# WTF? Bill O'Reilly just called Mexicans "wetbacks!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370 "2003-02-07T03:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/121 "2003-02-09T08:03:47Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by DoctorJ \* \*\*I was even more astounded by this exchange, courtesy of Tom Tomorrow’s 'blog ([www.thismodernworld.com](http://www.thismodernworld.com)). O’Reilly’s guest was Jeremy Glick, who signed the Not In Our Name ad and whose father was killed on 9/11. > [@](#): > > O’REILLY: You are mouthing a far left position that is a marginal position in this society, which you’re entitled to. > > GLICK: It’s marginal – right…\\*\* This can’t have been Jeremy Glick’s son. He didn’t have one. He was thirty-one when he died, and his one daughter was three months old. Now I’m beside myself with curiosity as to who **was** subjected to this. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/122 "2003-02-09T08:35:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > \*\*This can’t have been Jeremy Glick’s son. He didn’t have one. He was thirty-one when he died, and his one daughter was three months old. Now I’m beside myself with curiosity as to who **was** subjected to this. \*\* It’s not. This is a man named Jeremy Glick whose father, [Barry](http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/2453.html), worked for the port authority and died in the WTC. No relation to [Jeremy Glick](http://www.msnbc.com/news/629077.asp), one of the heroes of United flight 93. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/123 "2003-02-09T08:38:11Z")
BTW, if anyone wants to hear the O’Reilly/Glick meltdown, [here](http://www.poisonskin.com/oreilyfreakout.mp3) is an audio mp3. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/124 "2003-02-09T08:39:36Z")
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thanks for the link! (And the info.) ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/125 "2003-02-09T09:05:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spiff \* > \*\*At least they recognize it as derogatory. From what I hear about race relations in Texas, that’s a step forward. \*\* Since this is the Pit, and I can say this…_drumroll please_ Fuck you! How does someone in “Greater Canadia” know jack shit about “race relations in Texas?” Being a fifth-generation Texan, and a very proud one, I am happy to inform you that race relations in Texas are in pretty damn good shape. San Antonio, where I live, is one of the most multi-cultural cities in America…we celebrate all the cultures that have made us who we are. I myself am marrying a Hispanic man; his family’s been here for five generations but it’s people like that asshat O’Reilly who make sure that nobody will ever forget he has ancestors in Mexico…and make no distinction between anyone who happens to have brown skin. I personally feel very badly for the illegals who cross into this country, and if anyone should be under attack for their presence, it’s the greedy employers who hire them for next-to-nothing wages. For the record, “wetback” is considered a _very_ derogatory term down here…and you, **Spiff,** can keep your crackpot opinions to yourself, because it’s obvious you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/126 "2003-02-09T17:09:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVeblen \* > \*\*FWIW I don’t see stupidity there. \*\* The stupidity is the poster’s statement that > [@](#): > > O’Reilly wants the military to open fire on families who make that choice. It is stupidity to attribute this heinous, inflammatory and ridiculous statement to someone without reference or citation. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/127 "2003-02-09T17:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > _UncleBill_ > It is stupidity to attribute this heinous, inflammatory and ridiculous statement to someone without reference or citation Well, I don’t want to dig up all the cites, but I was referring (admittedly hyperbolically) to O’Reilly’s constant drumroll for placing the military on the borders to stop immigration. He has repeatedly characterized illegal immigration as an “invasion” which he feels would justify using military force to combat. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/128 "2003-02-09T17:46:09Z")
THAT is NOT stupid for you to have written, because that is true, in my understanding. I bristle a little when the military is portrayed (hyperbolically, even) as trigger-happy murderers of innocents. Now that your position is more clear, I can respect it. ---
**Author:** ![gmeazell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@gmeazell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gmeazell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/129 "2003-02-09T17:49:09Z")
I’ve spent a lot of time around Mexican-Americans (both my sisters having married one) and they refer to illegals as “mojados,” which is Spanish for “wet ones.” So, even they do it. They do it not in the same way blacks refer to each other as “nigger” but as a description of the process by which they got here. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/130 "2003-02-09T17:53:15Z")
And now that D the Cynic has made it clear that he considers us military types to be trigger happy murderers of innocents, I can fail to respect his point of view. Oh, and speaking of “even they do it,” the Mexican consulates in the United States discriminate against illegals here. That was the whole deal with the consular identity card as the consulates would not issue a passport to someone without a valid visa to be in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/131 "2003-02-09T18:18:13Z")
