SEVENTY FIVE

Perhaps not all Republicans (then and now) were/are as cruel as Mr. Rosendale, but that the Republican party was the home of America's xenophobic and racist tendencies was not a secret in the early aughts, and the idea that we were going to engage in humanitarian missions to spread freeance and peeance was always absurd given this.

State and federal elected officials responded with mixed messages Thursday to the news that 75 Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban will be resettled in Missoula over the coming weeks. Roughly 37,000 Afghan refugees will be coming to other states across the U.S.

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“I have advocated that we should try and settle these individuals in other countries around Afghanistan that share their values and culture, especially if we can not ensure proper vetting,” Rosendale’s statement said in part. “As elected officials, it is our duty to protect the citizens we represent — and I will not allow this Administration to compromise the safety of Montanans.”

"Safety." All Muslims were suspect superpowered terrorists then, and much of that lingers. This view hardly limited to conservatives back then, either. They were just obviously the worst.