and Persian. Oriya is the only classical language from this language family and it is least influenced by any foreign language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India

[DFW]

20. The people who come from there call their language Punjabi

A friend of mine back in the 70s I used to hang with was a Sikh from the Punjab, and he he taught me a few words of his language which he referred to as Punjabi.

Of course, he was a real person and not a corporation, so he might no longer qualify as a person under current Supreme Court standards...........