> [@](#): > > _Monty_ > And now that D the Cynic has made it clear that he considers us military types to be trigger happy murderers of innocents, I can fail to respect his point of view. That’s not what I said at all. I said that _O’reilly_ wants to use the military against illegals, I didn’t say that the _military_ wanted it. (I was once in the navy, btw) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/132 "2003-02-09T18:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > \*\*Well, the term “wetback” refers specifically to illegal immigrants who get “wet backs” in the process of crossing the Rio Grande so as to enter the US undetected. (Isn’t that right?) > > So, as a matter of semantics, he was accurate. (Not that that’s OK.) \*\* You’re right. I’ve known plenty of Mexican-Americans who call illegal immigrants “wetbacks”. I know there are some white people who use the term as a racial slur for all hispanics, though. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/133 "2003-02-09T20:27:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\* > > Oh, and speaking of “even they do it,” the Mexican consulates in the United States discriminate against illegals here. That was the whole deal with the consular identity card as the consulates would not issue a passport to someone without a valid visa to be in the country. \*\* Have you a cite? According to Mexico’s _Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores_ that isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/134 "2003-02-09T22:16:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Dio wrote: > That’s not what I said at all. I said that O’reilly wants to use the military against illegals, I didn’t say that the military wanted it. Could you give us a cite that indicates that _O’Reilly_ wants the military to gun down illegal aliens? Just because he wants them to be on the border does not automatically mean that he wants them shooting women and children. For the third time, **CITE PLEASE?** Also, as I brought up before, the OP quoted O’Reilly incorrectly. To quote the FoxNews transcript: > [@](#): > > _O’Reilly said:_ > We’d save lives because **Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them, the coyotes** – they’re not going to do what they’re doing now, so people aren’t going to die in the desert. So we save lives, all right, and we seal it down and make it 100 times harder to come across. I know that Diogenese doesn’t think context matters, but still—in the _context_ of this quote, O’Reilly’s calling _coyotes_ (the inscrupulous guys who get illegals over the border) “wetbacks”. “Or whatever you call them” (meaning the guys who help illegals over the border). That is what he said. So he’s a clueless old goat and can’t get his slang terms right. He was looking for the slang term for the guys who help transport illegals over the border (sometimes causing their death) and first he said “wetbacks”, then he quickly ammeded that to “coyotes”. “Or whatever you call them”, he said. But, oh well. “Context doesn’t matter”, I guess. And after all, the OP title wouldn’t be _nearly_ as exciting had it said “WTF? Bill O’Reilly just called _coyotes_ ‘wetbacks’!” (Even though that is actually more correct, context-wise.) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/135 "2003-02-09T23:12:35Z")
I already posted the quote myself. I admitted I got the mule/coyote part wrong, but as I said, I don’t think it matters. It’s a question of opinion, that’s all. The military is not a law enforcement agency, they are designed for combat. _Posse Comitatus_ forbids the use of the military for law enforcement purposes. The only legal reason they could be sent to the border would be to stop a military invasion. O’Reilly has said repeatedly that illegal immigration should be considered equivelent to a hostile invasion and that the US military should be deployed. What other way is there to deploy the military than in military fashion? Their job is to shoot people , not to arrest them. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/136 "2003-02-09T23:24:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\* > Oh, and speaking of “even they do it,” the Mexican consulates in the United States discriminate against illegals here. That was the whole deal with the consular identity card as the consulates would not issue a passport to someone without a valid visa to be in the country. \*\* You would be right, if you had said the exact opposite. The purpose of the _matricula consular_ is to provide identification to illegal immigrants so they can enjoy the benefits of citizenship in dealing with their local authorities. Mexicans in the U.S. legally (as permanent residents) can get a driver’s license and Social Security card, and do not need a _matricula consular_. The _matricula consular_ is Mexico’s strategy for getting de facto U.S citizenship for its emigrants, so they can continue sending their earnings back to their families in Mexico and meddling in U.S. politics on behalf of the Mexican government. The _matricula consular_ is an appeal to disloyal local governments and businesses who are more interested in pandering to their immigrant-lobby constituencies than in following Federal law. A point of terminology: Consulates don’t issue passports, and the _matricula consular_ is not a passport substitute. It’s a substitute for a U.S. entry visa. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/137 "2003-02-09T23:26:56Z")
> [@](#): > > What other way is there to deploy the military than in military fashion? Their job is to shoot people , not to arrest them. And the military never “detains” people? The military shoots and kills, no matter what the context? Cite please? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/138 "2003-02-09T23:29:50Z")
