Denny Altes is one of the Republicans who routinely gets off without Democratic opposition in his rather safe looking House district out in Fort Smith. He is facing a Republican primary, for whatever that’s worth, but the guy doesn’t really have to worry about accountability to his constituents if he survives his primary. I hope for his sake though that Altes doesn’t have any illusions about seeking higher office as an old email of his with some rather revolting racist sentiments is being spread around on the internet, breathing new life into an old issue and giving it an audience that was totally unaware of it before. Here’s a copy of the email Altes sent out discussing immigration in some pretty disturbing terms with former Ft. Smith Mayor Bill Vines.
First off, the Governor he’s referring to in that email is Republican Governor Mike Huckabee who, whatever his many other flaws, was at least right on immigration.
Now as I said, this is an old issue that’s seeing new life. Altes “apologized” when this became public way back in 2007. (I say “apologized”-Altes’ statement read apologize and I am sorry if it hurt anyone’s feelings. … I’m sorry if it offended anyone.” In other words, he’s not sorry he said something bigoted, he’s sorry that other people aren’t bigots like him and would be disgusted that an elected official sounds like someone out of the Ku Klux Klan.) That said, the most disturbing passage of this is this little bit of prehistoric thinking:
All politics is local and I am for sending the illegals back but we know that is impossible. We are where we were with the black folks after the revolutionary war. We can’t send them back and the more we piss them off the worse it will be in the future. So what do we do. I say the governor needs to try to enforce the law and sign the letter of understanding with the INS and at least we can send the troublemakers back. Sure we are being overrun but we are being out populated by the blacks also.
No wonder Huckabee called you a bigot and a racist Denny-with talk like that it’s pretty clear that you think like a White Nationalist.
Again, I doubt this matters much in Altes’ Republican primary. These are Republican primary voters we’re talking about after all. But the internet is forever, and that pretty much contains Altes and whatever ambitions he might have to where he’s at.
Meanwhile, Arkansans can all be thankful that there are good folks with facebook and email that are out there making sure no one ever forgets what kind of a racist asshole Representative Altes really is.
