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10 Feb

thedailywhat:

About That Gulf Of America Bill of the Day: It seems we’re slowly inching towards a time in American politics when only bills introduced as overt attempts at attention-getting will get any attention.

Following in the footsteps of state Sen. Janet Howell of Virginia and state Sen. Constance Johnson of Oklahoma, Mississippi state Rep. Steve Holland (D) introduced a bill this week that aims to rename the portion of the Gulf of Mexico bordering the Magnolia State the “Gulf of America.”

Holland, a known “jokester,” told the Clarion-Ledger he proposed the legislation as a means of mocking the myriad anti-illegal-immigration bills that have flooded the current legislative session.

“It seems the people of Mississippi have elected a majority group to govern that wants to slam all minorities and especially Hispanic,” Holland said, noting that he personally found the legislation to be un-Christian.

Unfortunately for Holland, unlike the clearly hyperbolic amendments introduced in Virginia and Oklahoma — and perhaps proving his point in a roundabout way — it seemed feasible to many that a lawmaker from Mississippi could introduce such a bill.

Bob Quasius, president of the Latino GOP organization Café Con Leche penned an open letter to Holland suggesting the Mississippi River be renamed to spare it the disgrace of “sharing a name with a state that wants to rewrite maps out of disdain for Mexicans.”

When informed by the Associated Press that Holland was joking to make a point, Quasius said the bill should still be withdrawn, adding that it was “in rather poor taste and we don’t pay legislators to make jokes.”

[foxnews / clarionledger / h/t: pk / photo: ap.]

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