Another thing: > [@](#): > > _Dio wrote_ > I admitted I got the mule/coyote part wrong, but as I said, I don’t think it matters. I know you admitted that you got the quote wrong, but I don’t understand why you don’t think it matters. Like I pointed out, there’s a big difference between calling all Mexicans “wetbacks”, and (obviously mistakenly) calling _coyotes_ “wetbacks”. Does context matter, or doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/139 "2003-02-10T00:49:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hyperelastic \* > \*\*You would be right, if you had said the exact opposite. The purpose of the _matricula consular_ is to provide identification to illegal immigrants so they can enjoy the benefits of citizenship in dealing with their local authorities. Mexicans in the U.S. legally (as permanent residents) can get a driver’s license and Social Security card, and do not need a _matricula consular_. The _matricula consular_ is Mexico’s strategy for getting de facto U.S citizenship for its emigrants, so they can continue sending their earnings back to their families in Mexico and meddling in U.S. politics on behalf of the Mexican government. The _matricula consular_ is an appeal to disloyal local governments and businesses who are more interested in pandering to their immigrant-lobby constituencies than in following Federal law. > > A point of terminology: Consulates don’t issue passports, and the _matricula consular_ is not a passport substitute. It’s a substitute for a U.S. entry visa. \*\* You are wrong on a number of points. The _matricula_ gives the Mexican no rights in the US. It is only considered an official Mexican government ID and as such accepted for ID purposes by some places in the US. 1. The _matricula consular_ is a requirement of the Mexican government for it’s citizens that reside in a foreign country. It facilitates entering and leaving Mexico for it’s holders. It is a substitute for a passport (required to fly out of the country) for a Mexican citizen who leaves Mexico by air. 2.Mexican consulates by all means issue passports, the same as some American consulates overseas issue passports for US citizens. Mine was issued by the American Consulate in Guadalajara. BTW they only issue passports to Americans residing in Mexico, with a few exceptions, so I guess they discriminate also. 1. The _matricula_ is **not** a substitute for a US entry visa. It is issued by Mexico. an entry visa is issued by the US government. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Colunga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Rick\_Colunga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Colunga)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/140 "2003-02-10T01:59:44Z")
You can’t blame someone for wanting a better life than the one fate handed them. Mexico is a jacked up country with very little respect for it’s lower class citizens. The darker you are in Mexico, the less chances you have of every becoming anything in Mexico. Mexico has driven it’s darker and Indian citizens to the borders of Mexico in it’s effort to make it’s country look more European. If you have ever been to Monterrey, Mexico, you’ll notice the rich and upper class look alot like Europeans and nothing like the ones picking watermelons in the feilds of the United States. Mexico doesn’t want these people any more than America does. The problem is that these migrant people have somehow become a pawn for both side of the border. Mexico loves to get all fired up when the news breaks that one it’s own citizens has been wronged or executed in America even though they could care less if they died homeless and hungry on the side of a road in Mexico. The United States loves a good bargain and never bothers to ask why are these prices so damn low? In Texas, every angry White Texan ready to close the borders to all the “Beaners” coming in to America still have a few connections on how to get his roof done cheaply or his car engine repaired for damn near nothing. The excuse is always the same, “We’ll Paco over there is an alright guy, He ain’t like the rest of those Spicks running around these parts.” That is the true issue with immagration and the one that never seems to brought up. You can’t get pissed off when the numbers get out of control when business’ in American will sell out the stability of the country to stay competitive. Unless your are ready and willing to deal with the price increases of attacking the employers and ranchers who employ these people, leave these people alone. Nothing is free in this world and getting pissed off because thier here and not even raising an eyebrow as to why there are here is stupid. Mexican immigrants proudly do jobs that are below the average American drop-out and for alot less than “Joe Smith dumb-ass” will do it for. I find it hard to believe that America is so bored that is can get all fired up about unskilled jobs being taken away from Americans. As Americans, were given the opportunity to 12 years of free education as well as affordable college education so why are we concerned with ditch-digging jobs going to immigrants. If an Amrerican has to compete against an immigrant to wash dishes for a living, it’s your damn fault you smoked too much shit in school and threw away your chance for an education in the first place. As far as health care for immigrants, notihing is free in this world. What you don’t pay at the grocery store you will pay in taxes. What you save in taxes, you will pay at the grocery store. Pick your poison. The only true solution to this migrant problem is allowing them to legally work here and keep thier Mexican citizenship and the United States go to a flat tax system so that anyone who buys a stick of bubble gum is paying into the system and I won’t have to mess with filling taxes anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370.md?page=8)